One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 226 Birdcage and the Match Begins!
Inside a hidden palace in the Royal Palace of Dressrosa, in the King's Heights.

"咈咈咈咈."

A hoarse laugh rang out as Doflamingo and the Donquixote Family executives gathered there.

"Crack!" "Crack!"

They each clapped.

"Look—BABY5, an important member of the family. I'm so glad you're back."

Doflamingo opened his arms to welcome his 'family'.

"Little Lord."

At this moment, BABY5, who had finally returned to Dressrosa, stammered, "I'm sorry, about my mission in Neverland... but please rest assured, I didn't say anything. You can have someone interrogate me to confirm."

She was clearly very nervous.

"Hehehe~ I'll tell you, there's no need for that, BABY5 slurp."

At that moment, Torrepol chuckled and sniffled.

"Yes, yes—we're 'family,' how can family members interrogate each other?"

Diamanti, standing to the side, chuckled, "If your opponent is that Goat, he's a high-ranking member of the Twelve Constellations—someone even the Four Emperors would find troublesome. It's perfectly normal that you're no match for him."

Upon hearing this, BABY5 naturally felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

"Thank you, Torrepol, Diamanti."

Thank you for your trust.

She knew that she was a member of the family and that the young master would not abandon her.

"Instead of that, let's take a look at the next one."

At this point, Diamanti continued speaking.

"look?"

BABY5 was a little stunned: "You mean this dueling tournament? Speaking of which, I was just about to ask you that. Isn't Caesar an important bargaining chip in the cooperation with the Beasts? Why would you take him? I saw several impressive ships outside the island just now."

"Hehehe, something unexpected happened—the young master discovered some interesting facts from him."

Torrepol chuckled: "That's why we have this feast."

"Next, let's see if the 'guests' we're looking forward to will arrive at this grand event."

"The guest we were hoping for?"

Upon hearing this, BABY5 was also taken aback.

And I don't know why.

She looked at her family members who were smiling and welcoming her.

A sense of unease always rose in BABY5's heart.

"Young Master, what exactly do you want to do?"

And just as BABY5 said.

At this moment, outside the port of Dressrosa.

Numerous ships sailed on the sea, observing the situation in Dressrosa from afar.

This is inevitable.

Devil Fruits are the 'treasures of the sea'.

Each one is worth hundreds of millions, and even with the side effect of making people unable to swim, it is still a treasure sought after by countless people.

Because on this ocean, Devil Fruits symbolize 'power'.

Power is authority, power is wealth, power is everything.

But now—a report by the World Economic News Agency has told the whole world.

Devil Fruits can be artificially created.

The World Economic News even published a picture of an artificial Devil Fruit in its newspaper—the effects of which have been confirmed.

Therefore, it is only natural.
Dressrosa became the focus of the entire ocean at that moment.

Kingdoms, pirates, underworld forces, mafia, and even merchants—whether ambitious or profit-seeking—all have come to this passionate country at this moment.

But the three most furious people among them must be the three renowned figures who have now arrived at the southern port.

Flames burned in the southern port.

The surrounding buildings have been completely destroyed—three huge pirate ships should be landing now.

The ships, which resembled pterosaurs, brachiosaurus, and mammoths respectively, flew the same flag—a skull with huge horns, like a demon, one of the most terrifying pirate flags on this sea.

And amidst the flames burning in that port.

Three figures slowly walked out.

The leader was a tall man dressed entirely in black, with not an inch of skin exposed, a long knife hanging at his waist, and flames burning behind his head.

Next was a bald, round-faced fat man wearing sunglasses, smoking a cigar, with a metal arm in his left hand and a golden braid on his head.

The last one was a giant man with a tall stature, wearing horn-like decorations on his head and a metal jaw on his mouth.

"Does that guy JOKER have a death wish?"

“We were only ordered to come and check the situation because we agreed that the SMILE factory would be delivered in a few days. This guy actually dared to use someone that Governor Kaido values ​​as a prize and even made the artificial Devil Fruit a public secret. Brother Queen, I'll take care of that guy in a bit. There's no need for you and Brother King to bother.”

