"RAMPAGE? THEN WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO TO STOP CAIN?! IF THIS KEEPS GOING, HE'S GOING TO HURT HIMSELF!"
Ace rapidly retreated to dodge the attacks while anxiously questioning Katakuri, his voice filled with urgency.
"There are only two ways," Katakuri said. "Either wait until he exhausts himself and collapses, or knock him unconscious."
Katakuri's body turned into flexible mochi as he deftly avoided Cain's storm-like barrage of attacks.
At the same time, he continuously used his mochi limbs to wrap around and twist Cain's torso, trying to force him to the ground.
After circling around for a while, Katakuri suddenly stepped back half a pace, tore off his cloak, and drew his trident, Mogura, from within his mochi-transformed body.
His gaze instantly sharpened.
He stopped dodging and charged straight toward Cain's fierce assault with his weapon in hand.
"I'll help too!"
Before Ace even finished speaking, he was about to rush forward.
Katakuri instantly stretched out a mochi arm and pulled him back.
At the same time, he used his trident to forcefully block Cain's heavy strike.
The sound of metal clashing rang out deafeningly.
"Don't get in the way!" Katakuri said in a deep voice. "Even if you're wearing Seastone and can suppress him, Cain's ability is still there. Even with his stamina weakened, he's not someone you can handle in your current state."
"YOU WANT ME TO JUST WATCH HIM GET HURT?! YOU BASTARD!"
Seeing the two locked in a stalemate, Ace shouted with reddened eyes, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Katakuri used both hands to withstand Cain's repeated heavy blows.
Only then did he realize that Cain's strength was actually far greater than his own.
Left with no choice, he pulled Ace back several meters and replied in a low voice.
"You think I want to fight him? Although I'm not one hundred percent certain yet, he still counts as my younger brother!"
"HAH? HE'S OBVIOUSLY MY YOUNGER BROTHER! WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Ace shouted, eyes wide.
"There's no time to explain it! First, we need to knock Cain out…"
Katakuri pushed Ace aside.
The trident Mogura spun in his hand, turning into a blur as it stabbed fiercely toward Cain's abdomen.
"Hm? This hard?"
"It's useless!" Ace, who had just steadied himself, hurriedly shouted. "The scales on Cain's body—I couldn't break them even when I used all my strength before!"
"Comparable to Mama's iron balloon… no, even harder than that…"
Katakuri made the judgment instantly.
When his trident was deflected, the recoil numbed his arm.
"With our current methods of attack, there's no way we can knock him out! Cain's defense is way too strong!" Ace said anxiously.
Katakuri's brows furrowed tightly, his eyes fixed on Cain, who was still attacking wildly.
"Then only one method remains. Stall him—stall until he's completely exhausted!"
"You're sure? You want to compete in stamina against a Mythical Zoan user?" Ace stiffly turned his head, disbelief written all over his face.
…
The Blackbeard Pirates, who had previously been thrown into the sea by Katakuri, finally managed to struggle back onto shore.
Fortunately, only Blackbeard was currently a Devil Fruit user among them.
The others could still move normally, which was the only reason they barely managed to drag him out of the sea.
Lafitte had gone to attend the Warlord meeting and had not returned yet.
Blackbeard lay sprawled on the beach, violently coughing up seawater.
His chest rose and fell heavily, and after a long while, he finally managed to prop himself up.
Earlier, he had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos and have Lafitte fly to Mary Geoise to recommend him as one of the Seven Warlords.
That would pave the way for his later plans—such as breaking into Impel Down to recruit powerful crew members.
But after running into Ace, he had formed a new scheme: lure Whitebeard into the game and seize the Tremor-Tremor Fruit power of the man known as the "world's strongest."
Although the sudden turn of events had disrupted everything, his ambition had not diminished in the slightest, nor did he intend to abandon his plans.
Gritting his teeth, Blackbeard struggled to his feet.
He immediately led his crew and quietly circled around from the rear of the battlefield toward the fighting on the other side, wanting to see what exactly was happening there.
Clearly, he intended to reap the benefits while others fought.
But as soon as he got close, he saw Cain attacking Katakuri and Ace like a madman.
And when his eyes caught sight of Doflamingo in the ruins, barely clinging to life, a vicious glint instantly flashed through them.
Just as he was preparing to sneak closer, a sudden burst of light flared up, so blinding that the Blackbeard Pirates could not open their eyes.
When the light faded, Doflamingo, who had been lying in the ruins, had already vanished without a trace.
…
"Mm. The target has been rescued. I'm heading back now."
"That's good. The Warlord meeting only just ended. We can't let this guy die here too. I'll mobilize the Marine medical department immediately—damn it! We are the mighty Marines! and in the end we need to save a damn pirate."
Ever since Cain and Ace escaped from Smoker's prison, Sengoku had secretly arranged for Borsalino to follow quietly behind the Straw Hat Pirates.
Because of that, Sengoku had been able to learn immediately that Cain and Doflamingo had completely started fighting.
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku let out a heavy sigh.
His gaze fell on a long-sealed safe, and his voice carried a helpless lament.
"This is the last time I help you, Garp."
...
Elsewhere, Kizaru carried the unconscious Doflamingo, who had only one breath left in him, over his shoulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a News Coo secretly taking pictures of the scene.
He lightly raised a finger.
A laser shot out instantly, accurately blasting the News Coo's camera into pieces.
"This is as much as I can do for you, Cain."
Kizaru gazed down at the chaotic battlefield below, gently shook his head, and spoke in a low voice.
His thoughts could not help drifting back to a meeting he had with Dr. Vegapunk some time ago.
Flashback:
"So these are the war weapons built using Kuma as the model?"
Kizaru asked as he looked at the neatly arranged Pacifistas.
"Ah, yes… actually, rather than saying Kuma is the model, 'they' are more like the perfected finished products…" Vegapunk said casually.
"I once struggled over whether to focus on physical development through the lineage factor route, or on mechanical modification. But now, none of that matters anymore…"
"Then please answer my question, Vegapunk."
Kizaru narrowed his eyes slightly and asked seriously,
"Why did you reveal the information about that fruit to Cain? In my impression, you're not the kind of person who would so easily hand over the results of your research just because the other party is a friend of mine."
"It's nothing worth making a fuss over, Borsalino."
Vegapunk smiled faintly, his tone calm and indifferent.
"It was only a single fruit."
"Besides, even if this information gets exposed, it doesn't matter."
His tone shifted, and a trace of deeper meaning flashed through his eyes.
"Even if those people in the World Government notice, it's no big deal. They still can't touch me right now—after all, my current research… in a certain sense…"