One Piece Gunslinger

Even if they wanted to make up for the losses quickly, the earliest they could do so would be when the birdcage shrank to within two kilometers of the center. That would be the time to launch the final, fierce attack on the Don Quixote family.

As for the underlying principle, I'll keep you in suspense for now.

However, birdcages also serve another purpose: they can isolate communication between the inside and outside of the cage, completely isolating them. I don't know the principle behind this.

Now, even if Fujitora's Den Den Mushi has a special little iron ball, it can't contact Li Ang outside the Birdcage. He can only rely on himself to overcome the current difficulties, and he can only make decisions on his own.

“Mr. Gaz, could you connect to the national broadcast and get the people of Dressrosa to move to the center? Otherwise, it will be dangerous once the birdcage search begins.”

Fujitora still couldn't let go of these ordinary civilians and still wanted to minimize casualties as much as possible.

"Well, the arena has the necessary equipment." Gaz was flattered that Fujitora had taken the initiative to speak to him, and quickly replied.

“But I don’t have the authority; only Diamanti knows how to activate it.”

As Gaz finished speaking, he turned to look at Señor, but Señor simply shrugged, indicating that he had no solution either.

However, Fujitora didn't care and quickly said, "It's okay, as long as we have this kind of thing, we have a way to solve it."

As he spoke, a short, stout middle-aged man stepped out from the revolutionary army, patted his chest, and said, "I've seen this kind of thing many times. Leave it to me."

And you know what? The Revolutionary Army really does have all sorts of people, and they can handle all kinds of problems. Their skills are on par with the Navy.

Soon after, Gaz's voice rang out from all over Dressrosa: "Citizens of Dressrosa, the birdcage is about to close. If you don't want to die, run! Run to the King's Highlands in the middle!"

Hey, these people were wondering why so many threads suddenly rained down from the sky, covering the entire country. But when they heard Gaz's shout, they realized that this thing was probably no good.

However, a small group of people recognized that these threads were made by Doflamingo. How could the Doflamingo they respected do something that would harm the country and its people? Combined with the fact that Dressrosa was attacked by an unknown force, they concluded that Gaz had betrayed the Donquixote Family and that this was just a trick Doflamingo used to block the attack and protect them.

These mischievous people won't learn their lesson until they're faced with a real problem. Perhaps Gaz understood this principle, which is why he deliberately didn't mention Doflamingo and only talked about the Birdcage, fearing that these people wouldn't believe him.

There's no way around it; after all, the Donquixote Family hasn't fully revealed its true colors yet, and Doflamingo is still seen as an excellent ruler by many commoners.

Sigh, it can only be said that some people are really falsely clever, thinking they understand everything, while others wonder if there are some traps waiting for them, and they get caught in the process.

However, Gaz did not give up and continued to try his best to persuade these people to run away.

But these words also reached Doflamingo's ears, and they were broadcast all over the country; it would be strange if he didn't know.

"It's because of Gaz that our plan failed," Diamanti said bitterly.

Don't you even realize that even if your plan succeeds, so what? Even if you destroy the local revolutionary forces of the toy soldiers, so what? In the end, you'll still be punished by the revolutionary army. These two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Torrepol, wiping his nose, said, "We'll settle accounts with him after we've defeated the revolutionary army."

Ugh, this whole family is utterly spineless. No wonder Señor said they were petty. Seriously, is it wrong to call for national refuge? Should that be recorded as a crime?

Gaz didn't have much time. He only said a few words before Doflamingo had already completely set up the Birdcage and immediately activated its shrinking mechanism.

It wasn't until the birdcage began to wreak havoc, and people watched as the house and ground were slowly sliced ​​apart by the retracting cage, that they realized Gaz wasn't just joking.

At this moment, there's no need to offer any advice; instead, you should encourage people to run faster and cheer them on.

Meanwhile, Pica and Gladius, who were in the underground port, saw the Birdcage appear. Although they hadn't communicated with Doflamingo, they understood the seriousness of the situation. Without lingering any longer, they turned and left. The Revolutionary Army outside was no longer a concern; returning to reunite with Doflamingo was the priority.

“Dover has used a birdcage to isolate the Revolutionary Army outside, so it seems there are some tricky situations inside as well,” Pica said in a shrill voice. “I can walk between the rocks, just like I can rush back to check on things. You can come back later.”

Having said that, he slipped into a wall and charged straight toward the King's Heights in the center. This was indeed much faster, as he didn't have to take any detours.

However, Pica's haste left Gladius isolated.

He hadn't been gone long when a voice rang out behind Gladius: "Hey, you up ahead, don't run so fast! I've been chasing you for ages, you know how hard it is!"

