Sailing: I was falsely accused of watching Nami bathe, but I'm blind.

Once awakened, the user's abilities no longer merely alter their physique or manipulate elements, but rather... expand the scope of their power! They can even... directly affect the surrounding environment! Assimilate inorganic matter into their abilities! Thus gaining... near-godlike power to alter terrain and create domains!!!

And Doflamingo... this seemingly cynical underground emperor... actually... reached such a terrifying level?!

Kai felt a deep sense of unease about this "awakened" power that could directly influence and assimilate the surrounding environment! He realized that the highest level of Devil Fruits, in terms of power and strangeness, was probably... far beyond his previous imagination!

With this kind of power, Doflamingo has undoubtedly become even more... difficult to deal with! Can Luffy... still win?

Just as Kai was feeling wary and worried about the "awakened" power that Doflamingo had shown (although he might not want Luffy to win, he certainly didn't want to see such an evil being as Doflamingo continue to run rampant), another... more cruel and urgent reality, like a sword hanging over everyone's heads, weighed heavily on everyone's hearts!

birdcage!

That web of death, composed of countless sharp threads, covering the entirety of Dressrosa, did not cease despite the fierce battle between Doflamingo and Luffy! It continued...slowly and relentlessly...contracting!!

Kai could clearly sense that the radius of the birdcage was shrinking little by little! Those incredibly sharp threads had begun to cut into some buildings located on the edge of the island, making a teeth-grinding sound!

Panic! Despair! Like a plague, it spread wildly through every corner of the birdcage!

Kai could "hear" the desperate cries and prayers of countless civilians, pirates, and even marines trapped on the island!

"Help! The birdcage is closing in!"

"Someone save us! We don't want to die!"

"Push! Push hard! You have to stop it!"

He could also "sense" that at the edge of the birdcage, countless people, both civilians and warriors (including the main force of the Navy under Fujitora's command, as well as Zoro, Franky, and other allies of the Straw Hat Pirates), were using all their strength to desperately push against the seemingly unshakeable giant net! Trying... even just to slow down its contraction by a second!

Their strength seemed so small and insignificant in the face of the enormous birdcage! But that...will to survive and the power of unity that erupted in despair was so...tenacious and...moving?

As for Admiral Fujitora… Kai could sense that although his senior was still commanding the Navy, using gravity to try his best to slow down the Birdcage's contraction, his vast, abyss-like perception was primarily focused on… the top of the King's Highlands! That final showdown… that would determine everyone's fate!

Fujitora-senpai… he really… still placed all his hopes on… that straw hat kid! He was gambling! Gambling that Luffy could… defeat Doflamingo before the Birdcage completely closed and wiped out everyone on the island!

Time! It has become the most precious, and also the most fatal, factor at this moment!

The fate of all of Dressrosa! The lives of millions! All hang by a thread! All rest on... the Straw Hat Boy, who is engaged in a desperate battle with the awakened Doflamingo atop the King's Hill!

This is a race against time! A final battle that stakes the fate of the entire nation!

At the top of King's Highlands, the battle has entered its final and most brutal phase!

Luffy's Gear Fourth "Bungee Man" form, while incredibly powerful, was able to suppress Doflamingo in his normal state.

However... this form also consumes an enormous amount of stamina and Haki! Kai could clearly sense that the steam around Luffy was getting thinner and thinner, and the Armament Haki covering his entire body was becoming unstable. His jumping speed and strength... were both noticeably decreasing!

The time for fourth gear... is almost up!!!

His opponent, Doflamingo, had also suffered serious injuries in the previous battle and was shocked by Luffy's Gear Fourth power.

But after activating his "Awakening" ability, he seemed to gain an endless supply of power! He manipulated the ground and buildings around him that had been assimilated into threads, as if he possessed an inexhaustible array of weapons and defensive measures! Countless white waves of threads, like giant pythons, or dense thread bullets, like divine punishment, relentlessly attacked Luffy, whose stamina was about to be exhausted!

"Fufufufu...out of energy, Straw Hat Boy!" Doflamingo let out a maniacal and triumphant laugh. "Your 'game time'...is over! Now...it's my turn...to send you to hell!!!"

Luffy's situation is extremely precarious! Once Gear Fourth is deactivated, in his weakened state, he will have no chance of withstanding Doflamingo's attacks after his awakening!

And the birdcage below is relentlessly and continuously shrinking! Time is running out for everyone!

"Luffy!!!"

"Straw Hat!!!"

"Lucy!!!"

Chapter 123: Kill the entire Straw Hat crew! This is justice!

Kai could sense that throughout Dressrosa, countless people—from the warriors struggling to push the birdcage to the trembling civilians huddled in corners—were placing their last hope on the straw-hatted boy who was desperately holding on atop the high ground! They were shouting with all their might, cries filled with expectation, encouragement, and even what could be described as...faithful cries!!!

These prayers and shouts from all the people of the island seemed to converge into an invisible force! Transcending the barriers of space! They flowed into the body of that... rubber man, nearing the end of his life!

Kai clearly sensed it! Luffy's previously waning energy, supported by this invisible force, was once again... like a final burst of energy before death... burning fiercely once more!!!

His eyes (as I sensed)! They regained that... indomitable, unstoppable light!!!

He... has one last blow!

"Doflamingo—!!!" Luffy roared... a final roar that embodied all his power, all his will, all his anger, and... the hopes of the entire island's people!!!