"Ah, Jack—it's great that you're willing to take on this responsibility. In that case, I'll take care of taking that idiot Caesar away. After all, he was my former research partner, and I can't bear to see him in such a miserable state!"

"You look so happy, don't you? You even couldn't help but dance."

"Shut up~ or I'll kill you~"

Between words.

The identities of the three individuals are self-evident.

The three top commanders under Kaido of the Four Emperors, known as the Three Great Disasters, are King the Wildfire, Queen the Plague, and Jack the Drought.

At this moment, these three calamities, any one of which could shake the seas, have all gathered in Dressrosa.

"I will handle JOKER's matter personally later."

But at this moment, listening to Quinn and Jack's conversation...

Jin calmly gave the order: "As for you, come with me first and get Caesar."

"Huh? Why should I take your orders?"

Quinn retorted upon hearing this—he and Jhin had never gotten along.

Upon hearing this, King merely glanced coldly at Queen: "Caesar—that guy is related to Kaido's 'ambition,' so we need to prioritize getting him."

"If you disobey orders, I'll kill you first."

"Oh? Kill me? Who's afraid of who?"

"Hey, you two, stop arguing!"

The three men made their purpose for coming clear in their words.

Yes.

The World Government ship that was escorting Caesar M. Clown was hijacked by Doflamingo.

The reason he kidnapped Caesar was because of the latter's ability to create artificial Devil Fruits—Doflamingo had already reached an agreement with the Beasts Pirates regarding this.

For Kaido, who yearns for a world-class war and has an extreme fondness for Zoan-type Devil Fruits.

The artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruits created by Caesar are an indispensable part of his ambition—which is why he hasn't even had time to pay attention to the downfall of Big Mom recently.

According to the terms of the collaboration, Doflamingo was supposed to build a factory to produce 'SMILE' soon, and then wait for the Three Disasters to come and inspect it.

But the three calamities did not expect that they would receive a supplement from the World Economic News on their way to Dressrosa.

Doflamingo not only broke their agreement, but also made Caesar, a key figure in Kaido's ambitions, the prize for this dueling tournament.

One can imagine the fury in the hearts of the three calamities.

However, it was precisely during this argument that...
"Gentlemen"

A trembling voice, though forced with courage, came through. "Hmm?"

The three calamities looked up and saw a duel arena employee walking over, crying and holding a Den Den Mushi: "The competition will begin soon, please wait here for the time being."

Upon hearing his words, let alone the Three Calamities.

Even the Beasts Pirates members who had followed the Three Disasters and were cheering, "As expected of the three masters, they easily destroyed a port," now found it absurd.

"You idiot, do you want to die?"

One of the pirates raised his gun, ready to fire.

But
"and many more."

At that moment, Jhin called out to him.

"This guy is being controlled by JOKER's ability."

Looking at the stiff-bodied man who was crying incessantly, almost to the point of despair, Jin had already made that judgment.

Therefore, his gaze was already fixed on the Den Den Mushi in the other person's hand.

"JOKER, it's too late to beg for mercy now—Brother Kaido is very angry."

And the next moment.
"Fufufufufu, don't be so sharp, Mr. Jin."

The Den Den Mushi made a sound.

"This is a feast—as a guest of the feast, one should have a little more patience."

As the sound came out, Jhin saw a beam of light shoot out from the tip of the Den Den Mushi and shoot straight into the sky.

At the same time, similar beams of light shot into the sky from all directions of the island, almost covering the clouds.

A moment later, a giant screen composed of numerous projected Den Den Mushi appeared in the sky above Dressrosa.

What appeared on the screen instantly sharpened Jhin's gaze.

Even the flames behind his head burned even more intensely at this moment.

"Hey, hey."

Que took the cigar from his mouth and frowned. "It's that Caesar guy."

His words were precisely what he was referring to on the screen.

At this moment, what is shown on the screen is a huge fighting arena—the iconic 'Bullfighting Arena' of Dressrosa.

