The pirate ship sailed steadily across the sea under a glorious sun. Seagulls chased each other, playing in the sky. It was a perfect day.
On the deck of a large ship, a slender blond man trained intensely. Shirtless, he held a 450-kilogram dumbbell in each hand, moving it up and down with such vigor that the calm ocean surface was stirred by small ripples. The scorching sun was blocked by the man's sunglasses, his expression remaining hidden. Sunlight gleamed on his tanned skin, with crystalline beads of sweat hanging, running like a small river winding through the bed of his abdominal muscles.
"Young Master, you truly work hard," said Jagger 'The Cruel,' who had just joined the crew, with respect.
Nobody achieves success easily. When we see others' success, we tend to envy them, but unconsciously ignore the difficulties they faced and the sacrifices they made. Doflamingo took the towel handed to him by his subordinates and wiped the sweat from his body as he said to Jagger: "I'm still too weak."
Jagger was deeply thoughtful upon hearing that.
"Jagger, do you know why I wanted to take you to sea?" Doflamingo continued, without waiting for Jagger's answer: "Only after seeing the magnificent world can you deeply comprehend your own weakness. Being weak isn't terrible. What's terrible is not even having the courage to become strong. My Family doesn't need a burden. If you want a place in it, you need your own efforts."
Doflamingo's words were not just for Jagger, but for all the Family members. If they continued to be as unsatisfactory as in the original work, living in inertia and intimidating others in Doflamingo's name, then there would be no reason for them to exist.
The pirate world never lacked ambitious climbers. Give them a chance, and they'll devour you like hungry wolves. The path to becoming a king was bound to be full of difficulties. Doflamingo didn't want to carry a bunch of burdens with him. When the time came to abandon them, he would never show mercy. Doflamingo was destined to be a person like this: "I'd rather disappoint the world than let the world disappoint me."
Doflamingo was never stingy when it came to giving what should be given: power, treasure, beauty. As long as you had ability, you could get everything from Doflamingo.
In fact, in the original work, Doflamingo never blamed his Family members, even if they were weak or failed in battle. For example, when Baby 5 and Buffalo were captured in Punk Hazard, Trebol accidentally made Sugar faint, and Diamante lost the Mera Mera no Mi. Doflamingo merely dismissed it with a few words (which, in a way, showed his magnanimity).
For his own people, the Doflamingo of the original work was truly admirable, which probably explained why the Donquixote Family members always believed in him.
Of course, this was also one of the reasons for Doflamingo's failure. Although he was lenient with his opponents, demonstrating the magnanimity of a king, due punishment was also necessary. Otherwise, they would only remember the "reward" and not the "consequence." Baby 5's betrayal was a bloody lesson.
If someone in the Family retreated and hesitated in making decisions, the Family would suffer the consequences. Doflamingo kept these lessons in mind: a king could be merciful, but he should have an iron fist.
Regardless of whether his subordinates listened to his words or not, Doflamingo didn't intend to say anything more. He had said enough, and it was up to them to know how much they could understand.
Wasn't it good to exercise in such pleasant weather? Why bother talking to these tough guys? They weren't sweet and gentle girls for spiritual therapy and talking about life. By the way, cough, cough, cough, he was thinking in the wrong direction. Doflamingo seriously asked: "Where are we now? Are we near Reverse Mountain?"
A navigator, under Jagger's command, approached and immediately responded respectfully to his boss's boss:
"Young Master, we are still some distance from Reverse Mountain. It will take a few days to get there."
Doflamingo waved his hand and paid him no further attention. He said to Trebol: "Trebol, the rest is up to you." After that, he walked towards his room without waiting for Trebol to reply. Exercise also required a balance between work and rest.
They sailed calmly for a few days, but the sea was truly immense, and the endless water could easily cause fatigue.
They were still in the period before the beginning of the Great Pirate Era, and the number of pirates was much smaller than in later generations. Of course, the strength of the pirate groups they encountered was not as weak as those of future generations.
Even so, the chances of two pirate groups meeting were relatively rare. The true warriors had already passed through Reverse Mountain and entered the Grand Line, which was the testing ground for the strong.
With a "boom," cannonballs exploded in the sea around the hull. The center of gravity of Doflamingo's ship immediately became unstable, and the helmsman turned the ship to dodge. It must be said: did cannonballs in the pirate world really hit their target? This was a thought-provoking question.
Doflamingo, who heard the loud noise, was bored with the long journey. Blindly training wasn't as pleasurable as fighting an enemy. Only practice could make him stronger and help him evolve between life and death.
Doflamingo rushed out of the room immediately and shouted to his men: "Approach their ship! My hands are itching! It's time to have some fun!"
"Hey, Doffy, do you want to do it alone? It seems something interesting is about to happen," Trebol said to Doflamingo at the bow of the ship.
"Fufufufu, it's time to see the distance between me and these strong men. Fighting is our nature, so let's be reborn in battle." Doflamingo said with a smile, looking at the pirate ship in front of him.