Upon hearing this, Guradius quickly turned around and saw a man wearing a top hat and a dark cloak rushing towards him.

This person was Sabo.

Gladius hadn't expected that someone would sneak in while the birdcage was being lowered, and that they were faster than him to catch up with him after he had already left.

Having figured this out, Gladius stopped running away and instead picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at Sabo.

Gladius is a user of the Boom-Boom Fruit, which allows him to detonate inorganic matter upon contact. This stone was imbued with his power when it was thrown, gradually expanding in mid-air before exploding next to Sabo.

To be honest, this is similar to Mr. 5's ability from Baroque Works, but it's more practical and not as annoying.

Seeing that Sabo seemed completely unconcerned about the stone, Gladius couldn't help but smile with a triumphant grin.

Chapter 260 The Art of Explosion

He'd seen this happen countless times; whenever he threw something small, people would inadvertently overlook it. Then, they'd only regret it when it exploded.

Since he obtained this fruit power, countless people have fallen victim to his insidious trick.

With a loud bang, just as Gladius had planned, Sabo was caught completely off guard and hit squarely by the stone bomb.

If Leon or Koala saw this scene, they would probably give Sabo a lecture again. They told him to remember the information carefully, but how come he forgot it as soon as he encountered it?

Well, it's only because the Sabo brothers are so carefree that they would still cooperate and fall for the trap even with information about Gladius.

However, Sabo is the second oldest brother, and he is much better than Luffy. Although he eventually forgot about Gladius's information, there was a reason for that.

In Sabo's view, there was no need to remember information about such minor characters, since they posed almost no threat if encountered. He only needed to keep an eye on Doflamingo and the three top executives.

And that was exactly what happened. Before the smoke from the explosion had even cleared, Sabo leaped high out of the smoke, raising a dark wooden stick and smashing it down on Gladius's head.

This sudden attack caught Gladius completely off guard. Although he hadn't used his full strength and the material he used was just ordinary stone, Sabo was able to emerge unscathed, demonstrating a level of strength comparable to that of a top executive.

Moreover, that jet-black stick looked unnaturally colored; it was clearly Armament Haki. Thinking about it, it's no wonder he emerged unscathed; the explosive force was obviously blocked by Haki.

Surprised as he was, he still had to dodge. Gladius reacted quickly, leaping backward to avoid the jumping strike.

However, Sabo didn't expect such a direct attack to hit the enemy; he was aiming for the floor. Even though Gladius dodged the frontal attack, the cracking ground and violent tremors caused him to lose his balance and nearly fall.

Sabo's fighting style is like this: he wants to break the floor whenever he feels like it, leaving no place for others to stand, and then uses his agile movements to attack the enemy.

After smashing the floor, Sabo didn't stop, and immediately pounced on him, hitting him repeatedly.

Gladius, who had gone against Sabo's path, was not flustered. Since his opponent was a master who could use Armament Haki, he didn't need to hold back and directly used his strongest move—self-destruction.

This is the key to Gladius's superiority over Mr. 5: he can also expand and detonate parts of his body, even his entire body. Yet, after the explosion, he's unharmed, returning to his previous state, even his clothes remaining intact. That's practically cheating! Even the enemy Volibear becomes nearly dead when he uses a massive explosion, okay?

Before Sabo could even reach him, Gladius expanded his body and shouted, "Full-body explosion!"

With this move, he seemed to turn into a balloon, bulging and ready for Sabo to pop him with a single blow.

However, Sabo is not the same as "Sabo" in pinyin, even though the abbreviation is the same.

Upon seeing Gladius turn into a ball, I finally remembered that this was the bomber mentioned in the information, though I couldn't recall his name.

Knowing that Gladius was untouchable in this state, they immediately changed their attack to a stabbing motion, using the end of the stick to poke Gladius.

"Bang." This was the sound effect of Gladius being stabbed and sent flying; the expected explosion did not occur.

Then you see him with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, kneeling on the ground in pain, coughing up blood. It seems that the blow to him in his balloon form has caused him internal injuries.

"How...how did you do that?" Gladius asked, unwilling to give up, as he propped himself up with his hands.

The answer was already obvious. He himself understood that the only thing capable of doing such a thing was Seastone. What else could touch his body without detonating, but instead send him flying?

Actually, this stick is no ordinary stick. It was the stick made from a branch of the divine tree Adam that Li Ang seized when he was in the Kingdom of Yutakana.

This wooden stick is far more powerful than a steel pipe. Just thinking about how Sabo will one day succeed Dragon as the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Army makes Leon feel that the image of Sabo running around with a steel pipe in the future is somewhat inappropriate.

