"Damn it!"
Yamato frowned, her delicate brows knitting together.
She had expected to leave Onigashima and travel freely, but now she was stuck here again.
And to make things worse, she had to fight for her own food. So unfair!
...
The massive black dragon had already spotted the glowing lights of the Sabaody Archipelago in the distance.
Doflamingo, however, had no interest in the whims of a certain brat. His entire focus was on Raijin Island.
Douglas Bullet was no ordinary opponent.
This wasn't like facing Crocodile, where things seemed evenly matched on the surface.
Their battle wasn't one of stalemates. A brief exchange and separation—that was the best way to describe it.
But Bullet's strength wasn't limited to what he would achieve in twenty years.
In the original timeline, he had withstood an all-out Buster Call led by Garp and Sengoku.
He had been treated the same as the Golden Lion before finally being imprisoned.
The ones left on Raijin Island were Enel and Moria.
Enel had the power of lightning, but his physical endurance was a weakness.
Moria had decent physical strength, but his lack of Haki was a fatal flaw.
And Bullet?
He was a beast personally honed by Roger and Rayleigh.
A true top-tier warrior whose physical strength, raw power, and Haki were all at their peak!
"If Moria dies, that's fine. But Enel better not get himself killed."
Perched atop the dragon's head, Doflamingo's expression grew increasingly grim.
His forces were already limited, and every strong fighter under his command was invaluable.
...
Meanwhile, on Raijin Island...
Bullet, piloting his massive war machine, was engaged in battle against a gigantified Moria and his shadow warriors.
It was a one-versus-two fight.
Yet, the battlefield seemed completely reversed.
Bullet's war machine launched relentless attacks, driving Moria and his shadow warriors back with overwhelming force.
"Hiss—!"
Diamante, having just returned from the sea, took in the brutal clash before him and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Are rookies in the New World always this terrifying? He's completely overwhelming Moria."
Bullet had debuted as a newcomer after leaving Roger's ship.
Even Rayleigh, Roger's right-hand man, hadn't caused much of a stir back then.
So why should a mere rookie matter?
Diamante had never taken Douglas Bullet seriously.
To him, Bullet was nothing more than a madman—one with no crew, no territory, and no real future.
"Whoosh!"
Ducking under a massive boulder hurled through the air, Diamante quickly retreated toward the sea, escaping Raijin Island's strange magnetic field.
He had to report the situation back to Doffy.
If rookies were this strong nowadays, then how had he and Trebol even survived in the New World back then?
As expected, this world belonged to natural-born kings like Doflamingo.
He and Trebol were merely his subjects.
...
At the heart of the battlefield...
The relentless barrage of blows finally changed rhythm.
Bullet's war machine drove its iron fists downward, pinning Moria's massive sword to the ground.
With his other hand, Bullet grabbed Moria's shadow warrior and slammed it into the main body.
"Boom!!!"
Bullet, unfazed and dominant, looked down at the staggering Moria.
"Is that all you've got, Moria?"
Gasping for breath, Moria glared at Bullet. He was in bad shape.
His body and sword were covered in imprints of Bullet's relentless punches.
His onion-shaped head had swollen dramatically.
Even worse, his eyes were bloodshot.
He could feel himself losing control.
His Haki was slipping. His body was teetering on the edge of collapse.
If he was going to lose control anyway, he might as well accelerate the process!
"I'm not done yet!"
Moria roared, absorbing his shadow warrior back into himself.
His muscular body thickened and bulked up, gaining a grotesque, bloated appearance.
"Come on then!!!"
With a furious bellow, he charged forward.
"Hahaha! Now that's more like it!"
Bullet laughed, his war machine surging to meet Moria head-on.
The impact of their clash was like primordial titans reshaping the world.
"But this is where you exit the stage!"
Easily dodging Moria's erratic claw strikes, Bullet wound up his war machine's enormous fist, Haki surging around it.
The sheer density of his Armament Haki warped the air around him.
All of Bullet's Haki condensed into one devastating blow, slamming directly into Moria's swollen head.
"BOOM!!!"
A sickening crack rang out.
Despite Moria's enhanced physique, his skull fractured on impact.
His body crashed to the ground with such force that the entire island trembled.
Like a human hit by a speeding truck, Moria's crimson eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.
His grotesquely swollen face deflated like a punctured balloon.
His nose, cheekbones, jaw—every single part of his face had been reduced to shattered fragments.
A flurry of shadows, now freed from his control, scattered into the air.
"What kind of monstrous strength is that?!"
"Boss Moria!!!"
"Are you okay, Captain Moria?!"
...
From the distance, Moria's remaining subordinates charged toward the battlefield, their legs trembling with fear, desperate to help their fallen leader.
Ignoring Moria's barely-breathing form, Bullet turned his gaze toward the stormy heavens.
"You're ready now, aren't you, Lightning Kid?"
"ZZZZZZT!!!"
A massive lightning bolt crashed down.
Bullet didn't even flinch—because the target wasn't him.
Moria's limp body was sent flying by the blast, landing among his panicked subordinates.
Enel's current state was strange.
His body and consciousness had partially merged with the thunderclouds above.
Most of his thoughts had gone silent, leaving behind only primal instinct.
Everything was dedicated to one purpose—attack.
Watching as the sky split open into eight massive voids, Bullet felt an unprecedented sense of danger.
His heart pounded in his chest.
"Eightfold Lightning Judgment!!!"
"BZZZT!"
Eight black-purple arcs of electricity erupted from the voids.
Bullet grinned. Now things were getting interesting.
Stones from the ground fused with his war machine through the power of his Devil Fruit.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
His armor shattered instantly under the first wave of attacks.
But it was enough—Bullet had already escaped the range of the lightning arcs.
Unlike before, he didn't launch into the air.
His war machine wasn't built for nimble movement.
In a situation like this, there was only one answer—
Firepower against firepower!
Bullet activated his Devil Fruit.
Cannon barrels unfolded from the war machine's chest and arms.
"Endless Warfire!!!"
Lightning and artillery clashed in a chaotic explosion.
The entire island became a battleground for two titanic forces.
From his retreating position on the sea, Diamante wiped sweat from his forehead.
There was no need to return to Raijin Island to check on the fight.
The sky was already putting on a grand display of fireworks and thunder.
"I wonder how long Enel can hold out..."
...
Amidst the endless explosions, Moria's subordinates hesitated on the shoreline.
"Should we grab Boss Moria and run now?!"
"Idiot! He sold his freedom to the devil for us!!!"
"You fool! Do you want Boss Moria to be branded a traitor?!"
...
Wrapped in bandages, Moria blinked.
"Damn it... that hurts...!!!"
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+220 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg