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"It must be possible, it must!" Law's resolute steps continued forward, not fast, but with an unwavering spirit. The birdcage's retraction speed wasn't fast either, but it moved relentlessly, impossible to stop. "I must not fall into Doflamingo's hands. I must not become a livestock to be slaughtered in someone else's hands."
Getting caught by Doflamingo meant no immediate danger to his life. But what difference was that from a pig? Pigs were fattened and then slaughtered. Similarly, Doflamingo would raise Law to be strong, then take his life. Law didn't believe Doflamingo would wait until he surpassed him to make a move, nor did he believe he would be given a chance to escape. There was no freedom to speak of, no guarantee whatsoever.
But would becoming a pirate be more free? Yes, becoming a pirate was more free, but that only applied to powerful pirates. Small pirate crews constantly fled from Marine encirclements. Even if one was strong but not a captain, everything still depended on the captain's orders.
Was becoming a Marine not free? Ordinary Marines certainly weren't free, but what if one became an Admiral? An Admiral's strength and authority could reach the highest peak, even daring to slam the table in front of the Five Elders. Law only wanted a safe and secure environment. In his heart, becoming a Marine was better than becoming a pirate. Were the Four Emperors strong? But how many of the three kings from the previous era had good ends? And how many Admirals didn't have good ends?
"It must be possible. I have already obtained the Op-Op Fruit. The Op-Op Fruit has the ability to break through the birdcage. It can definitely be done." The flames burning in his heart pierced his entire body. An incredibly strong will permeated his soul. No one could! No one could be his master. Neither the Marines nor Doflamingo, absolutely not! Even if he died, he would never become someone else's food. He would die in hell if he had to.
In many aspects, he might be like ordinary people, with no outstanding qualities, but from a young age, he had an unyielding spirit because he had no one to rely on. At twelve years old, he lived a lonely, miserable life on the streets. He was caught by a crime syndicate who made him train various acrobatic skills and beg on the streets,
turning him into a tool for making money. A twelve-year-old child? What could he do against a crime syndicate? But at twelve, relying on his sheer will and ruthlessness, he secretly followed them and used bricks to smash the heads of over a dozen members of the crime syndicate. From a young age, he knew that if he wanted to avoid being bullied and to survive, he had to be ruthless to others. Because he had nothing, he could only be ruthless.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Roaring towards the sky, with the birdcage only ten meters away, Law opened his right hand: "ROOM!" Law had practiced how to use his ability many times in the past few days. The use of the ability primarily required physical strength as a foundation. Law, having consumed the fruit and now free from illness and pain, already possessed strength. "Come out, ROOM!" With no wind beneath his feet, a vortex of wind appeared. Accompanied by his roar, a transparent semi-circular anomalous space suddenly appeared in his hand, but its diameter was only tens of centimeters, seemingly a bit comical. "Not enough, far from enough!"
"He?" Corazon stared at Law in shock. "Still not enough, the area is far from enough." Law roared, putting all his strength into increasing ROOM's area. The ROOM space, with a diameter of only tens of centimeters in his hand, slowly increased at a slow pace.
"Law, it's dangerous." Corazon looked at the retracting silver threads, which were only a few meters away from Law. He rushed over, intending to forcibly pull him away. "Make it expand, expand, expand!" Forgetting everything, he desperately unleashed his ability, or developed his ability. This was his first time using the Op-Op Fruit's power.
"Law, give up. The birdcage is impenetrable. Give up..."
"Whoosh!" The slowly expanding ROOM space finally broke through a critical point, instantly expanding dozens of times, reaching a diameter of several meters, like a house. It enveloped both Law and Corazon. Corazon was dumbfounded. Was this possible? Was this the first time someone used an ability that had to be developed to this extent? A fruit ability that required development to truly manifest its power, was it possible to achieve this much on the first try? A genius? It was simply unbelievable.
"It's not over yet." In Law's eyes, this was just the beginning. What good was creating a ROOM space? Could he use the abilities within the ROOM space to cut the silver threads? It was absolutely impossible to do so now.
"Quickly pick up a small stone and throw it outside the birdcage, it must be within the space." Law, his whole body's veins bulging like coiled dragons from exertion, his face slightly contorted, roared at Corazon. Perhaps it was the shock. Corazon instinctively chose to follow Law's instructions. A small stone from outside the birdcage fell between the silver threads. "Transfer it!"
