[196] : Doflamingo Dies! Plundering Fortune! Whitebeard Makes His Move!

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CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Violent, tyrannical crimson-black lightning flashed wildly through the atmosphere. This Haōshoku Coating—on a completely different level from Luffy's, almost dyed the entire sky red.

"How scary... Dark King Rayleigh," Kizaru murmured, his hands raised in surrender as he ceased his elementized form, a sword held at his neck.

"GURARARARA! Rayleigh! You bastard actually came," Whitebeard laughed heartily.

"It's been a long time, Whitebeard—" Rayleigh replied, enveloped in Haōshoku Coating, a smile on his face.

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"RAYLEIGH! DAMN IT!" Sengoku's expression changed drastically.

This retired old geezer had really appeared on this battlefield alongside Sky Sovereign Rowen!

A combatant of this caliber could directly influence the war's outcome.

And at such a critical moment!

"Too late!" Sengoku's face was incredibly grim.

Kizaru, with his Glint-Glint Fruit, could have stopped all this. But Rayleigh's appearance completely shattered that possibility!

Was everything calculated??

The Ultimate Human... Sky Sovereign Rowen!

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WHOOSH!

A transparent Air Door materialized out of thin air.

BOOM!

Violent lightning, twisting and warping space itself, erupted!

"Space itself is warping?? What is this power??" Sengoku's forehead throbbed, his eyes feeling like they would split open.

The target of this power was—

"BASTARD!" Doflamingo roared, unleashing his Armament Haki and String-String Fruit abilities.

But—

BANG!

Doflamingo's Armament Haki and String-String Fruit abilities—were like fragile threads before this space-warping lightning, instantly shredded and devoured.

KAMUI—THUNDER SERPENT!

The Munch-Munch Fruit, Door-Door Fruit, and Rumble-Rumble Fruit—three Awakened Devil Fruit abilities, synergizing into a terrifying technique!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The space-warping lightning engulfed Doflamingo, utterly annihilating him and the surrounding buildings!

One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Doflamingo—DEAD!

"Plunder!"

Rowen activated his power.

——

—[Successfully plundered Doflamingo's Warlord 'Fortune'!]—

—[Magnet-Magnet Fruit ability—AWAKENED!]—

——

Doflamingo's Warlord 'Fortune' yielded the Desire to 'Be a Magnet' needed to Awaken the fruit. The Magnet-Magnet Fruit Rowen had obtained from Kid—completed its Awakening.

And—

Doflamingo's Awakened String-String Fruit was also obtained by Rowen. Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki also became nourishment, strengthening Rowen's own.

Poof!

The Doflamingo who had been standing beside Mihawk—dissolved into threads and vanished. It was a string puppet clone.

Upon the main body's death, the Devil Fruit ability naturally dissipated.

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"Overly clever idiot!" Sengoku cursed inwardly, seeing Sky Sovereign Rowen drag Doflamingo's real, now-lifeless, body out from the shadows.

A string-clone, controlled from a hidden location, could deceive enemies. And because the user himself became a 'String man', under calm conditions, even Observation Haki couldn't distinguish between the puppet and the user when their emotions were calm.

—When their emotions were calm!

Did that idiot really think he could fool Sky Sovereign Rowen??

Sengoku now understood why this man hadn't revealed himself immediately, instead letting his subordinate crews and the Straw Hats appear first—he had been in the Door-Door Fruit's alternate dimension, pinpointing Doflamingo's true location...

With the Human-Human Fruit's enhanced intellect and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's Haki amplification, any slight emotional fluctuation could be detected by Rowen.

And because Doflamingo was hiding, not in his designated Warlord position, even Sengoku on the execution platform couldn't provide immediate support!

And Kizaru, the only one fast enough to intervene, had been pinned down by Rayleigh!

The moment Doflamingo's location was confirmed was the moment Rowen appeared. AND THE MOMENT DOFLAMINGO DIED!

Trying to show off the String-String Fruit before the World's Strongest Devil Fruit User... What an idiot!

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Thump!

Watching Doflamingo's corpse being thrown down before the live broadcast cameras, Sengoku's forehead throbbed.

Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords, dead just like that. In front of the entire world!

Seeing Doflamingo's body, the entire battlefield fell silent for a moment.

Killed in a single, irresistible blow!

