At Jerry's signal, Cavendish returned to rejoin their main formation.
Taking his place at the front of their advance was a water elemental clone that Jerry had just summoned with practiced ease.
"Hehe! We don't need anyone to build dams here—time for a swimming lesson!" the clone roared enthusiastically, clasping both hands together with obvious relish.
Suddenly, a majestic torrent of water gathered high in the air before cascading downward like a tremendous waterfall.
The rushing current swept across a full 180-degree area in front of Jerry's group, surging forward with devastating force that cleared everything in its path.
Jerry and his crewmates seized this golden opportunity to advance rapidly through the newly created opening.
Their formation shifted accordingly, with the water clone charging ahead to eliminate obstacles while Jerry followed closely behind with the rest of his team.
This tactical change completely shattered the encirclement that had been designed to halt their progress. After all, there simply weren't any enemies capable of matching their clone's destructive power at the front of their formation. These weaker defensive forces were completely unable to prevent Jerry and his crew from advancing toward their ultimate objective.
Soon, the Black Star Pirates approached the elevated ground where Dressrosa's royal palace stood majestically.
"Just stop right there!"
Just as Jerry and his companions reached the high ground and prepared to continue their relentless sprint toward the palace, a distinctly sharp voice suddenly pierced the sky with unmistakable hostility.
Immediately afterward, the ground began shaking violently as an enormous rocky form suddenly erupted from the earth itself, rising to stand imposingly in front of the advancing pirates.
The peculiar high-pitched voice continued echoing through the air as a massive hand large enough to blot out the sun descended toward Jerry's group like a falling mountain.
"What was that weird voice?" Carrot asked with calm curiosity, looking up at the sudden appearance of this stone giant without any trace of fear or concern.
Skull stepped forward to provide the necessary intelligence. "That's the ability of Pica, a senior officer of the Donquixote Family and user of the Stone-Stone Fruit."
"So the person who just spoke with that ridiculous voice was this overgrown rock pile?" Cavendish stared at the giant hand attacking from above while his left arm began transforming into crackling lightning energy.
"Thunder Unicorn!"
As Cavendish swung his electrified limb with tremendous force, a unicorn composed entirely of brilliant lightning rushed straight upward, carrying dazzling illumination with its charge.
A deafening explosion erupted as Pica's massive palm—which had been attacking from high altitude—was instantly detonated by the lightning beast, exploding into countless fragments of flying rubble.
"I can tell just by looking that this guy with the squeaky voice isn't going to be simple to deal with," Cavendish observed with obvious amusement. "Let me handle him while you continue forward."
Cavendish transformed into pure lightning and flashed high into the sky. Almost immediately, another brilliant sword strike cut through the air, slicing Pica's other enormous rocky arm cleanly in two.
"Pretty boy, you've really pissed me off now!" Pica's irritatingly sharp voice resonated throughout the surrounding area.
The rock giant who had lost both arms immediately began writhing and reshaping his massive body. In the blink of an eye, his limbs had been completely restored to their original condition.
Watching Jerry's group alter their route slightly and gradually move away from the battle zone, Cavendish raised his sword with confident determination.
"I'm guessing this is some kind of assimilation-type ability, which means I'll need to dig out your real body!" Cavendish interpreted Pica's angry words as simple jealousy and responded with characteristic calm.
Obviously, the prince had seen through the fundamental nature of his opponent's Devil Fruit power at first glance.
The Stone-Stone Fruit that Pica possessed granted him the ability to assimilate with any rocks he touched, allowing him to bring nearby stone formations under his complete control and transform into a towering giant.
Once rock material had been assimilated by his ability, even severe damage could be quickly repaired by incorporating additional stone from the surrounding terrain with minimal energy expenditure.
However, since this wasn't a Logia-type fruit, Pica's actual human body didn't transform into rock when using his powers. Instead, he had to hide somewhere within the stone construct he controlled.
Therefore, Cavendish needed to locate the person controlling the rocks and defeat him directly before he could leave this battlefield and rejoin his crewmates.
Otherwise, if Pica decided to go completely berserk, his massive form as a rock giant could cause tremendous collateral damage throughout the city.
