Although he had never been to the Grand Line, Donquixote Doflamingo still understood the etiquette between kings.
When you meet someone, you show your domineering aura.
If they can withstand it, then you can promote each other commercially.
If they can't, then there's no need to even blow each other's trumpets.
Starting from the Four Emperors, the etiquette between kings was upgraded again. It was no longer just an ordinary clash of Conqueror's Haki, but something at a higher level, used to highlight the difference between the Four Emperors and ordinary kings.
They would follow it up with a basic attack wrapped in Haki as a greeting gift.
If you could still withstand it, then the discussion would continue.
If you couldn't, then there was no point in talking—because you had already fallen.
Even when Donquixote Doflamingo is in his forties, at the peak of his power, his three Haki's are still only considered ordinary.
Not to mention advanced Conqueror's Haki infusion.
So now, of course, only the etiquette of an ordinary king could be used: a clash of Conqueror's Haki.
"Your North Sea?"
When Rosen heard Donquixote Doflamingo openly declare ownership of the North Sea in front of him, and then release that insignificant aura, he was finally amused.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"A frog in a well."
Douglas Bullet lay directly on the beach chair and couldn't help but sneer.
As for the wave of Haki sweeping over him like a storm, he didn't even glance at it from beginning to end—because it was too weak.
Indeed.
If Conqueror's Haki were classified by levels, Doflamingo's could be considered mid-tier—the same rank as Rosen's.
But even if they were both mid-tier, the difference in strength was like heaven and earth.
The gap wasn't just in the raw clash of Conqueror's Haki. Once infused, the difference would become even more obvious.
So whether it was Rosen or Douglas Bullet, they both looked amused in the face of his display.
Veins began to bulge on Donquixote Doflamingo's forehead. Just as he was about to ask what was so funny, he saw Rosen—still lying on the beach chair—slowly raise the index finger of his right hand from the armrest.
Snap.
His nail tapped lightly against the chair.
The storm of Haki that had been sweeping towards the warship from all directions—enough to stun the hundreds of sailors on deck and give Rosen a warning—suddenly froze. It was as if it had crashed into an invisible wall.
At the same time.
The warship, surrounded on all sides, seemed protected.
The domineering aura was like a sick cat slapped to the ground by a giant—unable to move, unable to set foot aboard.
It was as though the ship itself had become a forbidden zone for all forms of Haki.
Even the Conqueror's Haki—the so-called qualification of a king—was barred from entering.
"No… impossible!"
Doflamingo's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking.
For the first time in his life, his Conqueror's Haki had been completely blocked. It wasn't resisted. It wasn't pushed back. It simply couldn't pass through.
"Although your Conqueror's Haki isn't even qualified to take shelter from mine, if I allowed your aura to enter the ship unchecked, it would still cause unnecessary trouble for my men."
In the blink of an eye, Rosen's meticulous control unleashed an overwhelming surge.
Like a mountain descending from the heavens, his Haki crushed Doflamingo's completely.
"King of the North Sea, right?"
"I'll show you."
"This is how you use Conqueror's Haki."
He glanced at Doflamingo's increasingly ugly expression, then smirked. From Rosen's body, Haki erupted like a volcano—lava bursting outward, filling the sky.
Boom!
The collision thundered across the sea.
But there was no stalemate.
No equal clash.
Only a one-sided massacre.
Rosen's Haki was like an indestructible blade, cutting through Doflamingo's as if it were nothing.
Superior pressure versus inferior will.
It was over the moment it began.
Ssshhhk—
After slicing apart Doflamingo's aura, Rosen's Conqueror's Haki gathered instead of dispersing. Black and red lightning crackled, writhing like monstrous serpents, then spread outward across the sea.
A vast net of lightning stretched across the water, covering all the Donquixote pirate ships.
BANG!
CRACK!
The moment they were caught in the net, the massive hulls of the ships shuddered violently, thunder echoing across their decks.
The wood split and groaned. Shocking cracks spread through every plank, as though the ships themselves would crumble with a touch.
"It even caused physical damage?"
The pirates had no time to question. Their skulls felt as though they were hammered by thunder. Blood rushed, brains spun, and one by one they collapsed.
Eyes rolling back, they fainted where they stood.
"No… impossible!"
"Even Doffy's Haki can't do this!"
"How can such power exist in this sea?!"
Trebol's eyes bulged, blood vessels bursting red. His whole body trembled in disbelief—then, snap—he too fell limp, collapsing face-first.
Diamante, another top executive, fared no better.
"Doffy—run!" he shouted hoarsely, before fainting with a thud, never even managing to use his Devil Fruit powers.
All across the fleet, the same thing happened.
Señor Pink.
Lao G
Gladius.
Every officer, every cadre—whether high-ranking or low—was swallowed by the overwhelming wave and knocked out cold. Only one man besides Doflamingo remained conscious.
Pica.
Barely.
On one knee, pale as paper, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his back, he clung to consciousness by a thread.
"Hhhhaah… hhhhaah…"
Is this Conqueror's Haki?
It was beyond anything he had ever known.
He looked around—
More than a dozen ships, cracked like porcelain, crews of thousands laid low before they could even act.
Pica despaired.
As for Doflamingo himself, he could only hover in mid-air, watching helplessly, unable to stop the destruction.
When Rosen finally retracted the storm of black-red lightning, nothing remained
The Donquixote fleet was shattered.
The pirates were unconscious.
Their ships broken.
The Donquixote Pirates—destroyed.
The war between navy and pirates ended the moment it began.
The curtain rose… and fell at once.