Chapter 391: MT and DPS
Regardless, everyone decided to get out first.
The underground harbor was actually built within an underground river, and the exit was now sealed by a massive stone door. However, this was no challenge for Ace. He released blazing white flames, slowly melting the stone door, allowing everyone to squeeze through.
But when they emerged back onto the surface, they saw countless fine threads covering the entire sky above Dressrosa.
"What is that!?" Ace looked up at the sky in astonishment.
"That must be the Birdcage, right?" Nico Robin also gazed upward. "Didn't that spiky-haired bomber say it's Doflamingo's ability..."
"What do we do? It looks like we can't get out!" Konenai said. "If this Birdcage covers the entire island, even if we evacuate the residents, they won't be able to escape!"
Sabo lowered the brim of his hat and said calmly, "We have to prepare for the worst now. Ace, go find Ian and ask if he has any way to destroy this Birdcage. Konenai, you two follow me and do our best to notify the people on this island to evacuate, at least to stay away from potential explosion sites. Miss Robin, I recall you're a Flower-Flower Fruit user. Can you use your ability to contact our crew outside? Crocodile is still there—let him try to think of something from the outside."
At the critical moment, Sabo's mind was the clearest. He quickly assigned tasks to everyone, covering all aspects.
Thus, the group immediately split up.
The scene shifts back to the battlefield. By now, the fight between Ian and Jack the Drought, as well as Doflamingo and Boa Hancock, had been going on for over ten minutes.
Ian could only describe the situation with one word: "Troublesome!"
Jack the Drought's fighting style was brutal. Relying on his Ancient Zoan Mammoth Fruit and his Fish-Man lineage, his strength was terrifying. With Ian's current 3,400 Strength stat, he was completely outmatched in raw power!
Ian tried to clash with him a few times but was always overwhelmed. Every time his blade met Jack's fists, Ian was the one sent flying!
Jack's punches cratered the ground like explosions, and each step he took caused the earth to crack and split. Such overwhelming strength, in Ian's experience, only seemed comparable to Kuina when she used her Asura Fruit's Hundred-Man Power.
On top of that, Jack possessed an incredibly powerful Armament Haki, which made things even more troublesome for Ian.
It seemed that for those who favored offense, they tended to excel in Armament Haki, and Jack was no exception. Even when Ian used the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword, he could only leave a shallow white mark on Jack's skin.
In the ten-plus minutes of fighting, Ian had tried every move on Jack. He unleashed a Black Dragon Wave, which Jack withstood head-on. Though his entire body was burned, he endured the extreme heat with full-body Armament Haki.
What was even more frustrating was that Jack, like Doflamingo, was an Awakened Devil Fruit user! For Zoan-type fruits, Awakening granted incredible recovery and endurance. The burns from Ian's Black Dragon Wave healed within just two minutes—Jack's blackened skin peeled off in large chunks, and fresh new skin grew back quickly.
Fire was useless against him. Ian summoned a Lightning Spear and struck him, but Jack only suffered a brief paralysis before recovering. Ian even used his strongest Thunderbolt, a high-voltage lightning strike, but Jack's immense endurance absorbed most of the damage.
Then there was the Railgun. Ian fired one at close range, but Jack used his muscles to deflect the projectile. The bullet lodged in his flesh before being squeezed out by muscle contractions and falling to the ground.
Ian's eyes nearly popped out. He had never seen such an inhuman monster—this guy was tough as a demon.
Come to think of it, weren't Zoan-type users basically demons anyway...
Fortunately, despite the difficulty, Ian wasn't completely helpless against Jack. Because Jack relied on overwhelming strength, his speed was lacking, while Ian specialized in speed.
Jack also had Observation Haki, but it was far less developed than his Armament Haki. His movements couldn't keep up with Ian. After all this time, only Ian had landed hits on Jack, while Jack couldn't touch him despite his furious roars and relentless attacks.
As long as Ian avoided direct clashes, he could keep chipping away at Jack while staying mobile.
This was a victory for agility-type fighters...
