The story of the first volume soon came to an end just like that.
Being overly confident in the power of Haki had an obvious outcome.
And among the Seven Warlords of the Sea,
Doflamingo's appearance also marked the true beginning of this arc.
The next volume's story continued with even greater excitement.
Caesar's Devil Fruit was incredibly powerful. The power of his poisonous gas was not something ordinary people could resist.
Fortunately, after tempering himself through countless battles, Luffy still managed to narrowly claim victory.
If not for how terrifying the poison gas was, defeating him instantly would actually have been easy.
During the battle gathering,
Smoker experienced the helplessness and darkness of the Navy for the first time, while becoming even more worried about the future.
"Just how much darkness is hidden beneath this seemingly peaceful era?"
Countless children were eating food.
Although they were very large in size, they were extremely well-behaved.
"Mister, thank you for your hard work. Come eat something."
Looking at the thick soup handed over by the children,
Smoker's fierce expression immediately softened into a smile.
Beside him, Tashigi also received a bowl of hot soup. The female swordswoman wiped away her tears while thanking the children for helping them.
"Senior Smoker, tell me... what exactly is wrong with this world?"
"Haa..."
Hearing his subordinate's question,
Smoker exhaled a long stream of smoke. Feeling the snow-filled wind blowing through the air, he sighed:
"Perhaps... this is the meaning behind why we continue to persist."
The Navy had already rotted to the core.
Those who claimed themselves to be messengers of justice had become a complete joke in the end.
This dealt a huge blow to him.
But Smoker did not regret it, because as long as people still needed help, he would definitely appear.
This was his own justice.
When Arataki Itto saw this, he immediately felt that Smoker was a pretty decent person.
"Shinobu, I didn't expect that smoking guy to have such strong convictions. Do you think he can become stronger?"
Kuki Shinobu replied without even turning her head:
"I'm more worried about whether he can survive. That Doflamingo from the Den Den Mushi earlier could probably kill him with ease."
"Ah? What's going on? Let me see..."
Hearing this, Arataki Itto immediately stopped chatting and hurriedly continued reading.
In the continuation of the story,
Doflamingo indeed appeared.
Smoker could not even defeat Vergo, so naturally he stood even less of a chance against such a powerful Warlord.
In just a single exchange, Smoker was slammed onto the ground.
"This situation is really dangerous. Wait... Aokiji actually appears here."
The Admiral who had vanished for a long time finally appeared again.
But now, he no longer possessed the identity of a Marine.
He was merely a wanderer who had lost one leg.
Aokiji's appearance carried an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Doflamingo had only made a slight movement before his body was frozen solid.
From this alone,
one could tell just how terrifying this Admiral's strength truly was.
After this, Luffy and the others finally embarked on a brand-new journey.
Their next destination just so happened to be Doflamingo's homeland, the country of passion and dance.
Dressrosa.
On this island,
Luffy and the others encountered many unexpected events.
First was the appearance of the Tontatta Kingdom.
Although the little people were tiny, they were treated like slaves.
Secondly, Dressrosa had many living toys serving the entire nation.
But later, it was revealed that those toy soldiers had actually all been transformed from living humans.
And within this country,
the true ruler was not the king, but the Dark Emperor, Doflamingo.
Countless weapons were sold from this place, and coupled with his former identity as a Celestial Dragon,
the Navy simply did not dare trouble him.
Doflamingo even deceived the Navy once.
At the end of this volume,
Luffy officially stood before Doflamingo.
Of course, here he also encountered an old acquaintance, the Spring Human, Bellamy.
What is a dream?
What is strength?
What is freedom?
This man had witnessed the existence of Skypiea, yet gradually drifted deeper into darkness.
He was a bad person.
But he was also a real man.
In the end, he was still defeated by a single punch from Luffy.
Watching the crying Bellamy, Arataki Itto could not help sighing emotionally.
"What a good man. It's just a pity he took the wrong path."
"If he could turn over a new leaf, I think he'd definitely become even stronger."
"Following Doflamingo is such a waste."
"Don't you think so too, Shinobu?"
Kuki Shinobu, who was drinking red bean tea, held a different opinion.
"Boss, that's not really right."
"The people Bellamy killed were innocent too."
"Maybe you don't know this, but aside from Luffy's group, many adventurers actually kill people."
"For example, even Law, who possesses the Op-Op Fruit, has killed people before."
Hearing this, Arataki Itto scratched his head, feeling that she actually made sense.
But even so,
he still felt Bellamy was a pity.
He awakened far too late.
Thus, the two of them continued reading.
Meanwhile, in the colosseum,
Lucy won the competition. He was Luffy's brother, and one of the Revolutionary Army's officers, Sabo.
Powerful Haki.
And now he had also obtained the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit.
One could easily imagine just how terrifying his strength truly was.
Throughout Dressrosa, horrifying battles were erupting everywhere. Nearly every corner of the island was filled with fighting.
Zoro VS Pica.
Usopp VS Sugar.
Of course, the most touching part
was still Law's past.
Long ago, he had been a young boy suffering from a terminal illness, eventually walking down the wrong path. If not for that man's appearance,
Law's entire life might have remained trapped in darkness.
That man was Doflamingo's younger brother, Mister Corazon!
In the manga,
when this gentleman was mentioned,
Law burst into tears.
