"So, it's a Birdcage, huh..." Cross looked at the giant cage made of strings and chuckled. "Hehe, looks like we're birds in a cage now!"
"Damn it! How could this happen?!" Rosinante stared at the perfectly arranged strings, his eyes wide with despair.
At first, he stole the Ope Ope no Mi from Diez Barrels and gave it to Law. He thought that as long as he could find a Marine for support, he would be safe. Who would've thought that the Marine Law randomly found was Vergo, Doflamingo's spy within the Marines? When Vergo started beating him, he was once again filled with despair.
But just when he thought all hope was lost, Amphitrite Cross arrived, giving him a renewed sense of hope. He thought that with Cross's support, he and Law could safely escape from Vergo. However, to his surprise, Doflamingo arrived on Minion Island and used a technique he had never seen before, sealing off most of the island and turning everyone on it into birds in a cage, with no way to escape.
From hope to despair, then to hope again, and finally facing despair once more... This kind of emotional torment was a hundred times more painful than Vergo's beating. Rosinante knew his 'brother's' strength and the strength of the other executives, so he didn't believe that the young Cross could take on the entire Donquixote Family alone.
At this moment, Vergo's expression became resolute. He picked up a wooden stick the size of an adult's thigh from the snow, wiped off the snow, and then hardened it with extremely dense Armament Haki, turning it into an iron staff in his hand.
"I know you're strong, even Doffy praises you constantly, but today, inside this cage, you absolutely cannot escape, Cross!" With that, Vergo's expression turned fierce. He shot forward like a cannonball, covering a distance of several dozen meters in an instant, and appeared in front of Cross.
A cold, whipping wind hit his face as Cross watched Vergo swing his 'iron staff' at his head.
Clang—
Clang—
In a flash, Cross stood his ground. His right hand had already gripped his sword Shusui at his waist. He drew it with lightning speed and met the 'iron staff' just in time. With the loud clang of metal on metal, a powerful shockwave radiated from the two, kicking up a large amount of snow and even sending Rosinante and Law flying.
"Impressive strength... No wonder that flamingo sent you to infiltrate the Marines. He must have hoped that you would quickly climb the ranks of the Marines and give him more advantages." Cross praised as he felt Vergo's strength.
Vergo's face darkened, and without a word, he quickly moved to Cross's side and swept a kick. The kick was heavy and powerful, like a steel whip, and the howling wind it created even lifted the snow from the ground. It was several times stronger than the strength he used to beat Rosinante earlier.
"Hey, you two, get away! You might die by accident!" Cross warned Rosinante and Law while casually dodging the attack. He then swung his sword at Vergo's neck, which flashed through the air like a black-purple bolt of lightning.
Vergo quickly blocked the slash with his 'iron staff', just barely managing to deflect the attack. As their weapons clashed, sparks flew out along with the clang. But Vergo didn't expect that Cross's seemingly casual slash would contain such immense power, knocking him back several steps.
"Hahaha~ Prepare to die!" Surtur, who was floating in mid-air, saw his chance. It opened its mouth and spewed a torrent of scorching flames, which shot down at Vergo like a giant flaming arrow.
"Damn it!" Vergo's heart trembled. He quickly rolled to the side and took cover behind a raised snowdrift. The next second, the original spot he stood was hit by the giant flaming arrow. With a loud boom, a charred pit several meters in diameter appeared in the snow, and the rocks inside were glowing red from the scorching flames.
In the cold, snowy weather, a raging fire erupted, and the rolling heatwaves swept out in all directions, melting a large area of snow.
"Soru." Just then, Cross saw Vergo's head peek out from behind the snowdrift and instantly vanished. When he reappeared, he was behind Vergo.
"So fast!" Vergo quickly reacted, twisting his waist and swinging the 'iron staff' behind him. However, just as he swung his weapon, he took a punch to his right cheek.
With a dull thud, the punch, like a heavy hammer, completely blanked Vergo's mind. The immense force sent him flying, and a visible ripple spread through the air.
Boom!
Vergo, like a cannonball, smashed through a broken brick wall. A large amount of bricks and rocks buried him, kicking up a cloud of snow and dust.
"I'm superior in speed and strength! How can you possibly fight me?" Cross walked casually through the snow, his expression indifferent and his tone disdainful. "The reason I didn't stop you from talking to Doffy wasn't just to lure him here. I also wanted to give you a chance to see how big the gap between us is! 'Stall me'... Heh, you and that flamingo are being a little too presumptuous!"
The current Vergo, although strong, couldn't compare to his future, peak-level self. This Vergo had just joined the Marines, hadn't learned Rokushiki yet, and hadn't gone through over a decade of fighting and training at Branch G-5. In front of a monster like Cross, he was still a little too naive.
"He's so strong!" Not far away, Law squatted beside Rosinante, his eyes wide as he watched Cross and Vergo's battle.
"Of course. After all, Commodore Cross is the man who is hailed as the 'Star of the Marines' by the outside world!" Rosinante's voice held a hint of pride, and his worries lessened inexplicably.
"Ahhhhh—"
"Someone, please make me stop!"
"Stop it! Stop!"
"What's going on?! What the hell is happening?!"
All over Minion Island, the pirates of the Barrels Pirates were being controlled by nearly invisible parasitic strings and were brutally fighting each other. Many pirates had fled to the edge of the Birdcage but were stopped by the hard and sharp strings, unable to escape.
Screams, wails, and cries... This place had become a living hell.
On the shore, the Marines from Branch G-5 stood outside the Birdcage, looking in at the fierce gunfire and explosions. The sight of a large number of pirates fleeing down the mountain and killing each other left them all in a state of shock. Some tried to cut the strings with their swords, but only ended up chipping their blades without leaving a scratch on the strings.
"...We still don't know what happened!" A Marine, holding a Den Den Mushi, spoke with a tense expression. "A huge cage suddenly covered the island... It's impossible to get in... Such an unbelievable thing... Did these pirates have a falling out? They're killing each other!"
"That's right, we can't reach Commodore Cross! I'm afraid the Commodore... is also inside the cage!"
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