Adapt to Changing Circumstances, Bastard!

"What astonishing destructive power!"

Zoro, who was watching the battle from his vantage point, stroked his chin and said, "The Eight Treasure Navy of the Flower Country, huh?"

"I've actually heard of this name before."

"Hmm, I've got it. Who knows, we might become enemies someday."

"Enemy?"

Perona, standing to the side, looked at Zoro with a face full of questions. What did he mean by "maybe one day we'll become enemies"?

Aren't they comrades-in-arms now?

Zoro clearly noticed Perona's confusion, so he explained, "They helped us this time because of Usopp, not because they've actually become friends with us."

No one knows what the relationship between the two sides will be like after this battle ends.

For the safety of the Straw Hat Pirates, he must remember these people.

Perona thought about it for a moment and agreed that it made sense, so she nodded and accepted Zoro's explanation.

Just then, Pica's face reappeared on the rock wall and launched a sneak attack on Zoro.

"Boom!"

A gigantic stone cone suddenly shot out and struck Zoro without mercy.

Unfortunately, this attack missed Zoro, who remained on guard, and instead sent many of the Donquixote Family's underlings flying.

"Ah!"

After glancing at the henchmen who had been beaten and sent flying, Zoro fixed his gaze on Pica's face, his expression somewhat gloomy.

This guy really infuriated him.

"Pica Pica Pica la la~"

"Pica Pica ..."

"What's with that laughter, you bastard!" Zoro roared, opening his shark-like mouth. "Stop laughing!"

He felt like he was about to break down, damn it!

Pica:...

Pica's laughter was interrupted, and her voice immediately stopped.

After a moment of silence, Pica said with dissatisfaction, "What's wrong with smiling when you're happy?"

"You bastard, why can't I laugh!"

"Dancing Stone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several enormous stone spikes shot out from the rock wall and mercilessly struck Zoro in front of him.

Unfortunately... they still couldn't hit Zoro, and the result was the same as before.

It could be said that more henchmen died at Pica's hands than at Zoro's.

However, Pica didn't care about those guys' lives or deaths. In his view, since they hadn't become family cadres yet, they were just consumables that could be used at any time.

If they're all dead, we can just look for more.

"Where exactly are you aiming?!"

Using the dust as cover, Zoro quickly approached Pica stone statue's face, raised his sword, and slashed.

"Clang!"

"Puff!"

"Boom!"

The Flying Slash easily shattered the enormous stone statue's face, but unfortunately, it failed to hit Pica's main body.

"Tch... did he run away again?"

Zoro frowned as he looked at the ordinary stones he had chopped up.

Killing this rock-playing guy won't be an easy task.

Just then, another enormous stone cone shot out from the side, mercilessly striking Zoro had nowhere to catch it in mid-air.

"Does this bastard only know this one single attack pattern?"

"This is really annoying!"

As he spoke, Zoro swung his long sword, easily slicing the Taiseki cone, which was tens of meters long, into pieces.

"Um?"

As Zoro landed, he noticed something strange behind him. This big guy looked vaguely familiar.

"Do you need my help, Pirate Hunter?"

"It's you."

Zoro, remembering who the other person was, said, "That king of some country."

Elizabello:...

"What did you say?"

Elizabello looked at Zoro speechlessly. What did he mean by "king of what country"?

"My name is Elizabello," Elizabello said. "I am the King of the Prodence Kingdom and a friend of King Riku."

"This is my friend's homeland, so I must help him reclaim it!"

Upon hearing this, Perona sized up the tall man.

She wondered why, if this guy was so willing to help King Riku, he hadn't come to help sooner.

And she felt... if Doflamingo hadn't brought out the Diamond Fruit this time, this guy probably wouldn't have even come to Dressrosa.

However, Perona didn't ask this question aloud, as it could easily offend someone.

Elizabello ignored Perona's reaction, glanced up at the Pica statue face high above, and continued, "I have an extremely powerful technique called the King's Punch."

"Although this move has a one-hour cooldown, its power is terrifying."

After speaking, Elizabello paused for a moment, then continued, "Have you figured out this stone man's abilities?"

"Ah, I understand now."

"Then tell me his information, and leave this guy to me." Elizabello narrowed his eyes and said, "Watch me take him down with one punch."

After this period of accumulation, his King's Punch is almost at its maximum strength.

If given the chance, I can definitely take down this damn stone man in one blow!

"Heh, it's kind of you to think of that," Zoro grinned. "But I'll take care of that guy myself."

"Keep your special move for now; who knows what might happen next?"

This enemy was specifically chosen for him by Xi Yan; under these circumstances, how could he possibly give Pica to someone else?

As for this guy named Elizabello?

Let him keep his King's Punch; it's best used to deal with whatever might happen later.

"This..."

Elizabello frowned. His plan was to take down the stone golem himself and then send the Pirate Hunter to help elsewhere.

But since the other party has said that, then he...

Before he could finish his thought, the earth suddenly trembled.

Then, an enormous stone cone shot out from the side, mercilessly striking Elizabello and Zoro!

Upon seeing this, the two men's expressions changed, and they quickly retreated, dodging Pica's attack.

After landing safely, Elizabello turned around and shouted, "Since you've said so, let's do it your way."

Since the other party doesn't intend for him to participate in this battle, then let's leave it to this Pirate Hunter.

Besides... what the other party said is not wrong. No one knows what might have happened before, so keeping this trick up our sleeve can be used to deal with unexpected situations.

"Ah."

Zoro replied, then fixed his gaze on the enormous stone statue's face, muttering, "What exactly is this rock bastard's goal?"

After this period of fighting, Zoro began to suspect that Pica was hiding some kind of purpose.

