Provocation

"Mosimosi, may I ask who this is?"

"..."

"Not a familiar voice, so you don't dare answer? Looks like you're a cowardly little piece of trash."

"...Who are you?"

"Since you've worked up the nerve to ask, I'll kindly answer you."

Kane cleared his throat and answered solemnly under Cuckoo and Hina's strange gazes:

"This is the cremation department of the Minion Island Funeral Center. We've received an unidentified Marine. Since no family has come to claim him, we're preparing to push him into the furnace."

"Do... Doffy..."

Vergo, lying on the ground, spoke with difficulty, trying to warn him of something. Before he could finish, Kane stomped on his face, forcing the rest of his words back down.

"A friendly reminder: playing dead is prohibited during cremation. If you have any last words, wait until you reunite with your family underground.

"You piece of trash on the other end, when will it be convenient for you to receive the ashes? If it's inconvenient, we can scatter them for you."

Kane's shameless attitude completely enraged Doflamingo on the other end of the Den Den Mushi. Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared:

"No matter who you are, if you dare hurt my family, I'll make you regret ever coming to—"

Click.

The call was disconnected.

The veins on Doflamingo's forehead throbbed wildly. The hand gripping the Den Den Mushi receiver shook violently as Conqueror's Haki erupted uncontrollably.

Everyone gathered around him fell silent. Even the youngest, Baby 5, trembled all over in fear.

It was the first time they had seen Doflamingo this furious. They even felt a trace of sympathy for whoever had provoked him.

"Damn bastard!"

Doflamingo roared, grabbed Baby 5 and Buffalo beside him, and hurled them brutally into the air.

"Find him for me! I want him to watch himself get sliced into pieces and thrown into the sea to feed the sharks!"

Amid his roar, countless threads shot from his palms like sharp arrows, streaking into the sky with piercing whistles.

On the other side, after successfully provoking Doflamingo, Kane calmly hung up the Den Den Mushi and put it away, only to find Cuckoo and Hina staring at him like he was a monster.

"Don't admire me too much. I'll get cocky."

"Hina thinks you're shameless."

"Little Kane, seeing this side of you that no one knows about is quite a surprise."

Kane shrugged and looked at Rosinante and Law, who were lying on the ground.

The two were in equally miserable condition. Law was covered in blood from the beating, while Rosinante had not only been beaten by Vergo but also suffered several gunshot wounds. The fact that he was still alive was already a miracle.

"Let's treat them first."

Kane picked up Law and stopped his bleeding. Law was already twelve, but Amber Lead Syndrome had left him covered in white spots, thin, and weak. He felt weightless in Kane's arms.

Perhaps Kane's movements hurt him. Law suddenly woke up and cried out in terrified panic.

"Stop! Don't hit Mr. Cora anymore! He'll die..."

"He's already fine."

Kane soothed him softly and turned slightly so Law could see more clearly.

Law then saw the restrained Vergo, as well as Rosinante, whose body was wrapped in blood-stained bandages.

Law immediately sighed in relief, his entire body going limp as he began to wail loudly.

Kane sighed helplessly. "I don't mind if you cry in my arms, but time is tight. Can you save it until we're completely safe?"

Law stopped crying at once and finally remembered what he needed to ask.

"Who are you? Where are you taking us?"

"We're Marines, so naturally we're taking you back to the warship."

Kane paused as he spoke, then seemingly casually turned his back to Cuckoo and Hina before asking seriously:

"But before we leave, you need to answer one question. Where is the Op-Op Fruit?"

The Op-Op Fruit?!

They had come for the Op-Op Fruit!

Law panicked, but then noticed Kane shaking his head slightly at him. He froze, and his heart jolted!

He knows I ate the Op-Op Fruit?!

He's telling me to lie!

Law did not understand Kane's intentions, but he sensed the goodwill in Kane's eyes. He shook his head.

"I don't know. I've never seen the Op-Op Fruit."

Kane nodded gently at Law, then confirmed again. "Really?"

"I really don't know."

Law continued shaking his head. His maturity far beyond his age allowed him to lie without revealing a flaw.

"Fine." Kane put on an earnest expression. "I hope you'll tell the truth. We won't hurt you. On the contrary, we'll protect you.

"But that protection has a condition: you have to tell us the truth.

"You can think it over carefully and answer me once we reach somewhere safe."

With that, Kane handed Law to Hina and carried Rosinante onto his back.

"Let's go. Doflamingo is about to die of rage because of me. He definitely won't let this go unless he catches me, so he will definitely..."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Before Kane could finish, a barrage of piercing whistles suddenly came from the sky, as though countless steel wires were slicing through the night.

"Aha, looks like I really pissed him off." Kane looked up at the sky, seemingly watching something.

Cuckoo recalled the intelligence Kane had given her and suddenly thought of something. She cried out:

"Doflamingo's Birdcage?"

"That's right." Kane looked calm and unconcerned.

"You don't seem worried. Hina is curious."

Hina frowned. Before landing on the island, she had studied the intelligence Kane gave her and knew what the Birdcage was.

It trapped everyone inside and continuously shrank their living space, forcing those trapped within to reveal themselves. Hina had no idea how to break through something like that.

