Holy Land · Mary Geoise.
At the Donquixote Family's residence, in the spacious courtyard, Doflamingo—the little demon—was committing yet another atrocity.
After getting taught a harsh lesson by Valthior at Sabaody Archipelago last time, he had slunk back to Mary Geoise in disgrace. Once he returned, he killed all the servants who had accompanied him.
Naturally, the Marines had no intention of spreading news about him getting beaten by Valthior, so to this day, no one knew he had also been slapped twice by Gaban.
As expected of someone who inherited the Donquixote Family's "mad blood," after returning to Mary Geoise, Doflamingo harbored some resentment toward Valthior—but at the same time, he developed a certain admiration.
He admired Valthior's recklessness, his sense of freedom, his unrestrained nature—being a Celestial Dragon yet going out to sea as a pirate.
On top of that, Valthior's domineering attitude—ordering his subordinates to slap him—made Doflamingo feel from the bottom of his heart that it was unbelievably cool!
Celestial Dragons should be like that!
What's the point of always bullying slaves and servants who can't fight back? A real Celestial Dragon should beat other Celestial Dragons!
So after returning from Sabaody, Doflamingo didn't hesitate—he grabbed his three-year-old younger brother Rosinante and beat him brutally, leaving the boy crying loudly.
Right after that, Doflamingo himself got a harsh beating from his mother.
At the same time, he realized that bullying Rosinante was meaningless. Wasn't that still just picking on someone who couldn't fight back?
So lately, Doflamingo had been thinking about how to become as cool as his uncle Valthior.
First, he needed to find another Celestial Dragon to beat.
Second, he needed to train himself—otherwise, if he lost, it would be even more embarrassing.
As for who to beat, Doflamingo hadn't decided yet.
But he had indeed been training recently.
For example, right now—in the wide courtyard, Doflamingo was repeatedly elbowing his slave, beating him until his face was swollen and bruised, improving both the strength and precision of his elbow strikes.
To be fair, Doflamingo did have some talent when it came to strength.
He might have looked underwhelming in the original story—but that depended on who you compared him to.
As the Heavenly Yaksha and a future Warlord of the Sea, even if he couldn't win, he was still someone who could clash with a Marine Admiral.
With talent like that, how could he be weak?
At five years old, this was the age to start rampaging. People like Garp were already beating wild beasts in the mountains at this age.
Doflamingo hadn't reached that level yet, but he had already begun to show his violent talent. Among Celestial Dragons of his age in Mary Geoise, none were stronger than him.
Otherwise, why would Saint Sommers take a liking to him? He was even planning to recruit him into the Holy Knights once he grew a bit older.
...
After two elbow strikes shattered the slave's nose and knocked him unconscious, Doflamingo curled his lips and said, "Bring another one!"
But just then, a servant of the Donquixote Family hurried forward with a newspaper in hand.
"Saint Doflamingo, the news about the Roger Pirates you mentioned earlier has been published today."
Doflamingo's interest was immediately piqued.
"Hand it over!"
As someone who would later become obsessed with reading newspapers, Doflamingo's literacy was actually quite high. Despite being just over five years old, he could already read fluently—far surpassing most Celestial Dragons his age.
Unfolding the paper, he quickly scanned through it.
"Oh! A Mythical Zoan? That's amazing! The strongest rookie on the seas? Why is the bounty only 280 million? That's way too low!" Doflamingo exclaimed, focusing on information about his "uncle."
"Saint Doflamingo, among pirates, a bounty of 200 million is already very impressive," the servant quickly explained.
"Is that so? 200 million can't even buy a mermaid slave, and that's considered impressive?" Doflamingo muttered in confusion.
Then he folded the newspaper and said, "I want to become a Devil Fruit user too. Does our family treasury have any Devil Fruits? Go find me a Mythical Zoan!"
The servant looked extremely awkward and quickly replied, "Saint Doflamingo, while the Donquixote Family does have Devil Fruits, none are Mythical Zoans. In fact, such powers are extremely rare. Whenever one appears in Mary Geoise, it is immediately taken by the Five Elders or the Holy Knights."
