Rokushiki was standard training for Cipher Pol agents, and every member was expected to master at least one of its six techniques.
Aside from Iron Body—which often got undertrained or weaker agents beaten senseless—the other techniques were all extremely useful.
Most of the Cipher Pol agents taking part in this operation were elites.
When they attacked together, even Doflamingo and the officers of the Donquixote Family had to take them seriously.
Two masked figures watched Doflamingo being surrounded but did not immediately join the assault.
Discovering him here had been completely unexpected.
Their original mission—and the sole objective of every Cipher Pol agent sent to the exam—was to identify promising candidates, then cripple or kill them before they could grow into future threats.
Doflamingo's appearance had forced them to reveal themselves early.
Cipher Pol knew perfectly well that he had attacked Mary Geoise and killed Celestial Dragons.
They had also received direct orders to capture or eliminate him on sight.
They might have completed their original mission by pretending not to see him, but once they returned, there was no guarantee the World Government would let them live.
They had no choice but to act.
At least the Hunter Guild had not interfered, which made things considerably easier.
"Move in. Kill him, then withdraw immediately."
The two men leading the operation were both CP0 agents, among the strongest Cipher Pol had to offer.
They split apart and kicked off the air with Moonwalk.
Their bodies seemed to teleport as they closed in from opposite sides, fingers coated in Armament Haki and aimed straight at Doflamingo.
"I've been waiting for you."
The moment he sensed them approaching, Doflamingo spread his lips into a dangerous grin, baring rows of white teeth.
The ground behind him instantly transformed into a mass of white strings.
They surged upward and wrapped around both agents' wrists.
Their expressions changed behind their masks.
They tried to pull away while swinging their arms to tear through the strings.
Thrust! Thrust!
Two more clusters of string condensed into spikes coated in Armament Haki.
The spikes pierced both agents from behind and burst through their chests.
"Impossible…"
Terror filled the eyes behind their masks.
A Paramecia awakening.
They had realized something was wrong the instant strings began erupting from the ground.
No matter the Devil Fruit category, an awakened ability was terrifying.
If the two CP0 agents had known beforehand and approached with proper caution, they would never have fallen so easily.
Doflamingo, however, had been waiting specifically for them to expose themselves.
That was why he killed them in a single exchange.
As soon as Doflamingo succeeded, the other Cipher Pol agents—who had been evenly matched with the Donquixote officers—suddenly froze.
Then they turned on their own comrades and began attacking them with absolute ferocity.
Screams rang out, only to fade just as quickly.
"Doffy!"
Trebol and the others immediately recognized Doflamingo's handiwork.
They gathered around him and glanced at the bodies scattered across the ground.
Each of the two CP0 agents had a large hole through the chest, with blood and organs spilling from the wounds.
"Forget about them. Begin your assignments."
Doflamingo gave the order.
"Yes!"
The Donquixote officers immediately split up and disappeared in different directions.
Their goal was not to pass the Hunter Exam.
They had come to search for the Devil Fruits hidden throughout the trial grounds.
Even an ordinary Zoan could dramatically increase someone's strength, making the fruits extremely valuable for expanding the Donquixote Family's power.
They would also give Doflamingo leverage when recruiting new subordinates later.
A hundred Devil Fruits sounded astonishing, but compared with the number of candidates taking part, it was not much at all.
Many capable people had entered specifically for the fruits and would inevitably leave empty-handed.
Once Doflamingo joined the Hunter Guild, those disappointed candidates would become his primary recruitment targets.
"I didn't know your Devil Fruit had awakened."
Moria's group approached.
For once, his voice contained a hint of caution.
"Don't be afraid. Our goals don't conflict."
Doflamingo turned toward him with a smile.
"The Hunter Guild isn't offering a vice-chairman position as a reward. If it were, I might consider killing all of you to remove the competition."
"You're welcome to try."
Before Moria could respond, a heavily built man beside him gave a cold snort.
