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The King's Plateau had been completely destroyed by Pica's awakening, and the continuous production of stone soldiers was causing Usopp tremendous trouble. The rocky constructs surrounded him relentlessly, their synchronized movements designed to trample the Straw Hat Pirates' sniper to death beneath countless stone feet.
Usopp could jump higher than before—the result of five years of intensive physical training—but he couldn't fly directly through the air. He lacked the Marine Rokushiki technique Geppo (Moon Walk) and couldn't stay airborne for extended periods. There would always come a moment when he needed to land and gain new leverage. Impossible feats like stepping on his left foot with his right foot to soar into the sky would never happen to him, no matter how much he wished otherwise.
"Take my Cherry Bomb!" the Sniper King declared, pulling another magical seed from his pocket and hurling it in the direction of the approaching stone men.
When the magical seeds made contact with sunlight, they rapidly grew into two large red cherries with extremely short fuses. They detonated violently before even touching their stone targets, creating massive explosions that shook the entire plateau.
Each Cherry Bomb wasn't distributed carelessly. Basically, one Cherry Bomb could blow a stone soldier into countless pieces and rubble. If such an explosion occurred near a person, not even bones would remain intact. The advantage was tremendous destructive power, but the disadvantage was equally significant—the blast radius was so large that it didn't distinguish between friend and foe when exploding.
The two fighters were choked by the thick smoke and dust from the explosions, coughing repeatedly as debris filled the air around them. Leo stuck his head out from Usopp's pocket and observed the destruction with wide eyes.
"Usopp, more of them are growing out of the ground again!" the dwarf reported with growing alarm. "If you have any Cherry Bombs left, keep blowing them up—don't stop the assault!"
Because he was wearing the Sniper King mask, others couldn't see his timid expression beneath the fabric. Usopp was genuinely terrified at this moment. He understood clearly that he was fighting at a severe disadvantage. The magical seeds weren't infinite resources—these precious items had all been carefully cultivated aboard the Thousand Sunny over months of preparation.
Most of the seeds he'd brought into this battle had already been consumed in the prolonged conflict. If he continued wasting them on the seemingly endless stone soldiers, he would fall directly into Pica's strategic trap. As long as the soil in Dressrosa remained available, the executive could create stone men infinitely. The magical seeds would never be able to outlast him in such a protracted war of attrition. Usopp needed to take decisive decapitation action to eliminate this executive as quickly as possible.
"Leo, hold on tight so I don't accidentally throw you out," Usopp warned, his voice tense with determination. "I'm going to take a major risk this time."
The Sogeking mask seemed to grant Usopp infinite courage in the face of overwhelming odds. He deliberately threw a Cherry Bomb nearby, positioning himself at the farthest safe distance from the explosion while leaving a magical seed in that location as emergency backup.
The tremendous impact force from the explosion launched Usopp through the air like a human cannonball, and the direction he was blown toward was exactly where Pica's main body was located. He completely ignored the surrounding stone soldiers—his strategy was to capture the leader first and end this battle decisively.
"What can you possibly do, insignificant insect?" Pica's voice echoed with supreme confidence.
The Donquixote Family executive was extremely confident in his stone giant form's defensive capabilities. Without truly devastating attacks, it would be impossible to penetrate his protection. Usopp had no opportunity to plant Pea Shooters at this range, and as for using Cherry Bombs against the thousand-meter stone giant, it was unknown how many simultaneous explosions would be required to damage Pica's actual body.
Usopp gritted his teeth and endured the searing pain throughout his body from the explosion's aftereffects. The moment he approached the stone giant's massive form, he hurled his last few magical seeds toward the enemy with desperate precision.
"Gold-Absorbing Magnolia, peel off his stone skin!" Usopp shouted. "Let's see where you can hide now, coward!"
The magical seeds took root on the stone giant's surface and rapidly transformed into plants called Gold-Absorbing Magnolias. These specialized flora extracted stone elements directly from their host, madly strengthening themselves while competing with the Devil Fruit's power for control of the rocky material. They were making the final preparations for their master's victory.
Within just one minute, the stone giant's body became noticeably looser and less cohesive. Usopp, utilizing his superb Observation Haki, finally located the exact position where Pica was hiding through the gaps that had formed in the stone giant's weakened structure.
"I finally found you!" Usopp exclaimed with triumph. "Let's see how you can hide this time!"
He aimed his weapon—the slingshot Black Kabuto—directly at his enemy and loaded his final Cherry Bomb into the elastic band. The Paramecia-type Sabaki Sabaki no Mi (Judge-Judge Fruit) began its round of judgment. There was a fifty percent chance of failure and a fifty percent chance of success. At this crucial moment, Usopp firmly believed in his luck and convinced himself that he would succeed every single time.
