Chapter 383: Birdcage Appears Again, Unexpected Person
To be honest, the reason Doflamingo always carried himself with such a wild, arrogant, and flashy demeanor wasn’t without cause. Besides being a Warlord of the Sea and a Celestial Dragon, he also possessed formidable strength, which was mainly reflected in his mastery of Haki and his Devil Fruit abilities.
Doflamingo was a rare awakened Devil Fruit user. His application of the String-String Fruit’s power had reached an extremely high level.
Beyond using strings as his primary attack method, he could even utilize his string abilities to repair his own injured body!
Like surgical sutures, this wasn’t limited to ordinary external wounds—he could also perform emergency treatment on internal organ damage, stopping bleeding and stitching things up! Although this emergency repair differed from natural bodily recovery, in battle, it manifested as incredible resilience and toughness.
This was also why, after taking Ian’s Thunder Spear attack, he could still counterattack unscathed…
However, this kind of recovery still required time. If he fought while simultaneously healing, he would inevitably have to divide his focus. Doflamingo was aware of this weakness, so when facing attacks from two Warlords—Ian and Boa Hancock—he understood he couldn’t drag things out too long.
Either end the battle quickly or turn and flee. His pride and dignity as a Warlord of the Sea wouldn’t allow him to run, so Doflamingo chose the former.
Ian, still shaken, narrowly dodged Doflamingo’s Overheat Whip. Rolling to his feet, he immediately unleashed a Black Dragon Wave at Doflamingo’s position!
Yet, facing the surging heatwave and the terrifying flames of the Black Dragon Wave, Doflamingo didn’t choose to dodge. Instead, he slammed both hands onto the ground!
The next moment, within the area the three of them occupied, all the scenery and objects seemed to begin distorting!
The surrounding buildings appeared stretched, extending countless threads that converged toward Doflamingo. He used these gathered threads to block Ian’s Black Dragon Wave!
The flames of the Black Dragon Wave weren’t easily dissipated, but at this moment, Doflamingo seemed to possess an endless surge of power. As soon as the threads were melted by the Black Dragon Wave’s heat, more threads immediately followed, continuing to obstruct it! In this ebb and flow, the Black Dragon Wave’s flight was genuinely halted, and the black flame dragon’s body gradually shrank.
Finally, when the Black Dragon Wave was still several meters from Doflamingo, it was completely dissolved. On the ground between Ian and Doflamingo, only a deep trench melted by the heat remained, emitting high temperatures and wisps of smoke.
This was the first time Ian had seen someone neutralize his Black Dragon Wave in such a manner…
Clearly, Doflamingo had activated the awakened power of his String-String Fruit.
But that wasn’t all. After neutralizing the Black Dragon Wave, the surrounding threads, under Doflamingo’s control, continued to converge and then solidify into thick, tough strands. These threads enveloped the area where Doflamingo and Ian stood, slowly beginning to close overhead.
“Birdcage!” Doflamingo’s face twisted into a sinister grin. He extended his tongue and licked the blood on his cheek from Boa Hancock’s Kiss Shot, then said to Ian, “Fufufufu! Ian, let’s have a fight to the death in this cage!”
Ian turned his head and saw that the Birdcage Doflamingo had raised had perfectly sealed Boa Hancock outside!
“Wha… what the hell is this thing!” Boa Hancock raised her long leg and kicked at the Birdcage’s threads, but it had no effect on them. Instead, she frowned.
A sharp pain shot through her, and Boa Hancock realized that if not for her Armament Haki protecting her, the Birdcage’s threads would have cut the skin on her leg!
This Birdcage was formed by the concentrated power of Doflamingo’s String-String Fruit. The threads weren’t real strings but energy constructs, making them indestructible—not something Boa Hancock’s kicks could break.
Even Ian found the same. At the edge of the Birdcage’s threads, he swung his Evil King Flame Slayer Sword at them, producing a long trail of sparks. The sharp flame blade was useless against these threads.