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"Been a while, Aokiji, Akainu," Rowen stated, scanning the battlefield with a smile.

"Rowen..." Aokiji replied, his face grim.

Akainu's face was incredibly dark.

"Shall we say we've finally met?? Sengoku," Rowen called out, looking towards Sengoku on the execution platform.

Though they hadn't fought directly, Rowen had clashed with Sengoku multiple times through strategic maneuvering.

Sengoku's face darkened further.

In their remote clashes, he had been completely led by the nose by this man. Marine HQ, under his command, had suffered heavy losses at Rowen's hands.

For this man to speak so casually now—was a blatant humiliation!

Rowen then looked towards the stunned Ace.

"Ace! I'm here to save you! Hahaha!" Rowen laughed heartily.

"Rowen!" Ace cried out, shocked. Having only met once, and just because of Luffy, Rowen was willing to get involved in this chaotic war??

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"It's the World's Strongest Devil Fruit User!"

Screams of shock echoed across the battlefield.

"B-BIG NEWS! Warlord Doflamingo killed publicly at Marine HQ by Sky Sovereign Rowen!"

"THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MAN—HAS APPEARED ON THE BATTLEFIELD!"

"The Pirate King's Right Hand, Vice-Captain of the Roger Pirates. 'DARK KING' SILVERS RAYLEIGH HAS ALSO APPEARED!"

"SKY SOVEREIGN AND THE DARK KING HAVE JOINED FORCES!"

"WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE WORLD??"

Sabaody Archipelago absolutely exploded with this news. The battle's turn of events was too fast, too terrifying.

The Navy had been completely suppressing the Whitebeard Pirates. The scales of victory had been tipping in the Navy's favor!

But from the moment Straw Hat appeared... everything went wrong.

Sky Sovereign Rowen—appearing on the battlefield like a new-era King—killed a Warlord with his first move. Though Rowen had killed Warlords before, that was just in reports.

Seeing it happen live was a completely different level of impact.

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"Gurararara! Sky Sovereign Rowen! What a remarkable man!" Whitebeard laughed heartily.

That space-warping lightning that left Doflamingo with no escape. With Whitebeard's eye, he could naturally tell that lightning attack contained more than just one Devil Fruit ability...

The horrifying power from the synergy of multiple Devil Fruits—even he had to take notice.

Terrifying, bizarre, even chilling!

As expected of the man with the title 'World's Strongest Devil Fruit User'.

Even Whitebeard, user of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit hailed as being able to destroy the world, would admit—in the realm of Devil Fruits, no one on these seas was stronger than this man.

"That is the power of Sky Sovereign Rowen..." Marco and the other commanders stared blankly at Doflamingo's corpse.

With a single move, Rowen had demonstrated the terror of the World's Strongest Devil Fruit User to the world.

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"Warping space. What a power," Mihawk's hawk-like eyes also narrowed. This power was beyond even what Haki could achieve—only a Devil Fruit could do it.

NO... Even Devil Fruit abilities couldn't!

Only this man, Sky Sovereign Rowen, who could mix multiple Devil Fruits together, could achieve this feat.

The warrior's soul within Mihawk began to beat intensely...

"Sky Sovereign Rowen... W-Why is my heart beating so fast," Hancock murmured, feeling her heart was about to leap out of her throat.

Seeing this man in person, seeing his utterly domineering presence, perfectly matched her image of the man who caused the Mariejois incident, who trampled the Celestial Dragons with his power—

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"Mihawk." Zoro's gaze shifted towards Mihawk.

"Hm?" Mihawk, sensing Zoro's gaze, turned his own hawk-like eyes towards him.

CRACKLE! BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Conqueror's Haki erupted violently!

Mihawk's and Zoro's Conqueror's Haki clashed in mid-air, creating a terrifying storm!

Many pirates and Marines caught in the clash instantly fainted!

A Clash of Conqueror's Haki!

A Clash of Kings!

"BASTARDS! RECKLESSLY UNLEASHING CONQUEROR'S HAKI—" Sengoku grit his teeth as he watched his formation fall into chaos—though the pirate side also suffered, the Navy had more numbers!

"Not drawing your sword against me??" Mihawk asked Zoro.

