Chapter 144: The Cage Descends, The King's High Ground
"Find the Den Den Mushi! Report everything to the World Government officials, immediately!"
The command echoed through the suddenly chaotic streets of Dressrosa, but it was just one voice among a rising tide of chaos.
Across the island, a miracle was occurring, and a nightmare was ending.
Former toys—soldiers, pirates, citizens, even captured Marines and CP agents who had been forgotten by the world—stretched limbs they hadn't felt in years. They touched their own faces, their own clothes, weeping with a joy so profound it was indistinguishable from agony. The hell of being a transparent slave, forced to watch their loved ones live on without any memory of them, was finally over. Years of suppressed rage and grief erupted in a single, unified roar.
They remembered everything. They remembered the Donquixote Family.
On the Royal Plateau, the Den Den Mushi in Doflamingo's hand screeched with Trebol's panic.
"Wooooooaaaah, Doffy! Sugar just collapsed! I don't know what happened! The toys... they've all turned back! They're all back! I've tried everything, but I can't wake her up! Doffy, you have to do something!"
The fear in Trebol's voice was palpable, but Doflamingo didn't need the report. Standing on his high perch, he could see his perfect kingdom unraveling with his own eyes. The meticulously constructed lie of a happy toy paradise was crumbling into a battlefield of righteous fury.
"Jock Ian!" Doflamingo's roar of pure, unadulterated rage tore from his throat, echoing across the high ground. "Was this your true goal all along?!"
He had miscalculated. He had assumed the battle would be direct, a clash of power. He never imagined Ian's first and most devastating strike would be against the linchpin of his entire operation, the little girl hidden deep underground. Eight years of work, an entire kingdom built on a foundation of forgotten souls, had been shattered in an instant. Even if Sugar woke up, the damage was done. The spell was broken.
"Fine! If you want to destroy my ideal kingdom..." A cruel, manic light flickered in Doflamingo's eyes. "Then this entire island will be destroyed with it!"
A puppet clone materialized beside him. Instead of diving into the fray below, it tilted its head back, its mouth opening like a crater to spew forth thousands of near-invisible, razor-sharp strings into the sky. He was unleashing his ultimate, indiscriminate technique, the power that showcased his mastery over the String-String Fruit.
The Birdcage.
Thousands of threads shot upwards, arcing outwards before descending, forming a massive, dome-like cage that began to enclose the entire island of Dressrosa. The silken threads, sharper than any blade, began their slow, inexorable contraction. Within an hour, they would shrink to the center, severing everything and everyone in their path. Doflamingo would not stop it until his enemies were mincemeat.
"Hmm? This guy... when did he—?!" Doflamingo's instincts screamed a warning. He launched himself sideways, putting several meters between himself and his previous position.
Standing there, as if he had been there all along, was Jock Ian.
Even having estimated Ian's strength, his silent, unperceived arrival was chilling. This was more than just speed.
"Wow! Brother Doffy, that's quite a flashy skill!" Ian remarked, his tone light and teasing as he gestured at the descending threads. "The Paramecia type really does have diverse applications. To develop the String-String Fruit to this level is genuinely impressive. It makes me a little envious."
He shook his head with a mock sigh. "What a pity. I'm just a plain old Zoan type with the boring Human-Human Fruit. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
His eyes hardened, the playful glint replaced by cold steel as he pointed down at the erupting chaos in the city. "So? How do you like the gift I prepared for you? Sincere enough for you, isn't it?"
He knew exactly what was infuriating Doflamingo the most, and he was determined to twist the knife.
"It seems only one of us will be left standing on this plateau today," Doflamingo snarled, his composure cracking. "Ian, you are too short-sighted to ever comprehend my lofty ideals... Five Colored Strings!"
He attacked without further warning, his hand forming a claw-like shape. Five incredibly sharp, multi-hued threads shot towards Ian, capable of slicing through steel.
BOOM!
Ian didn't dodge. He simply swung his fist, his arm sheathed in potent Armament Haki. The five colored strings shattered on impact, scattering harmlessly into the air. They didn't leave so much as a scratch on his skin.
Doflamingo had expected as much. He used the opening to close the distance in a burst of speed, his leg lashing out.
"Overheat!"
Transparent strings, infused with Armament Haki, extended from his foot, sharp enough to slice the very air itself. The attack was aimed perfectly, leaving Ian no room to dodge given his position.
Shick!
The string-laced kick passed straight through Ian's form, which rippled and dissolved into nothingness.
Six Styles: Paper Drawing Afterimage!
It was a technique Ian had personally taught to his subordinate, T-Bone. By the time Doflamingo realized his mistake, the real Ian was already behind him, a fist clad in devastating Haki rocketing towards his back.
BOOM!
The impact was tremendous. The raw, physical power behind the blow was staggering. Doflamingo's mind raced even as he was thrown forward. He had investigated Ian thoroughly. He wasn't a giant, nor from any specially gifted race. So where did this monstrous strength come from?
The Human-Human Fruit? It couldn't be.
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