Conqueror's Haki came from the user's own spirit, often bursting forth from intense emotions. It could overwhelm the minds of the weak, even knocking them unconscious.
Vergo wasn't weak, so its effect on him was negligible. Not even Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki could make him cower.
He'd planned to ignore the attack and strike straight for Conrad's head. But as he saw the spear thrusting for his throat, a chill suddenly crept over him, cold to the bone.
He decided not to take it head-on. First, he'd use Armed Ghost Bamboo to knock the shaft aside.
But the chill didn't fade. Instead, the moment Conrad shouted, "Army-Breaking Overlord Spear," it flared up, making his head ring and his vision blur.
Was it the Haki left behind by that punch? Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist?
At the same time, Rosinante, barely clinging to life beneath the military boot crushing him, ignored the gaping wound in his chest and clamped both arms around Vergo's leg, giving it everything he had as he yanked.
His mouth opened in a roar, but no sound came out. The area was enveloped by the Calm-Calm Fruit's Soundproof Wall.
Neither the blurred vision nor the tug had hurt Vergo. But combined with the deathly silence, they left him unable to use sound to pinpoint his target.
His swinging arm veered off course. Armed Ghost Bamboo barely missed, carving a furrow through the snow and earth.
The spearhead, cold and sharp, carried the grim, killing aura of the snowy night as it pierced his throat. Its surface glimmered dully beneath the Armament Haki.
There was no impact sound, but a shock wave roared outward.
The black-and-red spear tip pressed against Vergo's armored neck, its muscles exceptionally well developed.
They were locked in a stalemate. His flesh gave way, and a thin line of blood dripped down.
But the spear couldn't break through. Its shaft began to bend. Vergo was, after all, the first man in the entire pirate world to appear as a user and representative of Armament Haki—a man so powerful he was despair-inducing.
Conrad, a novice at Haki, couldn't overcome him, even with every last bit of his strength.
Just as Conrad ran out of steam and prepared to throw his head back, laugh, and lament that heaven had doomed him—not his own failure—
The end of the spear shaft in his hands changed shape. It became a pair of slender, lovely legs tucked into thigh-high boots.
Since Conrad held the spear at his right hip, the legs bent at the knees, and the boots planted against his chest from the left.
Then Baby-5's beautiful thighs tightened, their muscles forming graceful lines, and she kicked forward like a spring. She'd always trained hard, because she was afraid of being abandoned again.
The kick sent Conrad off balance, and he fell backward onto his behind.
But the spearhead drove on, piercing Vergo's throat and breaking through his Armament Haki. Blood streamed out.
As his life rapidly drained away, Vergo took off his sunglasses. His eyes held an indescribable confusion and disbelief. He didn't know whether he should pull the spear from his throat—or whether doing so would make him die faster.
But Conrad didn't hesitate. The moment he fell, he got up and charged forward to reclaim his Baby-5.
He wrapped his arms around her legs and pulled the spear back.
Vergo reached out weakly, but perhaps from blood loss, the violent Conqueror's Haki invading his body, or his dizziness, he missed again.
Blood gushed like a fountain, revealing the gaping hole in his throat.
Conrad held Baby-5 close. His Haki was spent, and all he had left was the meager strength of a boy who was barely five feet tall. The girl changed back into human form. Her bow fell away, and her loose black hair was matted with blood.
They looked wretched, but when they gazed at each other, they both smiled.
"You need me, right?" Baby-5 asked nervously, seeking confirmation.
"Mm." Conrad nodded solemnly, his smile gentle and clear. "You don't have to hope someone else will need you anymore. I'll always need you."
Baby-5 gently pushed away and landed on the ground. She knew Conrad could barely stand. "Where do we go now?"
"Anywhere you want!" Conrad jumped onto Baby-5's back and wrapped an arm around her neck. "Carry me for a while! You carry me today, and I'll carry you from now on!"
Baby-5 took off running. The Birdcage was almost down, but the bird was going to fly free after all.
As for Rosinante, he got up and ran in the opposite direction. Though he was covered in gruesome-looking wounds, none of them were fatal.
He had to find Trafalgar Law. He'd promised that once Law was cured of Amber Lead Syndrome, they'd travel the world together.
The north wind suddenly died down, and snowflakes drifted from the sky like soft cotton. The tranquil sea reflected the stars, as if trying to wash away the bloodshed and send them on their way.
But the destroyer would not allow it. The unwelcome guest finally arrived, his voice rumbling from the heavens, furious and full of menace.
"My dear... little brother! You've really disappointed me! Hahahaha!"
He wore a pink feathered coat, his blond hair spiked up like lightning, and his pointed heels skated down through the air beneath the Birdcage on invisible strings.
"Doflamingo!" Rosinante stopped in his tracks. His clown-painted face twisted, exposing the fear and despair in his heart.
He hadn't wanted to stop, but he did. He even ran back toward Doflamingo, because the man's fingers were twitching, manipulating the strings shooting through the Birdcage and enslaving his body like a puppet.
The pirates on the mountain were also slaughtering one another. Even their tearful wails couldn't stop them from swinging blades and firing guns. Their lives were being snuffed out to satisfy one man's twisted amusement.
But Doflamingo did care about his family, after all. He stopped beside Vergo and sent strings from his fingers to stitch up the wound that had pierced his throat. The stitching was crude, though; he wasn't a doctor.
"I never thought the first Corazon would fall to the second one. Heh heh. My little brother, why? You knew how much I hated betrayal! Why did you have to make me kill another member of my family and suffer such pain? I didn't want to!"
Rosinante stopped in front of Doflamingo and began performing a ridiculous clown dance.
"Tell me nicely. Where's the Op-Op Fruit?" Doflamingo licked his lips.
If he could get the Op-Op Fruit and make a doctor eat it, he could force the doctor to perform the Perennial Youth Operation at the cost of their life.
The temptation of eternal life, of living forever, was impossible for him to resist.
That was why he'd launched this black-market robbery, even though he was a broker in the underworld and knew it would ruin his reputation.
One by one, strange figures appeared behind him: an old man in a blue robe, leaning on a cane, with snot running from his nose; a giant wearing a steel helmet and spiked shoulder armor; a woman with a colorful afro, smoking; and a lanky man over five meters tall, a sword hanging at his waist...
"Not going to tell me? Heh heh..." Doflamingo laughed, the veins on his forehead bulging. The corners of his mouth curved to match his sunglasses. "Pica! Smash that ship!"
The giant in the steel helmet bent down and pressed both palms against the ground.
By then, Baby-5 had carried Conrad down the ladder on the sea cliff. Under the marines' escort, she was climbing the gangway onto the ship.
A gigantic face wearing a cross-shaped steel helmet suddenly emerged from the cliff wall, followed by its head, shoulders, and a stone fist more than ten meters across.
Pica, leader of the four executives' Spade Army, possessed the Stone-Stone Fruit. As the name suggested, it let him merge with and control stone.
The enormous stone fist swung out, blotting out the sky as it bore down on the Marine surveillance ship with overwhelming force.
Without a doubt, what came next would be a devastating smash.
Conrad glanced back. His insides were already full of pooled blood. He wiped his mouth against Baby-5's back. "Let's jump into the sea."
"Okay!" Baby-5 leapt toward the water. Even a Devil Fruit User would lose all strength upon touching the sea.
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