With the full mobilization of the Donquixote Family and the Chris Pirates' allied forces, the battle within Dressrosa had become like water dropped into a vat of boiling oil. It had reached a fever pitch, with the intensity of the combat escalating second by second.
Offshore, Admiral Fujitora's warship was completely cut off by the Birdcage, making it impossible to establish contact with the forces led by Vice Admiral Bastille and Vice Admiral Maynard, who were trapped deep within the city. Fujitora had even summoned a massive meteorite to strike the Birdcage, but it proved futile. Instead, the celestial rock was sliced into jagged fragments by the cage's razor-sharp strings, raining down upon Dressrosa and causing widespread devastation.
Similarly, the Straw Hat Pirates' Thousand Sunny was held at bay outside the perimeter. Franky and the giant Sloan stood upon the beach, staring helplessly at the incredibly sharp and unnaturally resilient strings of the Birdcage.
BOOM—!
Elsewhere in Dressrosa, a massive roar erupted. A powerful pressure wave rippled outward like an impact shockwave, effortlessly leveling several surrounding houses and kicking up a curtain of dust that blotted out the sky.
In an instant, two terrifying auras clashed. The world seemed to drain of color, falling into a stark monochrome as red and black lightning crackled wildly through the air. The earth shook violently—this was the phenomenon caused by the collision of Luffy and Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki.
"Get lost! Athlete!"
Doflamingo let out a sharp roar and swung his leg in a sweeping kick. Eight nearly transparent, slender strings appeared at the tip of his foot, lashing out brutally against Luffy's crossed arms.
BANG—RUMBLE—
Luffy was sent flying instantly, crashing into a residential district. In a matter of heartbeats, he smashed through over a dozen houses, trailing a pillar of air pressure and debris in his wake.
"You brats will never defeat me!"
Doflamingo bellowed with rage as he took to the sky. With a flick of his wrist, he produced hair-thin transparent strings, slashing them outward.
Schi—
With a faint hiss, the nearly invisible lines acted like unseen blades. They split the earth and sheared through high-rise buildings and rows of houses with terrifying ease. The cuts were as smooth as glass, without a single jagged edge. The buildings collapsed like stacks of toy blocks, kicking up massive clouds of grey dust.
"Dammit!"
Luffy, Zoro, and Law dodged the falling debris of the collapsing skyscrapers. Each of them was covered in soot and grime, looking quite battered. Even though Doflamingo was fighting all three at once, he held the upper hand. While Law and Zoro were injured from previous battles and suffering from severe exhaustion, it was clear that Doflamingo's raw power still sat on a level far above theirs.
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu!"
Seeing the three of them scurrying below, Doflamingo burst into a mocking laugh. But in an instant, his expression shifted into something savage. "If this is all you're capable of, then die here!"
He reached forward, his fingers snapping into a pointing gesture. From his palm, a "heated" whip composed of over a dozen braided strings surged out, streaking toward the ground like a bolt of fire.
The trio's eyes widened as they scrambled to dodge.
CRACK—!
A thunderous snap rang out as the Overheat struck the ground, leaving a glowing trench over a hundred meters long, sliced into the earth like a hot knife through wax. Immediately after, Doflamingo dove down, lunging straight for Luffy.
"ROOM!"
Suddenly, a transparent spherical membrane expanded, enveloping everything within a hundred meters. A large chunk of masonry vanished into thin air, replaced instantly by Law's silhouette.
"Radio Knife!"
The moment Law appeared, he leapt into the air. Visible high-frequency, high-voltage electricity crackled along the blade of his cursed sword, Kikoku. The blade roared through the air, aimed directly at Doflamingo's neck.
"Off White!"
Doflamingo remained unfazed. The buildings on either side of him transformed into pillars of pure white, silken thread, forming two shield-like barriers that crossed in front of him.
Schi—
Law's strike carved straight through the shield-like pillars, but there was no one behind them.
"Pentachromatic Strings!"
Before Law could recover, Doflamingo's voice rang out from directly behind him.
Schi—
Five nearly transparent strings pierced through Law's body and into the ground below, pinning him in mid-air about four or five meters above the surface.
"AAAGH!"
Law let out a pained scream, and Kikoku fell from his hand with a metallic clang. Zoro, arriving just in time to see this, roared, "Tra-guy!"
"One-Sword Style: Demon Horse!"
Zoro drew his blade in a flash, the unsheathing marked by a sudden burst of sharp, biting sword aura. Doflamingo's expression tightened as he blurred out of the way. The building behind him was split down the middle with a thunderous BOOM, the two halves toppling outward and crushing the neighboring structures.
