At that moment, Roy was certain he had glimpsed the deeper nature of Sir Imu.
If, in the distant past, there truly had been a "Pillar of the World", a tree capable of granting wishes, bringing miracles into existence, and creating the world itself, then Imu, born from that tree, might very well be the polar opposite of the world: a being formed from all its malice and desires.
This would also explain why Rocks had said in the original story that Imu was "the world."
It wasn't merely because Imu ruled the world. It was because Imu's very nature was part of the source from which the world had originated.
Naturally, this information was both important and irrelevant to Roy right now.
Understanding the true nature of his ultimate enemy was certainly useful, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.
'Whoosh!'
His figure flashed, and in an instant, he appeared before the three remnants of the God's Knights' Deep Sea Covenant.
"Shinko, join us."
"Make a covenant with the great Abyss."
"You will gain power and authority..."
The Deep Sea Covenant continued whispering to him.
The only response was Shinko's Golden Cudgel, followed by the resounding beat of the Drums of Liberation.
'Bang!'
A single strike scattered all three masses of energy.
Then...
'Buzz!'
They began to disappear completely.
{The "Lineage Factor Source (Impurity - Evil Wish)" has been analyzed.}
{Purifying impurity...}
{Lineage Factor Unlocked - 50.13% → 69.45%}
The text appearing in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia made Shinko's eyes light up.
Just as he had suspected, the Lineage Factor Origin Energy within the God's Knights could also be analyzed.
"The three of them together gave me even more than a single tree root..." he muttered to himself, already looking forward to meeting the God's Knights again.
These guys were weak, arrogant, and lacked fighting spirit. Not only could they provide Devil Fruit-related energy, but they could now increase his Lineage Factor Unlocking progress as well.
"Very nice," Shinko delivered his verdict.
Meanwhile...
"We... we did it!"
The spectators and Commentator Gaz watched the strange energy disperse into the clouds.
They naturally had no idea what it actually was, but they knew it was the final remnant of the three God's Knights. And seeing Shinko destroy those remnants could only mean one thing.
"The battle is over!" Gaz announced in a voice filled with excitement. "The champion of this year's tournament has been decided! Shinko-sama of the Twelve Zodiacs is the champion!"
Outside the arena, Marco finally let out a long breath. Ever since the Heavenly Palace Wonderland had appeared, the tension and shock had nearly stopped his breathing.
"He actually did it..." He stared in disbelief at Shinko standing beneath the Heavenly Palace, as well as the vague, indistinct figure visible above it.
Over the years, the Whitebeard Pirates had realized that the World Government was hiding secrets. Whitebeard in particular knew quite a few of them. After all, he had experienced the God Valley Incident and had been close with Roger.
He hadn't told his sons everything, but he had revealed bits and pieces.
For instance...
'"God's Knights? Gurarararara! Don't worry about those guys. They're just a bunch of weaklings calling themselves gods, holding onto power that never belonged to them."'
'"But... if someone in this world can truly kill them, then the world really will change."'
And now...
"The Twelve Zodiacs... have figured out how to kill them?" Marco's expression turned solemn. "When I get back, I have to tell the Old Man about this. No, the Old Man is already on his way to meet them. It'll be better if he asks them himself..."
His thoughts were interrupted as his attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere.
It wasn't just Marco. Everyone inside and outside the Colosseum heard the voice echoing through the screens.
"Fufufufufufu!"
It was a burst of laughter.
"Well, this is something. I guessed it might happen, but I never imagined you could actually pull something like this off."
Following the deaths of the three God's Knights, Doflamingo, who had been silently watching from high above the city, showed not the slightest sign of panic. He kept grinning, the lenses of his sunglasses catching the light.
"You really are something, Twelve Zodiacs."
Then...
"Look! The Birdcage! It hasn't stopped! It's moving even faster!"
"Doflamingo! The tournament is over! Your plan failed!"
"Are you insane?! Cancel your ability!"
"Shinko-sama! Please kill that pirate and save our country!"
The citizens noticed it immediately. The Birdcage, which had been shrinking since the battle began, was accelerating again.
'Rumble!'
The people could practically feel the earth trembling beneath their feet, hearing the ground tear apart as the Birdcage drew closer to the Colosseum.
Even now, Doflamingo kept his ability active.
"Fufufufufu..." Doflamingo completely ignored the angry shouts, turning toward Shinko in the distance.
"These ants have no idea what an incredible thing you've accomplished, or what kind of shock you're about to bring to the world. All they can do is scream uselessly in anger. How boring, don't you think?" He laughed naturally. "But I'm different, Shinko. I genuinely appreciate and admire what you..."
He never finished.
In the next instant, Shinko's Golden Cudgel swung straight toward him.
'Bang!'
The iron staff struck Doflamingo head-on, shattering his body instantly.
However...
'Shhk!'
No blood spilled from Doflamingo's disintegrating body. Quite the opposite, his shattered form transformed into countless thin strings that scattered into the air.
{Black Knight - Shadow Knight: String Clone}
"Quit your damn yapping!" Shinko grinned. "You've been chattering on and on, and I don't even know what you're talking about."
He looked at the scattered remains of the fake Doflamingo. "I knew from the start that the one here was just a clone. But that doesn't matter. You'll show up sooner or later. When you do, I'll keep my promise and smash your head in."
