Douglas Bullet had been born in the so-called "Country of Endless War" somewhere along the Grand Line's treacherous waters. Abandoned as an orphan during his earliest years, he had grown up within the ranks of a merciless military organization that knew only violence and conquest.
He had served as an active soldier on countless battlefields since childhood, but he had also experienced devastating betrayals from friends, commanding officers, and superiors at a remarkably young age. These repeated acts of treachery had gradually shaped his fundamental worldview.
As a result of these painful experiences, Bullet had developed an unshakeable belief in trusting absolutely no one except himself. He considered depending on companions to be nothing more than a symbol of weakness, something that would inevitably lead to defeat and disappointment.
Eventually, due to the countless betrayals he had endured, Bullet had systematically destroyed both his home country and the army that had raised him. From that moment forward, he had been relentlessly hunted by the World Government and had begun his life as a wandering fugitive across the seas.
During this turbulent period, the fifteen-year-old Bullet had already consumed the Clank-Clank Fruit, and his natural strength had developed at an exponential rate. He had never experienced defeat in combat until the fateful day he encountered Gol D. Roger himself.
Because Roger had been the very first person to make him taste the bitter flavor of consecutive losses, Bullet had made the momentous decision to join Roger's pirate crew. He had challenged the Pirate King constantly throughout their journey together, only to be defeated time and time again with frustrating consistency.
In his desperate quest to surpass Roger and claim the title of strongest person in the world, Bullet had continued intensifying his already brutal training regimen. Even though he had eventually reached a level where he could fight Silvers Rayleigh on seemingly equal terms, he remained uncertain whether the Dark King had been holding back during their sparring sessions.
When Bullet had learned that Roger was suffering from a terminal illness and wouldn't live much longer, he had fallen into a state of profound anxiety and confusion. Once again, he had begun believing that friendships and emotional bonds only served to make people weak, and he had even questioned whether Roger's legendary strength had been compromised by his attachments to others.
After challenging and losing to Roger one final time, Bullet had resolutely withdrawn from the Roger Pirates and set sail alone as an independent rookie, determined to forge his own path to ultimate power.
Several years later, the shocking news of Roger's public execution had sent ripples across the entire world. Bullet, having lost his primary target and motivation, had descended into madness and rampaged across the seas with unprecedented fury, turning the ocean into a chaotic battlefield where no one could find peace.
In the end, the Marines had been forced to launch a Buster Call operation targeting him alone—an unprecedented show of force. Both Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the legendary Marine hero Garp had been dispatched together to bring him down. After an earth-shaking duel that had lasted for days, Bullet had finally been exhausted and captured.
From that moment onward, he had begun what could only be described as an intensive training regimen within the confines of Impel Down's Level 6, treating the underground prison like his personal gymnasium. It was during his long imprisonment that he had made the firm resolution to become the strongest pirate in history and definitively surpass Roger's legendary accomplishments.
Bullet had set himself the ultimate goal of defeating every powerful fighter in the world, including all Four Emperors and Marine Admirals, in order to prove to the entire world that he could dominate everything and claim the title of absolute strongest.
Because of this burning ambition, when Bullet had sensed Jerry and his crew landing on the island, he had deliberately released a brief pulse of Conqueror's Haki in their direction, making it easier for the infamous captain to locate his position.
Bullet was tremendously satisfied with both Jerry's reputation for strength and his position among the world's most wanted criminals.
In his calculating assessment, Jerry represented a rare and valuable measuring stick that would allow him to clearly gauge the current power levels of the ocean's most formidable individuals.
Seeing Bullet flexing his joints and rolling his shoulders with obvious preparation for immediate combat, Cavendish stepped forward decisively. He unsheathed the sword at his side and pointed its tip toward the ground in a classic dueling stance.
"We can't allow random challengers to face our captain without proper protocol," Cavendish declared with aristocratic dignity. "If you want to fight Jerry, you'll have to get through me first!"
Hearing this bold proclamation, Bullet slowly shifted his predatory gaze until it came to rest directly on the self-proclaimed pirate prince.
"Ha-ha-ha! The so-called 'Pirate Prince' Cavendish, is it?" Bullet grinned with obvious anticipation, his entire muscular frame beginning to radiate a suffocating aura of barely contained violence. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to deal with you before moving on to the main event!"
"Hey now! Bullet, you don't seriously intend to start an all-out war right here in my base, do you?" Festa interjected anxiously as the two powerful fighters prepared for imminent conflict.
This underground cavern served as his primary headquarters and sanctuary—he definitely didn't want to see it collapse due to the devastating battle that was about to erupt between these two powerhouses.
"Fair enough. We can't exactly cut loose properly in this cramped space anyway," Cavendish acknowledged with aristocratic reasonableness. "Let's take this fight outside where we'll have room to maneuver."
The moment he finished speaking, Cavendish transformed into a brilliant flash of lightning and shot upward at tremendous speed.
After a thunderous explosion that shook the entire underground complex, everyone could see that the thick mountain wall had been completely destroyed, creating a long, straight passage that led directly to the surface world above.
Before Jerry and his companions could even comment on this dramatic exit, an even louder roar filled the air as Bullet—not to be outdone in terms of making an impressive entrance—charged forward while systematically destroying everything in his path.