But Kane clearly was not troubled by it. He grabbed Vergo by the ankle and held him upside down.

"With this guy as a hostage, leaving the Birdcage won't be difficult.

"Besides, I hope that when Vice Admiral Tsuru arrives with reinforcements, Doflamingo won't remove the Birdcage and flee on his own.

"Right now, the most important thing is finding a safe, hidden place before they find us."

"We're hiding?"

Cuckoo would firmly follow Kane's commands, but her fighting style made her somewhat averse to hiding.

"We're not hiding." Kane shook his head. "If we want to hold Doflamingo back, we need to maintain our mobility and combat strength.

"So we need to settle the wounded and the prisoner first, and leave one person behind to guard them."

Hina bit her lip, somewhat unwillingly. "Hina can do it."

She knew she was the weakest of the three, and the Barrier-Barrier Fruit's abilities also made her better suited for guarding.

Cuckoo nodded without speaking, while Kane gave Hina a serious reminder:

"Hina, this prisoner is important. He's a spy Doflamingo planted within the Marines. It was very likely him who leaked the matter of the Op-Op Fruit.

"So you have to keep a close watch on him. You absolutely can't let him escape, understand?"

Hearing Kane say that, Hina felt a little better and nodded solemnly. "Hina understands."

"Let's move!"

With Rosinante on his back and Vergo hanging from one hand, Kane took the lead into the forest and spoke rapidly:

"Doflamingo may want to kill me, but he definitely won't give up searching for the Op-Op Fruit. So they'll certainly split up.

"He'll likely take a few people to Barrels's hideout to confirm the Op-Op Fruit's whereabouts, while the others spread out to search for me.

"So Cuckoo and I will move together and eliminate everyone searching for me, easing Vice Admiral Tsuru's burden."

"Fine!" Cuckoo agreed crisply, battle intent surging in her chest. This was what she wanted.

As they ran, Kane suddenly felt Rosinante move on his back. A weak voice then entered his ears.

"They can't hear... our conversation. Who are you? What exactly... do you want?"

"You're willing to speak now? I thought you'd keep playing dead."

Kane responded without changing expression. Cuckoo and Hina behind him noticed nothing.

He had long guessed that Rosinante was pretending to be unconscious, which was why he had taken the initiative to carry him and create an opportunity to communicate.

"You seem to know my ability... Do you know me?"

Rosinante thought carefully, but could not remember ever seeing Kane before.

"No." Kane's lips moved slightly. "I'm just curious what you plan to do from here on.

"After all, that little guy ate the Op-Op Fruit. To anyone who knows that fruit's true value, he's an irreplaceable treasure."

"You..."

Rosinante was so frightened he nearly jumped up. He had been pretending to be unconscious, hoping to find a chance to take Law and escape.

But Doflamingo had activated the Birdcage, and he had fallen into the Marines' hands. His hope of escape was becoming increasingly slim.

Contacting this man, who had shown goodwill toward Law, had become his only option.

Thinking of this, Rosinante made up his mind and asked proactively, "What do you want?"

"What I want is something you can't give..." Kane's tone carried a hint of regret.

His cheat ability only worked on the opposite sex. Otherwise, after all this maneuvering, he could have obtained both the Calm-Calm Fruit and Op-Op Fruit abilities.

Now, he could only settle for the next best thing: make Rosinante and Law owe him an enormous favor and try to put their abilities to use for himself.

After all, a good friend's abilities counted as his own abilities too.

"We'll talk after you escape." Kane collected himself. "Remember every word I'm about to say.

"The Op-Op Fruit is far more powerful than you imagine. It can create an operating room space completely controlled by its user.

"Within that space, the Op-Op Fruit user is a god with the authority to control everything.

"Speed, length, temperature, mass, density, and so on—the user can alter them at will. They can also sever, exchange, and splice together anything at will, even swapping people's souls.

"Once we reach a safe location, you must have Law quickly master the ability to exchange the positions of people and objects, then escape the Birdcage."

Rosinante's eyes widened. He could not understand how the man before him knew so much about the Op-Op Fruit. For a moment, Kane's back became unfathomably mysterious in his eyes.

Kane had no idea that he had stirred up a storm in Rosinante's heart. Even if he had known, he would not have cared. He continued:

"After escaping the Birdcage, I don't recommend contacting Sengoku.

"First, stealing the Op-Op Fruit counts as betraying him. Second, he isn't Fleet Admiral yet. Even if he were, he couldn't protect a child who ate the Op-Op Fruit.

"With the Marines, the World Government, and all kinds of forces hunting you, I suggest you join the Revolutionary Army.

"Because aside from them, no matter whose hands you fall into, you'll become meat on the chopping block.

"And with your abilities and that child's, it won't be difficult to establish yourselves in the Revolutionary Army, which is desperate for talent."

The Revolutionary Army!

Rosinante's eyes lit up. This truly was the best path for him and Law right now.

He stared at the back of Kane's head, excitement rising in his heart as he felt he had grasped a crucial piece of information.

No wonder you know so many secrets...

You're a spy the Revolutionary Army planted in the Marines!