"Is that even a question?" Perona said from the side, "They definitely want to kill us."

No, it's definitely more than that.

Although he didn't know what other ideas the other party had, Zoro felt that their goal was definitely more than just killing him.

What exactly is his purpose?

Meanwhile, on the other side...

While Zoro was engaged in a fierce battle with Pica, Nico Robin was also fighting against Gladius and the others.

"Stand up, Gladius." Cavendish turned to look at Gladius, who was crouching on the ground, and said, "What have you been doing, crawling around on the ground like that?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Gladius said expressionlessly.

"It's alright, I don't care anyway." Cavendish took out a rose, sniffed it, and said with a very enjoyable expression, "After all... I'm only one step away from victory now."

"Come on, fight me!"

With that, Cavendish raised his longsword, pointing it directly at Gladius was not far away.

"Hmph, don't get too cocky," Gladius said with a cold snort.

After saying that, he activated his Devil Fruit ability without hesitation.

The next moment, the earth began to tremble, and then the ground began to bulge, looking as if the earth was bulging.

"What?"

Cavendish's expression changed. Was this what this guy was setting up just now?

The henchmen nearby also changed their expressions; they knew this trick all too well.

"I wonder what will happen next," Gladius grinned.

With this move, he was confident he could blow everyone present to smithereens!

"Lord Gladius, we're still here!" the henchmen cried out in terror. "Won't we be blown to bits too?"

Before launching an attack, could the family's leaders at least consider them?

"It's alright." Gladius glanced calmly at the henchman who had spoken and said, "Aren't you all very capable?"

"I believe you will all survive."

"Ha?"

The henchmen were stunned. What did they mean by saying they were so outstanding that they were guaranteed to survive?

They're just ordinary people, you bastards!

Thinking this, they were about to say something more, but unfortunately, Gladius ignored them.

Just like Pica, Gladius didn't care about these small fry; he could just find more when they died.

This vast ocean has no shortage of people!

"Hey, Bartolomeo."

Cavendish, who had quickly arrived in front of Bartolomeo, said, "The entire ground is about to be blown away! Quickly activate the barrier and let me in!"

"I don't want to!"

"What?"

Cavendish stared dumbfounded at Bartolomeo. What did he mean by "he doesn't want it"?

Does this bastard even know what he's saying?

"If we open this barrier, both Robin and I will be in danger," Bartolomeo said, picking his nose. "And the enemy might sneak in, which would be very disadvantageous for us."

"Ha?"

"What did you say? Start it now, you bastard!" Cavendish roared, opening his shark-like mouth. "I'm one of us too, you know!"

"Tsk~"

"What are you talking about, you bastard!"

Cavendish pounded on the barrier frantically, yelling, "Open it now, you bastard!"

"The ground is going to explode!"

Bartolomeo remained silent, which Cavendish, whose veins bulged and who wished he could just kill Bartolomeo.

"Hahaha, just wait until I blow you to bits, Cavendish!" Gladius's expression suddenly turned ferocious, and then he unleashed his Devil Fruit power without any mercy.

"Explosive Rock Celebration!"

"Boom!!"

The next moment, a terrifying explosion rang out, completely destroying the entire area!

"Hmph, farewell, Cavendish," Gladius said coldly.

Cavendish, who took that attack head-on, had absolutely no chance of surviving.

As for those low-level thugs?

He didn't care whether he lived or died.

"Sigh~"

Bartolomeo, who was inside the barrier, shook his head and said, "If we were outside, we'd probably be blown up."

Fortunately, they are inside the barrier, otherwise they would have been wiped out by the enemy.

"You bastard!"

Without giving Bartolomeo a chance to continue arguing, Cavendish kicked Bartolomeo, sending him flying.

"You bastard, if you were going to let me in, you should have let me in sooner!" Cavendish said, his eyes wide. "You scared me to death, you know that!"

He had just thought that Bartolomeo, that bastard, was really abandoning him; it had really scared him.

However, considering that he let me in at the last moment, I won't cut him down.

"What the hell do you mean?" Bartolomeo roared. "Is this how you treat your savior?"

"If I hadn't let you in, you would have been blown up!"

"I covered for you before, you know!" Cavendish snapped. "Likewise!"

"What did you say?"

"Ah?!"

The two stared at each other, then their heads collided violently, looking like two children having a tug-of-war.

After arguing for a while, Cavendish remembered he had things to do, so he decided to give up on arguing with the green-haired guy.

"I'm not going to waste my breath on you anymore." Cavendish turned to look outside and said, "I'm going to fight back, let me out now!"

"Huh?!"

Bartolomeo stared at Cavendish in disbelief and said, "I just let you in, and now you want me to let you out again?"

"Do you think it's funny?"

"Now that you're already inside, why not stay a little longer?"

"You willful bastard!"

"Ha?"

Cavendish stared dumbfounded at Bartolomeo. Could a human being really say something like that?

Then, he angrily shouted, "Do you think you're running a hotel, you bastard!"

"After completing the defense, it's only natural to counterattack the enemy!"

"That's common sense!"

Staying here ensures they won't be killed by the enemy, but they also can't kill the enemy, okay?

"Then you can leave," Bartolomeo said, annoyed.

After saying that, Bartolomeo activated his ability barrier, releasing Cavendish.

Watching Cavendish leave, Bartolomeo said, "I'm never letting you in again."

"Ha?"

"What are you saying?!" Cavendish, annoyed. "Put me in when it's dangerous, you incompetent fool!"

Unfortunately, Bartolomeo ignored him completely and instead stuck his tongue out at Cavendish, making Cavendish's face turn red with anger.

"You'll remember this, you bastard!"