One Piece - Heaven Defying Comprehension!

Dressrosa, royal palace.

In the dark, opulent suite at the top floor of the palace—

'Boom!'

Heavy breaths filled the room as Doflamingo punched the wall with enough force to send spider-like cracks racing across its surface. He awoke from a nightmare, clutching his forehead, his face twitching, and his skin glistening with cold sweat.

The dim light cast shadows around him as he gritted his teeth, uttering the name of the man who haunted his sleep.

Since the fateful Flame Emperor Incident and his return to Dressrosa, Doflamingo hadn't experienced a peaceful night. With Kaido demanding an increased supply of Smile artificial Devil Fruits in preparation for a potential war against the Entei Pirates, his restlessness only grew.

'War? With that monster?' Doflamingo's mind spun. 'Has Kaido lost his mind?'

Kaido, known as the world's strongest creature, had always inspired fear in others. But after the Flame Emperor Incident, that title seemed hollow. Now, it was Portgas D. Ace—the Flame Emperor—who stood as the strongest in this era.

Ace's strength, skill, and intelligence were so overwhelming that the Five Elders themselves had been forced to concede. The World Government had no choice but to suspend the Buster Call, the very symbol of its absolute justice.

If Kaido only feared Ace for his strength, then Doflamingo saw a far more terrifying truth. Ace, the Flame Emperor, was a complete threat: strength, strategy, and skill woven seamlessly into one formidable being. Just thinking of him stirred a fear in Doflamingo, a primal fear he couldn't deny.

Thanks to the reckless Bellamy, Doflamingo had already caught Ace's notice, though he had hoped to lie low and buy himself time. But now, Kaido wanted to openly go to war against this man, dragging him in as a supplier of smiles?! How was that anything short of suicidal?

'Going head-to-head with the Flame Emperor... Are we begging for annihilation?'

Doflamingo's expression grew darker. While Kaido and his Beasts Pirates were among the four most powerful pirate crews on the sea, he knows they are no match for the world's strongest pirate group—the Entei Pirates—led by Flame Emperor.

The Beasts Pirates might have an edge in numbers and territorial power after years of dominance, but the Entei Pirates' core fighters were truly formidable. Even without counting Flame Emperor, Ace's top officers alone were a nightmare.

'We're just eggs thrown against stone,' Doflamingo thought bitterly.

In the darkness, he clenched his fists.

Recently, Doflamingo received alarming news from the World Government about the marines shifting positions. It was confirmed: Admiral Aokiji had left the Marines and joined forces under Entei.

'If a powerhouse like Aokiji has pledged loyalty to the Flame Emperor…' Doflamingo's face twitched. The thought left him shaken. 'There's absolutely no chance of victory—none.'

Even if his Donquixote family and Kaido's Beasts Pirates combined forces, they would still be hopelessly outmatched by Entei's formidable fleet. And that didn't even account for the man himself—Portgas D. Ace. Their odds of survival would plummet to almost nothing.

Doflamingo couldn't help but recognize the shadow that Ace cast over him. The impact of Ace's Conqueror's Haki had stalled his own Haki development, frustratingly exposing the vast difference in their levels. Though he hated to admit it, Doflamingo understood that his own loose resolve had stemmed from the widening gap between them. Ace was operating on a level beyond his comprehension, a dimension he couldn't even reach.

The psychological weight of Ace's Conqueror Haki caused Doflamingo's own to falter, as if his own Conqueror's Haki was trying to overpower Ace's presence but failing to do so. It was as if the intense influence of Ace's Haki stifled any progress in his own.

And now, as Ace grew stronger, Doflamingo found himself unable to even catch a glimpse of that unreachable figure; he was just a shadow somewhere up in the heavens, far beyond reach. As his own Conqueror Haki slowly recovered, Doflamingo felt no sense of satisfaction. Even the royal blood within him seemed to bow in acknowledgment of Ace's superior will.

'If there's any hope left,' he thought, 'it lies in the World Government.' Standing up and draping his pink feathered coat over his shoulders, Doflamingo moved to the window, a glint of determination flashing under his sunglasses.

After all, he was once a Celestial Dragon. While he might no longer be recognized by the Holy Land, he still held a valuable card—the secret of Mariejois's "national treasure." This knowledge, combined with his former Celestial Dragon status, gave him leverage for negotiation with the World Government and even the Five Elders.

In the past, during the Flame Emperor Incident, he had fallen victim to one of Ben Beckman's schemes, which had led to the irritating intervention of Hawkeye. Yet, the fallout of that fiasco had surprisingly spared him from accountability, giving him an opportunity to bide his time.

