One week later, while the entire world was focused on the intense battles in the New World and most of the Marines' top combat forces had already returned there in preparation for possible changes, Sali quietly launched his move.
With Ash's help, he passed directly through a spatial gate and appeared ten thousand meters above Punk Hazard in the New World.
Unsure whether Kizaru was stationed on the island, Sali did not recklessly release his Observation Haki to scan the area. In any case, his real target for this operation was neither Vegapunk nor Kizaru, but the Heavenly Yaksha, Donquixote Doflamingo.
A day later, Sali arrived at Dressrosa, the country known for love, passion, and toys, which was not far from Punk Hazard.
With Ash constantly revealing future information, Sali had long known the truth behind those so-called toys in Dressrosa. If possible, finding Sugar and knocking her unconscious would be the most devastating blow he could deal to the Heavenly Yaksha.
Among the people turned into toys were nobles from other countries and even officials of the World Government. If the truth were exposed, it would severely shake Doflamingo's rule over Dressrosa.
Unfortunately, Sugar was one of the most important members of the Donquixote Family. She was heavily protected, and locating her without alerting Doflamingo would be extremely difficult.
Sali did not have the luxury of time. He needed to strike the hardest blow possible in the shortest time.
Fortunately, Wyper's recent visit to Amazon Lily had given him an excellent idea. And when it came to lightning, it just happened to be one of Sali's specialties.
However, since he had already drawn inspiration from Wyper's creativity, simply copying the same method would be meaningless.
Luckily, Sali was not only skilled in lightning. His control over ice was just as terrifying.
On November 3rd, in the year 1517 of the Sea Calendar, Donquixote Doflamingo finally experienced something he had never felt before.
Freezing rain.
Dressrosa, a spring island that was always warm and sunny, was suddenly swallowed by dark clouds. At that very moment, the members of the Donquixote Family were holding a meeting inside the royal palace, and the sudden change in weather immediately caught their attention.
A faint sense of danger rose in Doflamingo's heart.
When the family members stepped outside to investigate, they could barely make out a blurry figure high in the sky.
Then, without warning, massive hailstones the size of watermelons began crashing down toward the palace and every important area controlled by the Donquixote Family.
Compared to lightning, the hailstones were not as destructive, but they were still powerful enough to kill ordinary people instantly. Even the stronger members of the Donquixote Family felt pain when they were struck.
For a moment, the family members all used their abilities at once, shattering the falling hail and protecting the palace. Even though the hail was as dense as rain, they quickly created a safe zone.
"So that's all you've got?" Doflamingo sneered.
But the moment those words left his mouth, the hailstones suddenly changed.
They instantly transformed into sharp ice spears.
The speed and lethality of the attack increased several times over. Apart from Doflamingo and a few top executives, the rest of the officers, including Lao G, immediately escorted the younger family members back into the palace.
Naturally, the strange phenomenon happening above the royal palace was noticed by tourists and spies from different factions throughout Dressrosa. Seeing another Shichibukai being attacked in his own territory, many of them could not help but watch with interest.
Having just mocked the attack, only to see it become even more dangerous, Doflamingo's expression darkened.
With a cold snort, he activated the power of the String-String Fruit. Thick white threads shot out from the ground beneath his feet and wove together into a strangling net. Every ice spear that collided with it was instantly shredded.
"Fufufufufu…"
Doflamingo laughed again, but before he could say anything else, the attack changed once more.
Crackling lightning suddenly appeared on the ice spears.
In an instant, countless layers of lightning nets formed together with the ice spears and smashed down from the sky.
The moment the lightning touched the thread net, the threads were instantly charred and destroyed. Immediately after that, the combined ice spears and lightning slammed down toward the palace.
"Enough. Shield White String."
Humiliated again and again, Doflamingo finally stopped holding back.
With the power of his awakened Devil Fruit, the ground beneath everyone's feet began to transform. Huge white threads rose up and formed a massive shield, protecting the family members and blocking the rain of ice and lightning.
Listening to the constant thunder roaring above, Doflamingo's veins bulged as he turned toward the top executives.
"Trebol, go protect Sugar. No matter what happens, make sure she stays safe. Diamante, Pica, take the others somewhere secure. I don't want any distractions."
The three top executives immediately carried out the order. None of them doubted their young master's strength.
Once he no longer had to worry about protecting everyone else, Doflamingo stopped wasting energy defending the palace.
The next moment, he pulled his right arm back and suddenly swung it toward the sky. Dozens of nearly invisible threads shot upward and twisted together into a massive whip. The moment he coated it with Armament Haki, the entire whip turned black.
"Super Whip!"
The powerful strike instantly cleared a straight path through the storm, shattering every ice spear and lightning net in its way.
Using the opening, Doflamingo immediately raised his left hand.
"Sky Thread."
In an instant, the thread attached to the clouds and pulled him high into the sky.
At this point, Doflamingo had already guessed the identity of the attacker.
Someone who had a grudge against him, someone who could fly, someone skilled in both lightning and ice. There might be many people with one of those traits, but only one person possessed all of them at the same time.
White Lion Sali.
"How did that bastard get here so fast?"
The thought flashed through his mind, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the clouds and saw Sali floating there casually, scratching his chin while looking down at him.
"So it really is you."
The veins on Doflamingo's forehead bulged as rage exploded inside him.
"You're the one who started this, and you still dare to accuse me first?" Sali replied calmly, then smiled slightly. "But I'm curious. Knowing my abilities, how did you dare to come up here to face me directly?"
Doflamingo froze for a moment.
Then the lightning inside the clouds suddenly exploded.
Even though no lightning struck him directly, the violent explosion instantly destroyed the Sky Thread that was supporting him. His hand suddenly felt empty, and he began falling straight toward the ground.
Sali immediately chased after him.
With one hand, he used a burst of lightning to break through Doflamingo's temporary thread defense. At the same time, his other hand, coated with advanced Armament Haki and surrounded by lightning, smashed directly into Doflamingo's face.
Boom.
Doflamingo was sent crashing straight into the ground.
A moment later, he stood up again in the middle of a field of threads. His face, covered in hardened Armament Haki, was clearly uneven. Even though he had reacted in time, the power of that punch had still swollen his face.
Sali slowly descended but did not land completely. He stopped three meters above the ground and stared at Doflamingo.
"You're tougher than Crocodile."
He looked at Doflamingo's slightly burnt blonde hair, the pink feather cloak that was half destroyed, the swollen face, the blood at the corner of his mouth… and the sunglasses that were still completely intact.
Sali laughed.
"Ash was right. Those sunglasses really are your true form."