"Fufufufufufu!" Even as his body dissolved into nothingness, Doflamingo's laughter lingered. "Sounds like a perfectly reasonable ending to me. I'll be looking forward to that moment."
With those final words, the clone vanished completely.
Silence fell over the entire area inside and outside the Colosseum.
"String-String?"
"A clone?"
"That wasn't the real Doflamingo?"
The citizens stared in stunned disbelief, but their shock quickly turned into sheer panic.
"Wait! If that's true, then what happens to the Birdcage...?"
"If the Doflamingo here wasn't his real body, doesn't that mean there's no way to stop it?!"
They cried out in alarm.
In the next instant, they saw Shinko raise his Golden Staff and slam it into the clouds of the Heavenly Palace Wonderland beneath his feet.
"Expand!" he shouted.
Moments later, the banners atop the four Heavenly Gates rose once again, shooting beyond the Colosseum and descending into position.
'Bang!'
Boundless celestial mist spread outward, completely blanketing both the inside and outside of the Colosseum. The Birdcage, which had already reached the edge of the arena, collided head-on with the boundary of the Heavenly Palace Wonderland.
"It stopped!"
The citizens of Dressrosa realized the enormous Birdcage had come to a halt.
Or, more precisely...
'Crackle!'
'Crackle!'
Blinding sparks erupted where the Birdcage met the mist as an invisible barrier manifested. The Birdcage hadn't truly stopped; it had simply been blocked at that boundary, unable to advance even an inch farther.
"Whoa! I... I knew Shinko-sama wouldn't let us down!"
Gaz, who had been falling toward the ground after Doflamingo's clone vanished, was caught by a cloud and lifted back into the air. Taking in the scene around him, he immediately resumed his duties as commentator.
"He stopped the Birdcage and saved the citizens once again! And, naturally, he saved me too, your beloved commentator!"
"Incredible! This is the greatest feat since the Colosseum was built! I dare say this absolutely deserves a statue of Kyros 'The Gladiator'!"
As his voice echoed across the field, the citizens of Dressrosa turned their eyes toward Shinko in the center of the arena.
Once again, after putting down the chaos that had engulfed their country, this member of the Twelve Zodiacs had saved them all.
"Shinko-sama!"
"Hero!"
"Amazing, Twelve Zodiacs! I was wrong to doubt you!"
"What? You actually talked bad about the Twelve Zodiacs before? Get lost! I'm ashamed to stand next to you!"
Amid the cheers...
"..."
Shinko lowered his Golden Staff, paying little attention to the celebration around him.
'Doflamingo...'
Beneath his mask, Roy's brows furrowed.
From the moment he had entered the arena, he knew the "Doflamingo" present wasn't the real one. Although the Warlord's String Clone was nearly indistinguishable from his actual body, the fact that the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia hadn't given any prompt was enough for Roy to know the truth.
That was why Shinko hadn't attacked Doflamingo earlier during the battle. He wanted to see what the man was planning. Roy had initially considered the possibility that Doflamingo was waiting for the right moment to launch a surprise attack, but that hadn't happened. Even after the three God's Knights were killed, Doflamingo hadn't reacted at all. He had acted as nothing more than a spectator, quietly watching the play he had directed unfold before him.
Now, the situation had grown even stranger.
The Birdcage.
Roy had to admit Doflamingo's mastery over his Devil Fruit was extraordinary. To most people in this world, the Birdcage was a terrifying natural disaster capable of destroying an island. But ultimately, against Shinko in his current state, an attack like that couldn't truly accomplish anything.
To put it plainly, even if Shinko couldn't locate Doflamingo's real body and therefore couldn't completely deactivate the Birdcage, he could still use the Heavenly Palace Wonderland to continuously smash apart sections of its threads, allowing the citizens to escape bit by bit. It might take time, but Shinko could definitely do it.
'Doflamingo must know that too... So why bother doing something this pointless?'
Roy couldn't make sense of it. Then he noticed something he had overlooked during the chaos of battle.
Unlike in the original story, the Birdcage's movement across Dressrosa wasn't linear. The threads weren't advancing in straight lines. Instead, the deep gouges carved into the ground by the Birdcage were noticeably crooked in several places, almost as if they were forming a deliberate pattern.
Roy's brows drew together even tighter. His eyes instinctively shifted toward the distant Royal Plateau in the center of Dressrosa.
Toward the Dressrosa Royal Palace.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Royal Palace...
"Fufufufufufu..." Doflamingo chuckled, looking at the members of the Donquixote Family standing before him. "Then let's begin, my family."
He spread his arms.
"Yes, Doffy," Trebol agreed, holding a staff in one hand and a box in the other. He turned toward a little girl beside him who had a grape impaled on one finger, Sugar, an Officer of the Donquixote Family.
"Sugar~ It's starting~ 'Sniff!'" Trebol sniffled, wiping his nose.
"Mm!" Sugar popped the grape into her mouth.
'Bang!'
Pica suddenly raised a massive hand and punched her square on the head.
"Ow, that hurts... Be gentler with children, you bas..."
Sugar's eyes widened before she collapsed, completely unconscious.
Baby 5 stared in absolute shock. "Sugar!"
She froze in disbelief. As an Officer of the Donquixote Family, she understood what would happen the moment Sugar lost consciousness, but she had no time to question it.
Doflamingo raised both hands.
"Come," he said. "Let the gamble to seize the world... begin."
(End of Chapter)
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