One Piece: Crown of Darkness

"Fufufufu~~~"

Doflamingo grinned, shaking his numb left arm until feeling returned. He moved slowly inland on Baterilla Island instead of out to sea or into the sky, his ill-intentioned threat unspoken but clear.

Whoosh~~~

The wind howled.

Roger's already authoritative, upturned eyes now widened in fury, gaining even more imposing power. "No one dares to harm my comrades, my family... you yellow-haired brat!"

"Don't try to scare me. I know you once stood up for a crewmate who was slandered and destroyed a country's army, but that only proves they were too weak! That's all, fufufufu~~~" Doflamingo sneered repeatedly. "'Golden Lion' almost wiped out the entire Roger Pirates, including you, killing and injuring so many of your crew, yet I don't see you doing anything to him!"

Roger gritted his teeth. "His Golden Lion Grand Fleet is buried at sea; that's his fate!"

"Oh, please! You know better than I do what happened at the Edd War! If you got lucky, just enjoy it quietly; don't flaunt it and invite ridicule," Doflamingo scoffed, his sarcasm exceptionally cutting. "Do you really think just because people call you the 'Pirate King,' you own the whole world? In the end, you're just cooped up in this rotten place, waiting for a painful death in destitution! So, do you know why I came dressed in a black suit? You're nothing but a skeleton in a tomb."

"Hahahaha~~~" Roger actually laughed heartily. After laughing, he said expressionlessly, "My life was explosive, exciting, and glorious. That's enough! What do you understand, kid?"

Doflamingo retorted, "Of course I understand. I understand that I must never end up as pathetic as you are now in the future."

"You truly are a pure bastard, just like that 'Golden Lion' you mentioned. You two are quite similar," Roger grinned, then changed the subject. "How do you know so much? About Rouge, even about the boy being named Ace and the girl Ann... Not even many of my crewmates knew about Rouge, and Ace and Ann were private conversations between only Rouge and me."

"You haven't made a move, yet after all this talking, that's what you're wondering about? Fufufufu~ Just like you, I also possess the 'Voice of All Things,' and the pinnacle of Observation Haki, 'Future Sight.'" Doflamingo brazenly spun a web of lies, speaking words he probably didn't even believe himself.

Roger snorted. "Who are you trying to fool?"

"Don't you want to kill me? Why not try to capture me alive, question me, and then kill me? Fufufufu~ A brilliant idea, isn't it?" With a sudden flick of his finger, Doflamingo's sharp edge emerged. "Parasite!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

While they were verbally sparring, Doflamingo had secretly buried his strings in the sand, subtly weaving a net underground. Now, he was pulling it tight.

"Too slow!"

Thump!

With a knee bend and a sudden leap, Roger shot straight through the not-yet-tightened opening of Doflamingo's net, lunging back at him.

"Bullet String: Duet!"

Thump, thump, thump!!!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!"

With his idle right hand, Doflamingo pressed his index and middle fingers together like a gun, firing a triple shot in a triangular pattern before him. Six high-speed, steel-hard threads, like needles, fanned out, blocking all of Roger's attack angles.

Clang, clang, clang!

The sound of metal clashing.

Roger directly withstood Doflamingo's nearly transparent string attack, and with incredible precision, hardened his body with Armament Haki exactly where the strings were aimed.

"As expected of a high-level Observation Haki user unlike any before, you're really troublesome," Doflamingo muttered with a sigh, quickly retreating and widening the distance again after his attack failed. "Sure enough, a sickly tiger is still a tiger."

Roger, however, looked surprised and uncertain. "Devil Fruit ability, strings, that's fine, but Shigan! I saw shadows of the Rokushiki... Just who are you? A Marine? A Cipher Pol agent?"

"Fufufufu~ Keen senses, shrewd judgment," Doflamingo's "Bullet String," broken down, was a fusion technique of the Rokushiki's Shigan and the String-String Fruit. He answered Roger's first question but not the second, asking teasingly, "Guess?"

Roger bared his teeth, irritation clearly rising within him. How many years had he spent fighting battles, traveling from north to south, east to west? How many Marines, pirates, World Government agents, and ordinary people had he encountered? He had never met someone as bizarre as Doflamingo...

"You little punk!" Roger took a deep breath, deciding not to waste any more words. "It's time for this to end. You're still far too weak."

Oomm!

An immensely powerful aura surged forth, radiating from Roger, engulfing the surroundings like a tangible force. Instantly, trees rustled and the clear waves rippled.

"Conqueror's Haki, fufufufu~ It's useless," Doflamingo shook his head, but he didn't confront it directly by unleashing his own Conqueror's Haki to clash.

Roger was right; compared to Roger's imposing aura, built over decades of accumulated power, Doflamingo was indeed far inferior. If he foolishly chose to clash with his own Conqueror's Haki and fell into a disadvantage, his strong will could easily shatter, leading to endless repercussions. He had to guard against that.

A moment later.

Doflamingo's eyes widened. "No, you're someone with the pinnacle of Observation Haki; how could you not foresee your Conqueror's Haki being ineffective against me? Or... fufufufu~ can you no longer use it? And your 'Voice of All Things,' did you hear the voice in my heart?"

Thump, thump, thump!

Stomping his foot, Doflamingo began to ascend into the air, heading straight for the clouds.

"Don't think of escaping!"

Roger's speed was no less than Doflamingo's rapid ascent, but he truly didn't anticipate it beforehand; it was a subsequent reaction.

"Fufufufu~ A spent force, that's what you are, 'Pirate! King!'" Having probed for the information he wanted, Doflamingo abruptly turned, his arm extending backward as strings shot out, weaving. "Overheat!"

Whoosh!

Rumble!!!

A massive whip swung diagonally, its length even reaching the coast, severing clusters of trees.

Rolling dust enveloped and then dissipated.

Roger, back in his original spot, had a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth...

It wasn't Doflamingo who had struck him. Doflamingo was certain he had missed just now. Roger's incredibly gifted Observation Haki was too strong; how could he have failed to dodge?

Doflamingo hovered in mid-air, gazing at the trickle of blood at the corner of Roger's mouth. After much deliberation, he chuckled, "Fufufufu~ What a truly failed trip. Farewell, 'Pirate King'! I will definitely take good care of your family. Just you wait."

"He didn't fall for it, what a shame," Roger muttered, watching Doflamingo disappear into the distance. He wiped away the blood from his bitten lip, creating the illusion of a relapse, and sighed, "My body is degenerating too quickly, even something like this..."

Bathed in the dreary rain, Roger stood frozen for a long while, lost in thought.

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