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That name had burned itself into their memories — deeper than any before.They just hadn't expected it to happen again… and so soon.
That brat had actually gone and pulled off another earth-shaking, world-stunning feat.
And yet—That wasn't even the end of it.
"And… and the Golden Emperor, Gild Tesoro—he was taken down too! Along with them!"
"!!"
This time, even Sengoku, the three Admirals, Garp, and Tsuru all went pale.
Kizaru's usual sly grin froze halfway up his face. Behind those shades, his eyes had lost their usual mockery for the first time.
"Ooh~ my, my… now that's… honestly terrifying."
Akainu's brows knitted into a deep scowl, magma simmering faintly off his body.
"That brat from Kaido's crew… has that kind of power?"
Even Aokiji sat up straight for once, his usual lazy air replaced by grim focus.
"You're saying he took down two Warlord-class fighters in one go? Are you kidding me?"
Sengoku sucked in a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm as he barked into the transponder snail.
"Say everything you know—no skipping a single word! What the hell happened in Dressrosa?! I want the whole story!"
The voice on the other end was trembling so badly it broke up between words, spilling out the details of a living nightmare.
"Fleet Admiral! It started when Doflamingo tried to raise the price of the SMILE fruits he sold to the Beasts Pirates—by twenty percent!"
"This morning, Jack the Drought showed up with his men, tearing up the docks in a rage!"
Sengoku rubbed his temples. Pirates fighting pirates—he was tired of hearing it.
"Get to the point! What about Dan?!"
"D-Dan was right next to Jack! That brat—he stood up and said if Doflamingo wouldn't drop the price, then Dressrosa had no reason to exist!"
"And then—then this terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki burst out of him! It crushed Doflamingo's Haki instantly!"
"Tesoro tried to back Doflamingo up. The two of them combined their Haki just to barely hold out—and I… I passed out right there!"
"When I woke up, the fight was already over. Doflamingo and Tesoro were both heavily injured, and the Donquixote officers were begging Dan for mercy!"
"Luckily, I had my image transponder recording everything… otherwise I wouldn't have believed what I saw!"
The temperature in the office seemed to drop several degrees.
Overwhelming another Warlord's Conqueror's Haki outright? Forcing Tesoro to step in just to resist?
Was Dan's Haki really that monstrous?!
"What happened next?!" Sengoku demanded, his heartbeat quickening.
"Then… Diamante tried to attack Dan. Said he wouldn't submit."
"That kid just looked at him—and suddenly, black flames erupted all over Diamante's arm! They wouldn't go out! Not with water, not with stone, not even with seastone powder!"
"The flames didn't go out even with seastone?!"
Tsuru's expression tightened.
That was beyond any known Devil Fruit ability.
Unless… Dan's powers weren't from a Devil Fruit at all.
"In the end, Doflamingo had to use his Conqueror's Haki to suppress the flames."
"You're saying that fire could only be put out by Haki?" Garp's tone grew grave. "Even I've never heard of such a thing."
"So anyone without Conqueror's Haki would just burn until they die?"
Kizaru adjusted his sunglasses, voice oddly amused.
"This Demon Child… really is terrifying, huh~"
"It's true! That black fire's pure evil! Without Haki, you're as good as dead!"
"Then what happened?" Aokiji asked quietly.
"Doflamingo snapped. He awakened his Devil Fruit—turned the entire dock into strings and went after Dan!"
"But that brat… something blue appeared around him—like a skeleton! Doflamingo's attacks couldn't even scratch it!"
"A blue skeleton?!"
"Completely unbreakable?!"
"Just how many tricks does that kid have?"
The room was filled with disbelief.
"Yeah! Then that blue skeleton cracked apart, shattered… we all thought it was over—"
"But the next second, another blue skeleton appeared! Exactly the same! Completely restored—and even stronger!"
The office fell silent.
The Admirals exchanged glances.Then all of them shook their heads.
None of them had ever heard of a power like that.
"Then that brat counterattacked! Blue steam started pouring out of him—he shouted something like, 'Seventh Gate—Shock Gate!'"
"His aura exploded! Ten times stronger than before! He was easily Admiral-level!"
"Doflamingo panicked on the spot! He surrendered immediately—dropped the SMILE price by twenty percent!"
Cold sweat trickled down Sengoku's forehead.
The Seventh Gate?
Wasn't that the same technique Dan used to defeat Doberman before?But that time, it was the Eighth Gate…
Which meant—he'd grown even stronger since then?
"That's it?" Akainu asked coldly.
"No!" the voice cracked with fear. "That brat… he turned his sights on Tesoro—and all the underworld bosses watching! Said he wouldn't let any of them leave!"
"Ha!" Garp barked out a laugh. "Now that's my kind of kid! Too bad he's Kaido's son!"
The others didn't smile. Their faces were heavy with unease.
"Tesoro got furious! He awakened his fruit too! Teamed up with Doflamingo—they attacked Dan together!"
"But that kid just raised his hand—and this massive white tiger exploded out of it!"
"He shouted, 'Daytime Tiger!' or something like that!"
"The tiger blasted through both of their awakened attacks! Just blew them apart! Tesoro's giant gold form cracked open on the spot, and Doflamingo got sent flying!"
Every Marine in the room froze in shock.
A single move… that shattered the combined awakened attacks of two Warlords?!
"And that's not all!"
"That kid—he just appeared in front of Doflamingo, like teleportation—and punched him! One punch! His defense shattered like paper! He flew off—nobody knows if he's even alive!"
"Then he turned on Tesoro—punched him too! Tore through all his golden defenses! Knocked him clean out!"
A collective hiss echoed through the room.
One punch each. Two Warlords down.
Just how powerful was this Demon Child, really?
"So in the end, Doflamingo and Tesoro surrendered?" Sengoku's voice was low, heavy.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral. Doflamingo handed over all his SMILE fruits. And Tesoro… Tesoro was extorted for ten billion Berries!"
"Ten billion…" Aokiji muttered, twitching slightly at the corner of his mouth.
The silence that followed was long and suffocating.
Sengoku slowly sank back into his chair, feeling an icy chill run through him.
He looked down at the bounty poster on his desk—the one showing the bright-eyed, innocent-looking face of that young boy.
But right now, to him, that face was more terrifying than any monster pirate alive.
Ten billion.
He'd been thinking it was already too much.
But after hearing this—
Ten billion was far too low.
At this point, his bounty would have to start at twenty billion.
At least.
"..."
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