The world of pirates.
"All done, Captain!"
Inside the bathroom, Baby 5, wrapped only in a bath towel, held a razor and looked at her handiwork with satisfaction.
Before her, Zane sat on a small stool, freshly shaved whiskers and trimd hair scattered at his feet.
After completing his final training assessnt and waiting for his right arm to recover, Zane had returned to the pirate world.
However, after living like a wild man in the Hunter world for so long, his appearance had beco quite ssy.
That was why Baby 5 had taken the initiative to follow him into the bathroom to tidy him up when he went in for a soak.
"Good work," Zane said, rubbing his smooth chin as he turned to look at Baby 5 behind him.
Her figure was incredible, the towel barely hanging on. The steam from the nearby bath had turned her beautiful face and fair skin a slight, enticing shade of pink.
"What? Not planning to leave?"
Seeing her standing there prettily even after finishing her task, Zane beca intrigued.
She was still wrapped in a towel, but he was more direct—he wasn't wearing anything at all.
After all, he had been rinsing off before her arrival, just waiting to get into the tub.
As a healthy man, it was hard not to have a physical reaction to Baby 5's current look.
And indeed, he did.
Hearing Zane's words, Baby 5 stole a glance at his excited reaction. With a hint of bashfulness but great courage, she said, "If the Captain needs it, I can help with scrubbing your back... or anything else."
"..."
What could Zane say?
In this situation, refusing would be no different from being a waste of space.
Without any hesitation.
With a startled cry from Baby 5, Zane scooped her up in his arms. Amidst the beauty's shyness and anticipation, he strode into the bath.
Within just a few monts.
Intense waves began to ripple across the surface of the misty water.
...
Happy days are always fleeting.
Before Zane could enjoy his beautiful maid's close service for long.
On the third day back in the pirate world, a figure appeared on the distant sea outside Mock Town.
Nearly invisible threads hung from the high clouds in an incredible fashion.
With every tug and snap of the strings, their master was propelled through the air, advancing at extre speed.
"Fufufu... Is it ignorance or arrogance? To kill my people and dare to stay in the sa spot..."
Looking at the approaching Mock Town, Doflamingo, who had traveled all the way from Dressrosa in the New World using his String-String Fruit's sky path, let out a defiant laugh.
Though he seed to be laughing, the pulsing veins on his forehead revealed that he had been seething with rage throughout the journey.
Whoosh!!
Moving at incredible speed, Doflamingo successfully arrived above Mock Town in just a dozen breaths' ti.
Looking down at Mock Town, he flicked his wrist, gathering a massive ball of threads in his palm.
Boom!!!
Once the ball of threads reached a critical point, it suddenly transford into a thick pillar of strings that shot into the sky.
String-String: Birdcage!
The massive pillar ascended to the heavens before scattering like falling petals, raining down countless sharp threads in all directions to surround the island of Mock Town.
"What is this?"
"The whole island is being covered!!"
"Is this a... birdcage?"
"..."
The people of Mock Town soon discovered the birdcage descending from the sky, and everyone on the island was struck with imnse shock.
"Aah!!!"
A man near the edge of the island reached out to touch the sealing threads, only to scream as his palm was instantly sliced open by the razor-sharp strings.
Having sealed the entire island with the birdcage.
Doflamingo used his threads to suspend himself, slowly descending from the sky onto a street below.
Step... step... step...
A crimson glint flashed in his eyes.
Doflamingo's gaze imdiately locked onto a specific direction in the distance.
The sound of steady, unhurried footsteps echoed out.
Right within Doflamingo's line of sight, a tall figure appeared at the other end of the street.
"You're finally here. I've been waiting for you, Doflamingo!"
Walking forward with his hands in his pockets was none other than Zane.
Stopping ten ters away, Zane looked at Doflamingo with a smiling face.
"So, Lao G and Buffalo really did die by your hand?"
Doflamingo stared intently at Zane, his expression dark.
"Who else?" Zane's smile didn't fade.
"Fufufufu... Quite the arrogant one, aren't you!"
Hearing Zane's admission, Doflamingo laughed out of pure rage.
Boom!!!
As he spoke, accompanied by flickering black lightning, a violent surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Doflamingo.
The void trembled, kicking up visible layers of airwaves.
The Conqueror's Haki accurately enveloped Zane.
The invisible pressure made it hard to breathe, feeling as though the mind were being struck by a heavy blow.
For an ordinary person, such a spiritual impact would have caused them to faint or, at the very least, severely impaired their consciousness.
But not Zane.
Under the pressure of the opponent's Conqueror's Haki, Zane's eyes narrowed.
Clang!
It felt as if a tightly wound string in his mind had suddenly snapped.
Boom!!!!
Without any warning, identical black lightning flickered out from Zane's body.
Conqueror's Haki awakening.
Under the pressure of Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki, the ntal resistance within Zane had triggered his own Conqueror's Haki.
RUMBLE!!!
The void trembled even more violently.
As the Conqueror's Haki burst from Zane's body, it imdiately clashed with Doflamingo's.
Their Hakis collided like two hemispherical energy fields. At the point of impact, the street and surrounding buildings began to crack and shatter.
Thud... thud... thud...
The clash of the two Conqueror's Hakis produced a wide-range radiation of pressure.
Instantly, people throughout Mock Town began to faint and collapse.
"I'll give you a choice. Follow , and I can forgive the cris you've committed!"
Zane's sudden awakening of Conqueror's Haki was undoubtedly beyond Doflamingo's expectations.
His expression shifted slightly, and he tilted his head forward, hiding the upper half of his face in shadow.
"Forgive? Who the hell do you think you are?"
The awakening of Conqueror's Haki surprised Zane as well, but for him, it was naturally a good thing.
Hearing Doflamingo's words, he laughed, his voice filled with extre contempt.
If he were afraid, why would he have stayed in Mock Town waiting for the man to find him?
If he were afraid, why would he have gone hunting in the Hunter world?
If he were afraid, how could he have awakened Conqueror's Haki at this very mont?
[LET'S DUEL!]
Zane didn't just respond with a contemptuous laugh to that ridiculous recruitnt offer; he used his actions to show his direct attitude.
Between him and his opponent, a life-and-death struggle was next. Winner takes all!
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comnt ans the world!
Want 40 chapters ahead right now? patre0n.c0m/Royal_ink ]
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