The battle began

Dressrosa, inside the royal palace.

"Young master, reporting! Our men lost track of Esdeath!"

Seated on the throne in the palace, Doflamingo listened to a subordinate's report.

"What did you say?!"

Doflamingo immediately straightened up. One piece of bad news after another followed.

"Young master, we've lost contact with the men tailing Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Young master, we lost Enel!"

"Young master, Satoru Gojo disappeared from the Corrida Colosseum!"

Diamante said, "Young master, could they have discovered that we're planning to move against them?"

Bang! Bang!

Pica slammed his fists together, itching for a fight. "So what if they found out? We can just kill them ourselves and take the Jujutsu Pirates' heads to the Navy for their bounties!"

"Oh, I hear someone wants my head?"

After leaving the Corrida Colosseum, Satoru Gojo had used Teleportation and arrived alone at Dressrosa's palace.

"Who's there?"

Faced with Satoru Gojo's sudden appearance, Doflamingo and his subordinates instantly went on guard.

Anyone who could appear here without warning, evading everyone's senses, absolutely warranted their full vigilance.

"Fufufu! So it's Satoru Gojo of the Jujutsu Pirates! What brings you to my Royal Palace?"

Once he saw that the newcomer was Satoru Gojo, Doflamingo rose from his throne, while his officers quietly gathered their strength and prepared to attack.

"Did someone here just say they wanted to take our heads and collect the Jujutsu Pirates' bounties?"

Even facing Doflamingo and so many of his men alone, Satoru Gojo remained utterly composed, without a trace of fear.

Doflamingo stared straight at Satoru Gojo with a dangerous look and said,

"What if we did?"

Satoru Gojo said evenly,

"The price for attacking us will be steep!"

"You think you alone can make us pay?"

As Doflamingo finished speaking, his three Top Executives, Trebol, Diamante, and Pica, slowly moved around both sides to surround Satoru Gojo.

Meanwhile.

The Donquixote Family's other officers and subordinates split into four forces—Spade, Club, Heart, and Diamond—and swiftly surrounded the entire Royal Palace.

There were the half-Fish-Man Dellinger, the Bomb-Bomb Fruit user Gladius, Viola, the Ton-Ton Fruit user Machvise, Lao G, and others.

Nearly all the Donquixote Family's officers had gathered here. Every one of them was a renowned powerhouse on the seas. If their bounties had not stopped increasing because they served under a Shichibukai, there would certainly have been no shortage of pirates among them with bounties exceeding 300 million or 500 million.

At that moment, Satoru Gojo stood alone, surrounded by Doflamingo's men.

Faced with the densely packed officers and troops closing in around him, Satoru Gojo made no unnecessary movements and said,

"Is everyone here?"

"You're certainly calm, faced with a situation like this."

"It's fine! You're all weak, after all!"

Satoru Gojo gave a fearless smile.

"Fufufu! You really are arrogant! I originally wanted you to fight the Navy to the death, but it looks like I'll have to do this myself!"

"Bullet String!"

Doflamingo raised his index finger and curled the rest. A thin string shot from his fingertip at high speed, straight at Satoru Gojo.

Bullet String had enough destructive power to punch through steel in one hit and easily pierce buildings.

Clang!

Before the thin string could strike Satoru Gojo, Esdeath arrived and blocked it with her sword, saying,

"How could I let you attack the king so easily!"

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

With the crackle of lightning, a bolt of blue electricity flashed and took human form.

Enel asked arrogantly, "Where is this god's opponent?"

"Screee!"

An eagle's cry pierced the sky. Sasuke descended from above and reached Satoru Gojo's side in a few swift movements.

"Aren't we starting yet?"

"Oh, we were just waiting for you, Sasuke!"

"Everyone's here? Perfect. I'll take you all out at once!"

"Five Color Strings!"

Doflamingo produced a nearly transparent, slender string from each of his five fingers. With a sweep of his hand, the strings, sharp as piano wire, slashed toward Esdeath and Satoru Gojo.

Using Teleportation, Satoru Gojo appeared in front of Esdeath.

With a wave of his hand, he easily blocked the five strings capable of slicing through buildings. His gaze calm, he said,

"Leave him to me. Pick your own opponents!"

Satoru Gojo stared at Doflamingo. As his words fell, he instantly appeared in front of Doflamingo and attacked him.

The battle erupted in an instant!

The moment Satoru Gojo moved, Esdeath, Sasuke, and Enel attacked together.

Sasuke used Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, instantly creating an enormous fireball that engulfed over a hundred members of the Donquixote Family in flames, turning them into human torches in an instant.

Enel struck next. Violent lightning flashed through the crowd without pause, charring dozens of people who fell to the ground, smoke rising from their bodies.

Esdeath swept her rapier through the air. In an instant, freezing air spread, encasing over a hundred ordinary Donquixote Family soldiers in ice.

"Your opponent is me!"

Seeing so many of his men killed in an instant, Diamante gripped his longsword and charged forward with a furious roar. Reaching Esdeath, he swung his sword fiercely, clashing against her rapier in a shower of sparks.

Doflamingo's other officers also made their moves, surrounding Sasuke and Enel.

They wanted to use their overwhelming numerical advantage to swiftly crush Sasuke, Enel, and the others.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The tremendous sounds of battle rang out from Dressrosa's royal palace.

They drew many people's attention.

Not far from the Royal Palace, many civilians heard the noise and climbed to the upper floors of buildings. All of them looked toward the Royal Palace, their faces filling with shock at the fierce battle raging inside.

They had never seen so many of His Majesty Doflamingo's officers and soldiers gathered at the Royal Palace for a battle before, and there were only four people fighting them!

"His Majesty Doflamingo, and Lord Diamante, Lord Pica, Lord Trebol... Unbelievable! His Majesty Doflamingo and the officers are fighting in person!"

"Who are His Majesty and the others fighting?"

"White hair, a black blindfold-that looks like White-haired Satoru Gojo!!!"

"And that's the Ice Queen Esdeath, Bloody-eyed Sasuke Uchiha, and Thunder God Enel!"

"They're the Jujutsu Pirates!"

Once Dressrosa's civilians recognized Satoru Gojo and his companions, all their hearts tightened. The Jujutsu Pirates, who had defeated an Admiral and wreaked havoc on the Sabaody Archipelago, were now attacking the royal palace!

The civilians deceived by Doflamingo watched his subordinates being killed one after another, deeply worried. They began praying for Doflamingo and his men, praying that Doflamingo could defeat the invaders.

Unlike those civilians, however, the people who had been turned into toys watched the battle at the Royal Palace with not only shock, but also a glimmer of hope rising in their hearts.

These toy people had been affected by Sugar's Devil Fruit ability and forcibly turned into toys. Every day, they had to work endlessly for Doflamingo, and everyone, including their own loved ones, forgot them.

What they longed for most was for someone to defeat Doflamingo, restore their human forms, and reveal the truth to the world.

However, they were also afraid that the Jujutsu Pirates would become the next Doflamingo.