"What did you do to my family?!"
Doflamingo had just returned to Dressrosa. The moment he arrived at the docks, his expression twisted with fury. Pica lay unconscious on the ground, completely defeated, while not far away, the shattered frame of Gladius's glasses rested near Sali's feet. The scene alone told him everything had gone terribly wrong.
"I knew this would happen."
Sali slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if calming himself.
"Don't get worked up. Ash was right, fools like this always ask pointless questions."
Dicken gave a light chuckle, trying to ease the tension as he noticed Sali's irritation rising.
"This guy actually made it back from the sea? Wasn't he supposed to be distracted by the sinking of his ship? What a waste of time waiting here," Jason muttered, clearly annoyed.
Jella scratched his head, glancing at Sali with uncertainty.
"Should we just end this quickly?"
Sali didn't respond. He simply cast Jella a brief glance, then moved.
Without a word, he shot forward, charging straight toward Doflamingo, who hovered in the air, his rage barely contained.
Despite appearances, Doflamingo wasn't acting blindly. He was stalling. He knew he stood no chance against Sali in a direct fight, so he had been buying time, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
Originally, he thought he had more time. But the moment he heard one of Sali's men mention killing Pica, everything changed. He had no choice but to return early.
Now, he had no room left to maneuver.
Seeing Sali rush toward him without hesitation, Doflamingo steadied himself. Even if he was outmatched, showing fear now would only accelerate his defeat.
As long as he survived, there would always be another chance.
With that thought, he made his move first.
"Five Color String!"
Threads coated in Armament Haki shot forward, slicing through the air with deadly precision.
A thunderous sound followed.
The strings disintegrated instantly, burned to nothing before they could even reach their target.
"Still using tricks like that?" Sali said calmly. "Have you learned nothing?"
In the next instant, Sali was already in front of him.
His leg, hardened with Armament Haki, came crashing down toward Doflamingo's head.
Doflamingo barely dodged in time. Realizing that staying in the air only put him at a disadvantage, he began shifting positions deliberately, moving in a way that turned his back toward Dicken and the others while subtly drawing Sali farther away from them.
He continued dodging, calculating, waiting.
Sali's attacks were relentless, and Doflamingo could feel the pressure building. If this continued, Sali might escalate and overwhelm him completely.
So he made a decision.
Pretending to misjudge the timing, Doflamingo crossed his arms and concentrated all his Haki to block.
"Boom!"
The impact sent him flying.
But this was intentional.
His body spun through the air, heading straight toward Dicken and the others.
Sali paused mid-air for a brief moment, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. Then he sighed, slowing his descent instead of immediately pursuing.
Doflamingo saw it.
And he laughed.
"Fufufufufu! White Lion Sali, I'll make you feel the pain of losing your family too!"
His left hand rose, fingers shifting into position.
"Parasite String!"
Invisible threads descended from above, targeting Dicken, Jason, and Jella.
Dicken didn't even look up immediately. He calmly glanced at the document Ash had given him earlier.
"This technique is called Parasite String. It inserts threads into the body to control the target's movements."
Jella's eyes widened.
"He's trying to control us? That's disgusting!"
Before the strings could reach them, flames erupted from Jason's body.
A burst of intense heat shot upward, incinerating the threads instantly.
Doflamingo's eyes widened in disbelief.
"How is that possible?!"
He couldn't understand it. These weren't just ordinary subordinates. Each of them could casually dismantle his techniques.
Before he could react further, something felt off.
One of them was gone.
A sharp sense of danger surged through him, but it was already too late.
Jella appeared beside him in an instant.
Sali, still descending, observed closely. In less than a second, Jella had activated his Half Beast Transformation to boost his speed, then immediately canceled it, closing the distance so fast it looked like teleportation.
Sali gave a small nod.
That technique had potential.
Doflamingo barely had time to register what was happening before Jella grinned.
A fist coated in dense Armament Haki slammed directly into his face.
"Bang!"
The impact sent Doflamingo spinning through the air before crashing onto the ground.
For a brief moment, everything went dark.
When he finally regained his footing, he rubbed his jaw, his expression filled with shock.
That punch… it was almost as strong as Sali's.
He stared at Jason and Jella, emotions swirling in his eyes. Shock, envy, jealousy, and hatred all mixed together.
Such power. Such talent.
Why weren't these people part of his crew?
What he didn't realize was that things could have been far worse. If Dicken had joined the attack, he might not even be standing right now.
"Pfft…"
Doflamingo spat out blood along with a broken tooth. Despite his condition, he started laughing again.
"Fufufufufu… Having subordinates like this must be nice. Strength like theirs is more than enough to qualify as Warlords. I wonder how they compare to Demon Saint Pini and Demon Saint Youki under Heavenly Emperor Ash?"
The moment he said that, Jason and Jella raised their hands at the same time, shaking their heads.
"Can't beat them."
Doflamingo froze.
That wasn't the reaction he expected.
He wasn't asking for an honest answer. He was trying to provoke them.
Behind them, Dicken struggled to hold back his laughter.
Doflamingo had unknowingly picked the worst comparison possible.
Among them, Sali was the strongest. Right after him came Youki and Pini.
And now, he had just reminded Sali of that fact.
Sali didn't respond to the provocation.
He simply walked forward.
Then he attacked.
His fists came down relentlessly, each strike heavy and precise.
Doflamingo gave up on counterattacking entirely. He focused all his Haki on protecting his head, enduring the barrage.
Because he knew something important.
Reinforcements were coming.
And sure enough, as he faced the sea, he saw it.
A faint glimmer of light approaching in the distance.
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