Dressrosa, the battlefield surrounding the SMILE factory beneath the sunflower fields.
The smoke of war mixed strangely with the fragrance of sunflowers.
"SUUUPER!!! Isn't this totally cheating?!"
Franky's massive mechanical body was blasted away by an enormous impact, smashing heavily into a boulder as sparks burst from his metal shoulder.
A scorched dent had appeared in the armor of the left arm of his beloved Franky Shogun.
Opposite him floated Baby 5, maid and assassin of the Donquixote Family.
But her current form had completely surpassed Franky's understanding of the Arms-Arms Fruit.
Her arms had not transformed into ordinary blades or cannons.
Instead, they had become two sleek silver laser cannons with an extremely futuristic design, embedded with glowing blue energy crystals.
And from her back extended two pairs of mechanical wings emitting blue exhaust flames, granting her astonishing aerial mobility.
"Ahahaha! This is the newest product from G-5's Technology Division , Valkyrie Type-II External Module!"
Baby-5 laughed fanatically, hearts in her eyes turning into targeting reticles.
"As long as I combine my Devil Fruit ability with these custom modules worth three hundred million berries, I can fire lasers comparable to Pacifistas! And there's no cooldown!"
"The young master said if I kill you guys, this equipment will become my dowry! I'm needed!!"
BZZZT! BOOM!!
Two massive blue laser beams blasted forth instantly, crossing toward Franky.
"Damn it! That's Vegapunk technology, isn't it?!"
"How much stuff has that Renzo guy stolen?!"
Franky rolled away miserably as the sunflower field behind him was carved into a bottomless scorched trench by the lasers.
And it wasn't just Baby-5.
On another side of the battlefield, Usopp and Nico Robin had also been cornered.
"This is G-5's special supply, Tracking Adhesive Demolition Mines!!"
Helmet-wearing Gladius grinned viciously.
His Pop-Pop Fruit powers were no longer simple expansion explosions.
Each bomb he threw was coated in a strange purple gelatinous substance.
After landing, they didn't explode immediately.
Instead, they bounced around like living creatures, automatically tracking Usopp's body heat!
"WAAAHHH! Stay away from me! Special Attack, Green Star: Devil-Eating Plant!"
Usopp fired a seed, and a giant carnivorous flower swallowed one of the bombs whole.
However, BOOM!
The bomb exploded inside the flower's stomach.
Instead of flames, it released a huge amount of industrial-strength glue and paralyzing toxic smoke, instantly corroding the plant into sludge.
"Useless! These are dirty bombs Chief Rehn developed specifically to deal with Logia users! Once you're hit, even Haki experts lose a layer of skin!"
Gladius pulled out a golden ammunition case labeled "G-5 Military Supply, VIP Exclusive," looking smug.
"The young master spent a whole billion berries buying these! What can poor pirates like you possibly use against us?!"
"So this is… the power of money?"
Robin crossed her hands, attempting to use "Gigantesco Mano" to sprout giant arms for defense.
But the instant the arms touched the poison smoke, they rapidly withered and vanished.
Even the strongest among them, Zoro, was struggling badly.
Pica, the stone assimilation user, had not transformed into a mountain-sized giant.
Instead, he had merged himself into a ten-meter-tall statue forged entirely from some unknown black metal.
This wasn't ordinary metal.
It was a high-strength alloy excavated from the ruins of Mechanical Island by G-5, harder than normal steel!
"Zoro… you can't cut me… this is… absolute defense… bestowed by Lord Rehn…"
Pica's shrill voice echoed from inside the alloy giant.
CLANG!!!
Zoro's three swords slashed heavily across the giant's chest, sparks flying everywhere.
But they left behind only a shallow white mark.
"This hardness…"
Holding Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, sweat dripped from Zoro's forehead.
"It's not just hard. The alloy's surface also seems to have some kind of repulsion field that deflects the force of slashes…"
The Donquixote executives had all upgraded their gear.
Even though many of them were originally weaker than the Straw Hats, they now held the upper hand purely through equipment superiority.
"Fuffuffuffu! See this?! This is the change of the times!"
Though Doflamingo himself was still getting beaten on top of the palace, his executives shouted through loudspeakers:
"Modern battles are about resources! Infrastructure! Backing!"
"You pirates who only rely on brute force have already been left behind by the era!!"
"Baby-5! Finish that pervert robot off!"
In the sky, Baby-5's laser cannons finished charging, dazzling light locking onto Franky completely.
"This is the end!!"
At that critical moment.
"ROOM-"
A cold, low voice, like that of a doctor from hell, suddenly cut into the noisy battlefield.
BUZZ!
A pale blue hemispherical barrier instantly expanded, covering the entire sunflower battlefield.
"Hm?!"
Before Baby-5 could react, the moment she pulled the trigger, the scenery before her distorted strangely.
Franky disappeared.
In his place, was a massive boulder that had appeared from nowhere.
BOOM!
The laser blasted the rock apart instantly.
"Who's there?!" Gladius shouted in shock.
"Shambles."
The voice sounded again.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
The entire battlefield underwent bizarre spatial exchanges.
Usopp, who had been running desperately from the tracking bombs, suddenly vanished and reappeared in a safe area over a hundred meters away.
Meanwhile, Gladius, who had been safely throwing bombs from above, suddenly found himself,
At the center of the bombs' tracking range.
"Eh? Wait! Those are my bombs! Stay away!!"
Gladius screamed in terror.
But the bombs, programmed for heat tracking, didn't care who their owner was.
Detecting the nearest heat source, Gladius himself, they lunged at him like starving dogs spotting meat!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
A chain explosion erupted, instantly drowning Gladius in purple smoke and glue.