"Die!" Jack roared, raising both fists and slamming his elbows down at Ian. But Ian moved instantly, vanishing from his spot. Jack's fists hit the ground with a thunderous crash, sending broken stones flying everywhere.
In that opening, Ian appeared behind Jack's head, thrusting his blade toward the back of Jack's skull. He activated the Great Serpent skill, Manifestation of the Mirror, and a sound like shattering glass rang out as the space at the blade's tip cracked open.
The power of spatial destruction was immense. Jack took the hit to the back of his head, stumbling forward and slamming his face into the ground, his curved horns digging into the earth.
This attack left Jack dizzy, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, but it quickly stopped.
"Raaaagh!" Jack's forehead veins bulged as he yanked his horns out of the ground, lifting a massive stone slab and hurling it at Ian.
Ian slashed the slab apart, then closed in, appearing before Jack's chest. He pressed one hand against Jack's heart and unleashed a Black Particle, the Great Serpent's Purification skill.
With a series of thuds, Jack's entire body was pushed back by the Black Particle. Though he used Armament Haki to withstand the spatial impact, the force still penetrated his internal organs. Since Ian had struck directly at his heart, it suffered severe damage, feeling like it was about to split.
Yet... it still wasn't enough! Jack looked battered, blood flowing from his nose and mouth, but Ian knew that given a little time, this guy would bounce back as if nothing happened.
Facing such a hard-to-kill cockroach was incredibly frustrating. If you said he was strong, aside from his terrifying power, he didn't have much offensive ability. Oh, and there was his transformation... but when he turned into a mammoth, he became even slower, making him easier to deal with.
But if you said he was easy, his unparalleled recovery made every fight exhausting in the end.
Ian guessed that Jack was following the same path as Kaido of the Beasts. He might not be on Kaido's level yet, but he was likely heading toward an immortal body.
This seemed to be the unique development path for Zoan-type users.
At this point, Ian had used his Evil Eye and Black Dragon Wave skills. Though he had unleashed many powerful moves, his stamina was excellent, and his Psychic Power recovered quickly. If he kept fighting Jack like this, he could last three days and three nights. But the problem was, fighting this brute was pointless—he couldn't kill him, and it felt like a waste of effort.
Maybe he should try Soul Extraction again? No matter how tough your body was, your soul should still be fragile, right?
Glancing at Boa Hancock, Ian saw that she and Doflamingo were still locked in a fierce battle. However, Doflamingo had the upper hand due to ability compatibility. Hancock's petrification required contact, while Doflamingo could attack her from a distance with his strings.
Both had Conqueror's Haki, so they were evenly matched in that regard, but their abilities differed in effectiveness.
Ian knew that if this continued, Hancock might get injured by Doflamingo's attacks.
Just then, Ace suddenly burst into the four-person battlefield. He first fired a blazing white Fire Fist at Jack, engulfing him in flames. Seizing the moment, Ace ran to Ian and quickly explained the earlier situation.
"Bombs!?" Ian gasped.
The people on the island weren't just the leaders—there were also members of the Fish-Man Pirates, the Dragon Hunter Pirates, and the Kuja Pirates. If a massive explosion occurred, Ian and the others might survive, but the three crews would suffer heavy casualties!
They had to stop this. Ian immediately understood why Ace had come to find him. He looked up at the Birdcage and asked Ace, "Is your fire useless against these threads?"
"I tried! I hit it with a Great Flame Emperor, but it didn't work," Ace shook his head. "The threads just restore themselves quickly."
Ian turned his gaze to Doflamingo. It seemed the root of the problem lay with him.
"Raaaagh!" Jack's flames died out, and he charged at Ian again. By now, Jack was completely bald—his fur had been burned off by Ian earlier, and Ace's fire had finished the job, leaving him looking even more ferocious.
"Is there no end to this!?" Ian growled in frustration as Jack charged again. Gritting his teeth, he turned his Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade downward, pointing it at the ground.
The next moment, Ian released his grip, and the blade fell. To Ace's stunned amazement, the entire sword sank into the ground like water, ripples spreading across the surface before it vanished entirely.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"