Thus, Ian couldn’t get out, and Boa Hancock couldn’t get in.
Doflamingo wasn’t stupid. He knew that dealing with attacks from both Ian and Boa Hancock simultaneously would lead to neglecting one for the other. So, he simply used his ultimate move, the Birdcage, to isolate Boa Hancock outside. This way, he only needed to focus on Ian alone. Once Ian was dealt with, the remaining Boa Hancock would be easier to handle.
“Ahahaha! Shrink!” Doflamingo spread his arms, tilting his head back with a laugh, controlling the Birdcage’s activation. With his sinister laughter, the energy threads surrounding them from all directions began to slowly contract.
The greatest advantage of the Birdcage technique was that once activated, Doflamingo no longer needed to divert his attention to control it. This allowed him to concentrate on a one-on-one battle with Ian.
“You’d better be careful!” Doflamingo then said to Ian, “Even if your Haki is strong enough, if those Birdcage threads cut you, you’ll still be turned into chunks!”
This was, of course, a psychological tactic. Doflamingo had grown to this level through countless battles. He knew well that as the Birdcage slowly shrank, opponents often grew impatient from the urgency to defeat him, and in their rush to win, they were more likely to reveal openings and mistakes.
Ian vaguely sensed Doflamingo’s intent in saying this. He let out a long sigh, then raised his right hand, beginning to gather a second Black Dragon Wave at his wrist.
He tossed the Black Dragon Wave into the air, and when it fell back onto him, Ian absorbed it. Closing his eyes, he slowly spread his black Flame Wings. When he opened his eyes again, the Evil Eye Master skill activated, and the illusion of a third eye on his forehead also appeared.
“Hehehe! Truly astonishing!” Doflamingo spread his fingers, assuming a fighting stance, and sneered at Ian, “The power of the Pay-to-Win Fruit lives up to its reputation! I wonder, between your fruit and my String-String Fruit, which is the stronger Paramecia?”
“You’ll find out soon enough!” Ian gripped the blade of Thousand Cherry Blossoms with both hands and replied coldly.
The next moment, both Ian and Doflamingo vanished from their spots. When they reappeared, they had already clashed together…
…………………………
While Ian and Doflamingo were locked in battle within the Birdcage, on the other side of Green Bit Island, Reiju, who had fled there, encountered a massive problem.
When Doflamingo suddenly appeared, Reiju knew that the fight among these three Warlords was beyond her ability to intervene. So, while Ian, Boa Hancock, and Doflamingo were focused on each other, Reiju quietly led the Germa soldiers away from the scene.
The members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Kuja Pirates noticed Reiju’s departure and followed suit. Everyone knew that a battle between three Warlords would be a disaster; staying on-site would only spell tragedy for them.
Thus, when Doflamingo activated the Birdcage, its range didn’t cover the entire Dressrosa Island, sparing these ordinary people from being caught in it.
Reiju led the Germa soldiers forward, while the Dragon Hunter Pirates and Kuja Pirates followed at a leisurely pace. Neither side had any intention of fighting; instead, they focused on searching for any remaining properties of the Donquixote Family to destroy—a tacit common goal between them.
However, as they fought off the ferocious piranhas in the sea that desperately attacked them and finally crossed the iron bridge to Green Bit, a completely unexpected person appeared.
It was a man with a pair of long, sharp horns on his head! He was tall and burly, with a steel chin guard strapped under his jaw. But what struck everyone most upon first sight were his eyes.
What kind of gaze was that? It seemed innately filled with madness and destruction, fierce and brimming with a desire to wreak havoc.
The moment Reiju saw this man, she froze, instantly recognizing who he was.
This man was none other than one of the infamous Three Calamities under Kaido of the Beasts’ Beast Pirates, a great pirate with a bounty of 1 billion Berries: Jack the Drought!
Why was he here!?