Chapter 228: Body Outside Body, Suppressing Disaster Alone
A situation similar to that of the young girl from before was clearly not an isolated incident in Dressrosa at this moment.
On the contrary.
It was happening everywhere.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out. A woman lay beside her husband's corpse, watching her daughter being snatched away by a pirate.
"Don't! Don't hurt my daughter, I beg you!"
"Get lost!"
She was kicked away by the pirate. Nearby, a toy dressed as a chef charged forward, brandishing a butter knife: "Let go of Sania."
But similarly, its fragile toy body possessed no combat power.
So in the next moment, it was sliced in half by the steel blade of another pirate, its broken body falling heavily to the ground.
"Hahaha! This little girl is quite pretty. She'll definitely fetch a good price if we sell her as a slave later."
"Hey hey, that woman next to her isn't bad either—why not grab her?"
"Ah? She's not bad looking, but she's already old and not that valuable of a commodity... Aren't we going to the Colosseum? Bringing a commodity like that will affect our fighting later, right?"
"Idiot! What Colosseum? Didn't you see? Even the monsters from The Zodiac are here... the strongest legion of the Iron Kingdom was wiped out before they could last even three seconds."
"Yeah, we definitely won't be able to snatch that Caesar the employer hired us for. We might as well grab a few more commodities to make up for the loss!"
Watching the pirates advance towards the woman with sinister smiles, and listening to the cries of the girl they held hostage yelling, 'Mother, run away'.
"Sania, Sarah..."
The toy chef struggled.
As a toy, physical damage was not enough to make him lose consciousness.
So even though he was sliced in two at this moment, his upper body still tried hard to crawl forward, attempting to stop the pirates: "Don't hurt... them..."
Although they didn't remember him anymore, although they had formed a new family.
But he remembered—before he was turned into a toy, they were his wife and daughter!
He remembered his wife's smile and the warm touch when he held his daughter.
That was the only solace left in his heart after becoming a toy.
But the next moment...
"Hm? This toy is still alive... Speaking of which, how exactly are these toys in this country made?"
He was stepped on by a pirate.
"It's a pity, I heard these things can only exist in Dressrosa... otherwise, bringing it out would be considered a rare commodity."
The pirate sneered and raised the giant hammer in his hand: "As for now... I'll just smash you to death!"
As the words fell, the giant hammer in his hand smashed down forcefully.
Thus, despair rose in the toy chef's heart.
He had clearly decided to use everything he had to protect them.
But in the end, just like when he was helplessly turned into a toy back then.
"Still... can't do it?"
He thought.
But the next moment...
Accompanied by a booming sound.
The toy chef saw a giant staff sweep down from the sky.
The pirate, along with the hammer in his hand, was blasted away—from the twisted angle of his body, it was clear he wouldn't survive.
"Hm!?"
Subsequently, the other pirates who heard the sound stopped their evil deeds.
They instinctively turned their heads, and then saw...
Tap! Tap!
That figure, carrying a staff over his shoulder and wearing a monkey mask, slowly walked out.
"S-Saru!?"
"How is this possible—wasn't he near Gate 5?"
Instantly, they could barely even stand steadily.
Why would a big shot from The Zodiac appear in front of small fries like them?
"W-Wait a moment, we'll leave immediately—Your..."
They wanted to say something.
But...
Click!
The next moment, they heard the sound of machinery and engines.
BOOM!
An instant later, that 'Saru' with golden light flashing in his eyes appeared right in front of them.
But the key point was—at this moment, the pirates clearly noticed.
The 'Saru' appearing in front of them right now clearly did not possess a body of flesh and blood.
On the contrary.
His body actually displayed a metallic luster.
"You guy, what are you..."
The pirates' horrified words were cut short.
Because in the next instant, golden light shot out from the eyes of that 'Saru', and the iron staff in his hand swung out.
So a moment later, what remained in place were only the corpses of the pirates, sliced apart by lasers and smashed flat by the iron staff.
"..."
Watching this scene, the mother and daughter who had just survived stared wide-eyed at the 'Saru' in front of them.
But before they had a chance to speak, they saw the Saru in front of them change shape in the next instant.
Smoke rose, and a beam of light seemed to shoot out from inside 'Saru'.
A moment later, under the wide-eyed gaze of the mother and daughter, he turned into a single strand of hair fluttering to the ground, and then disappeared without a trace.
"Mother... this... this is..."
Watching this scene, the young girl named 'Sania' couldn't quite comprehend it.
And clearly, her mother also couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
But a moment later...
BOOM!
A sound coming from another direction instantly attracted their attention.
They instinctively turned their heads, and then saw—in the distance, accompanied by a cloud of dust, another 'Saru' leapt out from the dust, blasting a group of pirates away.
"That Lord Saru, there's m-more than one?"
Thus, they instantly realized that incredible fact.
But clearly, as a mother, Sarah's reaction was quite fast at this moment.
"Quick! While that Lord Saru is helping us, let's hurry to the Colosseum!"
She pulled her daughter up, looked at the 'Birdcage' continuously approaching from behind, and made the right choice.
"Wait, Mother..."
Sania naturally understood her mother's intention.
But at this moment, she gritted her teeth, then dragged her similarly injured body to the side of the toy chef who had been chopped in half.