Even in human form, the muscles covering his body gleamed like steel. A fine layer of scales seemed to lie just beneath his skin.
"Our purpose is to find one of the guardians and pass their trial."
Kuma's deep voice interrupted them.
Doflamingo glanced at him.
"Wouldn't it be better to choose someone else?"
He understood perfectly well that people like them would never receive an easy version of the exam.
If they attempted the ordinary route, the Hunter Guild would undoubtedly arrange powerful opponents specifically for them.
That path might be even more dangerous.
But challenging Whitebeard directly?
Everyone present knew how powerful he was.
Aside from Cyrus, Whitebeard was probably the strongest guardian.
Of course, earning his approval might also give them a high position once they joined the Guild.
"Why not challenge Flame Demon Cyrus instead?"
A slender, long-haired woman in a worn vest offered the suggestion.
The amusement on her face made it obvious she only wanted to see what would happen.
The entire group fell silent.
Only Doflamingo and Moria had faced Cyrus personally.
Both understood the suffocating pressure of standing before him.
They had been completely helpless.
And the current Cyrus was probably even stronger than when they met him.
"If that's the plan, count me out."
"I'm not joining you in throwing away your lives either. Go ahead if you think your bodies are sturdier than the Red Line."
Two people immediately backed out.
"I was only joking."
The woman smiled, her tone faintly mocking.
"I'd like to try." Kuma spoke with surprising sincerity.
"You're serious?"
Both Moria and Doflamingo could tell that he was not joking.
Kuma was extremely powerful.
Without him, challenging the other guardians would become far more difficult.
If the entire alliance fought together, they might have a chance against anyone other than Cyrus, Whitebeard, or Big Mom.
Mihawk, for example.
Strangely enough, the world's greatest swordsman might actually be the weakest guardian on the list.
The idea sounded absurd, but it could genuinely be true.
Unfortunately, Mihawk might refuse to test them unless they were swordsmen.
None of them were.
Moria had recently started using a sword again, but that hardly made him a true swordsman.
While they were still discussing their options, dozens of Hunter Guild members entered and collected every dead Cipher Pol agent.
The bodies were quickly carried away.
Seeing the Hunters at work, Doflamingo's group ended their conversation.
There was no point deciding whom to challenge until they actually encountered one of the guardians.
"Captain!"
Bepo watched Doflamingo's group disappear before calling out.
Law emerged from hiding, his expression grim.
As expected, Doflamingo had become even stronger.
What he had just used was almost certainly an awakened Devil Fruit ability.
Law's lowered hand curled into a fist, fury filling his eyes before helplessness gradually replaced it.
How long would it take before he was strong enough to claim revenge?
If Doflamingo passed the exam, joined the Hunter Guild, and perhaps even became one of its high-ranking members, Law's chances of killing him would become even smaller.
He gritted his teeth as determination flashed through his eyes.
Law desperately wanted to kill Doflamingo with his own hands.
But if there was no path to doing it himself, he would have to borrow someone else's strength.
"Let's go."
He stepped deeper into the examination grounds.
…
Elsewhere, Ace and Luffy were racing through the forest with a crowd chasing close behind them.
"You bastards! Put down that fruit, or we'll cut you to pieces!"
Their pursuers shouted furiously as they ran.
"Catch us first!"
Ace looked back and laughed, an ice-blue Devil Fruit clutched in his hand.
His laughter only made the people behind him angrier.
They had found that fruit first, only for this bastard to snatch it away.
It was humiliating.
Worse, the fruit clearly looked unusual. It might grant an extremely powerful ability.
Even if none of them wanted to eat it, selling it would bring an enormous fortune—perhaps one billion Berries or more.
The thought made their eyes turn red.
Ace continued running while studying the fruit, which gave off a faint chill.
Should he eat it?
Any Devil Fruit would probably make him stronger.
Since leaving East Blue, Ace's understanding of the world had expanded considerably. He now knew his current strength meant very little to the true monsters of the sea.