However, at this moment, the already enormous arena has been expanded many times over.

The arena was raised and widened, the central circular arena was retained, but the surrounding area was transformed into a pentagram structure with various intersecting lines.

According to recent rumors in Dressrosa, the temporary reconstruction of the arena was the idea of ​​His Majesty Doflamingo, and the size of the arena after the reconstruction was expanded to be large enough to accommodate one-third of the country's population.

At this moment, there are no spectators in this huge arena.

Only at the highest point in the center of the arena.

A huge cage, suspended high in the air.

Inside the cage, a figure was sitting.

He was covered in wounds, handcuffed with sea stone, and was breathing weakly in front of him.

At this moment, everyone who gradually landed on the island naturally recognized each other—they were the most famous and talked-about people on the sea recently.

Former SSG scientist, Kaiser M. Courant.

At that moment, near the cage where the scientist was located, countless cannons and guns were aimed at him.

Meanwhile, below that cage.

Doflamingo was sitting there with his legs crossed.

"咈咈咈咈."

He held a Den Den Mushi in his hand and emitted a distinctive laugh.

"Distinguished guests, fellow citizens."

His words were transmitted throughout the country via countless Den Den Mushi (snail phone teleporters).

"All the 'guests' have begun to land on the island, and the dueling tournament will begin soon."

"Next"

As he spoke, he gently raised his hand.

"The stage—will be sealed off."

next moment.
"boom!"

From the sea at the edge of Dressrosa Island, fine lines rose up and instantly enveloped the entire island.

【Thread-like Fruit - Birdcage】

As those fine lines appeared, they began their 'movement' from overseas toward Dressrosa.

And during the movement.

Those ships that were still on the sea, intending to observe the situation further, immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Is this a 'knife'?"

"A cutting blade made of threads? It's so sharp—the ship can't hold on!"

"Get to the island quickly! Get to the island quickly!"

Amidst the cries of alarm from the ships, all those that were still observing either couldn't react in time and were cut off by the line, or hurriedly weighed anchor and headed towards Dressrosa Island.

But at this moment, Doflamingo clearly doesn't care about any of that.

He simply continued speaking into the Den Den Mushi: "The rules of the duel are simple—the 'Birdcage' is the stage, and everyone who lands on the island is a contestant, fighting each other on the island."

"The first five contestants to enter through the five entrances of the arena will be able to enter the central stage of the dueling arena to compete for the final prize."

He smiled and pointed to Caesar in the sky.

"The one who wins the prize, witnessed by the surviving audience, will be the victor. As you all know, the 'world' will be open to him."

Upon hearing this, the people of Dressrosa gasped in surprise.

"The dueling tournament is today? Isn't there still some time before it starts?"

"That's not important, the key is this rule. Doesn't this turn the entire island into a dueling arena?"

"Why does it sound like we're in danger? A lot of the guys who landed on the island are pirates, right?"

"What do you mean by 'surviving audience members'? Hey, something doesn't sound right!"

"That thing called a 'birdcage' looks so dangerous. It probably only stays overseas, right?"

The entire country was now in an uproar.

Clearly, they all realized that something was wrong.

This dueling tournament doesn't seem to be as 'lively' as they thought—or rather, it's a different kind of liveliness.

But at that moment, Doflamingo simply picked at his ear, ignoring the commotion within the country.

On the contrary, he simply tossed the Den Den Mushi onto the commentary table below.

On the commentary stage, a commentator dressed in armor stood stiffly.

Almost everyone in Dressrosa knows him; he is Gaz, the star commentator of the bullring.

At this moment, the commentator seemed to be completely stiff.

Doflamingo slightly moved his finger, and Gaz stiffly raised his hand to take the Den Den Mushi—clearly, he was also being 'manipulated'.

"Hello everyone, I'm Gaz, the commentator for this match."

He spoke tremulously—because he could feel the 'line' beside him that could cut him apart at any moment.

That forced him to provide the 'interpretation' the other party wanted.

"Next, I...I announce..."

"The game begins."

(End of this chapter)