Caesar and Doflamingo are in a superior-subordinate relationship. Although they both lost to Luffy in the end, their performances were different, which also reflects Luffy's strength. It's easier to explain Caesar's situation, since Luffy didn't use Gear Fourth throughout the fight and was careless to some extent. It's understandable that he fought Caesar to a standstill.
However, Luffy clearly used his full strength when fighting Doflamingo. If he doesn't fight a dungeon to improve, Luffy will really be killed by Kaido. It's because Oda set the Four Emperors ' status too high in the early stages. If Kaido and Doflamingo were to be defeated by Gear Fourth, then the power balance would really collapse!
It's simply that Oda is getting older and his health isn't good, so he has to speed up the story. This has resulted in insufficient groundwork being laid for the New World arc, and Luffy's power increase being too abrupt.
Between Caesar and Doflamingo, there's Gear Fourth; between Doflamingo and Katakuri, there's Snakeman. So what's between Katakuri and Kaido? Aside from Awakening, there's nothing else. Nothing else can be quickly improved in a short time; you can only improve your usage skills, which led to the emergence of Ryuo and Conqueror's Coating.
Actually, the Ryuo and Conqueror's Coating- no-Mae forms were already quite abrupt, but everyone could still accept them, since they were technical. What was particularly unacceptable was that the Paramecia Gum-Gum Fruit suddenly became the Zoan Human-Human Fruit, Nika Form. Many people just couldn't accept this. After watching the Paramecia Gum-Gum Fruit for so many years, the sudden forced power-up really took the audience out of the story, and there was a lot of cursing.
The main problem is the complete lack of foreshadowing. If the story had been hinted at earlier by Red-Hair or the Five Elders, letting everyone know that the Gum-Gum Fruit is special and its power was deliberately disguised with a different name, readers would have been prepared, and things wouldn't have turned out this way. Acting without prior knowledge is indeed abrupt, and this is probably the downside of speeding up the plot without sufficient setup.
Actually, it wouldn't be a big problem if Oda didn't change the name and attributes of the Gum-Gum Fruit. The Gum-Gum Fruit was originally Paramecia, and after Awakening, it already possessed the ability to Assimilation surrounding matter into rubber. Even if it turned into a colossal giant, it would still be plausible.
Even Nika Form don't exceed the limits of rubber, and nobody knows what incredible abilities the Gum-Gum Fruit will have after Devil Fruit Awakening. Nika's performance could actually be attributed to the characteristics of the Devil Fruit Awakening, so there's no need to change the name!
It was all just to elevate Joy Boy's status by giving him a god-like title, which was completely unnecessary and also somewhat altered the original intention of the story!
Can't Joy Boy be called a god because of what he did? Does one have to be called a god only because of their Devil Fruit power? The title of god isn't that sacred; it can be bestowed upon a person too!
Getting back to the point, although the island ahead was ablaze with flames, it couldn't stop the Straw Hat Boy's burning adventurous spirit.
Not long after arriving on the island, they encountered a fire-breathing Western dragon, which Zoro then slashed down. The dragon showed absolutely no dignity befitting a dragon, offering absolutely no resistance and ultimately becoming food.
Luffy also acquired Kin'emon's lower half here. He happily stuck the half to his body and played with it, unaware that the gears of fate had already begun to turn!
The subsequent plot doesn't deviate much from the original story. Trafalgar Law pretends to eliminate the invaders, creating conflict between Caesar and the Straw Hat Pirates, as well as between Smoker and Caesar.
Nami and Tashigi also discovered Caesar's vicious giantification experiments and, unable to bear it, decided to save the children. In the end, due to Caesar's counterattack, all three were imprisoned in the same prison. Judging from the later plot, this encounter seemed somewhat deliberate.
The three parties were imprisoned together, but eventually formed an alliance. It's unknown how much of a role Luo played in this!
The whole mess went without saying, and the result, naturally, was that Luffy and Law's alliance triumphed, and they successfully kidnapped Caesar.
As planned, Law destroyed SAD's production equipment. The mess was left to Smoker and his G5 to clean up. However, he was unlucky and ran into Doflamingo, a Shichibukai who came to save the day but ultimately decided to kill him to silence him!
