Everyone watched Tyrant Kuma with bated breath, afraid he might die at any second and cause the support operation to fail.
"Boom!"
Fortunately, with a resounding crash, a transparent paw print shot out from Kuma's hand, hitting the Birdcage. The cage, with its immense power, burst open, its fine threads separating to form a well-like opening that couldn't heal.
"He did it!"
"Hurry! Get the organized units inside!"
The Marines, led by the five Vice Admirals and several Rear Admirals, prepared to enter. But a sudden mutation occurred.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Several large tentacles of thread emerged from the surrounding Birdcage and slammed toward the breach.
"Look out!" Vice Admiral Onigumo drew his sword, but Doflamingo was already faster, slipping inside.
"Super Strike Whiplash!" he yelled, tearing at the air. His whip-like strings struck the tentacles, causing a brief stalemate. "Fufufu, the Warlords are not just for show!" He grabbed the tentacles and used them to propel himself in another direction, toward a woman in the same feathered coat, standing in the air. "I found you!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, the five Vice Admirals, Jinbe, and Hancock all rushed in.
"It doesn't matter if you live or die, our priority is to kill the enemy!" one of the Vice Admirals yelled. "Let's split up!"
The group, using Observation Haki to sense their surroundings, split into two teams. Jinbe and Momonaga went one way. The other four Vice Admirals looked at Hancock, who was glaring at them.
"Hmph, did you do that on purpose?" Hancock asked with a clear, disgusted voice. "I can handle myself!" A pink snake rolled up beneath her, carrying her away from them.
"She's so temperamental," one of them said.
"Forget it, we're all going in the same direction anyway."
High above, the two feathered figures clashed, mostly using long-range attacks.
"Dropping Ruffian String!""Dropping Ruffian String!""Shhhhhhhh!!!"
Ten steel wires intersected, creating a sharp, metallic screech. The two were at a stalemate, but Doflamingo was being suppressed.
"Fufufu, a woman is still a woman after all!" he laughed bitterly, hardening his arm with Armament Haki. His strength surged, and the woman's attack seemed to turn into weak, falling apart.
He had been slightly outmatched outside the cage, but now, he could unleash his full power. "Heh heh heh heh!" he cackled, his tongue darting out to lick the corner of his mouth. This woman would be his.
He closed his fingers into a claw and tore at her. But she didn't react. Her body was torn in half. Doflamingo's pupils shrank.
"Did you make a mistake?" a joking voice came from behind him. "The Shadow Knight String is a clone. Couldn't you even tell?"
"Damn it!" Doflamingo's expression changed. He swung his hardened arm behind him, but all this time, he had been fighting a clone?
His heart felt a little unsteady.
"Boom!"
A white punch from the real Dove landed on his elbow. "Crunch!" The sound of bone cracking filled the air. Doflamingo winced, his body falling uncontrollably.
His feathered coat flapped as he crashed directly into a residential building. Blood splattered from his mouth. Lying in the rubble, his face pale, he realized his mistake. This woman's power was beyond imagination! If she was this strong, how terrifying was their captain? Could the Marines win this fight?
Suddenly, a strange memory filled his mind. He shuddered. "My replicated self?" The thought of coveting his own body made him feel sick. He had been so blind to her power, so consumed by his twisted desires.
"No... it can't be!" he muttered, struggling to stand. He used a string to pull himself out of the rubble. Just a second later, all the objects in the spot where he had been were reduced to dust.
Above him, Dove retracted her hands. "He runs pretty fast," she said, her figure turning into a phantom. She reappeared far away, above Doflamingo's head.
"Excessive Whip String!" Her enchanting voice fell, and a red whip-line shot down. Doflamingo, having learned his lesson, had already turned the 100 meters around him into a field of strings, a vast expanse of white.
"Shield White Line!" he yelled, two long tentacles rising to block the whip.
"So you've awakened too?" Dove frowned. She knew her own weaknesses, and this male version of herself was clearly not as trained in fighting.
"Boom!"
Doflamingo's face was grim. "You b*tch, are you really me?"
"It seems you know," Dove said. "You wouldn't tolerate a second self in this world, would you?"
"Certainly not…" Doflamingo's voice was cold. But when Dove thought he would attack, he raised a hand, and his feet shot out like a trampoline, flying in the opposite direction. He was running away.
Doflamingo was confident in his strength, but he knew this woman was a handful. There was no shame in retreating, and fighting for the Marines was no longer worth it.
But before he had gone a hundred meters, a glamorous whip-kick slammed into his chest.
"Boom!"
The air exploded, and the immense force sent him flying back to his original position. Dove stood high in the sky and pulled a string, causing Doflamingo to fall to the ground.
He lay there, held down by countless sharp silver strings covering his body.
"White Line of Wasteland!" Doflamingo struggled, causing the ground around him to ripple like a wave. But Dove just smiled, pressing her hand down and calming the lines. The fight was over.
Doflamingo looked up at the woman standing on his chest. She raised her right hand, her index and pinky fingers raised in a familiar gesture. "In this world," she said, "one of me is enough."
Doflamingo gritted his teeth. This kind of overwhelming power... how was it possible?!
Dove frowned, then clenched her hand and slammed it down.
At that moment, an icy cold wind swept across the area, freezing the ground and everything within a few hundred meters. Dove was frozen solid, her feathered coat turned into an icy work of art.
A lazy voice filled the air. "A-la-la, Warlord, you can't die just yet."