Even Kuina and Zoro, who were around his age, were somewhat stronger than him.
That realization had greatly increased his desire for power.
"Gum-Gum…!"
Luffy's voice came from behind him.
Two stretching fists shot backward and knocked away the closest pursuers before twisting through the air and returning to normal.
"Luffy, don't waste time fighting them!"
Ace shouted.
An arm stretched past him and wrapped around a thick branch ahead. The tension snapped Luffy forward through the trees.
"Ace, if you don't want to eat it, can I have it?"
His voice drifted back from farther ahead.
"A person can only eat one Devil Fruit! How many times do I have to tell you?"
Ace was speechless.
He had repeated it countless times before the exam.
Luffy simply refused to remember.
"Oh, right! I forgot!"
Luffy sounded mildly embarrassed.
Ace glanced at the growing crowd behind him, then looked down at the Devil Fruit in his hand.
Under the furious gazes of everyone chasing him, he opened his mouth and stuffed the entire fruit inside.
Then, just like Luffy had once done, he swallowed it whole with a loud gulp.
"That bastard ate it! Kill him!"
The sight of a fruit worth one billion Berries disappearing into Ace's stomach sent the pursuers into a rage.
Crack!
A branch snapped beneath Ace's foot.
The broken section instantly transformed into ice crystals and shattered.
"What…?"
Several pursuers froze in surprise before becoming even angrier.
One glance was enough to tell that the ability involved ice.
There was already a similar Devil Fruit on the sea—the one belonging to Marine Admiral Aokiji.
Even if this fruit was weaker, that resemblance alone would make it extraordinarily valuable.
It might have sold not for one billion, but several billion Berries.
With that much money, they could live in luxury for ten lifetimes.
The crowd's eyes became almost deranged as they stared at Ace.
Ace himself watched his skin slowly take on a blue tint. Every breath of his released a cloud of white mist.
He leapt from the trees, kicked off a trunk, and landed on the ground.
Layers of frost spread outward from beneath his feet.
…
"Interesting."
Inside an enormous room lined with hundreds of monitors, Cyrus watched the scene unfold with a smile.
"Chairman, why didn't you keep that fruit as one of the final rewards and give it to someone who had already agreed to join the Guild?"
Crocodile stared at the screen, unable to hide his regret.
The Ice Fruit could be considered a Logia, or perhaps an unusual Paramecia.
Its power allowed the user to lower the temperature of whatever they touched.
They had known its basic effect, but not that it was this powerful.
From what Ace had displayed immediately after eating it, the fruit might genuinely rival Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit.
If developed properly, it could potentially create an Admiral-level fighter.
"He was lucky."
Cyrus smiled.
"I placed several fruits close to the entrance to see who would find them first. I didn't expect that brat to get this one."
"Judging from what we're seeing, though, it's probably a Paramecia. He doesn't seem capable of elemental transformation."
Aside from the Dark-Dark Fruit, every Logia allowed its user to transform into an element.
The Devil Fruit encyclopedia had probably classified this one as a Logia simply because its effects resembled the Ice-Ice Fruit so closely.
"Whether it's a Logia or a Paramecia, it's still an extremely powerful Devil Fruit."
Crocodile bit down on his cigar and sighed helplessly.
Only after managing an organization did one truly understand how valuable its resources were.
A fruit like this should have been reserved for one of their own people.
"A Devil Fruit user has died."
One of the employees monitoring the routes suddenly reported.
Cyrus glanced at the relevant screen and patted Crocodile on the shoulder.
"Relax. Devil Fruits aren't especially rare to me anymore."
His body disappeared into flames.
On one of the monitors, Cyrus emerged from another burst of fire beside a dead ability user.
Darkness spread across the ground, swallowing both the corpse and the surrounding area.
Crocodile stared at the black mass on the screen and swallowed.
A moment later, the darkness slowly receded.
Cyrus stood there once again, holding a banana-shaped Devil Fruit in his hand.
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