"Don't worry! I don't know what any of you know, so whether it's Law, Straw Hat Boy, or any of you, you're all going to die!"
"No!"
"Oh dear! Excuse me, buddy! Could you please move aside? That guy is my friend!"
When Doflamingo arrived, Law and the Straw Hat Pirates were nowhere to be seen.
Knowing all the details, Smoker mocked Doflamingo and revealed Doflamingo's underground codename, Joker. Upon hearing this, Doflamingo's face darkened. He knew that everything he had been doing in secret here had been exposed to the Marines. Coupled with the feud between Monet and Vergo, Doflamingo decided to kill him to silence him. Naturally, Smoker would not sit idly by.
However, Smoker's strength was no match for Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Even with his subordinates, they were still no match. After only a dozen or so moves, Smoker was covered in blood and defeated.
Just as Doflamingo sat on Smoker and raised his hand to kill him, a deep and nonchalant voice came from behind him!
Smoker and Doflamingo both recognized the middle-aged man's voice, Doflamingo somewhat unwilling to give up, turned around for a second.
The familiar figure exhaling a chilling aura shattered Doflamingo's illusions. It was indeed former Marine Admiral Aokiji, who had silently appeared behind him. Cold sweat broke out on Doflamingo's back. If Aokiji had wanted to attack him just now, it wouldn't have been so easy!
Smoker also felt that this scene was somewhat familiar. It seemed that someone had saved him in the same way last time. Right, he remembered, that person was Vic!
Smoker turned his head with difficulty and opened his eyes to look at the tall, thin figure behind Doflamingo. However, the figure was backlit, so he couldn't see it clearly, but his heart, which was ready to die, was at peace. His friends always managed to save him from danger!
"That's former Admiral Aokiji!"
"Didn't he disappear after being defeated by Akainu?"
The G5 marines nearby also recognized Aokiji; Aokiji had been moving so fast that they hadn't even seen him clearly.
Indeed, it was hard to see clearly. Aokiji used his Logia ability to instantly transform into ice crystals, approach Doflamingo, and then revert to human form. To put it bluntly, it was all for show. Aokiji has always longed for this and was always thinking about how to be even cooler. Otherwise, he would have frozen Doflamingo in ice just now.
Aokiji came to Punk Hazard at this time is unknown. Was he looking to revisit the place, received a distress signal nearby, or was he chasing after the Straw Hat Pirates? Only Aokiji himself knows the answer!
Although Doflamingo was somewhat wary of Aokiji, he didn't release Smoker because he had him as a Smoker. Smoker knew too much, and if he reported the situation to the Marine Headquarters, it would be detrimental to Doflamingo's current identity and future underground business.
After assessing the difference in strength between himself and Aokiji, Doflamingo felt that he should be able to fight him head-on. Therefore, he decided to take down Smoker first, then fight Aokiji, and then find an opportunity to leave. He thought it shouldn't be too difficult.
The moment Doflamingo made a slight movement, a chill instantly enveloped him. Aokiji saw through his trick and froze Doflamingo's hand before it could land on Smoker's face!
After freezing him, Aokiji did not make any further moves. It took Doflamingo quite a bit of effort to break free of the ice. His slightly panting and trembling body showed that breaking free of the ice was not an easy task.
"Thank... thankfully, my insides haven't frozen yet!"
"Young Master!"
Baby-5 and Buffalo, who were chained to the side, looked relieved, fearing that Doflamingo would be frozen solid, which would be difficult to save; a single tap would be fatal!
"I don't want to fight you, but! If I can't shut that man up, I'll change my plans. Can you tell me something?"
"Forehead?"
"What exactly is your identity now Kuzan!"
Doflamingo didn't attack Smoker again. He knew that with Aokiji there, he couldn't do it. All he could do now was retreat, but he had to make a threat before leaving.
Through the previous standoff, he realized that Aokiji wouldn't attack him, otherwise Aokiji wouldn't have remained indifferent when he was frozen. So it was necessary to say a few harsh words to save face!
"I haven't heard anything good about you!"
"Enough with the rambling nonsense! Get your men out of here!"