Next Bonus, 100!!
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"Nut Cannon!"
"Rock Burst!"
Rick Deez vs. Gladius!
[Position: Vice-Boatswain]
[Name: Rick Deez]
[Clearance: Level 4]
[Height: 151 CM]
[Ability: Zoan Squirrel-Squirrel Fruit]
[Haki: Armament, Observation]
[Composite Doriki: 11,780 - 21,410]
[Assessment: An adventure-loving treasure hunter with a collecting habit!]
Deez wielded a custom hand cannon, firing special explosive nuts with devastating power.
His Squirrel-Squirrel Fruit didn't offer raw strength, but it gave him incredible speed and agility. He ran circles around Gladius, kiting him relentlessly.
And his mouth never stopped moving.
"Come on then! Is that all you got? You little coward!"
He was a master of psychological warfare.
Gladius, known for his explosive temper, was fuming. He hated opponents like this—slippery, annoying, and impossible to catch.
Gladius was the user of the Pop-Pop Fruit. He could make his own body rupture, or cause any inorganic object he touched to swell and expRhode.
It was similar to the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, but fundamentally different. One was chemical "explosion," the other was physical "rupture."
Deez continued to taunt him, drawing his aggro while casually clearing out the small-fry soldiers. A true veteran of the battlefield.
—————————
The King's Plateau.
After one-shotting Pica, Loki had engaged Doflamingo in a cataclysmic duel.
Doflamingo, possessing an "undying" body granted by Imu, utilized his Awakening.
String-String Fruit Awakening.
Against Loki, who wielded a massive hammer.
Eighty for the big smash, forty for the small tap.
Doflamingo was being battered. He was beginning to question his life choices.
Is Loki really this strong?!
Doflamingo had grown stronger, yes. But he hadn't expected Loki to be stronger than his enhanced self.
Fighting Loki felt like fighting a giant version of Kaido.
"Damn it... how is this possible?!"
Doflamingo shook off the absurd thought.
"God Thread: 16 Holy Bullets!"
Sixteen massive pillars of thread, coated in Armament Haki, rose from the ground, shaped like the wings of a flamingo. They converged on Loki, intending to pierce him through.
"Useless!"
Loki grinned, swinging his hammer in a wide arc, shattering the threads.
Doflamingo knew it wouldn't be enough. He used the distraction to retreat and activated a summoning circle.
Backup! He needed backup!
A pentagram shone brightly on the ground.
The God's Knights had arrived.
Shamrock, Gunko, and Saint Killingham emerged from the light, their gazes sweeping over the battlefield.
"What a perfect hunting ground," Shamrock said with a smile.
"Mission parameters," Gunko stated coldly. "Capture Loki and Law. Eliminate everyone else."
Saint Killingham watched silently.
Loki stopped his assault, looking at the newcomers. He let out a booming laugh. "So the rats from the shadows finally show themselves!"
Shamrock looked at Loki, his voice deepening. "Loki! Do you wish for Elbaf to be annihilated?"
"Who are you? And what nonsense are you spouting?" Loki hefted his hammer. "But looking at your face... it just pisses me off! Eat this!"
He swung the hammer, summoning the force of a thousand thunderbolts, smashing it down toward the trio.
Thunder roared. The pressure was immense.
Gunko and Saint Killingham leaped away, scattering.
Shamrock drew his saber, unleashing a slash that took the form of a Cerberus, clashing against the hammer.
BOOM!
"Hm?"
Surprise flickered across Shamrock's face.
The force coming from the hammer was like a volcanic eruption—overwhelming, earth-shattering, a tidal wave of power pressing down on him.
There was a mysterious strength behind it that he found difficult to resist.
Their Haki clashed.
Three seconds later...
Shamrock gripped his sword and retreated decisively.
Most swordsmen in the One Piece world were glass cannons—high attack, average defense, short health bars. Shamrock was no exception.
Compared to stat-monsters like Kaido, Big Mom, or Loki, who were freaks of nature on a physical level, Shamrock's strength was merely "excellent." It wasn't at the apex.
Testing his strength against Loki? That was just foolish.
