-Broadcast-
After such tremendous commotion and destruction, Diamante still hadn't arrived to provide support. Pica suddenly realized that his colleague must be in serious danger, possibly even defeated. As one of Doflamingo's four major executives, he absolutely could not fall down like this and disgrace the family name. The powerful belief burning in his heart transcended all physical limitations, allowing him to overcome the threshold of unbearable pain and persist until this moment against all odds.
"You've pushed me to this point," Pica declared, his voice still comically high-pitched despite his grievous injuries. "I underestimated you before, but you won't have a second chance since you succeeded the first time."
White steam continued emanating from Pica's damaged body while golden arcs of electricity began flashing around his wounds with increasing intensity. The electrical discharge created an ominous crackling sound that filled the air with supernatural energy.
When Usopp witnessed this familiar scene, he was suddenly struck with recognition and alarm. "You can also transform into a titan! This isn't the power of your Devil Fruit!"
It was common knowledge that a person could only possess one Devil Fruit ability—this was an iron rule of nature. There was currently only one known exception to this fundamental law, and cadre-level figures like Pica certainly weren't included in that category. However, he was obviously a wielder of the Paramecia-type Ishi Ishi no Mi (Stone-Stone Fruit), yet he could apparently imitate Eren's transformation and display the telltale signs of titan metamorphosis.
Memories from their time aboard the Thousand Sunny flashed through Usopp's mind as he recalled the content of the historical text that Robin had shared with the entire crew. If Terra could grant the Power of the Titans to other humans, then everything suddenly made perfect sense.
After frantically searching through his pockets, Usopp found no remaining magical seeds except for one small dwarf companion. The Sogeking was completely at the end of his rope and kept thinking desperately about his absent teammates.
"Why hasn't that directionally-challenged idiot Zoro arrived yet?" he muttered with growing panic. "I really can't hold on this time!"
A brilliant golden lightning bolt descended from the heavens directly above Pica's head. In the face of such violent elemental power that seemed to command heaven and earth itself, this Donquixote Family executive underwent his transformation before the two witnesses' horrified eyes.
This new titan form was completely covered in hard armor plating and appeared before the sniper in an absolutely defensive posture that radiated invincibility. It was unknown whether Usopp could possibly break through such hardened protection, especially considering that he didn't even possess a single Cherry Bomb remaining in his arsenal.
"It's obviously not as large as the stone giant from before," Leo observed with growing dread, "but why does it give me such a stronger sense of oppression? Usopp, why don't we retreat from here?"
The dwarf had already witnessed the hero's moments of cowardice and understood that running away wasn't shameful at this point. Sometimes retreat was simply a strategic diversion to fight another day.
But where could they possibly escape to? Pica would never let his targets slip away from his grasp. He had transformed into the Armored Titan and immediately punched the ground with his massive fist. The power of the Ishi Ishi no Mi was tremendously enhanced in this form, causing the entire landscape to begin moving up and down like ocean waves.
The terrain around Usopp suddenly began rising dramatically, with soil and rocks seeming to come alive as they surrounded the enemy from all sides. The earth itself was attempting to bury the two insects completely underground where they would suffocate in darkness.
At this critical moment, Usopp pushed off the trembling ground with his feet and leaped desperately into the air. The rocks around him moved like an unstoppable tide, faster than his human reflexes, threatening to entomb him completely. It was time to use his carefully prepared backup plan.
"Corn Cannon, aim at the giant and fire!"
The last seed he had planted earlier sprouted rapidly and grew into a massive corn plant that towered over the battlefield. The plant split its branches and leaves while using its corn as living ammunition, concentrating all its accumulated energy into this single corn missile. It then fired its plant-based weapon with supernatural ability to lock onto enemy targets.
The Armored Titan spotted a yellow projectile flying toward him from a considerable distance. This time Pica had learned his lesson from previous encounters and stopped pretending to be invulnerable. He raised both arms defensively in front of his face to block the incoming corn missile attack.
When the corn missile struck the titan's armored limbs, a wonderful and terrifying chemical reaction occurred between the two opposing forces. The collision created explosive power dozens of times greater than any Cherry Bomb. The detonation ignited around the Armored Titan and transformed the giant's entire body into a massive fireball that could be seen from across Dressrosa.
The earth returned to relative peace once again. Usopp and Leo had nearly been surrounded and overwhelmed by the moving stone seas, but fortunately, the magical plants had been focusing on their designated target. The Armored Titan, having lost both arms in the explosion, stood motionless while flames continued consuming his form.
"Is this finally the end?" Usopp wondered aloud, hardly daring to hope.
