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Jin's mastery of the Slow-Slow Fruit was still rudimentary, and Doflamingo's Haki was strong. The effect lasted less than two seconds.
As his thoughts returned to normal speed, a new wave of shock hit him.
'A Devil Fruit ability? How? I thought his power was that candy-like substance! What was that beam? They're completely unrelated! It's like two different Devil Fruits! How can he have two?? Is it some kind of technology? There were rumors he was working with Germa 66... did he have himself modified?'
The thoughts, held back by the slowing effect, all rushed in at once, overloading his mind.
He looked back at the table.
It was shattered. The threads had passed through, hitting nothing but air.
Jin was gone.
Doflamingo's Observation Haki kicked in. He looked up.
In mid-air, a figure hung, radiating an immense, oppressive aura.
He was falling like a meteor.
Doflamingo's eyes widened in horror.
His scalp tingled. His breath caught in his throat.
Jin's fist, wreathed in Haki and lightning, was like a giant war hammer, descending upon him.
He wanted to run.
But he had no time to react. The moment he looked up, the fist was already there.
It was as if he had been looking at an afterimage.
Too fast...
Doflamingo's only choice was to unleash every string he had, weaving them into a massive cocoon around himself—his ultimate defense.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The punch landed.
The impact shook the very foundations of Jaya.
Lightning and Haki erupted.
A shockwave of rock and dust blasted outward, shredding every building within a hundred-meter radius, tearing apart the ground in a spiderweb of cracks.
The resulting gale tore through the streets, whipping up newspapers and debris, a man-made storm.
Robin crossed her arms, bracing herself against the wind, her mind reeling from the sheer power of the blow.
When the dust settled, Jin was standing at the edge of the crater. Doflamingo was embedded in the ground at its center, covered in blood, unconscious.
Doflamingo was a versatile assassin, but his one weakness was that he was a glass cannon.
Against a tank, he couldn't take many hits.
He was afraid of Kaido for the same reason: his attacks did limited damage to the Yonko, while Kaido could take him out with a single blow.
And as it happened, Jin was also a tank.
——————
"He's... DEFEATED!!"
Van Augur's Will was strong. He had only been momentarily stunned by the Conqueror's Haki, falling from the roof. When he climbed back up, he was met with a sight that shook him to his core.
Jin was standing.
Doflamingo was down.
"With a single punch... he defeated one of the Seven Warlords?"
He was terrified. The sheer power of it filled him with a profound sense of dread.
A Warlord, taken out in one hit.
It was almost unheard of since the system had been established.
This man... he was on the level of a Yonko.
Van Augur was trembling—with fear, with awe, and with excitement.
"The choice of fate," he whispered.
Jin's gaze was not on the defeated Doflamingo. It was on the wooden pier. Another man had arrived.
"Ooooh... looks like I'm a step too late. It's already over."
A tall figure, standing on a cannonball, his voice slow and comical.
"A Marine Admiral!"
Robin's pupils contracted. A flicker of panic shot through her, and she instinctively took a step back, ready to flee. Then she remembered—her appearance was completely different. No one would recognize her. Running would only draw attention.
Having traveled with Jin, having witnessed such high-level battles, her nerve had grown stronger.
She forced herself to remain calm.
On the roof, Van Augur was also stunned. "Marine Admiral Kizaru! What is he doing here?"
——————
Kizaru stood there, looking at the defeated Doflamingo. A flicker of surprise passed through his sunglasses.
"How terrifying," he drawled.
The cannonball landed, and he stepped off.
Jin watched him. 'Terrifying? One 'how terrifying' for every supernova you kick?'
Kizaru had short, curly black hair, a pair of sunglasses, and a ring of stubble around his mouth. He was tall and lanky, standing at three meters. He wore a yellow and white striped suit, a purple tie, a dark green shirt, and white shoes, with an Admiral's coat of justice draped over his shoulders.
There was no warship in the harbor. He had come alone, riding a cannonball.
Just as Doflamingo could travel through the air with his strings, so too could Kizaru.
The Logia Glint-Glint Fruit.
"What brings a Marine Admiral all the way out here?" Jin asked, his voice calm and steady.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku heard you two were having a little disagreement," Kizaru said, his words slow, almost drawn out. "He sent me to stop you."
Sengoku had his reasons. Jin and Doflamingo were both in a special position. They were kings of member nations. Trouble for either of them was trouble for him.
"Seems you're not needed," Jin said. "It's over."
"So it is," Kizaru replied. "It's over. However, I'll be taking Doflamingo with me."
"Are the Marines interfering?" Jin said, his voice turning cold.
"My orders are not to take sides," Kizaru said. "Whoever loses, I take them away. To avoid any... unpleasantness... that might reflect poorly on the World Government. If it had been a stalemate, I would have mediated. If you had lost, I would be taking you."
"Doflamingo is my prize," Jin said, his eyes narrowing. "—If you want to take him, you'd better pay up. Two Devil Fruits. A fair price, don't you think? Or... you can try and take him from me."
'Is he really going to fight a Marine Admiral?' Van Augur thought, his mind reeling.
"Ooooh, how terrifying," Kizaru said, practically yawning. "—I'm just a working man~ Don't make things so difficult for me. Well, if you put it that way, I suppose I'll have to try. Have you ever been kicked at the Speed of Light?"
His body dissolved into a blinding, piercing light and shot toward the crater.
In the next instant—
WHAM!
Kizaru appeared in the crater, his hand reaching for Doflamingo. A foot shot out and kicked it away.
"Ooh?" Kizaru was surprised. He looked up. Jin's body was crackling with electricity.
"I have," Jin replied. "But have you ever been kicked at the speed of lightning?"
He kicked Kizaru, and in a flash of lightning, the Admiral's elemental form was sent flying, reforming in mid-air.
"A Logia... the Rumble-Rumble Fruit??" Kizaru's eyes narrowed. He was known for relying on his Devil Fruit ability in battle, a habit Z had often criticized him for. But he'd never changed. He had, however, studied the Devil Fruit encyclopedia and was familiar with a number of powerful and similar fruits.
"I see," he said. "How terrifying. Well then... let's see which is faster. Light... or lightning."
He crossed his arms, and a brilliant light began to gather. He unleashed a barrage of countless, dazzling light bullets.
Jin raised his hand, and a torrent of lightning shot from his arm, forming a barrage of lightning bullets.
Beams of light and bolts of lightning collided in mid-air, erupting in a series of blinding explosions.
The light from the impacts grew, spreading out, enveloping the entire sky over Jaya.
Van Augur was dumbfounded.
Robin couldn't help but close her eyes.
It was too bright, too dazzling. The clash was nothing short of a cataclysmic display of light pollution.
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