He hadn't fought in decades. Those playful fights before were one thing, but when it came to a truly top-tier confrontation like this, Redfield felt his body was a bit sluggish.
It wasn't a sluggishness caused by age, but by unfamiliarity. If this were decades ago, there were things he wouldn't even have to think about; his battle-hardened body would have automatically blocked the attacks.
"Maybe it's because you're too quiet. That Shiki keeps shouting 'I'm the Golden Lion' during battle, why don't you give it a try, old man?"
"That does sound like something Shiki would do, but it's not my style. Still, I have to say, for a battle that's meant to let the world know my name once again, you're a perfectly fitting opponent."
Redfield had already decided to once again make his appearance in the world, and for this comeback battle, only a powerful opponent was worthy of him. The Aloof Red of the past had no intention of abandoning his pride.
Even without weapons for the time being, Redfield still had other ways to fight.
Several blades appeared at Redfield's fingertips, but another voice interrupted.
"Boss! Use me instead!"
Pato flew over on a small flying carpet.
"Pato? This isn't the place for you."
"It doesn't matter anymore. I've already said, whether I get smacked away or kicked away, even if it's to the ends of the earth, I'll willingly follow you, Boss."
"This isn't just your voyage alone, but mine and yours! To help you achieve your goal, Boss, I'll give it my all too!"
The flying carpet below transformed into leaves, and Pato in midair turned into a huge pen, falling into Redfield's hand like a spear. The sharp tip of the pen replaced the spearhead, and Redfield now wielded this pen which had used ability transformation as his new weapon.
"It's fine, use whatever you want. This is also your companion's power. I have my own companions, too. If anything, this makes it fairer."
Seeing that Redfield seemed to be hesitating, Yamato answered.
"Alright then, you've fought with Golden Lion before, haven't you? That guy's best at slashing, but I specialize in thrusting."
Soaring into the sky using the bat wings, Redfield made a thrusting motion. The special veins on Yamato's body began to surge with red energy, and her wings took on a fiery hue.
Flames burst simultaneously from her crown and tail, and Yamato entered White Mode's Overdrive Mode and charged at Redfield.
At the same time, as the people on the King's Plateau fought for their own goals, battles continued all across Dressrosa.
Ace and Sabo had stalled Fujitora, and Fujitora also seemed to be letting himself be delayed, causing the Marines to remain here and unable to aid Doflamingo above.
The former toys were gradually gaining the upper hand in the battle against the Donquixote Family executives; Zoro also began his poetry-reciting session, while some people just kept fiddling with their Den Den Mushi.
"Still can't get through?"
"No signal at all. Den Den Mushi aren't working. What the heck did Doflamingo do?"
Two men in white suits were discussing Dressrosa's situation. Their outfits and bizarre masks made their identities obvious—CP0.
These were the CP0 agents the World Government had originally dispatched to Dressrosa. After they announced that Doflamingo's resignation from the Shichibukai was a false report, they disappeared as if they'd vanished into thin air, until now when they reappeared in Dressrosa.
"The Quake-Quake Fruit has been confirmed to be in the hands of the Oni Princess. The odds of getting the fruit from her are almost zero."
To put it bluntly, it was utterly impossible—"almost zero" was just a way of making it sound a bit better, so there'd still seem to be a sliver of hope.
"Isn't that thing's combat power decent? At least the current test results are great."
"I don't think so. It's already struggling. There's no way it can intervene in the Oni Princess and Red Count's fight. But as a replacement for the Shichibukai, it just might work."
On a nearby street, a Seraphim was engaged in battle.
S-Hawk and S-Snake had already been destroyed, but Seraphim were never limited to just those two; the others had already been shipped off to different areas for testing.
Due to the Seraphim's unique traits, S-Bear hadn't been destroyed either, but the one which had currently appeared in Dressrosa was S-Shark, a combat weapon modeled after Jinbe and combining the traits of both the Fish-Men and Lunarian races.
"Damn it, why is this stupid thing so tough? I still can't break it?!"
Ulti's axe blade struck S-Shark's chest, a blow that could cut most people in half, but S-Shark simply blocked it with crossed arms. Though two white marks were left, it was still far from being hurt.
