What happened to the girl earlier was clearly not an isolated incident in Dressrosa.
Quite the opposite.
It was happening everywhere.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out as a woman knelt beside her husband's corpse, watching helplessly as a pirate dragged her daughter away.
"No! Please! Don't hurt my daughter!"
"Get lost!"
The pirate kicked her aside. Nearby, a toy dressed as a chef rushed forward, brandishing a kitchen knife.
"Let Shania go!"
But the fragile toy body had little combat ability.
The next moment, another pirate's sword sliced it cleanly in two, and its broken pieces clattered to the ground.
"Hahaha! This girl's pretty cute. We could get a good price for her as a slave."
"Hey, the woman beside her isn't bad either. Why don't we take her too?"
"Huh? She's pretty, but she's already getting old. She wouldn't be worth as much. Aren't we supposed to be heading to the arena? Taking extra cargo with us will only get in the way of the fight."
"Idiot! Forget the arena! Didn't you see? One of the Twelve Zodiacs' monsters has already shown up! The Iron Kingdom's strongest legion didn't even last three seconds before getting wiped out."
"Yeah. There's no way we're getting that Caesar guy our employer wanted. We might as well grab a few more slaves to make up for the loss."
The pirates grinned viciously as they approached the woman, while the girl they had captured sobbed hopelessly.
"Mother, run!"
"Shania... Sarah..."
The toy chef struggled helplessly.
As a toy, being cut in half wasn't enough to knock him unconscious. So even now, with his body split in two, he desperately crawled forward, trying to stop the pirates.
"Don't hurt... them..."
They no longer remembered him. They had even built a new family.
But he remembered.
Before he was turned into a toy, they had been his wife and daughter.
He remembered his wife's smile. He remembered the warmth of holding his daughter in his arms. Those memories were the only comfort his heart still had left.
And then...
"Hm? This toy's still alive?"
A pirate stepped heavy on his back.
"Speaking of which, how exactly are all these toys made in this country anyway?"
"What a waste. I heard they can only exist in Dressrosa. If we could take them off the island, they'd probably be valuable cargo."
The pirate raised an enormous war hammer with a savage grin. "Ah well... I might as well smash you to pieces!"
The hammer came crashing down.
Despair filled the chef toy's heart. He had sworn he would use everything he had to protect them, but in the end, just like when he was helplessly turned into a toy...
'Can I... still not do it?'
He thought he had failed again.
Until...
'BOOM!'
A massive staff swept across the sky.
The pirate was sent flying along with his hammer. Judging by the twisted, unnatural angle of his spine, he was never getting back up.
"Huh?!"
The other pirates froze and whirled toward the sound.
Tap.
Tap.
A figure wearing a monkey mask slowly approached, the Golden Cudgel resting casually across his shoulders.
"Sh-Shinko?!"
"How is that possible?! Wasn't he just near the Fifth Gate?"
Their legs nearly gave out beneath them. Why would one of the legendary Twelve Zodiacs appear before bottom-feeders like them?
"W-Wait! We'll leave right now! Please..."
They never finished the sentence.
'Click.'
A mechanical sound clicked from ahead.
'BOOM!'
In the blink of an eye, the golden-eyed 'Shinko' appeared directly in front of them.
Only then did the pirates notice something deeply wrong.
The body standing before them wasn't made of flesh. Far from it. Its entire frame carried a cold, metallic sheen.
"You... What the hell are you...?"
They never got an answer.
Golden beams erupted from the figure's eyes as the iron staff swept forward. Moments later, all that remained were the pirates' bodies, sliced apart by lasers and crushed beneath the Golden Cudgel.
"..."
The mother and daughter, having narrowly escaped death, stared wide-eyed at the 'Shinko' standing before them.
Before they could even speak, his body began to shift. White smoke hissed from his joints, and a streak of light shot out from inside the frame.
A moment later, right before the stunned mother and daughter, the entire figure transformed into a single strand of hair.
The hair drifted gently to the ground. Then it vanished.
"Mother... what... what was that?" Shania whispered, thoroughly bewildered.
Her mother, Sarah, was equally at a loss.
Then...
'BOOM!'
A loud explosion echoed from a nearby street, instantly drawing their attention.
They turned to see another 'Shinko' leap out from a cloud of smoke in the distance, sending a gang of pirates flying with a single strike.
"That... Lord Shinko... There's more than one?!"
The mother and daughter finally realized the unbelievable truth.
There wasn't just one Shinko.
Sarah reacted instantly. "Quick! While Lord Shinko is clearing the path, we need to get to the arena!"
She grabbed her daughter and glanced anxiously toward the approaching Birdcage. She had made the right choice.
"Wait, Mother..." Shania hesitated.
Dragging her injured leg, the girl scrambled over to the chef toy that had been cut in half. She picked up both pieces and held him tightly to her chest.
"I'm bringing Mr. Chef with us."
"...Alright."
Her mother looked down at the toy that had sacrificed itself trying to protect them. She smiled softly.
"Then we go together."
---
What happened to Shania and her family was happening all over Dressrosa.
