Raleigh told Miles to step back.
Miles was still too weak at this point - he couldn't possibly participate in a battle of this intensity.
After casually stretching his body, Raleigh looked toward Doflamingo across from him.
Doflamingo was also carefully examining Raleigh opposite him.
He never fought unprepared battles, especially against this man who claimed to be the Vice-Commander of the North Blue.
Doflamingo knew the strength of the North Blue's Marine forces.
A Vice-Commander needed to be at least a Rear Admiral to be qualify, but he wasn't afraid.
Because he simply didn't know how to write the word "fear."
However, after careful observation, Doflamingo still couldn't find any openings in Raleigh's stance.
After finishing his stretches, Raleigh turned his head and said.
"Doflamingo, if you're not prepared to take this beating, you could always choose to surrender."
Raleigh's words immediately enraged Doflamingo.
The already furious Doflamingo saw his golden short hair stand on end upon hearing this.
"Damn bastard, I'll kill you!"
"String-String Fruit - Super Whip!"
Doflamingo's right hand pulled back slightly, as if gathering power.
Then dozens of transparent strings erupted from his palm, intertwining under his control to form a thick column of threads.
Doflamingo was very confident in the sharpness of his strings.
He believed nothing could stop his incredibly sharp thread column.
"Damn bastard, be cut in half!"
Ssssh!
A sharp screeching sound suddenly tore through the air.
It was the sound of air being sliced by something extremely sharp.
To Doflamingo's ears, this was beautiful music - once this sound appeared, it meant his enemy would be cut by his Devil Fruit power.
But to his enemies, this was the death god's summoning.
Raleigh stood motionless in place, but the building behind him suddenly cracked open.
An extremely thin yet clearly visible cut mark appeared on the structure.
Then, to the Marine soldiers' disbelief.
The three-story building was cleanly sliced along that cut mark, revealing a smooth cross-section.
The upper half of the building slid downward due to gravity, stirring up clouds of dust.
BOOM!
Clang!
Amid Doflamingo's disbelieving gaze, a crisp sound signaled that his attack had been blocked.
Raleigh stood in place, looking utterly nonchalant.
His hands were casually tucked into his pockets, yet the thick thread column, resembling hair, was firmly lodged against his arm.
Sparks flew from the impact, but it couldn't cut through Raleigh's body.
"This is impossible!"
The members of the Donquixote Family shouted.
They were well aware of Doflamingo's strength; under his Devil Fruit ability, almost nothing could withstand it.
During their turf wars with the Mafia in the North Blue, they had witnessed Doflamingo strike multiple times.
Whether it was sturdy shields or sharp blades, nothing could resist being severed by Doflamingo's threads.
In their hearts, they had accepted that there was nothing in this world Doflamingo couldn't cut.
But now, this unknown Marine had effortlessly blocked it with his bare body.
It was simply unbelievable.
Even Doflamingo himself, the one executing the ability, was astonished.
He knew how sharp his threads were at full power—even steel warships would struggle to withstand them.
"How?"
Though Doflamingo didn't understand, he quickly assessed the situation.
He swiftly retracted his threads, cautiously guarding himself.
Raleigh shrugged.
"How? Probably because you're too weak, you don't even know Armament Haki."
Just as the threads were about to slice into Raleigh's body, he had coated his arm with Armament Haki.
The intense friction with the threads came from the iron-hard covering of Armament Haki.
"Haki... To think there's someone like you in the North Blue."
As a former Celestial Dragon who had spent a long time on the Grand Line,
Doflamingo was naturally not unfamiliar with Haki, unlike Miles.
Still, he was taken aback by the presence of someone like Raleigh in the North Blue.
Under the nearly stupefied gazes of the Donquixote Family members, Raleigh beckoned to Doflamingo with a finger.
"Kid, got any other tricks up your sleeve?"
"Don't look down on me!"
Doflamingo stopped dwelling on the gap between him and Raleigh; his only thought now was to make this arrogant Marine pay.
"String-String Fruit—Bullet Thread!"
Doflamingo extended his index finger, aiming it at Raleigh.
"Just die, damn marines!"
A sharp-tipped thread shot out from Doflamingo's index finger, flying toward Raleigh faster than a bullet.
Sss... sss... sss...!
This attack was twice as fast as the previous one.
But in the perception of Raleigh's Observation Haki, its trajectory was still clear as day.
With a slight tilt of his head to the right, the white thread whizzed past his cheek.
It pierced through five buildings before finally stopping.
"Hey, kid. Your moves are way too slow—I'm almost falling asleep."
Raleigh was thoroughly unimpressed with Doflamingo's level; he had expected at least a bit of excitement.
Little did he know, his current stats were practically overpowered in the North Blue.
At this point, aside from Raleigh, Doflamingo wouldn't easily lose whether facing Gion or Tokikake.
In fact, with the power of his Devil Fruit, he might even turn the tables and defeat them.
"String-String Fruit—Five Colored Strings!"
Seeing his long-range attacks prove ineffective, Doflamingo boldly closed in on Raleigh.
Five-Colored String was his strongest close-quarters combat technique.
Instantly, five transparent threads appeared on each finger of Doflamingo's right hand.
Under his control, they twisted into the shape of beast claws, sharp as steel wires.
"Die!"
Doflamingo snarled viciously, his eyes filled with bloodlust and killing intent.
Whenever he had used this move in the past, whether against swords or steel armor, everything would be sliced apart as easily as a knife cutting through tofu.
But now, the five threads were tightly gripped in Raleigh's palm, completely immobilized.
Raleigh's right hand had already taken on a purplish-black hue.
"Is that Armament Haki?"
Doflamingo felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
Facing an enemy he couldn't pierce through, even he found himself in a difficult position.
However, his headache was about to turn into face pain.
"Come here!"
Having seized the threads, Raleigh abruptly pulled, yanking Doflamingo from five meters away.
His other iron fist was already prepared to greet Doflamingo's face.