"Doflamingo, this is Marineford. You'd better behave yourself here!"
Tsuru took a step forward, her expression growing cold. She stared indifferently at Doflamingo and spoke in a low, stern voice.
"Fuffuffuffu, only knowing how to hide behind your students? Is this the backbone of a 'Legendary Marine' and the 'Godfather of the Navy'?" After Tsuru stepped in, the arrogance on Doflamingo's face lessened slightly, but his irritating, snickering laugh remained as punchable as ever.
Rowan didn't show any emotion at Doflamingo's taunts. He raised his tobacco pipe, patted Tsuru on the shoulder to give her a reassuring look, and then, with a faint smile, began walking slowly toward Doflamingo.
"Seven Warlords of the Sea, current head of the Donquixote Family, current King of the Dressrosa Kingdom, the Underworld broker known as 'Joker,' a pirate with a bounty of 340 million, the Heavenly Yaksha, Donquixote Doflamingo?"
With every title Rowan recited, he took a step closer to Doflamingo, and his aura intensified. Under the pressure of Rowan's max-level Conqueror's Haki, the smile on Doflamingo's face gradually froze.
Although Doflamingo was a powerhouse who possessed Conqueror's Haki himself—and an incredibly arrogant former Celestial Dragon—his years of fearing Kaido had caused him to lose the true bearing of a king contending for the world. Facing the massive pressure Rowan was exuding, Doflamingo found himself unable to even release his own Haki.
Every one of Rowan's steps felt like it was landing directly on Doflamingo's heart. When Rowan delivered the final question with a rhetorical tilt, Doflamingo, stared down from a height, felt his breathing stop. His entire back was drenched in cold sweat.
This old man... how can he have such a powerful presence?! And how does he know I am Joker?! Doflamingo's heart was filled with increasing terror.
Not just him—even Moria and Crocodile felt their expressions change under this aura, involuntarily retreating two steps.
"You... what do you want?!" Doflamingo forced a breath and demanded loudly.
"What do I want?" Rowan's eyes sharpened. Suddenly, he raised his hand and swung a slap.
A sharp sense of crisis made Doflamingo's heart recoil in horror. Ignoring everything else, he pulled his hand back, and five strings—far harder than steel—erupted from his fingertips in a desperate attempt to block Rowan's palm.
Paramecia Type: Ito Ito no Mi (String-String Fruit) ability!
But this time, Rowan didn't hold back in the slightest. He directly utilized the new skill he had just spent nearly 4,000 Belief Points to max out: Conqueror's Coating!
Even though Doflamingo's fruit was developed to its peak and he possessed respectable Armament Haki, his defenses were utterly worthless against Conqueror's Haki of this caliber. Before Rowan's hand even made physical contact, the strings began to snap inch by inch.
Then, with a thunderous SLAP, Doflamingo—who had been so overbearing moments ago—was sent flying like a kite with its string cut.
BANG!
The pink-feathered figure slammed heavily into the hard stone slabs of the Marineford plaza. In an instant, the noisy plaza fell dead silent. Everyone stared in utter disbelief at Rowan, who was calmly raising his pipe back to his lips.
That was a Warlord! Doflamingo! And he was just... slapped away?
The Marines who didn't know Rowan swallowed hard, frantically guessing the old man's origin. Even Tsuru was momentarily stunned.
Is Master Rowan's slap really this powerful? Or is Doflamingo just too weak? No, that's impossible. That's Doflamingo—the man I've chased across the seas for years without capturing!
Momousagi's eyes, however, erupted with a brilliant light, and the corners of her mouth arched high. This was the Mr. Rowan she knew!
"Hahaha! Good!" Zephyr laughed loudly, ignoring his unhealed wounds to clap his hands in approval.
Following him, Ain, Luffy, Zoro, and the rest of Zephyr's disciples all began to cheer. Even the other bewildered Marines joined in with thunderous applause. Most didn't know Rowan's identity, but as Marines, they found the scene incredibly satisfying.
To hell with the Warlords! They had been sick of those guys for a long time. If it weren't for the World Government's rules—and the fact that they weren't strong enough—they would have loved to deliver that slap themselves. Dammit, for a pirate to walk through Marine Headquarters with such an arrogant gait...
Lying on the stone slabs, Doflamingo was dazed. It took him a while to snap out of it. He reached up to touch the five glowing red finger marks on his left cheek. The stabbing pain made him wince. It was a mystery what his sunglasses were made of; even with that much force, they hadn't fallen off.
"You... you actually dared to hit me?!" Doflamingo blurted out, seemingly losing his wits from the shock of the blow.
Exhaling a puff of smoke, Rowan withdrew his aura and chuckled. "I didn't originally want to hit you, but who told you to act so smug in front of the Old Man?"
Rowan gave a very convincing reason, then continued: "Also, this slap wasn't for me. It was for my old friend, King Riku."
"King Riku?" Doflamingo's pupils shrunk. He knew exactly what that name represented—the royal family he had usurped to take Dressrosa.
Having said his piece, Rowan turned his back on Doflamingo, leaving only one final sentence behind.
"Instead of wasting time glaring at the Old Man, you'd be better off heading back to your little nest and enjoying your last few days of peace. After all, your 'quiet life' won't last much longer."
At this, Rowan looked back and gave Doflamingo a meaningful smile. "I know your status as a Celestial Dragon is useful in front of those five old geezers in the Gorosei, but here with the Old Man? It's worth absolutely nothing."
"You..." The unconcealed threat in Rowan's words caused Doflamingo's expression to change visibly.
Crawling up from the ground, the arrogance had completely vanished from Doflamingo's face. He didn't say another word, nor did he leave any parting threats; he simply walked out of the Marine Headquarters harbor, looking utterly humiliated.
"And what are you two still doing here? Do you also want to act smug using your Warlord status?!" Zephyr snorted, shouting sternly at the grim-faced Crocodile and Moria.
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