Not only did Minos fail to answer Lao G's question, he viciously kicked him, causing his wounds to bleed heavily again. Then he yanked off the cape from his body and used it to shield himself from the Iron Thorns falling from the sky.
As for Lao G, whose face and hands were covered in blood from his own Death Stardust, Minos simply ignored him with flair.
Turning around, Minos looked toward the battlefield.
Doflamingo's subordinates had already been beaten down almost completely by the brothers Charlotte Oven and Charlotte Daifuku. The only ones still standing were Trebol, Gladius, and Lao G.
Even so, all three of them looked like they were on the verge of collapse.
To put it bluntly, aside from Doflamingo himself, the Donquixote Family had no one worth mentioning. What a waste of all those bizarre Devil Fruits they had eaten.
Although many members of the Charlotte Pirates had also eaten all sorts of strange Devil Fruits, theirs seemed less suited for combat than for cooking.
But these Charlotte Pirates members had inherited Charlotte Linlin's terrifying physique, and they had also gone through countless battles in the brutally competitive New World.
Especially the older ones, who had fought their way out alongside Charlotte Linlin from the Rocks Pirates. Their strength was naturally extraordinary. It was only natural for the two of them to hold the upper hand.
As for the battle between Talon and Pica...
"Argh!" Talon, covered in blood from head to toe, crashed down in front of him. Only half of the Iron Club remained in his hand, and he had completely lost consciousness.
"So this is what happens when you pick the wrong opponent!" Minos looked at Talon with a speechless expression and mocked him.
In fact, Talon would have had a much easier time fighting Lao G than Minos did. His Iron Club was a blunt weapon, after all. Even if Lao G wore clothing made from softened steel, it still could not defend against blunt-force attacks.
Unfortunately, Talon had chosen Pica! With the Stone-Stone Fruit, Pica could transform into a Stone Giant, and opponents who were tough-skinned and immensely strong were exactly the kind he handled best.
After all, unless someone was at the level of the Four Emperors, even a Yonko Commander like Katakuri probably could not surpass such a Stone Giant in pure strength.
"Three-Eyed Brat! You actually defeated Lao G!" Pica's shrill voice echoed through the air. "I'll avenge Lao G!"
As he spoke, a massive stone palm smashed down.
Damn it! Your other companions and your captain are getting beaten up! Why are you so focused on me? If you want to pick on the weak, why bother making excuses?
Minos kicked Talon toward Charlotte Daifuku, then leaped into the air and landed on the Stone Giant's arm.
Unlike Talon, who leaned more toward the Power Type, Minos specialized in speed and agility. Combined with his superb Observation Haki, he naturally did not struggle against Pica as badly as Talon had.
He darted left and right, evading Pica's waves of attacks. From time to time, he leaped onto the Stone Giant's body and carved away great chunks of stone.
Yet the fallen stone chunks were quickly reabsorbed by the enormous Stone Giant. Overall, it looked as though he was doing pointless work.
One could not damage the other, while the other could not land a hit. The fight seemed to have entered garbage time again.
In fact, Minos could use the Third Eye to see Pica hiding inside the stone. The problem was that his swordsmanship was nowhere near as absurd as that Moss Head, the Lost King. Pica was hiding beneath seven or eight meters of stone, and Minos had no way to cut through it.
"Alright! That's enough!"
Charlotte Oven unleashed a Flame Slash, severing Pica's stone arm. "Leave the rest of this battle to me!"
Minos glanced at Charlotte Oven's former battlefield and saw Doflamingo's subordinates sprawled all over the ground. Clearly, Charlotte Oven had not gotten his fill of fighting.
But Minos did not want to waste any more time either. Anyone with eyes could see that continuing would only lead to a pointless fight. He had no way to deal with that enormous fellow at all, so he sensibly withdrew.
Speaking of which, Charlotte Oven's Heat-Heat Fruit had an even stronger countering effect against the Stone-Stone Fruit. His Heat-Heat Fruit did not create heat out of thin air; it transferred heat almost like roasting something.
Not only could it boil the sea, it could also turn the Stone Giant directly into an oven, enough to bake Pica into a pizza. If Pica thought he could rely on the Stone Giant to fight Charlotte Oven, then he was gravely mistaken.
As for Doflamingo, he had no time to worry about his subordinates now. Suppressed by Katakuri, he had completely fallen into the disadvantage. On their battlefield, only thirty percent of the transformed strings remained, while Mochi Fists had thoroughly occupied the rest.
After one look, Minos stopped paying attention. Before the Straw Hat Kid appeared, Doflamingo seemed to have a bit of protagonist's luck, but that little bit was clearly not enough to let him turn the tables against Katakuri.
"I've already seen Dressrosa's Treasure Vault. Brother Daifuku, want to come take a look with me?" Minos turned to Charlotte Daifuku, who had also just defeated his opponent.
"What are we waiting for?"
It was not Charlotte Daifuku who answered him, but Charlotte Oven. He activated his Devil Fruit ability and roasted the massive Stone Giant red-hot. Amid a shrill scream, Pica fled from it and was knocked unconscious by a single punch.
"Let's head out now!"
As for Doflamingo? Charlotte Daifuku and Charlotte Oven had absolute confidence in their older brother Katakuri and had no intention of staying behind to support him.
They had the Homies Soldier use Seastone Handcuffs to capture all of Doflamingo's subordinates, while Talon, heavily wounded and unconscious, was carried off for emergency treatment.
Then, the group bypassed the chaotic battlefield between Doflamingo and Katakuri and swaggered directly toward Dressrosa.
Dressrosa was still in complete chaos. Last night, King Riku and his guards had gone on a killing spree under the Donquixote Family's control. Afterward, Doflamingo had pretended to be the good guy and carried out the Coup Plan, and many of King Riku's subordinates and ministers had already been thrown into prison.
So many events had piled up at once that Dressrosa had yet to recover. On top of that, Doflamingo and the others, who should have been cleaning up the aftermath, had gone to face Katakuri, leaving the place in a state of lawlessness.
The residents of Dressrosa were bewildered, enraged, or worried. Thus, even the arrival of Minos and his group failed to draw their attention.
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