"Seriously... are they both just incredibly stubborn?" Deuce observed, looking at the two newly created passages that were now illuminated by natural sunlight streaming down from above. He shook his head with obvious exasperation.
"You don't understand anything!" Jerry replied with mock wisdom, then paused and reconsidered his words. "Actually, this is supposed to be some kind of psychological contest before the real battle begins. They're both trying to establish dominance through... well, I can't really justify this anymore. They're just being idiots."
Jerry shrugged helplessly at the unnecessary destruction, then turned around and began heading toward one of the passages.
After taking several steps, he paused and shook his head with resignation. "You know what? Forget it. The road's already been opened for us—it would be wasteful not to use it. I might as well head up there and see how this plays out!"
He gave Deuce and the others a casual wink, then launched himself into the air using his enhanced physical abilities, rushing upward through the passage that Cavendish had carved with his lightning-enhanced sword techniques.
Just as Jerry emerged from the underground cavern and returned to the island's surface, the thunderous sound of a massive collision suddenly echoed across the landscape.
"Are they seriously going to start fighting immediately?" Jerry mused, adjusting his trajectory mid-flight and rushing toward the northern part of the island where the sounds of battle were originating.
There, Cavendish and Bullet had already begun their fierce confrontation in earnest.
Brilliant electrical discharges flashed constantly as Cavendish's figure flickered around the battlefield with supernatural speed, his sword leaving trails of light as it cut through the air with precision strikes.
The seemingly immovable Bullet proved to be no less formidable than his reputation suggested. The explosive power hidden within his heavily muscled frame made him not only extraordinarily strong but also surprisingly fast for someone of his impressive bulk.
Both fighters' attacks came with the speed and ferocity of a devastating hurricane.
Cavendish quickly discovered that his opponent's Armament Haki was stronger than anything he had ever encountered before in his career as a pirate.
No matter how he attacked, regardless of how sharp his blade might be or how much of his own Armament Haki he channeled into his strikes, he still couldn't manage to inflict any meaningful damage on his opponent.
There seemed to be an absolutely indestructible invisible barrier protecting Bullet's entire body. Even when Cavendish managed to penetrate this defensive layer, he found himself confronted by the overwhelming physical toughness of Bullet's naturally enhanced physique.
Even though Cavendish quickly activated the explosive combat abilities of his alternate personality Hakuba, he still failed to cause any significant harm to Bullet. He could only maintain his advantage in terms of pure speed, managing to leave numerous shallow scratches across his opponent's skin—like trying to carve stone with a feather.
Bullet's fighting style was refreshingly simple and devastatingly direct. Apart from occasionally blocking some of Cavendish's most powerful sword energy attacks, most of his combat strategy involved trading punch for sword strike—absorbing damage in order to land his own devastating blows.
This brutal approach made Cavendish grit his teeth in mounting frustration as he gradually felt the tactical restrictions closing around him.
He understood perfectly well that he didn't possess the same level of defensive capabilities as his opponent. His advantages had always been concentrated in razor-sharp offensive techniques and lightning-fast mobility.
If he allowed this fight to devolve into a pure slugging match with Bullet, it wouldn't take long before he found himself beaten into unconsciousness.
However, Cavendish had no intention of sitting passively and allowing his opponent to gradually wear him down through attrition.
"What's wrong, boy? Why won't you commit to a real attack?" Bullet taunted with obvious amusement, his fist coated in dense Armament Haki as he continued his relentless advance. "What exactly do you think such a delicate sword is going to cut through?"
Although Bullet had been successfully suppressing Cavendish throughout their initial exchanges—even managing to inflict minor wounds during their first few clashes—he found himself unable to land clean hits once his opponent had adjusted to his fighting rhythm.
Facing Bullet's verbal provocations and his approaching fists, Cavendish moved like a phantom, skillfully avoiding every attack while quickly retreating several meters to maintain optimal fighting distance.
Suddenly, a dangerous gleam flashed in Cavendish's eyes as he raised his sword high above his head, a proud and confident smile spreading across his aristocratic features.
"Beautiful Sword: Lightning Attraction!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his lips, Cavendish flickered forward once again. Accompanied by violent lightning bolts that came crashing down from the storm clouds overhead, he swung his blade directly toward Bullet's head with devastating force.
Thanks to the dense cloud cover that had been gathering throughout the day, Cavendish's technique gained tremendous additional power from the natural electrical energy in the atmosphere.
This attack incorporated not only the electrical current that Cavendish could generate through his Devil Fruit abilities, but also dozens of natural lightning strikes that he had drawn down from the clouds above.
Deafening thunder roared across the battlefield from all directions, and within the blindingly brilliant area of concentrated lightning, Cavendish's sword was once again blocked by Bullet's impenetrable defenses.
"Hey now, if this is really all you've got to offer, then I have to say I'm genuinely disappointed," Bullet grinned with obvious satisfaction, his mocking words echoing clearly across the devastated landscape.
Cavendish's eyes remained as sharp and focused as an eagle's predatory gaze. His opponent's taunting words passed by his ears like wind, failing to create even the slightest ripple in the calm surface of his determined heart.