At this point, Vladimir looked toward Rayleigh and spoke with an amused smirk.
"Dark King Rayleigh... it's too late to claim you don't know anything now!"
Rayleigh's expression darkened instantly.
He immediately regretted ever getting involved in this mess — now it looked like he had become public enemy number one.
"Wait a minute... I truly have no idea..."
"Wait, I really don't know anything..."
Rayleigh said helplessly. "It was Roger who knew the whereabouts of the Three Ancient Weapons. He knew everything, but told absolutely no one."
Hearing this, everyone exchanged confused glances, unsure what to believe.
Suddenly, someone shouted loudly: "Hold on! Dark King Rayleigh — why do you have the design blueprint for Pluton in your hands?"
"Exactly! Wasn't it supposed to be with Emporio Ivankov?"
"What on earth is going on here?!"
Everyone was utterly baffled. They had all been fighting tooth and nail over the blueprint, only to suddenly realize there were two copies all along.
Even Ivankov himself was stunned. He whipped his head around to face Doflamingo.
"Could it be... you people are behind this?!"
"Fufufufu..."
Doflamingo let out a strange, high-pitched laugh.
"Now, now... don't go making wild accusations. I'm only here to retrieve this blueprint as ordered. Beyond that, I know absolutely nothing."
Hearing his words, Ivankov's expression turned grim. "Have I been played? Or worse... has Dragon been played? Either way, this was definitely all planned out by you from the start!"
Realizing this, he decided it would be best to get rid of the blueprint as soon as possible.
After all, he had no idea what other tricks Phantom might have waiting in store.
"Whitebeard! Dragon entrusted this blueprint to me to give to you — catch it!"
Ivankov shouted, then winked his right eye. A sudden gust of explosive wind surged up, carrying the blueprint and sending it flying straight toward Whitebeard with pinpoint accuracy.
"Kizaru! Move!" Commander-in-Chief Kong roared.
Reacting instantly, Kizaru moved. He raised his hands in front of his chest, forming and compressing light until it solidified into a mirror-like surface.
"Yata no Kagami!"
The mirror projected a beam of light. At the same time, Kizaru's body turned into photons and merged with the golden radiance, instantly teleporting right in front of Whitebeard.
He positioned himself directly in the blueprint's path and reached out to grab it.
If he secured the blueprint, half of the Navy's mission here would be accomplished!
Kizaru usually preferred to stay neutral and cautious, but when there was merit and credit to be claimed, he never hesitated.
However, just as his fingers were about to close around the document, a cyan bird slammed into him at full speed.
"Kizaru — get out of my way!"
Marco had exploded with incredible speed, covering dozens of meters in a split second. Trailing cyan flames behind him, he crashed hard into Kizaru's side.
BAM!
Covered in Armament Haki, Kizaru's intangible light form offered no protection at all this time, and he was sent flying by the impact.
"The blueprint belongs to us!"
Marco didn't waste a second. As soon as he connected, he transformed back from his Phoenix form into human shape and reached out to snatch the blueprint.
But just then, the ground began to shake violently. A massive, ancient creature charged forward with thunderous steps.
It was a colossal elephant, with two long tusks, rampaging through everything in its path with terrifying speed.
Wherever it stepped, the earth cracked and split. Nothing could block it.
"Jack the Drought!" someone cried out in shock.
"Even the Beasts Pirates have joined the fight!"
Everyone felt the change in the atmosphere and looked up toward the sky.
A figure was plummeting down from above.
"Hahaha! Marco... leave the blueprint behind!"
Kaido's roar echoed as he crashed heavily to the ground right in front of Marco... Smoke and dust billowed up, blinding everyone's view.
Marco's expression changed drastically. He realized his hand had grabbed nothing but air — the blueprint had vanished!
"Who?!" He widened his eyes, scanning frantically. "It wasn't Kaido... nor Jack... who was it?!"
It had disappeared instantly the moment Kaido landed and kicked up that cloud of dust.
Vladimir watched the whole scene unfold and raised an eyebrow.
"This feels familiar... is it the Steal-Steal Fruit?"
He snorted coldly. He had been waiting for all these people to fight among themselves, but for this guy to sneak away with the blueprint right under everyone's nose... that was just asking for trouble.
In an instant, he ran a full calculation in his mind and pinpointed the thief's exact location.
"Spear of Destiny!"
He clenched his hand, summoning a golden spear into existence.
In the next moment, SWISH — the weapon was thrown, piercing straight through the air toward a certain figure hidden in the crowd.
The thief, Marko, was wearing a grey cloak with the hood pulled low over his face. Clutching the blueprint tightly, he was preparing to slip away unnoticed.
Suddenly, he felt a deadly chill stab right into his back. He spun around to look, and his soul nearly left his body in terror.
"Damn it! How did he find me?!"
Terrified out of his wits, he threw himself to the left in a desperate attempt to dodge.
SWOOSH!
The Spear of Destiny seemed to tear through the fabric of space itself, piercing through the river of fate and striking Marko squarely in the chest.
"Wh-What?!"
Marko touched his chest — there was no wound, no blood. But suddenly, his entire body stiffened and froze in place.
A moment later, he vomited a mouthful of blood and fell face-forward onto the ground, rigid as a statue.
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