One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 238: Start This... Gamble to Seize the World!
Chapter 238: Start This... Gamble to Seize the World!
Roy was now certain — he might have glimpsed a deeper truth about Lord Imu.
If, in the distant past, there had truly existed a ’Pillar of the World’ capable of bringing miracles through wishes and creating the world —
Then Imu, born from that tree, was in all likelihood the ’Reverse of the World’ — composed of all the malice and desire the world had ever produced.
This also explained why, in the stories of old, Rocks had called Imu the ’World’ — not merely because Imu ruled over the world, but because Imu’s very essence was part of the world’s source.
Of course.
For Roy in this moment, this revelation was both important and not.
Glimpsing the nature of the great enemy was naturally valuable, but what mattered more right now was —
Whoosh!
His figure flashed, arriving instantly before the ’Deep Sea Contracts’ left behind by the three God’s Knights.
"Saru, join us."
"Make a contract with the great abyss."
"You will gain power and authority..."
The Deep Sea Contracts continued their murmuring.
But all that awaited them was the golden staff swung by Saru and the Drums of Liberation, beating once more.
BOOM!
Under a single strike, the three clusters of energy were abruptly dispersed.
Then —
VMMM!
They began to visibly disappear.
[Analyzed ’Source of Lineage Factor (Impurity — Wish · Evil)’]
[Removing Impurity]
[Lineage Factor Expansion — 50.13% → 69.45%]
The text displayed in the Fruit Encyclopedia brought quiet satisfaction to Saru.
As expected — the Source Energy of Lineage Factor carried by God’s Knights could be analyzed as well.
"Three God’s Knights combined yield even more than one tree root..."
He murmured to himself, already looking forward to the next encounter with God’s Knights.
These people were weak yet obsessed with fighting, completely lacking a warrior’s spirit — not only were they a source of Devil Fruits, but now they could also advance the progress of his Lineage Factor expansion...
"Truly efficient."
Saru concluded.
But clearly —
"S-Solved!"
By now, the audience and commentator Gatz had all witnessed the strange energy dissipating into the clouds. They didn’t know what it was, but they understood it was all that remained of the three God’s Knights.
And watching Saru disperse it proved one thing beyond any doubt.
"The outcome is decided!"
"The champion of this tournament has been determined — Lord Saru of The Zodiac has won the championship!"
Gatz announced the news in a voice brimming with passion.
Outside the arena, Marco finally exhaled — ever since ’Heavenly Palace Wonderland’ had appeared, even his breathing had stalled from shock and tension.
"He actually... truly did it..."
He stared in disbelief at Saru standing beneath the heavenly palace, and at that indistinct yet faintly visible ’Figure’ hovering above it.
Over so many years, the Whitebeard Pirates had long since come to understand — the so-called World Government concealed its secrets.
For Whitebeard especially, who had survived the God Valley battle and shared a bond of friendship with Roger, many of those ’Secrets’ were known to him.
He hadn’t told his sons everything, but had mentioned certain things.
For example —
"God’s Knights? Gurararara... don’t worry about those types. A bunch of weaklings calling themselves gods, wielding power that doesn’t belong to them."
"But... when someone in this world can truly kill them, the world will indeed ’Change’."
And now —
"The Zodiac... has mastered a way to kill them?"
Marco’s heart grew heavy.
"When I get back, I have to tell Pops about this... no, wait. Pops was going to meet them himself anyway. Better he asks directly..."
He thought this to himself.
But soon, his attention was drawn elsewhere.
And not just his.
Citizens inside and outside the Corrida Colosseum had also heard the voice now coming from the screens.
"Fuffuffuffuffu!"
A burst of laughter.
"This is truly... I had guessed it long ago, but to actually see someone pull it off..."
With the fall of the three God’s Knights, Doflamingo — who had been suspended silently in the sky, watching — showed no sign of panic whatsoever.
He still grinned; the lenses of his glasses catching the light.
"Truly remarkable, The Zodiac..."
He said so.
But —
"Look — the Birdcage! It hasn’t stopped! It’s moving even faster!"
"Hey! Doflamingo, the match is over — your scheme has failed!"
"Are you insane?! Deactivate your ability!"
"Lord Saru, please kill this pirate and save this country!"
The citizens could now clearly see it.
The Birdcage, which had been slowly contracting since the battle began, was accelerating.
RUMBLE!
They could feel the ground trembling and hear the earth tearing apart — the Birdcage was drawing terrifyingly close to the Corrida Colosseum.
Even now, Doflamingo was still sustaining the ability.
"Fuffuffu..."
Doflamingo turned a deaf ear to the citizens’ furious cries.
He simply turned his head and looked at Saru. "Ants like these have no idea what you’ve truly accomplished, nor what kind of ’shockwave’ it will send through the world — all they can do is shriek uselessly. Isn’t it dull?"
He smiled, and it seemed almost sincere. "But I — I am different, Saru."
"I truly admire what you’ve—"
His words didn’t finish.
Because in the next instant, Saru’s staff had already swung.
BOOM!
The iron staff struck Doflamingo squarely — and his body came apart in the blink of an eye.
But —
Pfft!
The disintegrating Doflamingo didn’t bleed.
In fact, quite the opposite.
His crumbling body dissolved unmistakably into fine threads, scattering and drifting away.
[String-String Fruit · Black Knight (String Clone)]
"Stop making noise over there."
Saru grinned.
"You don’t even know what you’re talking about."
He watched the shattering ’Doflamingo’ disperse. "I knew from the start this one here was a clone — but it didn’t matter."
"You’ll show yourself eventually... and when you do, I’ll keep my promise and smash your head in."
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu."
