A golden light streaked toward Dressrosa at extreme speed. Moments later, a wretched-looking figure coalesced in the sky above the entire island.
"Honestly, I finally get a vacation and Fleet Admiral Sengoku calls me back in..."
"Entangle an Emperor of the Sea? Is an Emperor really that easy to entangle? After this mission, I'm definitely taking a vacation—and I want a raise!"
Muttering to himself, the Admiral known as Kizaru looked down. Sure enough, he saw Charlotte Linlin charging ahead like a wild boar. Dressrosa was like a cornfield, and all sorts of corn-like buildings were being flattened by her rampage.
In addition, a shattered stone giant lay on the ground. One could barely make out a humanoid shape; its entire lower body had been smashed to pieces and was currently in the process of regenerating.
That was Pica, struggling to recover. The stone giant created by the Stone-Stone Fruit was no stronger than cotton against Charlotte Linlin's Iron Balloon; it had been effortlessly smashed to bits.
If not for the fact that Charlotte Linlin was currently in a state of madness and hadn't used Observation Haki to lock onto her target, Pica would have been turned into meat paste long ago.
Even so, through the process of constantly reforming the stone giant only to have it repeatedly shattered, the Stone-Stone Fruit user had exhausted his stamina and could only hide within the rocks to linger on the edge of death.
As for Sugar, in whom he had placed high hopes... "I'm not going! I won't go even if I die!! I'll be eaten!! That monster woman will eat me!! Waaaah! I don't want to go over there, I don't want to be eaten!"
Lao G, Jora, Buffalo, and Baby 5 watched Sugar rolling on the ground, wailing and throwing a tantrum, all of them wearing expressions of helplessness.
Sugar was a Devil Fruit User who had eaten the Hobi Hobi no Mi, a fruit with a power that defied common sense.
Its effect allowed her to turn any person or animal she touched into a toy, erasing everyone's memory of them and even their very existence. It felt somewhat like the Unrestricted Spells from Shakugan no Shana.
However, while this near-conceptual power was formidable, like most conceptual Devil Fruits, it provided no bonus to the user's physical combat strength. In fact, because the ability was so broken, it came with significant drawbacks.
For instance, after eating the Hobi Hobi no Mi, Sugar's physical age and mental state remained frozen at around ten years old. Naturally, one couldn't expect a ten-year-old girl to have the courage to face the terrifying queen Charlotte Linlin, who could scare ordinary people out of their wits.
Of course, it was fortunate they hadn't brought Sugar along. Given that her mental fortitude was weak enough to be knocked unconscious by Usopp's funny faces, seeing a berserk Charlotte Linlin would likely have caused her to pass out immediately. If that happened, the already chaotic Dressrosa would have surely collapsed.
Just then, the ground behind them rippled like water, and Pink, the Swim-Swim Fruit user, emerged directly from it.
"What are you all still doing here? The Young Master just gave the order for everyone to get on the Numancia Flamingo and leave Dressrosa immediately!"
"Leave!? Are we being told to abandon all of Dressrosa?"
Lao G froze, asking in disbelief.
Pink nodded and continued.
"That's right. The Young Master has already requested aid from the Marine! Soon, an Admiral will arrive. Given the combat power of an Admiral and an Emperor of the Sea, it's unlikely Dressrosa can be saved. Staying here would be too dangerous for us!"
As he spoke, Pink glanced around and then frowned.
"Where is Violet!? Without her Glare-Glare Fruit ability, it won't be easy to find the other family members!"
"Violet? I don't know! Isn't she with the Young Master?"
The group from the Donquixote Family looked at each other, realizing none of them knew Violet's whereabouts.
"There's no choice, forget it for now. Everyone, head to the Numancia Flamingo first! Buffalo, come with me. The Young Master is seriously injured, so you'll be the one to transport him!"
Even as they discussed this, a thunderous boom echoed as a golden flash descended from the sky like the wrath of a god's lightning, crashing toward the demon queen roaring on the earth.
A violent shockwave spread out. The buildings of Dressrosa were like scraps of paper in a storm, blown everywhere. The ground shook continuously as if the entire island were experiencing an earthquake.
"Not good! Everyone, let's go! The Admiral has already engaged that monster woman!"
The violent air currents, mixed with small stones, left the group looking disheveled. Seeing the current situation, they said no more and immediately scattered like startled birds.
At the entrance of the Royal Palace's underground dungeon, Violet finally finished clearing the rubble and debris. Seeing the opening before her, a trace of a smile appeared on her face.
Then, a violent tremor struck. Watching the ground crack and the underground prison sway on the verge of collapse, Violet's expression changed drastically, and she rushed inside in a panic.
As for Vegapunk's group, who were almost at the center of the battlefield, they were also quite surprised to see the sudden appearance of the Admiral.
"It looks like there might be some unexpected gains this time!"
Watching Kizaru, who had turned into a golden light flickering everywhere in the sky, a smile appeared at the corners of Vegapunk's mouth.
Compared to a certain Flying Thunder God Ninja, this guy might truly deserve the title of Yellow Flash... well, a wretched version of it.
To some extent, Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit was the closest ability to Vegapunk's Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
It was just that Vegapunk rarely used the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's powers directly, often treating its energy as a supplement and power source for his electromagnetism abilities.
This was unavoidable. As a scientist, it was only natural for Vegapunk to choose to develop electromagnetic abilities—which had greater potential, more comprehensive applications, and even led directly to a fundamental force of the world—over the purely destructive Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
In fact, having pushed his electromagnetic abilities to a certain level, Vegapunk could even mimic the Glint-Glint Fruit and use laser attacks as well. Of course, the cost-effectiveness was low, so there wasn't much point to it.
But regardless, since light is a form of electromagnetic wave, Vegapunk was quite interested in this light-human.
"I was thinking of waiting until later, but now, it seems I can acquire this test subject ahead of schedule!"
"Hancock, I'll take care of this guy first! It just so happens that my fruit ability completely counters him!"
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