"Vice Admiral Rowen!"
"Sir Rowen!"
"Vice-Admiral"
In front of them, all the Marine soldiers trembled with fear as they gazed at the sky, using their loudest voices to warn Rowen of the impending attack from behind.
This battle was never their fight. In the presence of Top-Level Pirates, ordinary soldiers, even regular officers, were nothing more than cannon fodder. Even if they were to spot the Sixteen Holy Assassin's Bullets, formed by special white threads, they would be utterly defenseless against it!
"What a formidable vitality, wouldn't you say?"
Rowen let his arm drop, his interest waning as if he had resigned himself to the inevitable. He spoke to Dante, and in the next moment, the Sixteen Holy Assassin's Bullets pierced into his body.
Sizzle!
"Vice Admiral Rowen!"
Helplessly witnessing Rowen being impaled by the Sixteen Holy Assassin's Bullets, the hearts of all the Marine soldiers shattered in despair.
The symbol of invincibility in their eyes, the one who had supported and led them to leave the Marine Headquarters and come to the G-10 Marine Branch, Rowen, was he truly going to meet his end like this?
Thud!
Doflamingo crashed heavily onto the ground, utilizing all the fine threads that composed the cocoon to unleash a lethal attack.
At that moment, his appearance was inconsequential, for his entire body was burnt to a charred black, and he was almost unrecognizable. Only his eyes still radiated a sinister and bloodthirsty gleam in them as he looked at Rowen.
He crawled on the ground in a pitiful state, observing the expressions on the soldiers' faces, and his scorched muscles twitching slowly.
"Fufufufufu… Fufufufufufufu!!!"
"I've won… I've finally won!!"
Doflamingo's face beamed with ecstatic joy as he looked at all the expressions on the surrounding soldiers. Despite losing nearly all of his flesh, with meteors piercing through his body and his injuries pushing the boundaries of recovery, he continued to laugh maniacally.
The crimson glimmer in his eyes intensified, and Doflamingo bellowed toward the heavens.
"Did you see that?!"
"This is the power I wield that could even annihilate gods!"
Despair filled the soldiers' eyes as they watched Doflamingo lying in the distance. Although they knew he was gravely wounded and on the brink of death, they could not muster any thoughts of resistance.
To the soldiers of this base, Rowen was their sky, their pillar of strength!
It was Rowen who, with his unparalleled achievements and charismatic persona, had made them willingly submit to him, transforming them into his sharp swords, and conquering all obstacles that lay in their path!
With Rowen's demise, many individuals found themselves lacking a reason to fight, even in the face of their adversaries.
Among all the Marine soldiers present, only Dante maintained a composed expression on his face.
Because…
"What a tedious attack…"
At that moment, an indifferent voice resonated through the air. Its volume wasn't loud, but under Rowen's control, it reverberated clearly in the ears of all the soldiers present in the base.
Instantly, their eyes ignited with unimaginable brilliance as they fixated their excited and fervent gazes upon the calm figure standing behind Doflamingo.
Rowen wasn't dead!
He hadn't even sustained a scratch!
Not even his attire was damaged!
"Nani?!!!"
These words reached not only the soldiers' ears but also Doflamingo's.
Doflamingo's pupils contracted suddenly, and his neck grew as heavy as lead, creaking as he turned around.
"Why?"
"There's no 'Why. in this' If I truly had to provide an explanation for this then I can only say that it was probably because I am stronger than you…"
Rowen, still brimming with energy, lit a cigar for himself as he spoke. Peering down from a commanding vantage point, he locked his gaze upon Doflamingo with a complex expression in his eyes.
Realization hit Doflamingo like a bolt of lightning (Excuse the pun) as he detected a sense of disappointment in Rowen's eyes that was beyond just the murderous intent.
Why did he feel disappointed?
Doflamingo couldn't comprehend it.
"The Sixteen Holy Assassin's Bullets · God Thread – God's Execution" and the "Thousand Arrows Pierce the Heart · Feather Strike · String" were not fundamentally distinct. Even if they were composed of special threads with greater power, it was essentially the same technique.
It was merely a quantitative change resulting in an increase in power, not something new at the level of a Devil Fruit Awakening.
Doflamingo's last "Hope" was to employ the same move again, to "Rely on old tricks." Naturally, Rowen felt a profound disappointment by these moves.
Zzzt!
An eerie electric current emanated from Rowen's skin.
His Justice cloak billowed in the ferocious wind as Rowen, with his indifferent gaze, looked down upon Doflamingo from above. He raised his hand to chest height, and the high-voltage current continued to gather between his index finger and thumb.
Then, accompanied by a sharp crackling sound of "Buzz!", a small black glass bead, the size of a fingernail, materialized out of thin air in the void… Rowen remained silent, taking aim at Doflamingo with the black sphere.
"F*ck!!"
As the one who had accompanied Rowen for the longest time, Dante, like Zephyr and others, understood Rowen the best.
Beyond his imposing aura, cunning, and strength that elevated him above others, what Dante admired most about Rowen was the passion and talent he displayed in his relentless pursuit of becoming stronger!
Once, Dante had seen Rowen and Ceaser engaged in a clandestine discussion about a forbidden topic: What means would be necessary to utilize the Thunder-Thunder Fruit in order to "Bring about the World's Destruction"?
Dante didn't want to recollect that conversation. The fact that two science enthusiasts had delved into concepts of atoms, molecular reconstruction, and electromagnetic forces was mind-boggling.
Yet, precisely because they were science enthusiasts, Dante could vividly remember Rowen's final resigned sigh.
"Forget it, why dwell on all that? It's better to focus on developing Raigo – Thunder Greeting!"
Now, Dante wished he could slap himself for asking that foolish question, "What is Raigo – Thunder Greeting?"
"Vice Admiral! Stay calm! He is still a Celestial Dragon!"
Dante knew all too well what lay upon Rowen's fingertip. Although the mighty Meteor Spear failed to slay Doflamingo, that object undoubtedly possessed the capability to finish that task!
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Doflamingo was taken aback as his gaze fixed upon the spinning black sphere floating at the tip of Rowen's finger. It appeared as though a realization had dawned upon him.
"You wish to kill me, don't you?"
"Do you dare to kill me?!"
Suddenly, Doflamingo's nearly ravaged body burst forth with unimaginable madness and wickedness. The malice and arrogance on his face were undisguised. His overwhelming aura enveloped them, even momentarily freezing the air.
…
You can read ahead up to 40 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395