Even as he dispersed, Doflamingo was still laughing. "That sounds like a perfectly reasonable ending — I’ll look forward to it."
With those words, the clone vanished into nothing.
And so, inside and outside the entire Corrida Colosseum... silence fell.
"Threads... threads?"
"A clone?"
"That wasn’t Doflamingo?"
The citizens stared, nearly dumbstruck.
But their shock quickly curdled into panic. "Wait — if that’s the case, what about the Birdcage..."
"If the Doflamingo here wasn’t the real one, then there’s no way to stop the Birdcage..."
Their voices rose in alarm.
But in the next moment, they saw —
Saru drive the Jingu Bang straight into the cloud beneath him — the foundation of ’Heavenly Palace Wonderland’!
"Expand!"
He called out in a low voice.
Moments later, the banners above the four Heavenly Gates billowed and took flight.
They flew directly beyond the walls of the Corrida Colosseum, and came to rest again.
Then —
BOOM!
Boundless celestial mist surged outward too, enveloping the entirety of the Corrida Colosseum — inside and out.
The Birdcage, already nearly at the edge, collided with the boundary of the Heavenly Palace Wonderland.
And —
"I-It stopped!"
The citizens of Dressrosa quickly realized — the enormous Birdcage had halted.
Or rather, to be precise —
Zzt! Zzt!
At the boundary where the Birdcage met the cloud mist, blinding sparks erupted. A barrier had silently formed — the Birdcage hadn’t truly stopped, but was being held back, unable to advance a single inch further.
"Oh! N-No wonder, Lord Saru!"
Gatz, who had been falling alongside the disappearance of Doflamingo’s clone, was caught by a passing cloud.
He looked out at the scene around him, still fulfilling his duty as commentator.
"He’s stopped the Birdcage — and saved the citizens once again... myself included, of course!"
"Unbelievable! This is the greatest deed in the entire history of the Corrida Colosseum! I will stake my reputation on this — he deserves a statue!"
And at those words —
All the citizens of Dressrosa turned to look at Saru standing in the center of the arena.
Yes. Once again.
Having suppressed the chaos that had overtaken this country, this member of The Zodiac had saved them all.
"Lord Saru!"
"A hero!"
"The Zodiac is incredible — I’m ashamed I ever spoke ill of you!"
"What?! You actually badmouthed The Zodiac before?! Get away from me, I want nothing to do with you!"
Amidst the cheers —
"..."
Saru set down the Jingu Bang, unbothered.
But beneath the mask, Roy’s brow furrowed.
"This guy Doflamingo..."
Yes.
From the very first moment he had entered the arena, he had known the ’Doflamingo’ inside wasn’t the real one.
Although this Warlord’s string clone was nearly indistinguishable from his main body —
For Roy, the simple fact that the Fruit Encyclopedia had shown no prompts was enough to confirm the truth.
It was precisely because of this that Saru had never once gone after Doflamingo throughout the entire battle — he had only been waiting to see what the man would do.
Roy had originally expected Doflamingo might attempt a sneak attack at a critical moment.
But that wasn’t what happened.
Even after the three God’s Knights died, Doflamingo had not reacted — he had simply stood there, a spectator quietly watching the drama he himself had staged.
And the situation now was stranger still.
The Birdcage — Roy would freely admit that Doflamingo’s mastery of his own fruit was remarkable. Against most people in this world, this ability was an utterly terrifying force of nature, capable of destroying an entire island in a single move.
But ultimately —
Against ’Saru’ in this state, something like the Birdcage couldn’t pose any real threat.
To put it bluntly —
Even if Saru couldn’t locate Doflamingo’s main body and couldn’t ’stop’ the Birdcage entirely, he could rely on Heavenly Palace Wonderland to continuously destroy sections of it, buying people time to escape little by little.
It might take longer in the end, but it was absolutely achievable.
"Doflamingo must know this too... so why go through the trouble of this pointless performance?"
Roy was puzzled.
But soon, he noticed something.
Something he hadn’t paid close attention to during the heat of battle.
Looking more carefully now, he found —
Different from the original story.
The movement of the Birdcage in this Dressrosa hadn’t been ’linear’ at all.
The threads hadn’t moved in straight lines — on the contrary, the marks carved into the ground by the ’Birdcage’ showed many sections that were obviously crooked and angled.
As if — they formed some kind of pattern.
"!!!"
Roy’s frown deepened sharply.
His gaze snapped instinctively toward the distance — toward the ’King’s Plateau’ rising at the center of Dressrosa.
Toward the Dressrosa Royal Palace.
And inside the Royal Palace, at that very moment —
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu..."
Doflamingo laughed softly, looking at the Donquixote Family members assembled before him.
"Then let us begin — my family."
He opened his arms wide.
"Yes, Doffy."
Trebol, staff in one hand, held a box in the other.
He nodded, his gaze drifting to the small girl standing beside him — fingers adorned with grapes.
Donquixote Family executive. Sugar.
"Sugar~ it’s time~ slurp!"
He sniffled loudly.
"Okay!"
Sugar plucked the grape from her fingertip and placed it in her mouth.
Then —
Bang!
Donquixote Family executive Pica raised his hand and struck her squarely on the head.
"Ow — that hurts... be gentle with kids, you bas—"
Sugar’s eyes went wide. She crumpled instantly, unconscious.
Watching this unfold, Baby 5 standing in the crowd went pale.
"Sugar!"
She was almost speechless with shock.
As a Donquixote Family executive, she understood perfectly well what would happen now that Sugar had lost consciousness.
But she had no time to ask.
Because at that moment, Doflamingo raised both hands.
"Come."
"Let us begin this... gamble to seize the world."
☆☆☆
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