Akainu and Kuma's actions undoubtedly drew the attention of the entire battlefield, especially the shocking scene where Luffy vanished without a trace the moment Kuma acted—leaving countless observers stunned and bewildered.
As for Zoro's group, who weren't far away, aside from Sabo and Skull—who understood Kuma's abilities—everyone else glared with furious anger.
"Luffy... disappeared?" Nami murmured from the rear, slumping helplessly to the ground. It wasn't until Deuce and the others explained Kuma's Devil Fruit powers that she and Usopp felt some relief.
"Hey! Are you kidding me?! Where did you send Luffy?!" Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper—who had been following closely behind—were extremely agitated.
Skull and Sabo exchanged meaningful glances, then quietly moved forward to gently guide the group, intending to retreat immediately.
However, before they could act, Akainu set his murderous sights on Robin, who was equally shocked and confused by recent events.
"Then I'll execute you first, Nico Robin!"
Before he finished speaking, Akainu began charging forward with massive strides, but suddenly felt a flash before his eyes as Ace appeared directly in front of him and delivered a devastating punch.
From their previous communications, Ace had naturally heard Jerry mention Kuma's unique abilities, so he wasn't overly concerned about Luffy's immediate safety.
Facing Ace's sudden assault, Akainu snorted coldly and met the attack head-on without showing any weakness.
Seeing that the exhausted Ace and seriously wounded Akainu were fighting to a temporary stalemate, Sabo made a quick decision and gathered Zoro and the others together, deciding to escort Robin to safety first.
"Huh? Why did Papa go over there..."
On another part of the battlefield, ever since following everyone onto the plaza, little Bonney's eyes had remained glued to the motionless Kuma standing in the corner.
With persuasion from Carina and the others, she'd forced herself to suppress the overwhelming urge to cross the battlefield and run toward her father.
Earlier, seeing that the battle situation was becoming clearer, Bonney had wanted to take a detour around the plaza's edge to reunite with Kuma.
It was just that because Cavendish had returned injured, Carina and the others—who had originally planned to accompany her—had become busy with medical duties again.
By now, little Bonney could no longer control her restless heart, and she pulled Carrot toward Kuma and Ivankov's direction.
However, before they'd traveled even halfway, they witnessed Kuma suddenly appear in the area where Luffy and the others had been fighting.
It wasn't far from where the two girls had started their journey.
"Eh? Little Bonney, if you wait just a bit longer, will your father come to you instead?" Carrot blinked and asked in confusion.
"Well, I don't know... I hope so," little Bonney pouted, grabbed Carrot tightly, spun around, and ran back the way they'd come.
"Fufufufu! So you're Kuma's daughter?" Doflamingo appeared beside the two girls with his characteristic grin, blocking their path completely.
He vaguely remembered that the World Government had previously considered capturing Bonney for unknown reasons.
As a former Celestial Dragon, Doflamingo paid close attention to World Government activities and the nobles behind them, always managing to gather obscure intelligence through multiple channels.
Although Doflamingo didn't know exactly why the World Government wanted to capture Bonney, he didn't mind going with the flow and seizing this opportunity to curry favor with them.
"You're the Doffy that Big Brother Jerry mentioned, right? What do you want with us?" Little Bonney looked at Carrot before turning back to ask.
Bonney's innocent words seemed to strike a nerve—the smile on Doflamingo's face froze as veins bulged across his forehead.
Then he spread his five fingers with a darkening expression: "Stop the chatter! Just come with me quietly!"
"Little Bonney, watch out!" Keenly sensing nearly invisible threads rapidly flying toward them, Carrot flashed forward and immediately swung her sharp claws, accurately severing each attacking strand one by one.
Seeing this display, Doflamingo was genuinely surprised, then turned to stare at Carrot intently. "Fufufu! The Black Star Pirates really are full of hidden talents."
The silk threads produced by Doflamingo's String-String Fruit powers couldn't normally be detected by ordinary people unless they possessed extraordinary vision or Observation Haki.
Even if someone could sense them, they'd still need extremely agile reflexes and reaction speed to accurately dodge or counter them.