He abruptly pulled his right arm back! He compressed and condensed the Armament Haki covering his arm... and all the remaining power within his body... in an unprecedented way... with frantic intensity!!!

Kai could even feel it! The space around Luffy's arm was beginning to distort slightly because of this... terrifying power that had been condensed to its extreme!

Then!!!

Just as Fourth Gear was about to be completely deactivated! Just as Doflamingo's white tsunami-like waves were about to engulf him... at the very last moment!!!

Luffy's right fist! Like a...burning, unstoppable...black comet!!! It slammed out...fiercely!!!

"Rubber, rubber..."

"LeoBazooka (Great Ape King Gun)!!!!!!!!!"

boom--!!!!!!!!!!!

A terrifying roar, indescribable in its deafening force, instantly engulfed the entire battlefield!

Kai felt a terrifying shockwave... a shockwave brimming with unparalleled power and absolute will, seemingly capable of shattering the sky! Like a comet striking the earth! It slammed... heavily onto Doflamingo's defense 10, composed of countless awakened threads!

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Doflamingo's seemingly indestructible String Field defense! Before this punch! It was like fragile glass! Instantly... shattered inch by inch!!!

Then! That massive black fist, imbued with ultimate power! Without any resistance... fiercely... struck Doflamingo's chest, a chest filled with disbelief and terror!

puff--! ! !

Doflamingo was struck head-on by a giant, high-speed truck! His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string! Blood spurted from his mouth like a rain of flowers! Even his signature sunglasses shattered completely in mid-air!

His body, like a meteorite, plummeted from the high royal hills... crashing through countless buildings! Finally...embedded deeply...below the palace, in the cold, symbolic core of his dark rule...the depths of the earth!!!

His aura... completely... vanished!!! (At least temporarily, he lost consciousness)

silence.

Deathly silence.

The entire Dressrosa seemed to be completely stunned by Luffy's... earth-shattering, decisive final attack.

then……

Click... click...

The enormous "birdcage" covering the entire island, like a death trap... that terrifying entity made of countless sharp threads... began... like a machine that had lost its power... slowly... stopped shrinking.

Then! The incredibly strong threads that made up the birdcage began... as if losing their support... little by little... to become ethereal, transparent... and finally...

Like snow under the sun...it completely...dissipated!!!

The nightmare that had haunted Dressrosa for a decade! Finally... vanished!!!

Sunlight! It once again shone brightly on this... wounded land!

"Win...win?!"

"The birdcage... has disappeared!!!"

"We...we're saved!!!"

After a brief silence, the entire island of Dressrosa erupted in a series of deafening cheers, like a tsunami, filled with ecstasy, excitement, and the relief of surviving a catastrophe! Countless people embraced and wept! Countless people knelt in prayer! Countless people... cast grateful and reverent glances (perceptions) upon the one... who, though exhausted from falling from the sky, had ultimately brought victory and liberation... the Straw Hat Boy!

Kai remained hidden in the distance, silently observing everything.

Sensing the disappearance of the birdcage, sensing the sunlight returning, sensing the cheers and cries on the island that erupted like a volcano...

His heart was filled with unprecedented complex emotions.

Shock? Admiration? Or... a deeper sense of apprehension and... a hint of indescribable disappointment?

Luffy... he actually... did it?! He actually... defeated the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo all by himself (with the help of his crew and allies, of course)?! He liberated the entire Dressrosa?!

This result... completely exceeded Kai's expectations! It also... utterly disrupted his original plan to "clean up the mess" at the last minute!

As he looked at (sensed) Luffy, who had collapsed from exhaustion and was being carried away by others (possibly the arena's contestants), his understanding of the Straw Hat crew seemed to be refreshed once again.

Perhaps... the seemingly "chaotic" power they represent truly... possesses a kind of... possibility of subversion and creation that he cannot understand, but cannot deny?

Kai didn't know.

All he knew was that the storm in Dressrosa seemed to be coming to an end in a way he hadn't anticipated.

Just as all of Dressrosa was immersed in the immense joy and chaos of overthrowing Doflamingo's tyranny and regaining freedom; just as the naval soldiers were bewildered and at a loss due to the loss of their supreme commander (Vergo was defeated and Doflamingo was knocked unconscious); just as everyone thought the turmoil was about to subside...

Admiral Fujitora, who had remained inactive and was even secretly criticized by Kai as "showing off" and "dereliction of duty," suddenly... made a stunning move that shocked and uproared the entire world!

Kai sensed it clearly!

Admiral Fujitora did not immediately order the arrest of the pirates who had won in the chaos (the Law-Luffy alliance and its allies), nor did he immediately take over the order in Dressrosa and declare the Navy's "victory" as people expected.

But...

He ordered his naval forces to assemble immediately! Not to capture pirates, but... to form orderly ranks! They arrived at the huge plaza in front of the Dressrosa Palace... a plaza that had just been ravaged by war, but was already filled with countless rescued citizens and witnesses...

Then! He ordered his video Den Den Mushi unit to connect the signal to the Navy Headquarters' broadcasting system! To broadcast the scene before him...live to the whole world!!!

Next!

Under the shocked, bewildered, and even angry gazes (perceptions) of countless people around the world, political figures from various countries, underworld bosses, and high-ranking officials of the Navy Headquarters (including the enraged Fleet Admiral Akainu)!

This is one of the Navy Headquarters' top combat forces, despite being blind, with a posture as upright as a mountain!