"Incredible! This is unbelievable! There are dozens of 'Shinkos'! Is this another ability of that legendary man?!"
"He's appearing all across Dressrosa! The scum who abandoned the tournament to loot and murder are being cut down one after another!"
Gaz's voice boomed from the giant broadcast screens, cracking with sheer excitement.
It was true.
Throughout Dressrosa, wherever criminals were running wild, looting, killing, and spreading chaos, a 'Shinko' would suddenly drop in out of nowhere.
Although these clones were visibly weaker than the real Shinko, they still possessed overwhelming force. Their bodies were made of solid steel and packed with advanced military weaponry. Combined with the heavy iron staff and high-powered lasers, they were more than enough to instantly wipe out the trash causing trouble.
Once a clone cleared an area, it turned back into a single strand of hair and vanished, while another 'Shinko' materialized somewhere else to take its place.
''[Weapon Transformation - Germa Technology - Autonomous Combat Robot]''
''[Homies Creation - Hair]''
Combined, these techniques manifested the phenomena currently sweeping across the island:
''[Monkey Hair Homies - Clone]''
Gaz shouted at the absolute top of his lungs:
"He's suppressing the chaos across the entire country all by himself!"
"Is this the true power of the Twelve Zodiacs?!"
"What an absurd, godlike ability!"
---
Meanwhile, in another part of the city.
"Is something like this really possible...?"
A man who had just pulled on a gladiator mask lowered the armor in his hands, staring out at the city in stunned awe.
His hair and beard were stark white, clearly showing his advanced age, yet his body was built like a stone fortress.
He was Riku Doldo III, the former King of Dressrosa who had been stripped of his throne and vilified after Doflamingo framed and manipulated him.
Standing beside him was a striking woman with long dark hair, wearing a vibrant dancer's dress.
She was an assassin for the Donquixote Family, known by the codename 'Violet.'
But she held another identity as well. She was King Riku's daughter, the former Princess of Dressrosa, Viola.
"Father, if that's the case, you need to stay hidden," she urged anxiously. "If Doflamingo is willing to go this far, he has to be setting a massive trap. He might even be trying to flush you out..."
"No, Violet. You don't need to worry about that," King Riku said, shaking his head.
"You and I both know Doflamingo's scheme isn't about me. I'm not important enough for a grand stage like this."
He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "He has never cared about my hatred. He certainly wouldn't devise a plot of this scale just for my sake."
Violet fell silent. She knew her father was right.
Doflamingo didn't care about the fallen king he had overthrown. Or rather, he didn't view King Riku as an opponent at all.
To Doflamingo, he was nothing more than a plaything.
That was why, years ago, when Violet had offered her loyalty to the Donquixote Family in exchange for her father's life, Doflamingo had agreed without hesitation.
It wasn't because Violet was indispensable. He simply took sick pleasure in watching ants squirm.
'"Having your own daughter join the enemy's ranks just to keep you breathing... Fufufufufu. Now that's a tragic deal."'
He spared King Riku purely because he found the misery entertaining. The benevolent king who had loved his country lost everything, was forced to hide among the commoners in shame, and had to watch his own people curse his name while walking blindly toward their own doom.
Doflamingo fed on that kind of cruelty. He wouldn't orchestrate a country-wide massacre just to mock a single broken old man.
"This conspiracy is aimed at either the Beasts Pirates or the Twelve Zodiacs. Violet, that intel you stumbled upon is critical," King Riku said, his tone growing grave. "Don't worry about me. Get that information to the people who can actually use it. From what I've seen today, the Twelve Zodiacs are the only ones we can put our faith in."
"But what about you...?" Violet stared at her father.
"Me? I am a foolish king who failed this nation." King Riku slowly strapped his armor back on. "Because of my weakness and naivety, I allowed my people to fall into this hell."
"I can't hide anymore, Violet. I have nowhere left to run."
In truth, he had already resolved to put on his helmet and march out into the fray. He knew his sword arm wasn't strong enough to stop Doflamingo, but maybe, just maybe, he could buy enough time to save a few more innocent lives.
And now...
"Lord Shinko is single-handedly containing the violence across the entire kingdom," Riku murmured, his hands tightening into heavy fists as he looked out over the burning city.
He watched the crowds of civilians desperately fleeing toward the central arena, with the razor-sharp Birdcage slowly shrinking behind them.
He had spent years hiding in the shadows, living like a coward.
He refused to die as that pirate's plaything.
"In times of disaster, a king belongs beside his people."
He turned toward the arena.
"I will protect my citizens... or die trying."
That was the duty of a king, even one who had long since lost his crown.
Just then...
"Sorry to interrupt the emotional father-daughter moment."
A calm voice echoed from the shadows beside them.
"Who's there?!"
Both of them instantly dropped into combat stances, spinning toward the sound.
Then, both Violet and King Riku froze.
A figure had stepped smoothly out of thin air.
The man wore a distinct, painted rat mask.
They recognized him immediately.
He was one of the Twelve Zodiacs...
Zishu.
(End of Chapter)
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