Boom. Though the noise was subtle, it resounded across the entire Knockdown island. The civilians, enjoying their time in Doflamingo Park, began to express annoyance.
Boom. Then, they realized, that multiple pirate ships suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Those ships rapidly sailed away from the island toward the far horizon, and this served as a phenomenon that implemented fear into civilians.
"W-wait, what's going on?!" One man cried before pulling his daughter out of an amusement ride, "Come, Rusty, we're getting out of here right now!"
"But papa—"
"No buts!"
Said pirate ships, of course, harboured numerous pirates. They were the ones whom Doflamingo hid within this island, as well as the smart fellows who realized that the situation wasn't going in their favour.
"U-um, are you sure about this, captain?" One pirate on the front-most ship among the distant pirate ships expressed his nervousness, "If Doflamingo finds out about us, he'll kill us!!"
The captain of the crew immediately barked back, "Idiot!! Do you think Doflamingo will even be alive by then?!! Do you have an idea of what kind of monster Doflamingo touched?!!"
He pointed his finger back at the Knockdown island that they were traveling away from, "White Hunter was on that island!! That freaking White Hunter, one who killed not only Nightmare but also Hell Blaze!!! How the hell do you think Doflamingo can stand victorious against that man?!!"
His hands then trembled as he continued, "Three years ago... I, Ferdinand, was there. I saw the might of Nightmare Gecko Moria, the huge fella whose rumours matched his strength. And I also witnessed back then—the fall of that Nightmare against White Hunter. And three years passed. I bet you... Doflamingo doesn't even have one percent change of winning—"
BOOM!
"—W-wha?!!"
Then, a pirate ship that sailed adjacent to theirs suddenly exploded into pieces. The captain stopped his words and gazed at the cloud of smoke with widened eyes. Then, as the smoke cleared, they saw, one Marine ship triumphantly sailing toward them with cannons aimed at their ship.
On top of said Marine ship that faced Ferdinand's pirate ship, three individuals were found: one pink-haired woman, Hina, and two men, Akehende and Shu.
"Ahh, a-are you sure about this, Hina?! There are tons of pirate ships around us right now!! Gahhh, we're all going to die!!!!" Shu screamed in horror, and Hina, in response, clicked her tongue while putting on the black gloves on her hands,
"Shut up. Hina's ears hurt." Hina growled before kicking Shu away. She then shouted at Akehende, "What the hell are you waiting for?! Load the cannonballs!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!" Akehende responded with underlying fear before hurriedly running to the back.
A week ago,
Next to Hina was Zephyr, who was listening to the conversation. And he said back then,
<...Heh, some real experiences won't hurt. Go. Take those five baffoons with you.>
So here she was in the present, with Shu, Akehende,
"Hina-senpai, a permission to engage?"
Ain, who held onto a sword as she locked her eyes on the distant pirates,
"Hm...! Now this is what we call a challenge!"
Binz, who conducted an odd dance that seemed like a ritual of some sort,
"Bahrarara!!! I was wondering when things will get interesting!!"
and Shuzo, a newcomer to Zephyr's training program during Smoker's absence.
"...Six remaining pirate ships in sight," Hina stated coldly, "Their abrupt run means that they've cut their ties with Donquixote family, and thus, are alleged 'criminals.'
Make sure that not a single one escapes."
In response to her words, Ain smiled, while Binz and Shuzo grinned excitedly. And then, within the sea nearby Knockdown island, the battle of four... six marines against six pirate crews has begun.
__________
Within the grassy plain where the bright sky illuminated its mesmerizing scenery, numerous individuals surrounded one white-haired Marine Officer, Smoker. His justice coat shone brightly upon receiving the sunlight, and from the gist of it, there wasn't even a single tear.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!
In contrast to the gentle wind, the endless supply of bullets flew at Smoker. Some pirates held onto mere rifles, and select few managed to get their hands on more extensive ones such as gatling guns.
However, Smoker simply stood by. His body generated numerous holes upon the bullets flying through him, however, those holes emitted wisps of smoke instead of blood, indicating no harm at all.
