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Chapter 55: Can We Chat Now?
It's hard to imagine that Pica, a big, goofy man, has such a high-pitched voice that it makes people laugh. A huge shadow rose behind Darren, completely enveloping him. Yet Darren was unfazed by the surprise attack. Planting his feet on the ground as if he had long anticipated it, he blasted rocks everywhere with his step. With a mocking sneer at the corner of his mouth and his cigar clenched between his teeth, Darren whirled around and delivered a heavy backhand punch.
To combat Pica, who excels in strength, one needs greater strength to overpower him! Only this kind of rough and wild fighting can deliver the exhilarating feeling of fist meeting flesh.
The next second, their two fists, one much larger than the other, collided in mid-air like meteors crashing into the earth. Boom! The sound was like a heavy blow to an ancient copper bell, sending rippling waves through the air around them.
The deadlock, however, lasted only half a second. Beneath the rock giant's face, which shifted from shock to distortion to terror, sounds of cracking rang out. Starting from where Darren's fist connected, countless fissures quickly spread, soon enveloping the entire body of the twenty-meter-high rock giant.
Darren's fist unleashed power like the fierce exhale of a dragon. Boom! The rock giant's body disintegrated, turning into a curtain of gravel raining down from the sky.
Amongst the falling debris, Pica, clad in golden armor, hovered mid-air with his face blank, finding it hard to believe what he saw. In an instant, Darren vanished and reappeared above Pica. Lifting his black military boots high, wrapped in white waves of energy, he delivered a downward strike like a tomahawk to Pica's head. Boom! Pica was driven into the ground like a meteor, and a massive quake and roar burst from the town's center.
The ground within a hundred-meter radius caved in by half a meter as a towering column of dust and water shot into the sky.
"Super Strike Whip!" A hoarse shout traveled from afar. A hundred-meter-long silk thread plummeted from the sky, slashing at Darren who was mid-air and driving him into the ground decisively. The sharp thread cut a deep mark into the street, causing the ground to cave in and nearby buildings to tilt and collapse amidst clouds of smoke and dust.
One hundred meters away, Doflamingo, covered in blood, fought to crawl out of the wreckage, gasping for air. His gaze fixed on the center of the smoke and dust, he gritted his teeth, unable to stop the blood flowing from the corners of his mouth. At this point, he no longer possessed the conceit and haughtiness he had shown upon arriving on Rubeck Island. His sunglasses were cracked and on the verge of shattering. His short blond hair, mixed with dust and blood, appeared greasy. His ribs were sunken in, and his face was as pale as that of a corpse.
"Did I succeed?" Shielded by his sunglasses, his eyes locked onto the smoky area in the distance. He ignored the battered and severely injured comrades who had fallen to the ground. His super-strike twisting whip was the strongest technique he had mastered, so powerful it could even slice a pirate ship in half. Even that monster couldn't possibly—
The thought was interrupted when Doflamingo saw something horrifying. His eyes, bloodshot, narrowed into slits. The thick smoke began to dissipate, blown away by the strong wind, and a tall figure started to come into view.
He heard a long exhale. The smoke from his cigar slowly drifted, forming a banner in front of the formidable figure.
Footsteps approached slowly. The first thing to emerge from the thick smoke was a black military boot, followed by straight, slender legs. A muscular body with sharp edges came next, and a handsome, yet cold face appeared.
The cigar clenched between his teeth was still burning, giving off intermittent flashes of red light. There was a dazzling bloodstain on his chest, bleeding continuously. A sharp silk thread had embedded itself in his flesh, unable to sever his bones. "Well, this is interesting... it actually hurt me," Darren said, looking down at the thickened silk thread. He wiped his hand across the bloodstain and licked it from the corner of his mouth.
At that moment, Doflamingo felt the pores all over his body stand on end, as his body began to tremble uncontrollably. This guy was laughing! He was actually enjoying the thrill of the fight and his injuries! "That's enough," Darren declared. He pulled out the thread stuck in his flesh, twisted his neck, and looked up at Doflamingo, the blonde child, with a grim smile.
Darren bent his knees slightly and pushed off hard. Boom! Behind him, pieces of land and ruins collapsed, creating a massive fan-shaped groove. Darren shot forward like a cannonball, moving too fast for the eye to follow.
Doflamingo's pupils shook. Before he knew it, a fist heavily struck his abdomen. Boom! He doubled over and spat out blood, his eyes bulging. Boom! Another punch came from below, snapping his jaw and sending him flying into the air.
In the next instant, Darren leaped from the ground, reached Doflamingo in the blink of an eye, and kicked him out. Boom! Doflamingo was sent flying backward, but before he could land, a knee from behind heavily struck his back.
From the edge of the distant island, Flying Squirrel peered through his lookout glass and felt his scalp tingle at the sight. The blonde child, with the blood of "noble" Celestial Dragons in his veins, was being tortured by Darren. He was whipped, kneed, and elbowed in midair like a football, blood spraying continuously in a miserable display.
Around the ruined streets, Doflamingo's severely injured family cadres watched in horror, utterly dumbfounded by the exaggerated scene before them.
A full minute passed before Darren's final volley sent Doflamingo, his body tattered and bones fractured, crashing heavily to the ground. Darren landed with ease, flicked the ash from his cigar, took another bite, and walked towards the twitching, bloodied Doflamingo.
Reaching him, Darren found Doflamingo struggling to open his swollen eyelids. Darren grabbed Doflamingo's head, lifting him into the air to meet his gaze. The setting sun broke through the clouds, casting a layer of bloody hue upon everything. In the midst of smoky ruins, Darren, standing three meters tall, carried the blood-covered blonde child who reached only his waist. Blood dripped from Doflamingo to the ground.
Darren looked quietly at the unconscious Doflamingo and suddenly smiled. "So, can we talk now?" He paused, as though remembering something, and added, "By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. That was rude of me." Darren exhaled a stream of smoke. "My name is Rogers Darren, Chief Officer of the North Blue Marine. Everyone calls me 'King of North Blue', but I prefer my other nickname... 'Marine's Scum.'"