On the outermost edge of the Birdcage, the flying boat hovered, its wind wheels rotating as if in a hurry. The citizens of Dressrosa, held crude weapons, looked up nervously.
"Don't come near!" they yelled.
"Get out of our country!"
"We will never give in! Don't you dare try to take His Majesty the King!"
Sporadic voices gathered, roaring toward the flying boat.
"Heh heh heh, it's been a long time," a familiar voice said.
On the bow, Dove clapped her hands. Countless fine, long threads invaded the Birdcage, making a "zi zi zi" noise. The people's hearts eased, as it didn't seem to be working.
"As the Birdcage, wouldn't it be better to fly out?" she smiled and shook her head. She took a step forward and leaped, attaching her palm to the Birdcage.
"Big Crash!"
"Whoosh!" A burst of volatility erupted, and the Birdcage began to disintegrate at a speed visible to the naked eye. At that moment, Doflamingo flew down from the King's Plateau.
"Chachachacha, we meet again! How could I let you succeed so easily?" he said, pressing his palms together and rapidly trying to repair the Birdcage with his threads. But Doflamingo's face changed as he realized his speed was far behind the speed of its destruction.
The Birdcage completely dissipated and turned into nothingness. Following it was a red shadow that leaped forward, her right fist wrapped in thick magma. She slammed it forward fiercely.
"Red Lotus!"
Her sweet voice rang out. Doflamingo felt the scorching heat and met the attack with his own right fist.
"Gronk... BOOM!" The magma rolled and exploded. Doflamingo's right hand convulsed, and his whole body was engulfed in the blooming lotus of magma. He flew back through the air and crashed into the road, leaving a huge lava pit.
"No… it can't be," a citizen said.
"The King… he's so different from her?!"
"Impossible, I must have seen it wrong!" The nearby people swallowed and retreated.
"Running away?" Akainu jumped down. Her gaze wasn't on the pit, but on other locations.
"Hey, your opponent is me now!" A green rocket shot out. Akainu turned slightly, and the rocket grazed her cheek before exploding behind her.
Not far away, Baby 5, with a rocket launcher and a cigarette in her mouth, saw her attack fail. Her partner, Buffalo, jumped to her side.
"Let's deal with her together!"
Baby 5 nodded and turned into a sharp blade. Buffalo took hold of her and spun rapidly.
"Rotating Projectile Cannon!"
At the same time, other Donquixote cadres—Machvise, Delinger, Senior Pink, and Jora—also came to assist. The number of people was an overwhelming advantage for the Donquixote Family.
"No matter how many ants there are," Akainu said, raising her hat, "I'll give your pirate family a luxurious funeral. The reward… will be your lives."
"Stop talking big! Who do you think you are, huh!" A man with exposed chest hair flew down.
"Ten Thousand Ton Bass of Hell!!!" Machvise used his fruit ability to increase his weight to 10,000 tons. He was confident the woman couldn't handle it.
"Machvise made a move?"
"She didn't hide. Is she that confident?"
"Never mind. We are also ready to deal with the other Rodin Pirates."
The senior cadres looked at each other, ready to take action.
"BOOM!" A terrifying shockwave spread out from where Akainu stood. The street, centered on her high heels, began to crack. Machvise, meanwhile, had turned into a lava cocoon and fallen to the side. He twitched once and was still.
The senior cadres' eyes grew serious. Akainu stepped out of the sunken street, touched her right hand to the ground, and raised her head. "Remember, this is hell." Endless magma was released.
Immediately, around Baby 5 and Buffalo, layers of magma rose, turning into twisted flower-shaped high walls.
"Hell Ceremony: Funeral Flowers!"
A series of intense sizzling sounds rang out.
"Aahhh!"
"I'm being scalded to death! Let us out!"
"Use the bazooka!"
"No, I can't get out! Ah, my high heels are melting!"
"Harden with Haki and rush out!"
But they accomplished nothing.
"Swim!" Senior Pink activated his fruit ability, trying to swim through the magma. But halfway through, his pacifier, diaper, and baby cap turned to ash. His Haki rapidly depleted. As time went on, the temperature continued to rise. Soon, their wailing stopped, leaving only the thousand-degree blazing turbulence of magma.
Half of Akainu's face was flowing lava. There was no emotion for pirates in her eyes. From the side, she was a beauty in red, but to the surrounding civilians, she was terrifying.
"Quick… run!"
"This is something we can't deal with!"
"Forget fighting pirates! I should have left the island!"
"Never follow the trend again!"
People within a few hundred meters dispersed. On the roof of a house, Diamante, with his two face lines, took two steps back. "The people in this pirate group are too weird. This is clearly the power of the Marine Admiral Akainu… Damn it!" He steadied himself and swung his long sword.
"Half-Moon Funeral!" A powerful wave of sword energy roared down. But a faint voice appeared next to his ear.
"It seems you still haven't figured out the gap between us."
"What… what?" Diamante's pupils shrank.
On the Lovers' Avenue, where couples once walked, only chaos and heartbreak remained.
Another group of Donquixote Family members, armed with swords and spears, arrived. But they collapsed in a pool of blood within a few steps, their bodies covered in dense, thread-like wounds.
Dove, with her hands in her pockets, walked leisurely toward them. Behind her, piles of corpses with "clown" patterns lay everywhere, including some of their cadres.
"They are all familiar family members," Dove said, looking away. It was all a gender swap and a slight adjustment to the appearance, but the rest was the same. It gave her a strange feeling.
She locked onto the Doflamingo's position. But two more figures stopped her: Pica, in his samurai armor, and Gladius, with his buzz cut head.
"Stop!" Pica made a shrill voice. "Come here, you—"
"What are you doing?!" Gladius held him back. Pica was taken aback.
"How can you talk to the Young Master like that?" Gladius glared at him and hurried forward. "Young Master, the Rodin Pirates have arrived. Let us help you hold back some people first. You—"
"Slap!" Pica slapped him.
"Look carefully! This person is just wearing the Young Master's clothes!" Pica shouted in a hoarse voice. "Look at her chest and butt muscles! It's obviously a woman! Look closely!"