"Donquixote Doflamingo?"

At the mention of the name, Daren froze for a moment, then a strange expression crept across his face.

As a transmigrator, he was anything but unfamiliar with that name—in fact, it rang like thunder in his ears.

A future member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the infamous "Doffy"!

The biggest underworld broker, controlling over half of the world's illegal trade routes—"JOKER"!

Publicly, the king of Dressrosa; secretly, an ally of Kaido of the Beasts and a key player in shaking the world's power balance!

However...

At this point in time, the Shichibukai system hadn't even been established yet. Kaido of the Beasts hadn't become one of the Four Emperors dominating the New World.

And Doflamingo... was nothing more than a cocky brat who had just arrived in the North Blue with a few followers, trying to build his power.

"Yes, this brat's background..."

Momonga spoke vaguely, with a trace of apprehension in his tone.

Daren chuckled and bluntly laid it out:

"He's just a Celestial Dragon who got stripped of his privileges. Now he's running around the North Blue like a stray dog, biting at everything in sight."

Momonga gave Daren a look. After working with him for so many years, he knew Daren was a reckless man who thrived on chaos.

But even so, his blatant contempt for the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, still left Momonga feeling a bit helpless.

"You're awfully calm about this," he sighed.

"Even though Doflamingo has lost the right to live in Mary Geoise, the fact remains—he still has Celestial Dragon blood running through his veins..."

"Now that he's flying the flag of the Donquixote Pirates, it's clear he intends to expand his influence here in the North Blue. He might even take root in the region. That could undo everything we've spent the last few years building."

He looked visibly troubled.

"Daren, should we report this to Marine Headquarters?"

Technically, Doflamingo had raised a pirate flag, and as Marines stationed in the North Blue, they were duty-bound to suppress him.

But his identity as a Celestial Dragon made things far more complicated.

Daren fell silent for a moment.

Doflamingo was definitely a problem.

In the original timeline, this lunatic had even dared to rob the Heavenly Tribute. Backed by his Celestial Dragon heritage, he forced the World Government to compromise and grant him the title of Shichibukai.

The Marines were wary of him too. They didn't dare act rashly because of his background.

Sure, Vice Admiral Tsuru had attempted to take him down multiple times and caused him a lot of trouble—later, Doflamingo would even flee at the sight of her warship.

But that just goes to show—Doflamingo was still out there, free.

With Tsuru's strength as a veteran Marine, even if she wasn't quite on the level of Garp or Sengoku, she could've easily crushed and captured a not-yet-fully-grown Doflamingo.

And yet, she let him "slip away" time and time again.

Simply put, it all came down to one thing: his Celestial Dragon lineage.

"No, that brat—leave him to me. You don't need to worry about it for now."

"As for the headquarters, I imagine that old man Sengoku won't be able to sit still for long."

Momonga nodded and turned to leave the estate.

...

Daren lay still in the freezing, bone-chilling water, lost in thought.

At some point, he raised his hand.

A faint arc of electricity flickered between his fingers, and in the next moment, an invisible, eerie magnetic field suddenly spread out around him.

Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded—

A coin floated out of the pocket of the military trousers hanging nearby and hovered steadily above Daren's palm, as if guided by some strange, unseen force.

Anyone witnessing this would've been shocked.

With a simple flick of his fingers, the metal coin spun and danced gracefully around his palm like a nimble butterfly.

Paramecia-type: Jiki Jiki no Mi!

In the original storyline, this was the Devil Fruit ability of Supernova Eustass Kid, a member of the "Worst Generation"!

It generates magnetic fields, magnetizes metal, and allows the user to manipulate magnetism and electrically control all metal objects like iron.

This was a trophy Daren claimed during a mafia purge. Once he confirmed it was the Jiki Jiki no Mi that belonged to Eustass Kid, he ate it without hesitation.

The Jiki Jiki no Mi was a fruit with immense developmental potential and virtually limitless power—but Kid, that idiot, turned it into a joke.

He could've become a suave, commanding figure like Magneto, but instead he played around with metal junk like Lego and Gundams.

A god-tier fruit, completely wasted.

At least in Daren's eyes, if developed properly, the Jiki Jiki no Mi's power was easily on par with any top-tier Logia.

Naturally, this had become Daren's greatest trump card.

With that in mind, he slowly closed his eyes.

He lay in the frigid water, the invisible magnetic field spreading in all directions. The metal coin floated and twirled around him, occasionally sparking with faint purple arcs of electricity.

Under the effects of the bio-magnetic field, the wounds on his body were rapidly healing. His muscles rhythmically pulsed and contracted across his entire body.

This was a new ability he had recently developed from the Jiki Jiki no Mi.

By immersing the body in a high-intensity bio-magnetic field, it could accelerate recovery and steadily enhance physical attributes.

Of course, even with his powerful physique, he could only endure about three hours of this field. The longer it lasted, the more intense the pressure and pain.

If it exceeded his body's limit, his internal organs would suffer irreversible damage.

Time ticked by...

Within the magnetic field's effect,

Daren could feel his physical stats rising every ten minutes.

Physique+0.01

Strength +0.01

Speed +0.01

...

————

The next day.

Daren put on a crisp new military uniform and draped a wide cloak over his shoulders. Just as he stepped into the base commander's office, he saw Tokikake slouched on the couch, sporting deep dark circles under his eyes and yawning endlessly.

Clearly, he'd been up all night training and was completely drained.

Daren chuckled to himself—seems he really got under the guy's skin.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Commander Tokikake."

"Morning..." Tokikake mumbled sleepily. Then, as if the voice finally registered, he jolted upright from the couch with a shiver.

"Not the face!!"

He threw up a defensive pose, arms crossed tightly in front of his face.

Trying to protect his money-maker, huh... Daren couldn't help but laugh and shook his head.

"Relax. I know you rely on your looks."

Tokikake gave him a wary look before slowly lowering his arms.

Feeling a little embarrassed, he stiffened his neck and gave a cold snort.

"Glad you know your place."

He paused, then added, "About yesterday's spar—you know I wasn't going all out."

"I mean, you're the top dog in the North Blue. If I beat you down in front of all your subordinates, it wouldn't look too good."

Daren smiled "knowingly."

"Of course. Lieutenant Commander Tokikake is a genius of the headquarters. How could I possibly be your match?"

He pulled out a box of cigars and handed one to Tokikake.

"Damn right!" Tokikake beamed, clearly pleased with the compliment. One hand on his hip, he proudly accepted the cigar with the other.

"But hey, Daren, where'd you get this cigar? This is high-quality stuff. Even HQ doesn't see much of it…"

As he spoke, Tokikake lit the cigar and took a satisfied puff.

Daren sat down next to him, crossed one leg over the other, and lit one for himself as well.

"I've got plenty. If you like it, Lieutenant Commander, I'll have someone send a box over."

"A... a box?"

Tokikake's hand trembled, his eyes popping like he'd been burned.

He wasn't some clueless bumpkin.

These were luxury cigars made exclusively for nobles, grown in the tobacco plantations of the Ballywood Islands in the West Blue. Each one cost over 50,000 Berries.

A box held 10. A full carton, 20 boxes.

That meant one carton was worth over 10 million Berries!

And as a Lieutenant Commander, his annual salary wasn't even 2 million!

Where the hell did Daren get that kind of money?!