"YOU F**KING KILLED ME!!!"
The roar exploded out of Bullet's throat, spittle flying like bullets with the sheer force behind it.
Good thing Doflamingo had anticipated this and was already standing safely behind him.
"Now, now, no need to get so worked up, Bullet."
He patted the man's head like he was a dog—an especially dangerous one.
Doflamingo could feel the blood vessels pulsing beneath his palm.
So naturally, he decided to pour oil on the fire.
"Your body... it's incredibly valuable. A rare and precious resource."
A deep humiliation twisted inside Bullet. For a moment, it was like he'd been thrown back into his days as a child soldier.
He wasn't Bullet. He wasn't even a person.
Just another tool.
His head, restrained and locked in place, twisted far past what should be physically possible.
Doflamingo could hear the vertebrae in his neck grinding and popping.
What a good guy he was.
So he tightened the threads again, binding Bullet completely.
Preventing him from crippling himself—and offering a bit of consolation, too.
"Fufufufu... It's not like you don't have a choice, right? I've given you food, freedom—you're free to kill yourself if you want."
Kill himself?
Like hell he would.
Bullet seethed, and just as his mouth was forcefully unsealed again, he roared:
"I'm going to live! I'll kill you, Doflamingo, you piece of—mmmph mmmph!!"
Manually muting someone felt so satisfying.
Doflamingo fondly recalled the good old days when he had absolute authority—it really was a joy.
With a flick of his fingers, he lifted the silence again.
Bullet resumed his furious howls.
"Kill me! Kill me face-to-face! Destroy me, you bastard! Mmph!!"
He was losing his mind.
The rage had nowhere to go. If he could self-destruct right now, he would!
"Fufufufu... Face-to-face? You still think you deserve that? Clearly, the lesson hasn't sunk in."
Doflamingo tilted his head lazily, grinning wide.
"But your destructive power is too much for the terrain... Let's try something else."
With a thought, he summoned something.
A full-body restraint identical to Bullet's old shackles came flying in from afar.
This particular gear came with a lovely effect: -99% to all user stats, plus a sweet debuff—Weakened.
The moment Doflamingo held the equipment, Bullet could feel the threads around him loosening, weakening.
And as Doflamingo dressed him in the shackles, piece by piece...
"Pffft! Hahahahaha!"
Bullet spat out the gag in his mouth, his laughter shrill and unhinged.
"This level of disrespect... Not even Roger treated me like this!!!"
Eyes gleaming with madness, Bullet started charging forward, each step heavy and thunderous.
He would crush this smug bastard. He would become the strongest in the world!!!
"DOFLAMINGO!!!"
"Fufufufufu... Still so naive!"
Doflamingo laughed uproariously, standing right there, completely unguarded.
Today, he was going to shatter Bullet's pride down to the last piece.
No dodging. No retreating!
Their fists crashed into each other's faces nearly at the same time—
"Weak."
Taking Bullet's punch head-on, Doflamingo twisted his neck back into place and drove his fist into Bullet's gut with bone-cracking force.
Blergh!
Bullet's back arched, and a mix of bile and blood shot out of his mouth.
He stumbled half a step back, steadied himself—and retaliated with a Haki-less kick, laced with Seastone, straight into Doflamingo's upper abdomen.
CLANG!
A normal man's diaphragm would've ruptured. A lethal spot—especially without Haki.
But instead, it rang like steel.
Because Doflamingo had turned himself into something else.
His ribs were now reinforced, encasing each and every one of his vital organs like armor.
Bullet's instincts screamed danger.
But before he could act, Doflamingo's elbow came crashing down on his knee like a guillotine blade.
Bullet staggered—but before he could even process the pain—
A fist was already filling his vision.
And in that moment of crisis, Bullet's true nature surged forth:
Madness.
He didn't dodge. Didn't flinch.
He just threw a wild punch at that hated, smug face.
Blood splattered in all directions.
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