"Go, Cherry Bomb!"
The slingshot Black Kabuto carried the desperate will of its master and launched this plant-based explosive with perfect trajectory. The Sabaki Sabaki no Mi completed its judgment at the precise moment of firing. There was only a fifty percent probability that Usopp would hit his target perfectly, but the God of Luck was clearly on his side today.
The Cherry Bomb, accompanied by the supernatural power of the Devil Fruit, passed through multiple layers of stone resistance and materialized directly in front of Pica's hidden location. Faced with the power of causality manipulation, no barriers of space and time could hinder its progress, and this Donquixote Family executive had absolutely no way to escape his predetermined fate.
"Damn sniper!" Pica cursed, wrapping his entire body in dense Armament Haki to defend against the incoming attack. However, the Sabaki Sabaki no Mi didn't grant him additional time to prepare more elaborate defenses. In the absence of any external assistance, he could only rely on his own body to resist the Cherry Bomb's devastating explosion.
A violent implosion occurred deep inside the stone giant's core, systematically destroying the kilometer-tall construct from within. The stone soldiers that had been moving with coordinated precision suddenly lost all control and stopped in place like broken marionettes. Each stone puppet had lost its animating soul and became nothing more than piles of waste soil scattered across the ground.
The massive stone giant created through the Ishi Ishi no Mi's power wouldn't return to its original earth form simply because of its master's defeat. Instead, it collapsed like a mountain experiencing a catastrophic avalanche, and the thousand-meter colossus was brought down through clever strategy rather than overwhelming force.
"Why does it feel like it's getting dark again?" Usopp wondered aloud, looking up in confusion.
"Usopp, run faster—you're about to be crushed!" Leo screamed in terror.
Usopp had been overwhelmed by the intoxicating joy of victory, but as the massive mountain of stone began collapsing directly above them, he snapped back to reality. He dragged his charred and battered body into motion and desperately began a life-or-death race against the falling stone giant. If he ran even slightly slower, he would be crushed beneath the tremendous wreckage.
Amidst the deafening rumbling sounds that shook the entire plateau, dust and smoke from the collapsing stone giant covered the King's Plateau with a thick layer of gray debris. Usopp used every ounce of his remaining strength to escape and, through sheer luck, managed to avoid being buried alive.
The two survivors embraced each other with overwhelming relief. Leo hugged Usopp's face while the dwarf cried uncontrollably, expressing his excitement and disbelief at their survival.
"Usopp, you truly are worthy of being the descendant of a hero!" Leo sobbed with joy. "You're absolutely amazing—you can even defeat this kind of monster!"
Usopp received endless praise with an arrogant and supremely confident smile spreading across his masked face. He didn't feel any pain from the wounds caused by his own Cherry Bomb explosions and admired his achievement with an intoxicated expression of self-satisfaction.
"Who do you think I am?" he boasted loudly. "I'm the Sogeking! The other two executives are no match for me either—I can easily deal with small fry like them!"
But soon the two "victors" put away their celebratory smiles, because they hadn't completely defeated Pica after all. A human hand suddenly stretched out from the ruins of the destroyed stone giant, and a tall figure emitting steam from every pore of his body slowly stood up again.
"How is it possible that you're not dead yet?" Usopp gasped in disbelief.
"What incredible will to survive," Leo whispered in awe.
It turned out that the golden cross helmet on Pica's head had been burned down to only half its original size, and only half of his entire head remained intact. The other half was exposed as a skull with patches of flesh clinging to bone, and there was a massive hole blown through his left shoulder. Despite being in this horrific condition, he was somehow still alive and conscious.
"The Young Master's plan hasn't been completed yet," Pica declared, his voice still as comically high-pitched as ever despite his grievous injuries. "How can I die here? He will definitely become the king of this world!"
Pica's voice remained as funny as always, creating a stark contrast with his huge physique and terrible wounds. However, Usopp and Leo had no time to laugh at his vocal peculiarity, because something far more terrifying was happening before their eyes.
White steam was emanating from the enemy's damaged body, and it was actually healing his injuries at a visible rate. The living dead was transforming flesh and bone back into healthy tissue. Half of his skull was growing new flesh and skin, and even his shattered bones were being repaired simultaneously through some supernatural process.
This executive had also been injected with the Power of the Titans by Eren Yeager. As long as Pica wasn't killed instantly and completely, he would be granted the ability to fight again through miraculous regeneration. The wielders of titan power were all virtually indestructible like cockroaches.