Chapter 71: Donquixote Doflamingo
Donquixote Doflamingo is a very contradictory and charismatic villain.
Born into privilege, he was supposed to enjoy all the benefits of being a Celestial Dragon, but due to his father's foolish actions, he was thrust into a harsh world, setting him on a dark and twisted path.
In the face of death and driven by anger, Doflamingo awakened his Conqueror's Haki at the age of eight. Only Yamato can compare with Doflamingo in terms of early Haki awakening.
Even Kahn, a time traveller, only awakened Conqueror's Haki at nine years old.
Portgas D. Ace, the son of the Pirate King and the perfect creation of the Charlotte family, Charlotte Katakuri, awakened Conqueror's Haki at ten years old.
Given that Doflamingo awakened Conqueror's Haki at such a young age, his potential seemed limitless.
If Doflamingo had met a good mentor and received proper guidance from childhood, he would have undoubtedly become a formidable Haki user. He might have mastered Conqueror's Infusion in his twenties, similar to Yamato.
Unfortunately, the fate of this former Celestial Dragon was fraught with challenges.
Instead of a mentor, he met a group of losers fleeing the Grand Line.
At ten years old, Doflamingo ate the Paramecia String-String Fruit provided by these losers, which restricted his potential.
Despite his immense talent in Haki and fruit development, Doflamingo struggled for decades without surpassing a high-ranking officer.
In contrast, Yamato, who also awakened Conqueror's Haki at eight, ate the Zoan Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami, found by Kaido, maximizing her physical abilities and potential.
Under Kaido's 'teaching,' Yamato mastered both martial arts and Conqueror's Haki, reaching the highest cadre rank of the Four Emperors Pirates at twenty-five and becoming a vice-emperor at twenty-eight.
This highlights the advantage of consuming a top-tier Devil Fruit and having a competent mentor.
Both awakened Conqueror's Haki at eight, but Yamato and Doflamingo ended up on vastly different paths.
Worse still, Doflamingo's decades of effort were nullified when he offended Luffy, the "Son of Destiny," demoting him from the most successful Warlord of the Sea to the worst.
When Kahn crossed into this world, he still respected Doflamingo.
Despite his misfortune, Doflamingo is a talent worth seeking out, even for someone like Kahn who would travel from the New World to find him.
Doflamingo's downfall was due to his lack of ultimate strength. In a world where power is everything, he was forced to play second fiddle.
If Doflamingo had the strength of a true powerhouse, he would be terrifying.
Imagine a super-strong Doflamingo mastering the secrets of the Celestial Dragons' national treasure, forcing even the Five Elders to cooperate with him and Kaido.
In the dark world, he would wield immense influence, creating wars by selling arms and controlling both the underworld and legitimate fronts.
With such power, the Straw Hat Pirates would have to avoid him upon entering the New World.
Unfortunately, Doflamingo lacked this strength, leading to his rough fate.
After entering the New World, he had to appease Kaido.
Currently, as an illegal pirate, he has to evade Vice Admiral Tsuru's pursuit, living like a fugitive in the dark world.
For now, Doflamingo can breathe easily, as finding him in North Blue, one of the largest seas, is challenging for the Marines.
However, next year, Doflamingo will "accidentally" find his brother, Donquixote Rosinante, also known as Corazon, making his life increasingly difficult and his location harder to track.
But for now, his intelligence and whereabouts are not secrets among some dark-world colleagues.
When Kahn called the black market and asked if they could help him find Doflamingo's location, the black market, having elevated Kahn to a super VIP status just below the three monsters, quickly betrayed the still relatively unknown Doflamingo.
A week later, Kahn and his crew arrived at a small town that, on the surface, was ruled by a small gang but was actually one of the strongholds of the Donquixote Family.
As soon as their ship docked in the town, the Donquixote Family, always on high alert and ready to flee at the sight of a warship, was immediately alarmed.
"Doflamingo! Doflamingo! We found the ship at the docks, Cross Kahn's Ship!" shouted Trebol, one of the top cadres, who was not only weak in strength but also easily frightened. He panicked as he reported to the twenty-two-year-old Doflamingo.
They had fled the Grand Line because they were terrified by the powerful pirates and wanted to return to the weaker seas, looking for someone with Conqueror's Haki to be their king and protector.
Among these weaklings, Trebol knew better than anyone what kind of person Cross Kahn really was.
Kahn, known for destroying an island of Celestial Dragons and killing nobles of the world, was someone even Marine Admirals were helpless against.
The sudden appearance of such a figure on their territory could hardly be a coincidence.
"Cross Kahn?!" Doflamingo paused, his pupils shrinking beneath his black sunglasses as he flipped through a book, trying to improve his knowledge.
The name Cross Kahn had made a global impact multiple times that year, and Doflamingo was deeply impressed by it.
Two main reasons stood out in his mind. First, after being rejected by the Celestial Dragons and unable to return to Mariejois, Doflamingo vowed to turn the world dominated by the Celestial Dragons upside down. He despised the Celestial Dragons despite being one himself. When someone dared to kill those "pigs" and got away with it, Doflamingo couldn't help but remember the name Cross Kahn.
Second, after the Donquixote Family became one of the giants of North Blue, Doflamingo had been planning their entry into the Grand Line and how to develop their influence there. His thoughts turned to Dressrosa, a land ruled by their ancestors hundreds of years ago, as a potential base for the Donquixote Family.
But to reclaim Dressrosa, Doflamingo needed a legal status and a reasonable reason. Forceful seizure of power would incur the wrath of the Five Elders, even if he was a former Celestial Dragon who knew the secret of Mariejois' national treasure.
Thus, he needed to become a Warlord of the Sea. However, before he could figure out how to achieve this, the news of Cross Kahn poured cold water on his plans.
Cross Kahn, famous worldwide at the age of fifteen with two monster templates, had moved the island of Morlaix next to Dressrosa and established a "long-term cooperation" with Dressrosa's main country. It was more of a long-term protection than cooperation.
To reclaim Dressrosa, Doflamingo needed not only legal status and a reasonable reason but also the power to defeat a monster like Kahn. This complicated his already difficult fate.
Now, the question remained: why was this monster, who was supposed to dominate the New World and compete with the big pirates and even the Yonko, appearing in this 'countryside'? And why had he come specifically to Doflamingo's stronghold?
Was this really just a coincidence?
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