The silver threads were right in front of him. Time seemed to slow down in Law's eyes. He could clearly see every detail of the birdcage's retraction, and hear the sound of the silver threads cutting into the earth. Everything was so real! "Move it, move it, move it!" His veins and blood vessels bulged throughout his body, his eyes were bloodshot. All his spirit was unleashed. He burst out with no regard for the consequences.
Law didn't know if he would succeed. But if he gave up without trying, if he surrendered without a fight, he would die unwillingly. Even in hell, he would struggle. From childhood, he had learned the law of the jungle: only ruthlessness. Beasts would struggle frantically when despairing before death. Even the gentlest rabbit would dare to kick an eagle when dying. Let alone a human. "Wuwu..."
Everything around him was so clear. He could see the wind, every snowflake was so clear. He could clearly feel the power circulating throughout his body. At this moment, Law completely controlled a body that was not his own. "Body and mind as one." This feeling was even more wondrous than controlling his body on Earth. Although Law was only thirteen years old, his power already surpassed anyone on Earth.
"Slam!" The small stone that had fallen on the snow outside the birdcage rose into the air. "Law, stop! Give up! You absolutely cannot break through the birdcage. And you've just recovered. Your power cannot sustain the use of this Devil Fruit ability. You'll collapse from exhaustion and die... Whoosh." "Move it for me." He had already forgotten everything. He had only one desire: to succeed. "Exhaustion and... death!" Corazon's voice seemed to pause for a fraction of a second, and then became much more muffled. Because he was outside the birdcage at this moment, not by Law's side.
"Move it for me." Law kicked the stone under his feet flying, landing it outside the birdcage. His skin, red from exertion, was already sweating. In the icy cold, he was like a furnace. "Whoosh!" The silver threads sliced through. They cut through the small stone that had appeared out of nowhere. The stone split in two. Outside, a figure fell heavily into the snow. He was out!
"Law... all this... how did you... do it?" Corazon stared at Law blankly, unable to wake up. His wide mouth couldn't get any wider. "I told you, I would get out." Law looked at the birdcage still retracting behind him. He finally couldn't help but smile, a wide grin, and then he fell into the snow.
...
"Broke through the birdcage?" Corazon looked at the distant birdcage, somewhat incredulous. That was the birdcage that was said to be impenetrable.
"Law... how did you do it?" Corazon stared blankly at Law, unable to believe that all of this was Law's doing.
"You just got the fruit, and it's the Op-Op Fruit. Its ability should be healing." As an ability user, Corazon understood that anyone who obtained a fruit ability would naturally possess a unique ability, but at first, they would only have the fruit's basic abilities. For example, the basic ability of the Gum-Gum Fruit was elasticity. The basic ability of the String-String Fruit was cutting. But besides basic abilities, there were also derivative abilities, which needed to be developed by oneself.
For example, Gum-Gum Fruit's Gear Second, Third, Fourth, and String-String Fruit's control of others... these were all uses beyond the fruit's basic abilities. To develop derivative abilities, the primary condition was that the fruit's basic ability must have reached a state of mastery. Then, after long-term development and thousands of experiments, derivative abilities might finally be developed.
And those who could develop derivative abilities were by no means unknown figures on the vast sea. Many ability users could only possess basic abilities throughout their lives because they lacked the talent to develop derivative abilities. Corazon himself had possessed a fruit ability for nearly ten years but had not yet developed any derivative abilities. Being surpassed by Law's one hour of effort, which was more than ten years of his own, Corazon was utterly shocked.
"Just got the ability, and he can already develop derivative abilities? Law... you truly are astonishing." Corazon didn't believe that the Op-Op Fruit's basic ability was similar to teleportation. The Op-Op Fruit's basic ability was dissection. Corazon cheered excitedly. Law's talent shocked him. He was even more happy for Law. Such talent, and derivative abilities that were related to space-time, he couldn't imagine any reason why Law wouldn't grow strong.
"Law?" Corazon called softly. He found Law had no response. He quickly picked up Law in the snow and checked him carefully. He breathed a sigh of relief: "He's just unconscious from exhaustion. Good thing. Oh right, Law seemed to say something to me before he fainted? He told me to leave quickly and not go to the west coast?"