"Tch, nothing here, nothing there!" Doflamingo clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, then asked, "Where's that crybaby Rosinante?"
"Saint Rosinante has accompanied Lord Homing to the Nerona Family for a banquet," the servant answered immediately.
"Huh? Why didn't I hear about this? Why didn't Father take me?" Doflamingo froze for a moment, then grew annoyed.
"You said you wanted to practice your elbow strikes here at the time, so…" the servant explained.
Doflamingo thought about it and remembered it was true. He waved his hand dismissively.
"Let's go. Take me to the Nerona Family—I'm going to that banquet too!"
—
The Nerona Family's estate was located in the deepest part of the "God's Domain," occupying the best position in all of Mary Geoise.
Next came the families of the Five Elders, followed by the Figarland Family, and then the others in descending order.
Although there was no official hierarchy among Celestial Dragon families, in reality, there were clear differences in status.
Most people believed the Five Elders' families were the most prestigious.
Only a very small number of informed Celestial Dragons knew that the most noble family in Mary Geoise was the Nerona Family—the one to which Imu belonged.
However, Imu never delegated power to the Nerona Family. Since moving to Mary Geoise, the family had never produced any notable Celestial Dragons or important figures.
Thus, many Celestial Dragons who didn't know the truth didn't think much of the Nerona Family, assuming they were no different from themselves. As for their prime location—that was simply luck from centuries ago.
Doflamingo was exactly one of those ignorant ones. How would a five-year-old brat know anything about Imu?
Even his father didn't know. From what he had been taught, he only knew that the Five Elders' families were untouchable, and the Figarland Family wasn't easy to provoke either.
As for the rest?
No one was better than anyone—if you weren't convinced, come clash with the Donquixote Family!
—
By the time Doflamingo arrived at the Nerona estate, the banquet was already in full swing.
The place was lively, filled with Celestial Dragons from various families chatting, gossiping, and showing off the treasures they had recently acquired.
Walking through the banquet, Doflamingo tried to find his father but couldn't spot him anywhere.
Just then, a boy who looked to be in his early teens—much taller than Doflamingo—approached him, followed by a group of young Celestial Dragons who clearly treated him as their leader.
"Who are you? You look a bit familiar," Nerona Carfa said arrogantly, lifting his chin as he looked down at Doflamingo.
"Before asking me, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" Doflamingo snapped back immediately, his unruly personality flaring up.
Carfa froze for a moment.
There are still people in Mary Geoise who don't know me?
I am the third in line to the Nerona family! As long as my cousin and uncle die, I'll be the head of the Nerona clan!
(Indeed, the public head of the Nerona family was not Imu-sama; otherwise, wouldn't all the Celestial Dragons know of his existence?)
"My name is Carfa, third in line to inherit the Nerona Family!" he said, suppressing his displeasure.
"Third in line!?" Doflamingo scoffed. "I thought you were someone important. Just third in line? I'm Doflamingo, the young master of the Donquixote Family!"
He wasn't exaggerating. His father Homing was indeed the head of the Donquixote Family, making him the rightful heir.
"Doflamingo?" Carfa paused, then sneered. "Ah, I've heard of you. You're that despicable freak who beats up his own little brother at home, right?"
Doflamingo's temper instantly exploded.
"You dare insult me like that?!"
He went berserk on the spot.
Without hesitation, he used the move he had been training—launching a vicious elbow strike straight at Nerona Carfa.
At that moment, Valthior's figure filled his mind.
Dammit, a real man hits Celestial Dragons!!!
However, due to the height difference, five-year-old Doflamingo barely reached Carfa's waist.
So this elbow strike landed squarely… below the waist.
And as mentioned before, although only five, Doflamingo was already quite fierce and strong.
With a sickening crack, it sounded like something had been completely crushed.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
Then Carfa clutched his groin, blood pouring out as he screamed in agony.
Immediately afterward, the Nerona Family's servants panicked.
"Something terrible has happened! Saint Carfa has been severely injured by Saint Doflamingo's elbow!!!"
...
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