The ones fighting S-Shark were none other than Page One and Ulti. CP0, from a very safe location, had given the order for S-Shark to engage, giving Ulti and Page One an opponent.
"Move, Sister! That thing's coming again!"
As Ulti was forced back, Page One burst from underground and rammed S-Shark in the chest with a headbutt, causing the ground beneath them to collapse instantly.
Page One had already hollowed out the area below, turning it into a massive pit trap.
His enormous body crashed down on S-Shark, sending it straight into the pit.
The next moment, a shockwave erupted from the pit, S-Shark's punch causing a series of explosions in the air as it broke free from Page One's grip.
"Tch, so this thing is the combat weapon Boss Shayna mentioned? It really is tough."
But it wasn't just its toughness. S-Shark's abilities were also a real headache.
In the original timeline, S-Shark's Green Blood was modeled after Senor's Swim-Swim Fruit, allowing it to use Fish-Man Karate to attack as if the ground were water.
But currently Senor was still locked in a manly battle with Franky, so the S-Shark had Green Blood based on Mr. 5's Bomb-Bomb Fruit.
Because of this change, Mr. 5, who hadn't been imprisoned originally, was caught by the Marines, providing new experimental material for the Science Unit.
S-Shark combined Fish-Man Karate with the Bomb-Bomb Fruit's air explosions, turning the air it struck into bombs, which explained its recent battle style.
"I refuse to believe I can't cut this thing! Pay-tan, let's try again, just like we planned."
Birdcage had cut Dressrosa off from outside communications. Otherwise, under the Beasts Pirates' updated combat protocols, when encountering a Seraphim, they could have contacted King and Shayna directly to handle it.
But with Yamato locked in a higher-level fight, the Seraphim naturally became their target to deal with.
"Sister, don't forget to shout the move's name, or it might weaken the power."
"Yeah, yeah, I know! Stop reminding me about that!"
As they spoke, Page One stomped hard on the ground, causing the rock walls around the trap to collapse, burying S-Shark in tons of rubble. At the same time, he spat out a barrage of Mud Bombs.
Facing the falling boulders and Page One's attacks, S-Shark, while punching back at the rocks, also extinguished the flames on its back, trying to escape the pit at an even faster speed.
Mud and falling rocks blocked S-Shark's vision, and just as it burst out of the trap, Ulti appeared in front of it, the axe blade on her arms gleaming with purple light.
"Devastating Drake!"
The purple light transformed into a flying dragon that wrapped around her axe blade. As the dragon's wings flapped, an even stronger power exploded from Ulti's axe blades.
Ulti's face turned red, partly from the rush of battle, partly because of the name itself.
Z-Moves required both vocal commands and control gestures; after much testing, only by fully executing the movements and shouting out the name can the move's maximum power be unleashed, but Ulti... really dislikes this name. [TN: Literal translation of this move is- Ultimate Dragon Shakes the Heavens.]
Although the process was unpleasant, the result was a success - a massive gash was slashed open on S-Shark's body, and blood spurted out.
This was a wound that would be fatal to a human, yet S-Shark did not fall.
As a bio-weapon, its endurance far surpassed that of ordinary humans; it simply would not stop until it suffered truly lethal damage.
The spurting blood instead became liquid bombs in its hands, causing a series of explosions around Ulti.
However, Ulti only grew more excited. Since she could injure it, that meant she had a chance to do even greater damage.
As Page One rammed it aside once more, Ulti began preparing for a new round of attacks.
While chaotic fights erupted throughout Dressrosa, the Marines' dispatched forces gradually drew closer.
Pirate ships from other forces, stationed on the outskirts, were the first to notice the approaching warships.
"Good news, the ones leading them are just an old man and an old lady."
"Bad news, the old man is Sengoku, and the old lady is Tsuru."
The Decalvan Brothers from the Whitebeard Pirates relayed what they had discovered one after another.
"Then stop wasting time! Let's get out of here! Head to the rendezvous point we agreed on and wait for them there!"
With a shout, Whitey Bay led her people away, and the other pirates made the same decision.
Sengoku and the others didn't bother with the pirates who were now fleeing. They simply landed at the port.
"Same old trick again. Doflamingo really isn't very creative."
After sensing those sharp threads, Tsuru remarked flatly, then reached out toward the Birdcage.
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