The tower was frozen, and at the top of the frozen tower, a figure sat cross-legged.
"I've been waiting for you for three minutes," Vladimir said again. "You're so slow."
Hearing this, the one-armed captain's expression tightened. The voice was so clear, even from such a distance...
He concentrated his gaze, but couldn't make out the other person's appearance. The person's body seemed to be radiating holy light, making him appear incredibly sacred.
Suddenly, the holy light flashed. The next moment, the person disappeared from the top of the tower. It took a full five seconds for the one-armed captain's pupils to constrict, and he took a step back in horror.
He hurriedly looked ahead, and saw that the person, who was hundreds of meters away, had suddenly appeared here, blocking his path.
"Y-You... who are you?" The one-armed captain swallowed, his heart filled with shock.
What kind of monster-like speed was that!? Was it a teleportation-type Devil Fruit ability?
"I'm asking you, are you an ability user?" Vladimir stared at the other person calmly, conveying immense pressure in his eyes.
"No..."
The one-armed captain answered subconsciously, but after saying it, he couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. He had actually been intimidated by the other person's aura.
He was a pirate with a bounty of 300 million, and although he wasn't a big shot in the New World, he wasn't just some random passerby.
"Who exactly are you? Brother, I don't know you. You must have mistaken me for someone else," he said through gritted teeth, his tone neither too soft nor too hard.
"You're not worthy to call me brother."
Vladimir snorted lightly, and passed by again. This time, he directly approached the one-armed captain.
"I'll ask you one more time, are you an ability user? Otherwise, die."
"I am!" The one-armed captain's expression changed drastically. After a moment, he had no choice but to say, "I'm an ability user, the captain of the One-Armed Pirates, the Replacement Fruit...!"
However, before he could finish speaking, Vladimir suddenly took action.
He pointed a finger, pressing it towards the other person's forehead.
The holy light on that finger shone brightly, as if it wanted to illuminate the entire world.
The pirate captain subconsciously wanted to dodge, but the finger coming towards him made it impossible for him to even think of resisting. It was as if he wanted to actively embrace the holy light.
Thump!
His whole body shook, and he fell into a daze.
"Very good, that makes two ability users."
Vladimir nodded with satisfaction, and then with a flick of his hand, holy light condensed into a rope, tying up the one-armed captain.
After doing all this, he turned and left, completely ignoring the dumbfounded pirates.
It took a full ten seconds for the group to snap out of it, and they looked at each other in terror.
"Y-You bastard, what did you do to our captain!" Someone mustered the courage to shout.
Their captain, a pirate with a bounty of 170 million, had been subdued without even reacting!
Vladimir didn't respond at all, and just walked away, disappearing into the end of the street.
"Next target..."
A murmured sentence sent shivers down the spines of the pirates.
"This guy is hunting ability users!!"
A crew member suddenly realized what was happening. No wonder this person had been asking from the beginning, "Are you an ability user?"
If you didn't answer, you'd die.
If you said yes, you'd be captured.
If you said no, you might still be killed on the spot. You'd be lucky to escape unscathed.
"This madman!" After the initial terror, this crew member was filled with rage. "We have to save the captain!"
...
The hunt for ability users ~ quickly caused chaos.
To save time, Vladimir swept through the island's center, interrogating every pirate he encountered.
Based on their answers, he would choose to capture them, or not. Under his holy light, ordinary people couldn't lie.
However, still adhering to the principle of "better to capture the wrong person than let one go," Vladimir captured 12 pirates along the way, including 8 captains and 4 crew members.
An hour later, in the island's center, in front of the giant iceberg, were the five major forces—no, to be precise, only four major forces. The Sky Pirates hadn't appeared.
These four forces were fighting fiercely, attacking each other. For a time, the battlefield was filled with fire and explosions.
The Unicorn Pirates were basically defending the entrance on their own, to buy time for their vice-captain, Nini Poland. Fortunately, they had a large number of people, or they wouldn't have been able to withstand the onslaught of the three major forces.
The Storm Pirates were the most active, and under their captain's leadership, they launched an all-out war against the Unicorns, resulting in countless casualties on both sides.
As for the Lance Pirates, they hadn't originally intended to join the battle. They had no affiliated pirate crews, and only thirteen people in total. But since the Storm and Unicorns were already fighting, they were obviously being dragged into it, to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation later.
This was a three-way battle. As for the fourth force, an alliance of pirate crews, they suffered the most casualties. They didn't have a leader, and were forcibly united by Charlotte Brulee through deception.
Their goal was mostly to prevent the Red Stone from being taken. The fake Charlotte Linlin had promised them benefits, and they could barely be considered under the Big Mom Pirates, so they naturally had to protect their "own" things.
Unfortunately, this alliance had enough people, but their strength was uneven, and they were looked down upon by the other three forces, so they suffered the most casualties, and were on the verge of collapse.
On the outskirts of the battlefield, on a wide ice platform, Vladimir dragged the twelve captured pirates, and arrived here.
Doflamingo had arrived before him, and seeing Vladimir coming, he couldn't help but say, "How are there so many!?"
He looked in shock at the twelve pirates behind Vladimir, who were all dazed and tied up with ropes of holy light.
Harald Pirates, captain, bounty of 350 million, Rotation Fruit ability user!
Harald Pirates, crew member, bounty of 210 million, no ability.
One-Armed Pirates, captain, bounty of 170 million, rumored to be a Replacement Fruit ability user.
Grain Brothers Pirates, captain and vice-captain, the two brothers had a bounty of 300 million each, the older brother was a Twist-Twist Fruit ability user, and the younger brother had no ability.
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