"Captain! This isn't working! Our cannonballs can't hit them at all!"
"And their firepower is way stronger than ours!"
"Damn it! Once I've got the underground black market under my control, I'll arm our pirate ship to the teeth and put together a whole fleet!"
"What do we do now?"
"Charge them! We'll board and fight them hand to hand!"
"That's right! We outnumber them. The Donquixote Family's men are trapped on the mountain, and there can't be many left down here. If we charge, we're sure to win!"
The captains deliberately avoided mentioning the possibility that something had already gone wrong on the mountain, loudly rallying their crews.
They had no other choice. There was no turning back now.
They could only press forward!
At the same time, they clung to the hope that even if something had gone wrong, the three Pirate Groups working together would still be able to escape unscathed.
And so, the three Pirate Groups immediately picked up speed and charged through the cannon fire.
"Behehehehe! I say, I say, do these guys think we're easy prey? They're actually coming over here to get themselves killed."
Trebol laughed maliciously, his snot dangling in a long string.
Diamante rolled his wrist. "All the better. We can wrap this up quickly."
"True. Let them come, then we'll finish them off as fast as we can. Doffy should be back with the others soon."
At Trebol's command, the firepower of the Numancia Flamingo was cut by more than half, creating the illusion that they were running low on ammunition.
The three groups of pirates closing in didn't suspect a thing. They were overjoyed and pushed their ships to full speed, reaching the Numancia Flamingo in almost no time.
"Men, charge with me! Kill every one of those Donquixote Family bastards!"
"Long-Neck Pirates, charge!"
"Don't let the others beat us to it! The Hedgehog Pirates are invincible!"
"Behehehehe! I say, I say, have you ever had a ship smash you over the head?"
"Sticky Chain!"
Trebol suddenly shot out the thick, slick, brown mucus secreted by his body. It formed a grid-patterned chain that stretched a great distance and stuck to the Long-Neck Pirates' ship.
Then, under the horrified gazes of countless people, he swung the chain, using its momentum to hurl the attached ship like a meteor at the Hedgehog Pirates' vessel on the other side!
Sticky Meteor!
With a tremendous crash, the two similarly sized pirate ships slammed into each other and broke apart, leaving scattered wreckage across the sea.
Countless pirates fell into the water and were swallowed by the whirlpools left by the sinking ships!
"Doffy will be back soon. Looks like I'll have to show them what I can really do."
Diamante's expression turned serious for the first time as he raised his long sword.
Half-Moon
Funeral!
Diamante swung his sword with all his might. A powerful wave of sword energy surged out, slicing the last remaining pirate ship in two as easily as cutting tofu!
That slash had been pure swordsmanship. He hadn't used his Devil Fruit ability at all!
Unlike Abel, who relied on the effects of his skills to unleash a Flying Slash, Diamante was a genuine swordsman.
But he would probably never reach the threshold of becoming a Great Swordsman. He simply wasn't pure enough.
Even so, against the pirates here, it was a total mismatch!
The three Pirate Groups were wiped out almost instantly!
Only the pirates who had charged onto the Numancia Flamingo in the first wave survived.
The three captains were among them.
But all three wore grim expressions.
They'd realized they had still underestimated the Donquixote Family.
Two officers alone had nearly wiped them out?!
"If I told you this was all just a misunderstanding, would you let us leave?"
"What do you think?"
Diamante looked at him scornfully.
The man gave a bitter laugh. "Then there's no way out. Let's fight to the death, Captains!"
The other two exchanged a glance. They knew there was no ending this peacefully, and immediately steeled themselves for a desperate fight.
Whatever else they were, they were the captains of their respective Pirate Groups.
Even knowing they were outmatched, they still had the courage to fight!
But courage alone couldn't always change the outcome.
A few minutes later, when Doflamingo returned with his men, all three captains were lying in pools of blood. Every pirate who had attacked them was either dead or had jumped into the sea.
And even those who jumped into the sea would meet the same fate if they couldn't be kept alive to spread the news of this battle and proclaim the Donquixote Family's might!
"Fuffuffuffuffu, so this was what you were counting on?"
Under Doflamingo's wanton, arrogant laughter, Mephitis' face went ashen.
"Looks like this farce is finally over. What a disappointment."
Mephitis' eyes suddenly widened, and he let out a muffled cry, trying to beg for mercy. But in the next instant, a razor-sharp thread severed his neck, leaving him dead with his eyes wide open.
"Doffy, these guys must have planned this in advance. They stashed the things and supplies they stole on the nearby island, then set a trap here, hoping to wipe us all out. What a bunch of idiots!"
Before killing them, Diamante had also managed to interrogate them about where they'd taken the smuggling ship they'd stolen earlier.
Doflamingo laughed when he heard this. "Those idiots deliberately lured us into the manor on the mountain, then planted a huge amount of explosives inside, hoping to blow us all to kingdom come. Luckily, Seka spotted them in time. He followed the secret passage inside and caught this guy trying to detonate the explosives remotely."
Though he called it "luck," the powerful confidence radiating from Doflamingo told everyone that, faced with overwhelming strength, schemes and tricks only meant certain death!
At this point, before he had met Kaido, Doflamingo was indeed full of confidence.
"Have someone collect all the explosives on the mountain. We're going to check out the nearby island."
Explosives were valuable goods on the underground black market. They could be sold for a good price, so there was no sense in wasting them.
Then Doflamingo and the others boarded a ship and headed for the nearby island.
Abel's thoughts stirred. He felt that this Wish Order might earn him a pretty good review.
Just after the battle at the manor ended, he'd decided the timing was right and that he could move freely, so he used his free search.
And he'd received this order.
[Order Description: Yorozuya Gin urgently needs a large sum of money to repay his debts.]
[Order Content: A large amount of money or gold and silver jewelry]
[Basic Order Reward: Wooden Sword Toya Lake, 100 Trading Points]
[Time Remaining for Order: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds]
There had been plenty of time, so he hadn't rushed.
Now, though, he'd clearly set his sights on the spoils left behind by these Pirate Groups.
Before you continue