"The time to challenge you hasn't come yet. I swore to Rowen—I will not lose again," Zoro replied, looking at Mihawk with a feral grin.

"Roronoa... you have truly grown," Mihawk commented, a faint smile on his lips.

In less than a year, this man had grown from a frog-in-a-well to a powerhouse possessing Conqueror's Haki.

Just as Sky Sovereign Rowen had said, this man possessed the disposition of a King. And his Haki was strong—Already on the path to mastering Haōshoku Coating.

And he was no longer impulsive...

Merely using Conqueror's Haki to display his 'Disposition'—not challenging him on sight like in East Blue.

This proved Roronoa had truly learned from that defeat, had accepted his loss. A man who could admit his failure and still face the one who defeated him with such composure... Roronoa's future was limitless.

Mihawk increasingly looked forward to the day Zoro would challenge him.

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"To clash Haki with Hawk-Eyes. As expected of the 600 million Beri man!"

"RORONOA!" The pirates, seeing Zoro, roared in cheers, their morale surging.

"Tch! Moss-head idiot, just recklessly releasing his Haki," Sanji spat, thoroughly displeased.

"Hmph. You can release yours too," Zoro glanced at Sanji.

"I'm not like you, just causing trouble on the battlefield!" Sanji pointed at the fainted pirates around Zoro.

"HAAA??? Didn't you see more Marines went down?? The enemy's formation was broken. You just can't control your own Conqueror's Haki yet, can you??" Zoro retorted, poking Sanji in the nose.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY??" Sanji, his sore spot hit, flared up, his eyes blazing.

BOINK! BOINK!

Two sharp raps sounded as Zoro and Sanji clutched their heads, their eyes bulging from pain.

"YOU TWO IDIOTS! STOP CAUSING TROUBLE FOR ROWEN! GET BACK TO THE BATTLEFIELD AND KILL THE ENEMY!" Nami roared, transforming into her sharp-toothed angry state.

"YES, MA'AM!" Zoro and Sanji instantly snapped to attention.

"Cat Burglar is so scary!!" The surrounding pirates watched Nami, breaking out in cold sweat.

"YOU GUYS GET BACK TO KILLING THE ENEMY TOO! STOP STARING!" Nami yelled, veins popping on her forehead as she heard the pirates' murmurs.

"YES, MA'AM!"

With Sanji and Zoro as examples, these notorious New World pirates immediately snapped to attention, then frantically charged towards the Marines.

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"Sky Sovereign Rowen!" Meeting his nemesis, Akainu's eyes burned red with hatred, his magma boiling furiously.

This man who brought him the greatest shame of his entire career!

To wash away that shame... this public broadcast to the entire world was the best opportunity.

As long as he took down this man, he could erase that shame!

GURGLE! GURGLE! BOOOOOOOOM!

Akainu's body transformed into magma, preparing to charge towards Rowen.

"Gear Fourth——! BOUNDMAN——!!!"

Luffy instantly transformed into his Gear Fourth state!

VMM! BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Violent, tyrannical crimson-black lightning coiled around Luffy's fist.

In his Boundman state, Luffy's Armament Haki was already fused with his rubber body—now, the power of Haōshoku Coating was added on top!

"Hm??" Akainu, seeing Luffy charge towards him, his face darkened.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY! STRAW HAT!" Akainu roared, swinging his magma fist directly at Luffy.

Horrifying magma instantly boiled, attempting to completely consume Luffy!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The violent energies collided instantly!

"STRONG!" Luffy grit his teeth, feeling his own Haki being rapidly consumed.

He had only preliminarily mastered Haōshoku Coating—even with Gear Fourth, against Akainu's full power, though not completely helpless, the Haki consumption was terrifying.

"Hmph! Son of Monkey D. Dragon. I'll deal with you first!" Akainu roared, exposing Luffy's lineage.

"Th-The son of that worst criminal??" The Marines and the reporters on Sabaody were stunned again.

"Arara... Even if I have to risk my life... I have to stop you from providing support, Rowen," Aokiji appeared before Rowen, his expression grim.

But Rowen just smiled at Aokiji.

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"Huh??" Akainu, furiously attacking Luffy, sensed a shadow behind him.

"Magma brat!"

VMM!

The power of tremors and Haki enveloped a fist!

The World's Strongest Man, Whitebeard—had made his move.

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