"He's been burned this severely but he's still not dead?" Leo gasped in disbelief.
Pica remained trapped within a raging sea of fire inside his titan form. His strong and completely unyielding will was being refined into pure gold within the flames that consumed his flesh. He absolutely could not fall down here, and he would not accept defeat!
"AHHHHH!" The Armored Titan opened his mouth wide and roared defiantly into the sea of fire, expressing his indomitable spirit to this unfair world that sought to break him. Pica would continue fighting for Doflamingo until his life was completely extinguished.
The terrifying Ishi Ishi no Mi awakened once again with even greater power than before. The surrounding pieces of landscape were magnetically drawn toward the titan's burning form. The damage and fire caused by the corn missile were gradually covered and extinguished by incoming stone material, and Pica slowly returned to the appearance of his massive stone giant.
Pica's physical strength had reached its absolute limit. He could only continue using the power of his Devil Fruit at the cost of his remaining life force and future potential. Perhaps he would only be able to use this technique once in his entire existence. If he continued hiding his true power at this crucial moment, he would never have another opportunity. Soon the stone giant returned to his thousand-meter height, but this restoration came at a terrible price.
However, this wasn't even his ultimate limit. Pica's stone body continued expanding beyond all previous boundaries. He intended to incorporate the entire King's Plateau into his own massive form, and then absorb the entirety of Dressrosa itself. In order to defeat the Sogeking standing before him, he was prepared to sacrifice everything without reservation.
"If he continues like this, the entire island will be completely destroyed," Usopp realized with growing horror.
"I don't have a single seed left in my body right now, so I can't stop him at all," he continued desperately. "Pica has gone completely insane!"
Usopp could only stand there helplessly, watching his enemy gradually increase his strength and expand his body to unimaginable proportions, but he possessed no countermeasures whatsoever. Naturally, he began entertaining the idea of returning to their ship and escaping this nightmare, and this defeatist thinking lingered persistently in his mind.
The heroes could easily escape from this place by boat and sail away to safety, but Dressrosa was the sacred land where the Tontatta had lived for countless generations. Once they lost the soil on which they depended for survival, where could the dwarf tribe possibly go even if they were liberated by these human heroes?
That kind of endless wandering life would still be considered a fortunate outcome. There was a much higher probability that the dwarfs would be captured and circulated among human traffickers, making them highly sought-after commodities in the slave markets. It would only be a matter of time before the entire Tontatta clan faced complete extinction.
Leo, who had become skin and bones from their ordeal, stood trembling on Usopp's shoulder as tears began falling once again. He hated his own pathetic weakness and questioned why he always needed others to save him and his people. Couldn't the proud dwarf tribe save themselves through their own strength and determination?
"Huh?" Amid the dwarf's internal doubts and self-recrimination, Leo discovered that there was suddenly a ring on his finger that hadn't been there before. The ring was crafted in the shape of a lion's head and kept flashing with mysterious light. This had originally been something in Usopp's pocket, but why had it suddenly appeared on his hand?
Not wanting to be mistaken for a thief who had stolen from his hero, Leo was about to remove the ring when the dwarf was instantly pulled into a brilliant white space that defied all description. This place transcended the normal concepts of time and space, existing in a dimension beyond mortal understanding. A tall Giant of Light materialized before him, radiating benevolent power.
"Can you defeat that enemy with your tears alone?" the Giant of Light asked, his voice resonating with divine authority.
This Giant of Light possessed an aura like that of a god, directly questioning Leo's heart and inner resolve. However, he brought no sense of oppression or threat to the dwarf people—only warmth and infinite compassion.
"I tried to resist three years ago, but our dwarf race wasn't strong enough, and I caused the deaths of many of my companions," Leo confessed as he knelt before the Giant of Light. "I am the greatest sinner of the Tontatta clan."
This terrible burden had been tormenting him ever since that failed rebellion. Was it truly wrong to take the initiative and fight against oppression?
"I can lend you my strength," the Giant of Light offered, "but your physical body is too weak and you will have to pay a significant price. Do you still want to continue resisting?"
The Giant of Light extended his finger toward the trembling dwarf, and Leo found himself surrounded by warm, healing light that penetrated his very soul. In the presence of this divine being, he rediscovered his original heart and purpose. With newfound determination, he stretched out his own tiny finger to touch the finger of the Giant of Light. This was the first contact between the dwarf people and the gods themselves.
The power from beyond this planet, the light energy from the infinite multiverse, was injected directly into Leo's small body. The Giant of Light believed that this boy of light would never fail in his mission.
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