And in reality,
the entirety of Hanamizaka was moved by Corazon's story.
"True greatness needs no words."
"More than that, Mister Corazon is absolutely a truly good person..."
"Damn Doflamingo, hurry up and defeat him already!"
"Luffy, come out and defeat that Heavenly Yaksha!"
In the manga,
facing Pica, Zoro unleashed a powerful ultimate technique, cutting down the giant with a single slash.
That astonishing double-page spread not only shocked the people inside the story,
but also reality itself.
Countless people shouted Zoro's name.
"Three Thousand Worlds!!!!"
"That slash is seriously powerful."
"Can humans really achieve something like this?"
Everyone knew that the Shogun had once cut an island apart with a single strike.
And now, Zoro's slash was equally terrifying!
One executive after another fell.
By Doflamingo's side, only that disgusting mucus monster remained.
Celestial Dragons?
Sorry, but the Clan of D had always been the nightmare of the Celestial Dragons.
The third manga volume ended here.
Yet the readers still found it incredibly satisfying. It was good, but how exactly were they supposed to defeat the Heavenly Yaksha?
His Birdcage could destroy an entire island.
In terms of combat power, he completely overwhelmed Luffy as well.
Unless Admiral Fujitora stepped in. But people should not forget that Doflamingo was a Celestial Dragon. That was precisely why the Admiral could not take action.
"To defeat Doflamingo, it feels like you'd need Admiral-level strength. But can Luffy really do it now?"
"Yeah, during Fish-Man Island and Punk Hazard, his strength definitely wasn't at Admiral level..."
The fans were filled with worry.
There was nobody coming to save the situation.
How exactly would Luffy overcome this crisis?
The answer was soon revealed.
The fourth volume.
Luffy's brand-new form, Fourth Gear.
Just the cover alone left people utterly stunned.
Cloud-like flames surrounded his body.
At the same time, he looked incredibly massive.
Although the form appeared somewhat comical, judging by his appearance, his strength seemed terrifying.
"Hey, hey... what is this called?"
"The move after Third Gear, is it Fourth Gear?"
Some people had vaguely guessed it.
And once the battle began,
Luffy displayed astonishing power.
First came the domineering clash of Haki. Then, centered around Law's tactics, they launched an incredibly terrifying sneak attack.
The battle between both sides was unbelievably exciting.
Haki.
Devil Fruits.
Courage.
Conviction.
Everything was displayed perfectly within this battle.
When Law unleashed an overwhelmingly powerful ROOM at the cost of one arm and part of his lifespan, Doflamingo unsurprisingly became careless.
The terrifying attack struck his body directly.
Unfortunately, although the attack was powerful,
Doflamingo possessed the mighty String-String Fruit. He actually repaired the damage inside his body using strings.
This time, Law also collapsed.
The prolonged battle had already left him unable to continue fighting.
And in the midst of despair, Luffy activated a brand-new form.
"I'm going to defeat you, so... from here on, I'll become stronger."
"I call this... Fourth Gear."
Armament Haki covered his entire body.
Luffy transformed into Bounce Man.
This was not an enhancement like Bellamy's. It was a complete all-around evolution.
With just a single punch, Doflamingo was blasted down from the mountain.
The powerful Fourth Gear had already allowed Luffy to gradually approach Admiral level.
The frenzy of battle had officially begun.
Punch after punch.
Doflamingo, who had previously toyed with Luffy and the others, had now become a punching bag.
One punch sent him from the mountaintop down into the streets.
Another punch.
Even Doflamingo's strings shattered apart.
This was the power of Fourth Gear.
"Hahaha, I knew it!"
"There's no way Luffy would lose. Just finish him off already!"
The power of the String-String Fruit was strong.
But against Fourth Gear Bounce Man, it simply could not withstand the assault.
But do not think Doflamingo would lose so easily.
Near the end of the arc,
he revealed a possible new ability, Awakening.
An entirely new realm of Devil Fruits.
It could assimilate everything nearby into strings.
This forced even Luffy to act carefully.
Countless strings surged forward like ocean waves.
The citizens watched with immense excitement.
As a result, more and more fans fell in love with the manga Adventure King.
In just a single day, a full eighty thousand copies were sold!
Evening.
Mona arrived at the Grand Narukami Shrine with a face full of exhaustion.
The shrine maiden guarding the entrance looked at the foreign visitor in confusion and asked:
"Who are you? We do not receive guests at night."
Hearing this, Mona snapped awake. She quickly took out Su Han's emblem and explained:
"I'm Mister Su Han's employee, one of his subordinates."
Originally, she still wanted to say more.
But after hearing the words "Mister Su Han," the shrine maiden guarding the gate immediately smiled brightly.
"So you're one of Mister Su Han's people. Come, hurry inside."
"My lord is currently resting inside."
"If you need any help, just let us know directly."
Mona was shocked by the shrine maiden's complete change in attitude, silently thinking to herself: The boss's identity is really useful.
After entering,
she was immediately attracted by the flower petals drifting down from the sky.
An endless sea of pink.
Just looking at it gave people a feeling of romance and warmth.
"What beautiful sakura blossoms."
"This should be what that old hag called the Sacred Sakura Tree."
Mona softly said as she caught a flower petal.
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