The Flame Emperor's fleet, led by Ace, had grown to a strength that not even the Naval Headquarters alone could match—a feat unprecedented for any pirate crew before. Now, it seemed, only the World Government had the power to stand against them.

When the full-blown clash between Kaido and Ace finally took place, Doflamingo intended to stay well out of it. His plan was to wait in Mariejois, where he'd be shielded, at least to some extent, by the knowledge he possessed of its "secret treasure."

Though Ace's forces had the means to penetrate even Mariejois, Doflamingo doubted the World Government was entirely powerless against such an intrusion. Besides, he held little value to Ace, certainly not enough to warrant a direct attack on Mariejois just to eliminate him.

"Fufufufu! You're going to fall to the Flame Emperor, Kaido! When the world collapses into chaos, perhaps there will be an opening for me after all."

Feeling more settled in his plans, Doflamingo opened the window, looking out into the sky with a cold grin.

Suddenly, a tremendous noise shattered the quiet.

"Buzz! Rumble!!!"

"...?!"

Doflamingo's laughter froze. His face paled, and his eyes narrowed as he stared skyward.

In the next moment—

"Boom! Boom!!!"

A massive meteorite, blazing with fiery trails from its descent through the atmosphere, hurtled straight toward his palace.

"Doffy!"

In the courtyard below, Trebol, the sticky-fruit user who had seen the seeds of kingship in Doflamingo since childhood, shrieked in alarm.

"A meteorite?! Damn it! Where did this come from?!"

The Donquixote family officers poured out of the palace in shock, staring up at the enormous, fiery meteorite plummeting toward them with horror etched on their faces. For all the havoc they'd sown across the seas, none had ever heard of karmic retribution by meteor.

"This… this ability… could it be?" Doflamingo muttered, cold sweat forming on his brow.

"Armament! Overload Whip Strike!"

But with little time to speculate, Doflamingo swung into action, unleashing the power of his String-String Fruit. A burst of nearly invisible threads erupted from his hands, coiling together until they formed thick, rope-like cords. His Armament Haki flared, hardening the threads into gleaming black steel.

With a powerful swing, Doflamingo launched the jet-black column toward the meteorite, cutting through it with a blinding flash.

"Don't stop—keep breaking it apart!" he shouted to his family.

Without hesitation, the officers leaped into action, assaulting the fractured meteor with everything they had. Though Doflamingo's initial strike had absorbed most of its kinetic energy, pieces still hurtled toward the palace, threatening to flatten their base.

With the combined onslaught of the Donquixote family, the meteor finally shattered into massive chunks. The pieces continued to fall, but at least now, there was a chance to manage the damage.

"Assimilation!"

Pika's piercing, high-pitched voice echoed as he activated his Stone-Stone Fruit ability. In an instant, he absorbed the rock fragments falling toward him, merging them with his own stone body.

The danger averted, the family officers slumped in relief, catching their breath.

"Phew!" Baby-5, in her maid's dress, shivered as a chill swept through the air. "Why is it so… cold?"

"Cold?!" Doflamingo's pupils contracted sharply. Turning, he barked, "Violet! Use your powers—find out what's happening!"

Without the ability of the Thunder Fruit to expand his Observation Haki's range, Doflamingo was blind to what lay beyond his immediate surroundings, particularly near the coast.

"Yes, understood." Violet, the Dressrosa princess and user of the Glare-Glare Fruit, shuddered at the urgency in Doflamingo's voice. For the first time, she witnessed him this unsettled.

Forming her fingers into a circle, Violet activated her Glare-Glare Fruit. Instantly, her vision extended to the distant ocean, and she gasped as the scene came into focus.

"T-The… the ocean's frozen," she reported, dread thickening her voice.

Frozen ocean? Doflamingo's face paled. There was only one man in the world capable of such a feat.

"And there are two people approaching. They're aboard a flying ship bearing a pirate flag," Violet continued, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. She recognized them instantly.

"Who?! Whose flag is it?" Doflamingo snapped, panic rising despite his attempts to deny the inevitable.

With a shaking voice, Violet replied, "The former Marine Admiral, Aokiji, and the Second Division Captain of the Entei Pirates, Issho. And… the flag is that of the Entei Pirates!"

Her words sent a wave of terror through the Donquixote officers, their faces crumbling in dread. This was a crew that even the Seven Warlords had to bow before.

"Flame Emperor!" Doflamingo's own expression fell into uncontrollable fear.