Beast Island, at the deepest part of the forest. On a wrecked mountaintop strewn with ruins, a teenager was hemmed in by two ferocious beasts. The pair prowled in a wary circle, eyes gleaming, fangs bared—each watching the other as much as him.
Not far away, two other teens lay concealed and watched. Rather than "observing," though, they were really… debating.
"Vergo, it's already been two days of fighting. Do you think Waka-sama can beat them this time? They're the bosses of all the beasts on the island—two monsters that even possess Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki). Are we really not going to help Waka-sama? If the two of us pin down one of them, Waka-sama could finish them off with ease."
"These two years of Doflamingo's insane training methods, plus his explosive growth—you've seen it. He's practically punched holes through the whole island. If not for these two apex beasts, we would've left ages ago to rendezvous with Diamante. Beating them is just a matter of time. If we jump in, we'll only tick Doflamingo off."
"Haha, Vergo—you really do understand Waka-sama best."
At the center of the battlefield—one human, two beasts—each side was bloodied. On the left, a giant brute with a mammoth's trunk and a triceratops' spike coiled its Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) around that trunk, then lashed it like a piledriver at the teen—Doflamingo.
"Heh! Buso—Hiji no Totsugeki (Armament—Elbow Assault)!"
Doflamingo didn't dodge. He could have—his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) told him the attack's timing several seconds ahead—but he chose not to. What he wanted was a head-on collision to break both beasts by force.
Force met force, Haki clashed with Haki. Small as he was next to the towering brute, Doflamingo's driving elbow began to pry back that colossal trunk inch by inch.
His left elbow kept pouring out Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki). His right hand hooked like an eagle's talon and clamped down. With a brutal heave, his fingers pierced into the hardened flesh of the trunk. He dropped into a half-crouch on his left leg, stamped with his right, then switched the left arm from "block" to "grip," driving all five fingers deeper into the meat. With a roar, his aura surged again as he hoisted the tens-of-meters bulk clean off the ground and swung it toward the leopard-shaped beast.
The mammoth-beast's massive body, plus Doflamingo's snap acceleration—the leopard-beast couldn't evade. It was crushed beneath its partner's bulk.
He didn't stop there. Doflamingo flooded the trunk with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), then wrenched. Blood fountained; the hardened trunk tore free in his hands. This was the "internal destruction" he'd hammered out after blasting through several mountain bases—his own take on Busoshoku Haki no Naibu Hakai (Armament—Internal Destruction), refined with Amazon Lily training.
The fight wasn't over. Doflamingo sprang, never wasting a wounded enemy. He pummeled the mammoth-beast's skull with fist after fist—white and red matter sprayed in bursts with each blow.
Seconds later, the giant fell still—lifeless.
At that instant, a shadow shot from the mammoth's shattered skull and snapped at Doflamingo's head without hesitation.
He'd expected it. A sidestep, a few light steps through the air, and he was already behind the leopard-beast. His right hand clenched. Fine coils of Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) curled around his knuckles as he murmured:
"Buso—Dai Tetsu-Ō no Ken (Armament—Great Iron King's Fist)."
His punch hammered the leopard-beast's waist. Before this battle, it might have dodged—or at least braced. Now, the crack of a snapped spine was the only answer. This was Doflamingo's strongest punch so far, the closest he'd come to true Haoshoku Haki Kairaku (Conqueror's Haki Infusion)—not yet the full "Haki coating," but edging toward it.
He didn't bother to confirm the kills. He turned and strode toward Vergo and Pica. Why no need to check? His Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), already seeing a few seconds ahead, had told him the outcome.
In a blink, Doflamingo was before them. Even standing nearly two meters tall, he didn't seem that big next to the two.
He didn't dwell on it. He was, after all, only thirteen—give or take. For that age, this height was already shocking.
"Vergo, get in touch with Diamante. I'm sure he's finished the ship I asked for. We'll wait for him at Amazon Lily. Next stop—Sky Island."
His eyes shone with anticipation. The next leap in power wasn't far.
"Yes, Doflamingo!"
Vergo pulled out a Den-Den Mushi to call Diamante. After a short rest, the three were escorted to Amazon Lily by the new Empress herself—Torch Lily.
Two years. How much can change in that time? Doflamingo gave the best possible answer.
In raw power, thanks to his physique's evolution, his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) reached the level of glimpsing the future. His Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) developed into a personalized Naibu Hakai (Internal Destruction). To track his growth more clearly, drawing on his previous life on Blue Star, Doflamingo divided the three Hakis into tiers.
Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki): Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
• Beginner Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki): Predicts an opponent's position; senses their strength and presence.
• Intermediate Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki): Predicts attack trajectories; amplifies hearing and other senses in concert; can project one's voice.
• Advanced Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki): Briefly glimpses the future; senses emotional fluctuations; can momentarily influence an opponent's emotions. After two years of training, Doflamingo has reached the entry edge of this stage.
• Special Advanced Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki): Listening to All Things; and variants like Princess Otohime's level that shift from affecting emotion to altering will itself.
Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki): Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
• Beginner Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki): Basic hardening; can harden specific body parts—like Doflamingo two years ago.
• Intermediate Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki): Full-body hardening; projects Haki along limbs or weapons; blocks attacks or fires shockwaves.
• Advanced Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki): Directly damages internal structures of objects or living beings. After two years, Doflamingo has reached the initial threshold of this level.
Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki): Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced / Top / Supreme
• Beginner Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki): Unconscious release.
• Intermediate Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki): Active release with control over range and targets.
• Advanced Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki): Precision pressure; release accompanied by physical destruction. After two years, Doflamingo is at the peak of this tier.
• Top Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki): Infuses Haoshoku into attacks; directly boosts damage and disrupts Kenbunshoku predictions—its highest applications resemble future-sight.
• Supreme Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki): Joy Boy–level—the ability to ignore Devil Fruit powers outright within a Haoshoku domain, to nullify all such abilities there; to reshape terrain; to strike with absolute freedom.
(End of Chapter)
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