"Cough cough cough! Damn it! My hair! It's stuck together!"
As the smoke cleared, a tall figure stood atop a high point overlooking the battlefield.
Long sword Kikoku in hand.
Black coat.
Spotted hat.
It was Law.
His eyes were as cold as blades, a mocking smile on his lips.
"So these are G-5's new weapons?"
Law looked at the panicking executives and said coldly:
"Very advanced technologically. Very expensive too."
"But unfortunately…"
"In front of an operating table, all equipment is merely parts waiting to be disassembled."
"Tra-guy!!"
Even from afar while fighting Doflamingo, Luffy sensed his presence, while the others shouted in relief.
"Sorry I'm late."
Law adjusted his hat and looked toward Zoro and Franky.
"These idiots rely too heavily on equipment. That only exposes more weaknesses."
"As long as you sever their connection to the equipment, they're just lambs waiting for slaughter."
"I'll break the defense of the rock guy. Zoro-ya, you handle the execution."
"As for that woman's laser cannon… Franky-ya, if I expose the power core, can you blow it up?"
"SUPER! I can!!"
Franky instantly regained his spirit as the cannons on his shoulders reopened.
"Then…"
"Let the operation begin."
Law curled his fingers slightly.
"Tact."
Countless chunks of stone rose from the ground and rained toward Baby-5 like meteors, forcing her into evasive maneuvers.
"Damn you, Law! You traitor!!"
Baby-5 roared as her wings spread wide, executing difficult aerial maneuvers while firing lasers continuously.
"Useless."
Law's expression remained calm.
"Scan."
A pale blue wave swept over Baby-5's body like an X-ray, instantly revealing the internal structure of the Valkyrie Type-II modules.
"The energy transfer pipe is three inches below the left wing. Cooling system is at the center of the back."
Law calmly announced the weak points.
"Franky! Left side!"
"Roger! Coup de Vent, Sniper Mode!!"
Using the opening Law created, Franky perfectly predicted Baby-5's flight path and fired an ultra-compressed air cannon!
BANG!
Direct hit on the left wing's connection point!
BZZZT
Sparks erupted as one of Baby-5's wings instantly malfunctioned.
She lost balance and spiraled downward.
"How… this equipment cost three hundred million…"
"No matter how expensive equipment is, it's still man-made."
Law vanished instantly.
The next moment, he appeared atop Pica's alloy giant.
"As for you, big guy…"
Pica swung a giant fist upward in panic.
"GET LOST!!"
"High-Frequency Scalpel."
Blue electricity vibrating at high frequency coated Law's palm as he lightly sliced at the giant's neck.
There was no resistance.
The supposedly indestructible G-5 special alloy, even Zoro couldn't cut it,
Under the Op-Op Fruit's power, it separated cleanly like cake.
"Tact!"
Law waved his hand.
The giant alloy head instantly flew into the air.
Revealing the utterly dumbfounded real Pica hiding inside.
"Zoro-ya! Now!!"
"Hmph. Been waiting."
A red gleam flashed through Zoro's eyes as all three swords aligned, demonic aura erupting around him.
"Now that your turtle shell's gone…"
"Let me show you real hell!"
"Three Sword Skill: Three Thousand Worlds"
SHING!!
Zoro transformed into a streak of light, instantly passing through Pica's real body.
Time seemed to freeze for one second.
Then, PSSHHH!!!
A fountain of blood burst from Pica's chest.
Rolling his eyes back without even managing a scream, he fell from the alloy giant.
"Well done."
Law landed and sheathed his blade.
Elsewhere, Gladius had been blown senseless by his own bombs.
The moment he tried to stand up, Usopp nailed him in the face with a "Special Attack: Sleep Star," instantly knocking him unconscious.
Baby-5 crashed to the ground with her equipment ruined.
The moment she tried transforming her arms into blades, Robin restrained her joints completely using "Ochenta Fleur, Cuatro Mano: Clutch."
"This… this is defeat?"
The remaining lower-ranking officers completely collapsed watching this scene.
The G-5 equipment they had worshipped…
The invincible weapons purchased for astronomical prices…
Before Law's Op-Op Fruit abilities, they were unbelievably fragile.
"All that money… wasted!!"
One officer dropped to his knees crying in despair.
Law walked over to the smoking alloy giant remains and picked up a metal fragment.
Stamped on it was the anti-counterfeit label:
"Produced by G-5 , Guaranteed Premium Quality."
"Hmph… that Renzo bastard…"
Law sneered and casually tossed the fragment away.
"What he sold you may be good products…"
"But he definitely left backdoors in them too, didn't he?"
"External equipment like this becomes a burden the moment it encounters abilities that destroy from the inside."
"True strength comes from oneself…"
"Not from flashy toys like these."
He looked up toward the King's Plateau.
The battle there still raged on, Conqueror's Haki clashes roaring endlessly.
"This side's done."
"Luffy-ya…"
Concern flashed through Law's eyes,
But even more trust.
"The rest…"
"…is up to you."
…....
At the same time, aboard the Thunder God, currently speeding toward Dressrosa.
"ACHOO!!"
Rehn sneezed loudly and rubbed his nose.
"Strange…"
"Why do I feel like someone's talking bad about me?"
He glanced at the ledger in his hands.
The profit margin from the weapons sold to Doflamingo,
Pure profit exceeded 300%.
"Hmm… maybe the warranty period on those weapons expired?"
Rehn chuckled, utterly unconcerned.
"Doesn't matter. The money's already in our pockets."
"This is called, one-time consumption. No refunds!"
"Boys! Full speed ahead!!"
"We absolutely must arrive before Straw Hat defeats Doflamingo!"
"Yes, Chief Rehn!!"