She held the toy chef in her arms and said firmly: "I want to take Mr. Chef with us."
"...Alright."
Hearing her words, her mother looked at the toy that had been chopped in half while trying to protect them.
She revealed a slight smile: "Let's go together."
And situations like Sania's family.
Were not isolated incidents in Dressrosa at this moment.
"No! Incredible! So many 'Saru', so many! Is that also that Lord's ability!?"
"He's appearing everywhere throughout the entirety of Dressrosa—those scumbags who gave up on the tournament and started burning, killing, and looting... are being dealt with at an extremely fast speed!"
On the big screen, the commentator Gatz's voice explained what was happening right now.
Yes.
Right now, across all of Dressrosa.
No matter where, as long as it was in front of evil factions committing arson, murder, and pillaging.
A 'Saru' would appear out of nowhere.
Although their strength was clearly far inferior to the real 'Saru', they still possessed overwhelming power.
Their bodies seemed to be made of steel, equipped with various technological weapons. The combination of the iron staff and lasers in their hands was enough to instantly kill the vast majority of the rioting evil factions.
And after clearing an area, they would turn into a strand of hair and disappear, replaced by another 'Saru' appearing in a different location.
[Weapon Transformation · Germa Technology · Autonomous Robot]
[Homie Creation · Hair]
The combination of the two was what appeared in Dressrosa at this moment.
[Monkey Hair Homie · External Avatar]
And just as Gatz's almost cracking roar said right now.
"He... he is suppressing the chaos of the entire country with the strength of one person!"
"Is this the power of 'The Zodiac'!?"
"What kind of... incredible ability is this?"
And right now, somewhere in Dressrosa.
"To be able to do such a thing..."
The man who had just put a mask on his face put down the armor in his hands in astonishment.
The man had a face full of white beard and hair, clearly not young, but the muscles all over his body were still knotted.
He was 'Riku Dold III', the former king of this country who was forced to abdicate due to Doflamingo's framing and exploitation.
Beside him stood a beautiful woman with long brownish-black hair wearing a dancer's dress.
She was an assassin of the Donquixote Family, codenamed 'Violet'.
But her other identity was King Riku's daughter, the former princess of this country—Viola.
"Father King, since this is the case, please hide quickly."
"Doflamingo doing something like this definitely means there's a conspiracy. He might just be trying to capture you..."
She said somewhat worriedly.
"No, Viola, you don't need to say such things."
But hearing her words, King Riku shook his head: "You and I both know that Doflamingo's plan this time is not aimed at this old man—this old man doesn't have the qualifications."
"He never cared about this old man's hatred, let alone making a plan of this level for this old man."
He said self-deprecatingly.
Hearing this, Viola also fell silent.
She naturally knew that her Father King was right.
Doflamingo didn't care about this former king he had overthrown—or rather, he didn't view King Riku as an 'opponent'.
In Doflamingo's eyes, he was more like a 'toy'.
So in that conspiracy a few years ago, Doflamingo chose to let King Riku go because Viola willingly joined the Donquixote Family—not because Viola was special, but simply because he liked watching the ants beg for mercy.
"Exchanging your daughter throwing herself under the command of her enemy in exchange for a life... fuffuffuffuffu, sounds like an interesting trade."
He let King Riku go, solely for 'amusement'.
The benevolent ruler who once loved everything about this country, wandering among the commoners after losing everything, watching the people curse him, watching them head towards destruction in ignorance—Doflamingo enjoyed this pleasure of toying with others.
He naturally wouldn't set up a conspiracy and trap of this level for a toy.
"This conspiracy is aimed either at the 'Beasts' or 'The Zodiac'... Viola, the intelligence you accidentally discovered is extremely important."
King Riku said in a deep voice: "Ignore me, go tell the intelligence to the people who should know—right now, it seems The Zodiac is relatively trustworthy."
"Then you..."
Viola looked at her father.
"Me? I am a sinner of the kingdom."
At this moment, King Riku slowly put the armor he had just put down back onto his body.
"In the past, due to my lack of wisdom and weakness, the people suffered such disasters..."
"I cannot hide, Viola—I have nowhere to hide either."
Yes, actually just now, he had already planned to put on his armor and rush to the battlefield.
He knew he couldn't save all the people with his power, but he could at least save a few.
And now...
"That Lord Saru suppressed the country's chaos with his own strength alone."
"I don't have power like his."
He clenched his fists, looking far away at the devastated kingdom, at those citizens fleeing towards the Colosseum for their lives, and the continuously shrinking 'Birdcage' behind them.
He had lived weakly in this country for a few years.
And now... he didn't want to be that pirate's 'plaything' anymore.
"In times of crisis, a king should stand with his people."
He was going to the Colosseum.
"I am going to protect my people, or... perish with them."
That was the duty a king ought to fulfill—even though he had been driven off the throne long ago.
But exactly at this time...
"Apologies, I have no intention of interrupting your father-daughter conversation."
A voice suddenly rang out by the ears of the father and daughter.
"Who!?"
Thus, the father and daughter immediately became vigilant.
They instantly turned their heads.
Then, Viola and King Riku's bodies stiffened instantly.
They looked incredulously at the figure that appeared out of thin air.
It was a figure wearing a rat mask.
They naturally recognized the other party.
That was The Zodiac—Nezumi (Rat).