"Jerry, is Cavendish going to be okay back there?" Deuce asked quietly, glancing over his shoulder at the battle that resembled a giant trying to swat an extremely fast mosquito.
Jerry and the others maintained their steady pace without slowing down. He waved his hand dismissively and replied with complete confidence, "Don't worry about him. That guy with the annoying voice obviously doesn't have Armament Haki strong enough to cover his entire stone giant form. He can't actually hurt Cavendish."
"On the contrary, as long as Cavendish's Observation Haki can detect Pica's true location within the rock, this battle should be over very quickly."
Besides being able to hide within stone formations to buy himself some time, Jerry didn't believe Pica possessed any realistic chance of defeating Cavendish in his current state.
After hearing Jerry's assessment, Deuce and the others stopped paying attention to the combat behind them and focused their attention on what lay ahead.
Because when they climbed to the second level of the elevated terrain, several new enemies had positioned themselves to block their continued advance.
There was Senor Pink, the user of the Swim-Swim Fruit—a large man wearing an infant's outfit despite his intimidating size. Beside him stood Gladius, the user of the Boom-Boom Fruit, whose spiky hair and distinctive mask concealed most of his facial features.
Buffalo, the user of the Spin-Spin Fruit with his strange propeller-like hairstyle, was accompanied by his usual partner Baby 5, the user of the Arms-Arms Fruit who consistently dressed as a maid.
Also present were Dellinger—the fighting fish half-fishman wearing high-heeled shoes—and Lao G, an elderly martial artist who was nearly seventy years old but still retained considerable fighting capabilities.
In front of these seven Donquixote Family officers, numerous royal guards stood ready for battle.
"Hooray! Master Hero Jerry! We're here to provide support!"
As Jerry and his companions continued walking forward without any trace of fear, a familiar voice suddenly rang out across the battlefield.
The next moment, dust clouds erupted as Wicka and an entire group of Tontatta warriors appeared before Jerry's crew.
"You must be the hero Jerry, correct? I'm Leo, a warrior of the Tontatta Tribe!" announced a male dwarf wearing a distinctive crown-shaped green hat, with two needles as tall as himself hanging from his waist.
Without waiting for Jerry or anyone else to respond, Leo continued with obvious excitement, "We gathered our forces immediately after Wicka brought back news of your arrival. We absolutely cannot allow our heroes to fight alone!"
Just as Leo had explained, when Wicka returned to her underground home, she had eagerly shared everything about her encounter with Jerry and his crew with her fellow tribe members.
Since the Tontatta people possessed their characteristic tendency to trust others completely, they had believed every word of the information Wicka conveyed and summoned all available warriors without any hesitation whatsoever.
This mobilization had caused tremendous excitement within their community and among the toy soldiers who maintained secret contact with the dwarfs.
When Cyrus—who remained trapped in his toy soldier form—had initially tried to discourage the Tontatta from launching what seemed like a suicidal military operation, he heard the emergency announcement that was echoing throughout the entire island.
At that crucial moment, Cyrus felt his artificial heart fill with genuine hope and anticipation for the first time in years.
Even though he existed as a toy, he had definitely heard of the notorious Black Star Pirates and their incredible accomplishments.
Although Cyrus didn't understand exactly why the Black Star Pirates had come to Dressrosa, nor did he know their specific reasons for attacking the Donquixote Family, the reality of their assault and the imminent battle was undeniable.
He understood that this might represent the opportunity he had been waiting for throughout years of patient suffering.
With this realization, Cyrus quickly changed his approach and began assisting the Tontatta Tribe in formulating a comprehensive strategy for dividing their limited forces effectively. He couldn't forget that many of his people and fellow toys were still trapped and suffering in the underground factories.
"Ahem, well then, just be careful out there," Jerry said, noticing that Deuce and the others were giving him increasingly strange looks again. He coughed lightly, deliberately ignored their expressions, and turned to address Leo, Wicka, and their assembled warriors directly. "If you encounter situations you're unsure about or face serious danger, try to retreat to safety. We'll handle the major threats."
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