"Vergo, you don't need to act before we reach Skypiea. You have more important tasks. Diamante, want to play a game? Do you dare to rush onto the opposite pirate ship with me to fight and see who can kill more?" Doflamingo turned and looked at Diamante. "Hahaha, Doffy, that's exactly what I want!" Diamante replied with a smile.
The enemy pirate ship approached, and the two vessels were soon side-by-side.
The pirates on the opposite ship looked at Doflamingo and Diamante, who were rushing towards them, but didn't seem panicked. Instead, they laughed at Doflamingo and said: "Hahaha, even kids are becoming pirates now. Kid, use all your strength to show me if you can hurt me!"
Doflamingo ignored the ridicule, but Diamante couldn't help himself. As a member of Doflamingo's Family, he would never allow anyone to look down on him and immediately retorted: "You're about to die, but you're still stubborn. How arrogant!"
Doflamingo took the lead and charged towards the opposing captain, his sandbag-sized fist heading straight for his face. If that powerful blow connected, the one-eyed captain would be crippled, if not dead.
Unfortunately, there was no "if." His two strong and powerful arms crossed to block the fist. There was a loud bang in the air, but the one-eyed captain didn't move.
"Fufufufu, you're quite strong. I, One-Eyed Robinson, am a pirate with a 50 million Berry bounty, after all. How could I be defeated by you so easily? Kid, don't underestimate me!" Robinson wasn't merciful in his words and lunged with a powerful knee kick towards Doflamingo.
Seeing this, Doflamingo propelled himself with his legs and attacked Robinson from the air with his "Rubber Axe," in Luffy's style. With such force and power, Robinson was instantly thrown against the bottom of the cabin. Seeing this, the other pirates around immediately rushed towards Doflamingo and brandished their swords at him.
However, the strange thing was that no matter how hard they cut, they couldn't touch Doflamingo. He was as agile as a stingray. Doflamingo activated his Observation Haki and dodged the attacking swords with little effort.
"What's going on? Why can't we hit him, kid? Aren't you very brave? Why are you hiding?" Seeing this, the surrounding members of the One-Eyed Pirates shouted at Doflamingo and attacked him again, unwilling to stop until he died.
"Fufufufu, you ignorant and pathetic weaklings. Since you're so eager to die, I can only be merciful and welcome you," Doflamingo laughed uncontrollably and charged at them. A punch here, a kick there, without any hesitation. Wherever Doflamingo went, someone fell.
What was comforting was that these pirates weren't afraid of death. After all, the pirates of the Four Seas didn't know what it meant to be dominating. Compared to Doflamingo, who mastered Observation Haki, the difference in strength was like an abyss.
Diamante, on the other side, also took care of the last man, and the One-Eyed Pirates were eliminated, except for the captain.
A loud noise came from the hole in the bottom of the boat. It turned out that Robinson, who had been hit, leaped out of the rubble.
Doflamingo looked at Robinson, who jumped out of the pit, and said in Admiral Kizaru's mocking tone:
"How terrible! Is this the strongman with 50 million Berries? He's really that scary!" Upon hearing this, Robinson's already unhappy face became even more cruel. Seeing his once powerful pirate group destroyed in an instant, he knew he had met a tough opponent.
Robinson chose not to retreat. He took a deep breath, and suddenly, a huge black wolf's head grew on his gloomy face. In an instant, he transformed and attacked Doflamingo.
The sharp claws shone with a chilling, cold light. If anyone was caught by them, they would be immediately torn apart. How could Doflamingo, who had all dodge points mastered, be hit?
He successfully dodged the sharp claws and advanced to punch the one-eyed wolf hundreds of times, hitting the small werewolf so hard that he couldn't control himself. Robinson protected his head with both hands and suffered hundreds of punches.
Although Doflamingo was very powerful and his attacks were sharp, the Zoan type was the most resistant to attacks. Doflamingo, without Armament Haki, didn't cause much damage to Robinson.
"He truly lives up to his reputation as a 50 million Berry man. He's strong enough to take a beating," Doflamingo said, helplessly, seeing this.
"Ninety percent, ninety percent. Didn't you eat? Try harder, brat!" Seeing Doflamingo stop attacking, Robinson yelled fiercely at him.
"Indeed, the Zoan type deserves a beating. In that case, if one punch doesn't work, I'll hit you again and again until you kneel. Kneel, One-Eye!"
Doflamingo regrouped and landed another punch on the one-eyed wolf. He used his Observation Haki to dodge the wolf's sharp claws and repeatedly hit Robinson's vulnerable body parts.
Robinson felt pain and said: "Ah, little animal, die!"
The werewolf's attacks became increasingly violent, but without any method. In Doflamingo's eyes, who had the ability to "predict" movements, he was already a turtle in a pot and not far from defeat.
"The weak must be aware of their weakness. Go to hell, One-Eye."
Doflamingo punched One-Eye's heart with all his might. The powerful force tore Robinson's heart. Robinson's eyes gradually turned white, and he spat blood. The winner was Doflamingo.
Slowly pulling his fist from the one-eyed man's chest, the man fell to the ground. Doflamingo looked at the blood on his hand with disgust and said expressionlessly:
"Go back. I hope the next one is stronger."