"Fullbright!"
Then, within this chaos of bullets, five sharp strings, coated in Armament Haki, suddenly flew toward Smoker from Doflamingo. Smoker, identifying those strings, slashed Shusui upward,
CLANG—!
parrying them effectively. At the same time, clicking sounds were heard from all around; the pirates' faces turned pale as they realized that they ran out of ammos.
And just as the gunfire ceased,
"Corrida Glaive!!" Diamante charged in at Smoker with his sword bizarrely flattened and folded to resemble that of a bull.
"Haaap!!" The huge man with a blonde beard, Machvise, jumped high in the air and spread his limbs as he began to fall at a rapid speed, "10-Ton Vise!!"
The man who seemed abnormally old in comparison to the rest of the pirates, Lao G, bulked up in an instant before dashing toward Smoker alongside Diamante, "Geo-Fist Ultimate Technique: Battle Insurance Fist!!!"
Gladius, holding onto an exquisitely designed pistol, shot a round of bullets that abruptly inflated as they flew, "Pop Baller...!"
"Sticky Launcherr!" Trebol, from his hand, threw multiple balls of mucus at Smoker.
Together, it was an absolute mess, with all kinds of attacks flying in from everywhere. The booming noises, the loud war cries, and...
'...the gentle wind.'
Smoker thought as he closed his eyes. All noises around his, except for the rustling sounds of wind, muffled out. And there, he reflected,
The eyes of those women under Barnon's slavery—ones that were filled with despair.
The state that young children were in, within that filthy state of a ship.
The sheer number of civilians whom he rescued from the hands of slave dealers. For the past few months, Smoker went through the epitome of human greed, those who forsook their humanity for the sake of money. And at the top, Doflamingo stood—manipulating them with his petty strings.
Swoo...
The attacks from the executives of Donquixote family, they were now right in front of his eyes as he opened them. The muffled noises returned back to him, and the gentle wind has become negligible to his skin.
"...How laughable," And there, Smoker, with his eyes shaded by his bangs, snarled in disgust, before vanishing from his spot.
BOOM!
"AHH!!!" Diamante, with Smoker's absence, was blasted back by the combined techniques of Trebol and Gladius. Lao G, appearing where Smoker stood until just a moment ago, punched through nothing but thin air, before Machvise crashed onto him from above.
Thud.
Doflamingo, gritting his teeth as his facial expression uncontrollably trembled, let out a cold sweat upon one of the pirate goons flopping to the ground with his mouth foaming.
Thud.
One, two, three—Doflamingo watched as one by one, his subordinates fell. The executives too, watched their surroundings warily as the pirates fell with their eyes hollowed out, next to the already-dead Pica.
Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud.
The will of Supreme King. Doflamingo felt the hair on his skin standing up. Smoker's haki—it wasn't the same as what he experienced minutes ago. At its full might, here Doflamingo helplessly stood, with the subtle fear creeping into his soul. Then, Doflamingo instinctively reacted,
CLANG!
Meeting Smoker's Haki-imbued fist with his Haki-imbued left arm—
"Black Blow."
BOOOOM! Doflamingo's vision then shifted, before he felt an inexplicable pain from the area of impact.
"Do.. Doffy!!"
'...W-what just happened...' Doflamingo, trying to regain his sense while he was flying up in the air, turned his head to the area in which he felt the pain from—
—gone.
'...H-huh?' Doflamingo's left arm was missing a hand. Instead, there was a bloody stump. And then, he also noticed, a white trail of smoke that extended all the way from his body to Smoker's right hand.
"White Hook."
Then, Doflamingo was suddenly yanked back toward Smoker. Doflamingo, even forgetting the pain, quickly generated numerous strings from all around his body to protect himself,
"Cocoon—"
Smoker's fist easily penetrated through his string-made dome, and,
"Black Blow."
BOOOOM!
Doflamingo vomited blood as he was mercilessly punctured by Smoker's fist, by the exact same technique once again.
'...Where... where is my family?' Doflamingo thought as his entire body screamed in pain, 'What are they doing—'
Tap. Doflamingo became pale as he felt the exact same grab by the white smoke on his body.
"White Hook."
He was a chosen one born with Conqueror's haki. Within his blood ran down the blood of Celestial Dragon—the noblest heritage above all. In addition, he was the 'Joker,' the underworld powerhouse who was second only to the mysterious 'Id.'
'And yet... how did I end up in this kind of situaiton?!' Doflamingo thought in exhaustion as Smoker held him by the neck, with his right fist ready to punch the former for the third time,
"Black—"
CLANG!
Four men suddenly struck their techniques on him.
"Let go of young boss... now!!" Lao G shouted as he pushed his fist onto Smoker's shoulder.
"Urgh..." Diamante pushed his abnormally flattened sword—made with the ability of his Ripple Ripple fruit—that exhibited sharpness, against Smoker's arm that held onto Doflamingo's neck.
"Pop..." Gladius was holding onto a rock, and the other end of the rock was in contact with Smoker's back. This rock was swelling up at a rapid speed due to his Pop Pop fruit.
"Hnnnnggg!!!!" Machvise, increasing his weight to his maximum capacity with the use of his Ton Ton fruit, held back Smoker's right fist as hardest as he could.
And,
"Sticky Sticky Chainn!!" Trebol generated a chain of mucus that latched onto Doflamingo's pink flamingo-like attire, trying to pull his boss out of Smoker's grip.
"""""HAAAAA!!!!!""""" The five of them screamed at their utmost strength. They used every inch of energy they had to free Doflamingo from Smoker.
"..."
And Smoker frowned in response, expressing nothing but annoyance. The fact that these scums's eyes were filled with determination—it truly disgusted him.
Then,
Smoker's entire body began to turn metallic black in colour—indicating the full-body Armament Haki Hardening.
Swoo... The smoke began to gather beneath Smoker's feet. It swirled smoothly, and the executives of Donquixote family couldn't help but feel intimidated. Nonetheless, they gathered their resolve,
"LET GO OF DOFFYY!!!"
trying to save their boss from the hands of Smoker.
"...O-oi... no. No no no, no...!" Doflamingo, witnessing as Smoker was coated by the Armament Haki from head to toe, desperately thrashed against Smoker's grip,
"YOU WON'T DARE, WHITE HUNTER!!!!!"
but the marine's iron grip was far too strong. Doflamingo raised his right hand up and desperately blasted rounds of thick ropes over and over again,
"OVERHEAT!! OVERHEAT!!! OVERHEAT!!!!!"
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
but all was futile.
"OVERHEA—"
And at the next moment,
"Black Out."
The entire surrounding was flooded by a huge volume of black smoke, engulfing not only the executives but also the unconscious goons of the Donquixote family. Then, said black smoke combusted magnificently,
BOOOOOOM!
...
Then, there was silence. The subtle noises of bodies falling to the ground were heard, and as the smoke cleared from view, the burned and torn-apart body parts of all five executives of Donquixote family were scattered around the only standing man, Smoker. Without a doubt, all of them were dead.
However, Doflamingo, on the other hand, though he too was lying with his bodies torn apart as well,
"...Huff... huff..."
was slowly reattaching them back through the use of his strings.
"...Huff... huff... I... huff... can't... huff... die yet..."
Doflamingo, as his body was being reassembled like a puzzle, slowly raised up his right hand at Smoker, who silently gazed down at him.
"Who... huff... who... are you... huff... to... look down... on... me..."
Doflamingo seemed to be one step away from death. He, latching onto the realm of living with all he had, muttered,
"Sixteen... huff... huff... Holy ... huff... Bullets—"
PUK.
A simple tobu shigan was fired from Smoker's index finger. Said technique punctured Doflamingo's forehead, and ended the life of the 'Heavenly Demon.'
Smoker, coldly staring at the bloody corpse of Doflamingo, remarked,
"...A fitting end for petty pirates,"
before turning around and walking away from the scene.