Luffy offered a wide, determined smile as Katakuri and the others turned their focus toward him. He didn't stop to explain the sudden transformation of the toys; instead, he waved a quick farewell to his crewmates. The organized tournament was effectively over. While Luffy enjoyed a good challenge, his true objective had shifted—he was going to take down Doflamingo.
"Goodbye, everyone! I'm off to send Doflamingo flying!" Luffy shouted.
Using Moonwalk, Luffy propelled himself out of the arena, quickly regrouping with his partners to head toward the heart of the crisis. Behind him, Katakuri, Burgess, and the other competitors stood in the player room, exchanging bewildered glances. One thing was certain: Dressrosa had descended into absolute chaos.
The martial arts festival was dead in the water, and any hope of winning the Multiply-Multiply Fruit through the competition had vanished. Perospero and Cracker rushed to Katakuri's side, waiting for their brother's lead. Katakuri had no intention of leaving empty-handed; if the fruit couldn't be won, it would be taken by force. Nearby, Shiryu, Van Augur, and Burgess reached a similar conclusion. The Blackbeard Pirates already had a shaky alliance with Doflamingo and shared a mutual hostility toward the Straw Hats. To them, helping the Warlord crush Luffy's group was simply good business.
Meanwhile, Urouge, Kid, and Hawkins remained undecided, watching the factions collide.
Luffy's group sprinted toward the palace. Brook moved steadily with the injured Zoro on his back, refusing to leave his swordsman behind in the middle of a war zone.
"Wait! Is that Teacher Carl and Robin?" Luffy shouted, spotting two familiar figures standing motionless in a corner.
Luffy rushed over so fast he nearly collided with them, but neither Carl nor Robin flinched. They remained in a frozen, hiding posture.
"Teacher Carl? Robin? What's wrong?" Luffy asked, curiously patting Carl's cheek. His eyes went wide when he felt the cold, hard surface. "This is terrible! They're cold and stiff! Marco, you're the doctor—come quick! They're dead!"
Wham!
Sanji's leg connected with Luffy's side, sending the captain tumbling away. "What was that for, Sanji?!" Luffy yelled, clutching his head.
"Open your eyes, you idiot! These are obviously wax figures!" Sanji snapped, exhaling a puff of smoke.
Zoro, Brook, and Tashigi could only sigh in exasperation. Having a captain who couldn't distinguish a human from a wax statue was an exhausting cross to bear. Marco, Ace, and Vista, however, found the display hilarious, laughing at Luffy's characteristic denseness.
Sanji moved to help the wax figures, but he paused when he reached Robin. Even as a statue, the likeness was perfect and undeniably graceful. He wondered if he could take a moment to—
"Hey, Cook! Your inner monologue is showing," Zoro muttered, rolling his eyes.
"I'll help Miss Robin!" Tashigi said firmly, pushing Sanji aside to lift the wax figure herself. Sanji collapsed to his knees, mourning the lost opportunity to be "helpful" to the beautiful archaeologist.
Zoro frowned, looking at the statues. "Why would Mr. 3 leave these here?"
"It was likely a diversion," Tashigi guessed. "To keep the secret that Teacher Carl was actually out on the sea, he used the wax figures to maintain a presence. Mr. 3 couldn't exactly make them fight, so he hid them here."
While they spoke, the real Doflamingo was soaring over the city. As he looked down at the crumbling order of his kingdom, the veins on his forehead throbbed with fury. Dressrosa was no longer a land of obedient toys; it was a powder keg of rebellion. Thousands of people had suddenly remembered the spouses, parents, and friends they had forgotten for years. Families were shattered, and the grief was quickly turning into a murderous thirst for the Warlord's blood.
Former pirates, Marines, and revolutionaries who had been enslaved as toys were now arming themselves, all with a single goal: to kill Doflamingo.
"Damn that Law! Damn the Straw Hats!" Doflamingo hissed. "My foundation, my life's work—ruined! I'll slaughter every last one of you!"
In a fit of rage, Doflamingo summoned a string clone. Under his expert manipulation, the clone began to unravel into thousands of razor-thin, shimmering threads. The strings shot into the sky, spreading outward like the ribs of a massive, lethal umbrella.
Carl and Law arrived just in time to see the dome begin to descend.
"It's the Birdcage!" Law whispered, his eyes filling with a familiar horror. "He's going to contract the cage and kill everyone on the island!"
While Law was haunted by the memory of this technique, Carl remained calm. He knew that with the caliber of power currently on Dressrosa—including the Straw Hats and multiple Yonko commanders—Doflamingo was overplaying his hand. A cage made of string could not hold back the tide of this era.
Terrified citizens rushed toward the ports, only to be sliced back by the nearly invisible, indestructible wires of the Birdcage. The strings were sharp enough to cut through buildings and resilient enough to ignore cannon fire. However, Carl knew that such "invincibility" was relative. To a force like Kaido or Whitebeard, the Birdcage would be nothing more than a cobweb. As long as one's Haki and strength far surpassed Doflamingo's, the cage could be broken.
"There he is!" Luffy shouted.
His eyes locked onto Doflamingo hovering in the air. Without a second thought, Luffy used Moonwalk to launch himself toward the Warlord.
Doflamingo felt a momentary flicker of hesitation at the sight of the boy's abnormal aura, but his hatred quickly burned it away. He raised his hand, ready to crush the pirate who had dismantled his world.
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