At this moment, Carrot raised her claws defensively in front of her, fixing the enemy with a blade-sharp stare: "Hmph! You want to hurt little Bonney? No way!"
"Really? Then you—" Doflamingo had barely begun speaking when he felt a bone-chilling cold approaching from behind like an arctic wind.
"Song of Winter: Freezing Slash!"
A slender straight blade swept past, causing the very air to turn frigid as frost condensed across the ground.
Doflamingo instinctively leaped high and narrowly avoided the icy sword at the critical moment.
The next second, he rolled through the air and landed steadily ten meters away. Looking closely, he saw a mysterious figure wrapped in armor materialize in front of Carrot and Bonney, slowly turning around to face him.
The newcomer was Brook, who had been moving throughout the battlefield, periodically helping Ace and others resist Marine forces.
"If you want to attack them, you'll have to ask my blade first!" He nodded gently to Carrot and Bonney, his voice clearly audible through the gaps in his helmet and armor.
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes slightly, studying the standard armor before him. A vague suspicion formed in his mind, but he asked uncertainly: "And who might you be?"
Brook seemed startled. "Huh? Do you need to verify my identity before we fight? I'm just a lonely little skeleton wandering the world! Yohohoho!"
After that cheerful declaration, he continued: "But I know you! Mr. Jerry mentioned you're called Doffy, so... please treat me kindly?"
"Hmph!" Apparently, Doflamingo had no interest in further conversation. He raised his arm high and swung it downward suddenly.
"Parasite!"
During Doflamingo's motion, several nearly transparent threads shot toward Brook and the girls at high speed.
"The chill of the underworld fears no such tricks."
Brook whispered softly, dancing his cane sword rapidly as extremely cold mist emanated from the blade's surface.
When his sword cut across the incoming threads, it instantly froze and shattered them into countless fragments.
"I'll hold him here. You two get back to safety."
Hearing Brook's calm instruction, Carrot and little Bonney nodded earnestly: "Okay! Uncle Brook, please be careful!"
After that exchange, they turned and ran toward safety.
"Facing one of the Seven Warlords alone—this really gets my blood pumping! Although I don't have blood anymore! Yohohoho!" Brook rushed forward to intercept Doflamingo's next devastating technique.
Meanwhile, in the residential area behind the execution platform, Jerry and Garp continued their fierce battle against the Blackbeard Pirates.
Although the Blackbeard Pirates held numerical superiority, the results on the battlefield exceeded all expectations.
Garp grinned broadly as he fought enthusiastically against Teach and his remaining crew.
While Teach screamed in pain from the legendary fist impacts, there were surprisingly few obvious injuries on his body—his Dark-Dark Fruit powers seemed to provide some form of damage absorption.
At the same time, Garp had also battered Lafayette and Doc Q—who were assisting Teach—quite severely.
On the other side, Jerry's battle against Shiryu proved equally intense.
However, every time Jerry experienced one of his periodic explosive bursts, he invariably left fresh injuries on his opponents.
As a result, while Shiryu remained relatively lightly wounded, both Pizarro and Devon were covered in cuts and bleeding profusely—it seemed they wouldn't be able to endure much longer.
In contrast, the price Jerry had paid was merely a few rapidly healing wounds.
During this extended engagement, his injuries from the fierce battle with Akainu had completely recovered.
Jerry had been fighting strategically, using his enhanced healing abilities to outlast his enemies while they gradually accumulated damage. His water-based techniques combined with superior Haki allowed him to inflict precise injuries while minimizing what he received in return.
The remaining Blackbeard Pirates were beginning to show signs of desperation. Their initial plan to profit from others' battles had backfired spectacularly, and now they found themselves trapped in a grinding war of attrition against two opponents who seemed to grow stronger as the fight continued.
Shiryu wiped blood from a fresh cut across his cheek, his usual calm demeanor showing cracks of frustration. Pizarro and Devon exchanged worried glances—they'd seen what happened to Vasco Shot and had no desire to join him.
At this moment, Jerry's mouth curved into a confident smile as he radiated a terrifying aura of Conqueror's Haki. He spoke with deadly calm: "I was just waiting for my recovery phase to complete. What exactly are you waiting for?"
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