Mid-air, Shamrock watched the hammer slam into the King's Plateau. A single strike, and the shockwave obliterated the entire royal palace.
"Doflamingo, flank him with me," Shamrock ordered rapidly. "Gunko, capture Trafalgar Law. Killingham, clear the trash."
They dispersed immediately.
An arrow flew through the air. Law, who had been clearing out the minor executives, dodged instinctively. The building next to him was instantly pierced through.
"Trafalgar Law!"
An arrogant, cold female voice rang out.
Law turned.
A young woman stood there. She wore a newsboy cap with goggles, a cloak, and a double-breasted jacket with absurdly long sleeves. Below, she wore only underwear and tall boots adorned with cylindrical structures. Bandages wrapped around her mouth and calves.
"User of the Op-Op Fruit. You stand before a God. Why do you not kneel?"
"God?" Law sneered. "So you must be the God's Knights."
Gunko was slightly surprised. "You know quite a lot. That gives me even more reason to capture you."
"Arrow!"
Her gaze sharpened. A ribbon-like arrow floated from her sleeve, flying toward Law like a snake.
"Room!"
Law didn't flinch. He expanded his space and slashed at the arrow ribbon. He cut it, but the arrowhead continued to fly toward him.
He teleported away.
—————————
In the distance.
Saint Killingham appeared before Rhode and the others.
His figure was tall and slender. He had already entered his Hybrid Form—a humanoid Qilin.
Zoan Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Mythical Type, Model: Qilin.
A single deer antler grew from his forehead. Wild, mane-like hair covered a long, serpentine neck. He had long whiskers and eyebrows that burned like flames.
He wore a gorgeous military uniform with a high collar, a long trench coat, long gloves, a cravat, and a cape with epaulets. On his left arm was an armband bearing the crest of the God's Knights.
Like the Celestial Dragons, he wore a resin bubble helmet, with a breathing apparatus covering his nose and mouth.
The crew was startled, but they reacted quickly, launching their attacks.
"Kill him!"
"Hmph. Mere commoners, daring to strike a God? The sentence is death."
Saint Killingham held a trident with asymmetrical blades, his eyes cruel.
"Hypnosis!"
He waved the trident. A wave of energy washed over Doflamingo's soldiers, and many of them collapsed, falling into a deep sleep.
Just as everyone was confused...
"Experience the Nightmare!"
Killingham's trident released a strange frequency. "Nightmare Realm!"
Under the influence of the wave, grotesque monsters began to "crawl" out of the bodies of the sleeping soldiers.
Twisted serpents.
Deformed sea monsters.
Winged demons.
Distorted caricatures of Marines...
An endless stream of nightmare creatures flooded the streets.
They destroyed everything in their path, attacking Rhode and the others.
The crew fought back, defeating the monsters one by one, but the creatures simply reformed from the distorted air.
As long as Saint Killingham willed it, they would revive.
They were born of dreams and fear. The concept of death did not apply to them.
This man was a one-man army.
With the arrival of the three high-tier God's Knights and the legion of nightmare monsters, the tide of battle turned instantly in Doflamingo's favor.
This was to be expected. Top-tier combatants were the strategic weapons of the pirate world. The Whitebeard Pirates with Whitebeard were two tiers above the Whitebeard Pirates without him.
—————————
From his vantage point, Jin watched.
This war on Dressrosa wasn't just to help King Riku regain his throne.
It had another purpose.
To test whether Doflamingo had joined the God's Knights.
And since he had, it was the perfect opportunity to engage them, to gather data on their abilities in preparation for the final war.
He knew of Shamrock, Gunko, and Killingham's abilities in theory, but seeing them in action was different.
"Ordinary injuries and attacks won't work on their immortal bodies," Jin mused. "Only Conqueror's Haki... And it has to be top-tier Conqueror's Haki to cause lasting damage."
He observed the three Knights as they fought different opponents.
The immortality and regeneration granted by Imu had similarities to the demonic carrier's functions, but also differences.
The carrier's "repair" and "enhancement" were geared toward growth. The crew could still be injured in battle.
But these Knights... they were simply broken.
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