So some upgrades were made. Although it's a wooden stick, it's a branch from the divine tree Adam. In fact, an ordinary wooden stick is far more effective than a steel pipe.

Moreover, after Li Ang brought it back, he further processed it, inlaying a sea stone at the front end.

Heh heh, Li Ang just loves Seastone. In his words, any problem that can be solved with Seastone isn't a problem. And don't even mention fairness. You're a Devil Fruit user, you already have advantages in other areas, and this weakness is predetermined. Go ahead and ask God for help.

Conversely, if a problem could have been solved with sea stone, but instead a fierce battle ensued, resulting in a humiliating defeat, that's truly idiotic. It's treating the revolution like a game, and is extremely irresponsible towards both the revolutionary army and the people.

Of course, few people could accept Li Ang's view at first, believing that men of the sea should be upright and honorable, and that using something like sea stone was an insult to him and his opponents.

However, if any mission failed because of this, or if revolutionary comrades were to sacrifice themselves in vain, Li Ang would show no leniency. Not only would he strip them of their positions, but he would also publicly criticize and denounce them, so that others could see that this was a dignified way to do things.

Indeed, sometimes using external forces goes against the romance and passion of men at sea, but we can't always live in a dream. Sometimes we have to face reality, and reality is just that cruel. We can't abandon righteousness in order to uphold romance and passion.

Sabo had previously insisted on not using this thing, and Li Ang understood that this was the dream of becoming the Pirate King that he had built up with Ace and Luffy when they were young. Although he had lost his memory, this passionate youth of pursuing dreams was still engraved in his bones.

But as time went on, Li Ang was also subtly changing Sabo. His repeated, earnest advice and the stark examples he presented made him understand that his dream was no longer to become the Pirate King, but to save the world as a member of the Revolutionary Army, and that he couldn't act recklessly.

Moreover, Smoker even embedded seastone in the tip of his weapon. The use of seastone and one's beliefs should not be in conflict, but rather complementary. As the saying goes, a wise man is not born different, but he makes good use of things.

Now, Sabo has mastered the skill to use this wooden stick and the sea stone on it, and he can shine in many situations.

For example, right now, Gladius's full strength is concentrated in this Devil Fruit. If he can't unleash its power, he'll soon become no different from an ordinary soldier.

“I never expected to find Seastone.” Gladius said, but he still bravely stood up again.

Despite suffering severe injuries, Gladius still refused to give up. He was extremely loyal to Doflamingo and had a fiercely independent personality. Even though he knew he was no match for Sabo, he still wanted to continue fighting.

Sabo acknowledged this, expressing respect for his opponent and admiration for his perseverance—qualities Sabo has never wavered in. Therefore, he didn't pursue further but waited for Gladius to get back to his feet.

If Li Ang were here, he would have taken advantage of your illness and killed you long ago.

"It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature." These sentiments, ingrained in one's bones, will stay with one for life. If even this changes, then Sabo wouldn't be Sabo anymore.

Since he couldn't use his close-range full-body explosion, it didn't mean Gladius was helpless. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny object.

The power of the Boom-Boom Fruit is to detonate one's own body or any inorganic matter that comes into contact with it. In other words, almost anything can be used as a bomb, whether it's grass, trees, rocks, or anything else.

So, what material, when used as a bomb, can unleash its maximum power? The answer is simple: diamond, the hardest naturally occurring substance.

Indeed, what Gladius struggled to pull from his pocket was a diamond, and it was quite large. This diamond was originally the largest one the Don Quixote family had ever found, and it was later bestowed upon Gladius.

You should know that if this diamond were auctioned off, it would fetch hundreds of millions of Berries, and the ladies of noble families, and even Celestial Dragons, would be absolutely fascinated by it.

This shows how much Doflamingo appreciated Gladius's loyalty, even to the point that he was willing to offer such a valuable diamond.

Sabo saw the diamond and immediately tensed up. If the diamond were to explode, he estimated that even with his Armament Haki, he would have a hard time surviving unscathed.

Gradus used it when necessary, and without the slightest hesitation, threw the diamond at Sabo.

"Diamond Star!"

The name of this move is very apt. Diamonds, bombs with unparalleled allure, would indeed create a star-like spectacle if they were to explode, with countless tiny fragments flying through the air, just like stars.

No wonder they say explosions are art.

However, it would have to explode first. Sabo was already prepared to defend, waiting to receive the next attack. But Gladius's head exploded into a diamond shape first.

Without the support of a Devil Fruit ability, the diamond was just an ordinary diamond, and it fell to the ground with a clink.

Chapter 261 Waiting