"Fuffuffuffu... what a sharp slash. Your swordsmanship is far superior to Diamante's!" Doflamingo cackled, offering a twisted compliment. Of course, Diamante was an Ability User, not a true swordsman; compared to Zoro, his skill was lacking by a wide margin.
"Zoro! Tra-guy! Go support Nami and Usopp! I'll handle Mingo myself!" Luffy shouted, waving them off.
"Gear 4!!!"
Luffy bit into his forearm and blew a massive amount of air into his body. His frame expanded rapidly, entering the Boundman form.
"This is..."
Doflamingo's vision blurred as Luffy's appearance shifted. A hulking, transformed figure now loomed before him. With bulging eyes, a wide mouth, and hair standing on end, the massive body was shrouded in a cloak of swirling steam. Most of his limbs were coated in deep red-and-black Armament Haki, with intricate flame-like patterns etched across his chest.
"Fuffuffufu... are you joking?" Doflamingo couldn't help but laugh, pointing at the transformation. "Becoming that big? I thought that inflated body of yours was some sort of secret strategy. Get serious!"
Boing... boing...
Luffy continued to bounce rhythmically on the spot. "This is my secret strategy. And I'm dead serious!"
Seeing the rubbery recoil making it impossible for Luffy to even stand still, Doflamingo's face twisted into a look of disdain. He began to underestimate the boy. However, remembering Aeridar's warning, he kept a sliver of caution in reserve.
"Gomu Gomu no... Kong Gun!"
Luffy roared. His fist retracted into his massive forearm like a compressed spring. He kicked off the ground and vanished. His massive body moved with incredible speed, generating a gale-force wind that blew away the surrounding dust.
"So fast!"
Doflamingo's vision blurred. Before he could process the movement, Luffy was in his face. The fist punched outward like a released spring, moving faster than the eye could follow. Before he could react, the blow smashed squarely into his face.
BAM!
With a heavy thud, it felt as though he had been hit by a hundred-ton iron sledgehammer. His mind went blank for an instant, and he was sent hurtling backward like a shooting star. A series of sonic booms rippled through the air as Doflamingo, reduced to a black blur, smashed through several skyscrapers before finally plummeting into a street below.
BOOM—!
A pillar of dust shot into the sky as debris scattered in every direction. The cobblestone street was cratered by the impact, with spiderweb cracks radiating outward from the center.
"Cough…!"
Lying in the center of the rubble-strewn crater, Doflamingo coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"It's... it's Doflamingo!"
"How can this be?"
The dust cleared quickly, and the surrounding citizens and Marines discovered Doflamingo in the pit. Cries of shock erupted.
"Why are you here, Doflamingo?"
Vice Admiral Bastille, clutching his massive Shark Cleaver blade, surrounded the crater with dozens of Marine soldiers and demanded an answer.
"I'd like to know that myself!"
Doflamingo rose to a half-kneel, his face contorted in a hideous snarl. In an instant, his Conqueror's Haki, laced with a terrifying murderous intent, washed over the area, paralyzing everyone in its reach.
"Run! Run for your lives!"
"He's going to kill us!"
The crowd was seized by terror. Marines stumbled back, and civilians fled in every direction. Even Bastille couldn't help but feel a flicker of dread in his eyes.
Doflamingo stood up and surveyed his surroundings. His face darkened. "This is... just two blocks from the central boulevard of Dressrosa. I flew quite a distance!"
"Doflamingo, are the strings surrounding Dressrosa your doing?" Bastille pointed his Shark Cleaver at the pirate, shouting sternly. "And the people killing each other, is that your handiwork as well?"
"Fuffuffuffu... why don't you take a guess, Vice Admiral Bastille?" Doflamingo gave him a dark, chilling smile.
Thump, thump, thump...
A series of heavy, rhythmic thuds approached from the distance. Doflamingo looked up to see Luffy flying through the air.
"He's using the elasticity to fly!" Doflamingo noted immediately. Luffy was utilizing his rubbery properties to perform a technique similar to Geppo.
Bastille stared at the flying Luffy in disbelief. "Is that... Straw Hat Luffy?"
"You piece of trash!" Doflamingo's face twisted with fury. "Die! Ever White!"
Immediately, his Awakened Paramecia powers activated. The ground and the surrounding buildings transformed into pure white silken threads. Over a dozen thick white pillars of string surged upward, converging on the airborne Luffy.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Under the overwhelming power of Doflamingo's Awakening, the massive pillars of thread chased Luffy's silhouette, wantonly destroying every structure within a several-hundred-meter radius.
At that moment, the Birdcage began to contract.
The cage acted like a slowly closing umbrella. The earth was gouged with deep fissures, and buildings were pulverized into dust.
The countdown to death had officially begun.