Doflamingo looked out at the sea, remaining silent with his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Yet judging from his tight jaw and the bulging veins on his forehead, his mood was far from as calm as it appeared on the surface.
How could he possibly be calm?!
Today was no longer a matter of losing face; it was as if someone had torn his face off, thrown it on the ground, and done a little dance all over it! To top it all off, they even hocked a big, thick loogie on it! And to make matters worse, it seemed like he had walked right into all of this himself...
Ever since he was a little boy, when he was mocked and humiliated by all the Celestial Dragons on account of his good-for-nothing father, he had never suffered such humiliation.
Silence, still more silence. If you do not perish in silence, you explode in it! Doflamingo was on the verge of exploding right now! He needed to vent! His heart was filled with boundless malice, fury, hatred, and humiliation, and he needed an outlet!
The very next moment, the world around them seemed to fade in color, and then an overwhelmingly domineering aura surged from Doflamingo's body. Behold, Conqueror's Haki!
Behind Doflamingo, Pica and Diamante trembled as they resisted this burst of Conqueror's Haki unleashed at full power out of pure rage, feeling a twinge of dread even with their own strength.
This burst of Conqueror's Haki lasted for a full minute before Doflamingo finally reined it in, as though he had finished venting. Then the previously calm sea in front of them suddenly began to churn, and shortly after, several huge sea beasts floated to the surface. Judging from the spiral shapes their eyes had turned into, they had been knocked unconscious by the shock.
"Pica, Diamante, let's go. We're heading back to Dressrosa first!"
Having vented, Doflamingo was now able to keep his emotions from showing on his face once more. Furthermore, no matter how furious he felt inside, he would never vent his anger or take it out on Pica and the others, whom he regarded as family.
Seeing that Doflamingo had returned to his usual state, Pica and Diamante both secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They had been worried that Doflamingo would be crushed by the blow and never recover. Thankfully, he had finally bounced back in the end-he truly was the young master they followed!
With that, Doflamingo flicked out two strings to bind Pica and Diamante, and then whipped out another string with his other hand, hurling it up into the sky. The figures of the men were hoisted up as if suspended in the air, gradually swinging off into the distance.
This was a technique Doflamingo had developed himself. Having eaten the Paramecia-class String-String Fruit, he was a String Human capable of producing countless thin, hair-like strings that were nearly invisible to the naked eye. These threads were exceptionally tough and sharp in the extreme.
As for the technique that allowed him to fly just now, it was called Sky Walk. The principle behind this move was to use hair-thin, invisible strings to anchor onto the clouds in the sky, and then use the resulting traction to pull himself along so that he could "swing" through midair. This flying-like method of movement was extremely fast-at least much faster than a ship. However, it also had one fatal flaw: if there were no clouds ahead, it became quite agonizing, leaving him with no choice but to hang there contemplating the meaning of life, or retrace his steps to search for clouds in other directions.
As for why clouds could be bound by strings and haul several four-to-five-meter-tall burly men, and whether any of this was scientific, that all depended on the differing rules of each world. The One Piece World was clearly a very contradictory existence; it possessed both scientific pioneers like Vegapunk and miraculous entities like Devil Fruits, along with all sorts of unreasonable weather phenomena and islands that could rest upon the clouds, plus Knock Up Streams capable of launching entire islands into the air. One could truly call it wondrous.
Therefore, the fact that Doflamingo's strings could bind clouds and be used for flight was clearly very consistent with the worldview of the One Piece World. Watching him hang beneath the clouds, he looked just like a flying flamingo...
Having suffered humiliation at Su Yu's hands this time, Doflamingo was certainly not going to let the matter rest. After all, he was a man who possessed Conqueror's Haki. While he might choose to back down or compromise in certain situations-since those with Conqueror's Haki were simply strong-willed individuals with formidable drive, rather than brainless idiots, with a certain straw-hatted exception aside-biding one's time was merely a means to preserve one's fighting strength and wait for the opportunity to wipe out the enemy all at once.
Doflamingo knew that relying on his own strength alone, he stood absolutely no chance against Su Yu. Recalling that overwhelming aura now, he still felt a creeping sense of horror. This was only the third time in his life he had ever felt such a sense of helplessness: the first time was when he killed his own father as a child and took his head to Holy Land Mary Geoise to beg for the restoration of his Celestial Dragon status, only to be rejected and humiliated; the second time was when he faced the Four Emperors' Kaido.
Therefore, if he wanted revenge, he would have to find outside help.
If you want to deal with a monster, you simply have to find another monster!
At this thought, Doflamingo gritted his teeth in frustration. His own strength was still not enough!
On a certain island, across a beach densely strewn with rocks, a figure like a small giant sat alone, holding a liquor flask larger than any normal human's in one hand and frantically gulping down wine.
Just sitting there, the figure stood nearly five meters tall with an extremely stocky and muscular build. He sported a pair of long horns resembling those of a ceratopsian dinosaur, long whiskers like a dragon's sprouting from his lips, dragon-scale tattoos on his left arm, a bare upper body, and an X-shaped scar across his right abdomen.
His overall aura gave the impression of a demon crawled straight out of the abyss, deep and oppressive like the depths of hell. Just sitting there relaxed, he gave off the feel of a high tower forged from iron, or perhaps an unassailable fortress. As long as he sat in that spot, enemies would feel a sense of helpless despair-a despair known as "ultimate attacks cannot pierce the defense."
Indeed, this was the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, known as the Strongest Creature in the World, Kaido of the Beasts!
The One Piece World was naturally overflowing with pirates, and among these countless pirates, there were four supreme beings who lorded over the second half of the Grand Line-the New World-like emperors. Hence, they were known as the Four Emperors, and the pirate crews under their banners were similarly called the Four Emperors' fleets.
The individual might of these four pirate emperors could already be said to tower above the rest of the One Piece World. Not only was their personal strength formidable, but the forces under their command were equally massive, filled with veteran pirates capable of rivaling or even surpassing the Shichibukai. Other pirates would break out in cold sweats just catching a distant glimpse of a flag belonging to the Four Emperors.
These four were the World's Strongest Man, Edward Newgate; the Iron Balloon, BIG MOM Charlotte Linlin; the most formidable Haki user, Red-Haired Shanks; and the immortal Kaido of the Beasts!
Kaido sat right there, chugging down wine with a flush upon his face, looking as though he had already consumed a considerable amount.
At that moment, the sound of a Den Den Mushi suddenly rang out from his person.
"Purupurupuru..."
Before you continue