"Doffy, it's true! Corazon is the rat! He's a Marine spy who's been rotting our Family from the inside!"
Vergo had vanished from the clearing long before my main force could converge, immediately patching through to his "Young Master."
『...I know. I was watching the rendezvous at Swallow Island from a distance when two Marine warships suddenly warped into view. Even I can take a hint, Vergo. My beloved little brother has finally bared his fangs at me!』
"Doffy, where are you now?"
『I didn't want to believe it, but your hunch was right. I've just reached Minion Island. But I'm a breath too late—Barrels' idiots are running around screaming that the Devil Fruit's been stolen! It has to be Corazon.
He's the only one who could've pulled it off. If he's still there, do NOT let him reach the coast!』
"...Forgive me, Doffy. I've already engaged the 'Red Gulls' to get to him. Krieg's marked me now. My life as a Marine is likely over."
『...No matter. If he hasn't left the town yet... no one is escaping my sight!!』
The shift in the atmosphere was instantaneous and terrifying.
Donquixote Doflamingo, user of the String-String Fruit (Ito Ito no Mi), unleashed his ultimate trump card: Torikago (Birdcage). From the center of the island, thick, razor-sharp strings erupted into the sky, arcing down to the coastline to create a shimmering, inescapable dome of death.
Inside this silver prison:
Doflamingo and his elite officers.
Corazon, clutching the stolen Ope Ope no Mi (or so Doflamingo thought).
Law, the dying boy who had already consumed the fruit.
Diez Barrels and his panicked, backstabbing crew.
And finally, the only high-ranking Marine caught within the wires: Rear Admiral Krieg.
Because I had ordered the majority of the "Red Gulls" to scout the shoreline, most of my men were safely outside the perimeter. I reached the edge of the cage within minutes.
Up close, the gaps between the glowing white strings looked wide enough to squeeze through, but a closer look revealed a web of micro-thin, invisible filaments that would ribbon anyone who tried.
"Not going to make it easy, are you?" I muttered. I tested the wire with a Haki-clad hand-sword strike, but the tension was immense—honed over years of Doflamingo's malice. It wouldn't break with a simple blow.
"Fine. If the cage won't break, I'll just have to break the bird inside."
I shouted orders to the Marines outside the cage, telling them to maintain a perimeter and prepare for extraction, then turned back toward the center of the town. The Den Den Mushis were dead—jammed by the static of the Birdcage. I was on my own.
I started moving. Along the way, I encountered members of the Barrels crew who had been turned against each other by Doflamingo's "Parasite" strings. I knocked them out with precision strikes and bound them, moving toward the heart of the disturbance.
I didn't want to waste time on foot, so I used Geppo (Moonwalk) to kick off the air and vault into the sky. From my vantage point, I spotted a figure swimming through the solid earth.
"Found one. If I remember correctly... Senor Pink."
I inverted my body in mid-air. "Tenku Juji-otoshi (Heavenly Cross-Drop)!!"
I crossed my arms and drove my heels into the air, creating a sonic boom as I plummeted like a meteor.
Senor Pink was no amateur; he sensed the displacement of air and dove deep into the ground, narrowly avoiding the impact that cratered the street. Seeing my Marine coat and remembering Doflamingo's warning about the "Blunt Bear," he immediately turned tail.
Using his Swim-Swim Fruit, he began to "swim" through the pavement to report my location.
"You aren't going anywhere. Oobumi Hanko (Great Stepping Seal)!!"
I slammed a single foot into the ground with everything I had. In Chinese martial arts, they call it Zhenjiao, but with my physical strength, it became a localized earthquake.
Senor Pink was "swimming" inside the earth, meaning his entire body was in contact with the medium transmitting the shockwave. The vibration rattled his brain against his skull instantly.
As I was tying the unconscious Senor to a nearby tree, the sound of the impact drew more flies to the honey. A man in a mask covering his mouth and a massive, shield-bearing man came charging in.
"Oh, lucky me. More targets."
Before Gladius or Machvise could even process the crater, I used Soru to vanish.
"Wh—?!" "Koushou-pou (Crumbling Cannon)!!"
Gladius didn't even have time to trigger his Pam-Pam explosions. My fist buried itself in his gut, the shockwave bypassing his light armor and folding him like a lawn chair. He hit a wall and slumped over, out cold.
Machvise, meanwhile, had floated into the air, reducing his weight to near zero. "Why is a Marine like you here-in?! Ton-ton! Ten-Ton Vice!! Get crushed-in!!"
He plummeted, shifting his mass to 10 tons of concentrated iron-hard meat.
"Is that it? Only ten tons?"
I didn't move. I reached up and caught the falling giant with both hands. For a man who swings a ten-ton alloy staff for exercise, a ten-ton man is a light workout.
I slammed Machvise face-first into the dirt, then delivered a single heavy punch to the iron shield on his back, shattering the metal and knocking the wind out of him permanently.
In less than five minutes, three of Doflamingo's officers were tied in a neat bundle. I wiped a bit of snow off my coat and looked toward the center of the island.
"Next?"
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