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"You're all dead!"
Lao G exploded with rage when he saw so many people rushing to devour the shattered pieces of the Munch Munch Fruit. He had completely ruined the mission entrusted to him by Doflamingo.
He could ignore many things—but guarding the Devil Fruit was something that absolutely could not go wrong. Yet now, he had failed. The guards had eaten the Fruit right before his eyes.
Pica, already furious, lost what little restraint he had left. Without bothering to argue with lao G, he acted decisively—launching a lethal counterattack against those foolish enough to eat the Devil Fruit. Massive stone spikes erupted from the ground, piercing through every guard in the room.
lao G joined in ruthlessly, his Dion Fist techniques combining with Pica's attacks to annihilate anyone who had eaten the Munch Munch Fruit fragments.
"Not bad."
Watching the two Donquixote Family executives focus entirely on killing, Aaron chuckled. They had completely forgotten about the remaining intact Devil Fruit.
In truth, even if they noticed now, it was already too late. The moment Lao G split his attention to attack Pica in order to help Gilbert, Aaron had quietly seized the other half of the red Devil Fruit from the treasure chest. He had already divided it into two portions and concealed it using the powers of the Clear-Clear Fruit.
"Damn it! My Devil Fruit!"
Wapol didn't care at all about his dead guards. Staring at the small piece of Munch Munch Fruit flesh in his hand, his heart ached with regret. He glared hatefully at Lao G—if not for him, Wapol would have been the first to eat the Fruit.
But fear overcame anger as he watched the blood-soaked carnage before him. He didn't dare curse aloud this time, terrified that Lao G—who was supposedly on their side—might turn on him too. He clung tightly to Gilbert, treating him like a lucky charm.
"Mr. Lao G, calm down! Someone's behind this! Look—the other Devil Fruit in the chest is gone!"
Gilbert, seasoned by years of chaos and bloodshed, kept his composure even now. Ignoring Wapol's trembling presence, he immediately noticed something strange. Glancing toward the treasure chest, he found it empty.
"Someone took it!" he shouted.
Lao G froze for a moment, then spun around toward the chest. Veins bulged across his forehead as he roared, "Who is it!? Show yourself!"
Then he barked an order at Pica: "What are you waiting for!? Seal the room, now!"
Realizing the last Devil Fruit had vanished, Pica also sensed there was still an enemy hidden nearby—someone whose presence neither of them could detect. Without hesitation, he obeyed. His entire body merged into the stone floor as he activated the Stone-Stone Fruit and began sealing off the entire chamber.
But just as he moved, a thunderous BOOM! shook the room. The wall near the window exploded outward, leaving behind a gaping hole.
Moments later, several bombs with lit fuses rolled across the floor—landing right in front of Lao G, Wapol, and Pica.
Bombs like these carried deadly force, and from the previous blast alone, the power was clearly significant. Even Lao G and Pica didn't want to be caught in the explosion, and they quickly dodged out of the way.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of powerful explosions echoed through the chamber.
Amid the chaos, the culprit—Aaron, completely transparent—slipped through the blasted wall and out of the room.
Before leaving, Aaron drew his gun and, guided by his Observation Haki, fired a single precise shot—blowing Wapol's head apart.
Aaron's escape route had been planned long in advance. The moment he secured the Munch Munch Fruit, he had Absalom devoured—eliminating unnecessary baggage and ensuring he could continue using the Clear-Clear Fruit's powers. Then, he used a series of high-powered bombs to blow a hole in the wall and escape through it.
Beyond the wall was a sheer drop of several dozen meters with nowhere to land. A normal person would have fallen to their death—but Aaron didn't even flinch.
After free-falling for a moment, he drew his transparent blade Requiem and drove it into the wall, slowing his descent until he reached the ground safely.
With the Clear-Clear Fruit cloaking him, Aaron casually strolled past squads of soldiers rushing toward the fortress to provide reinforcements, slipping out of the Donquixote Auction House unnoticed.
As he escaped, the ground began to tremble violently. Behind him, the entire fortress started shifting—reshaping itself. A massive stone giant resembling Pica was forming.
"That's impressive," Aaron muttered with a grin as he glanced back at the towering stone monster. "Good thing I ran when I did. Facing that thing inside the fortress would've been suicide."
Turning away, he vanished again under the Clear-Clear Fruit's power, moving swiftly away from the stone colossus.
Pica's fusion with the fortress through the Stone-Stone Fruit caused panic throughout the city. Civilians screamed and fled as the raging stone giant stomped across Villia Port, turning the city center into complete chaos.
At the Akio Gang's headquarters, Akio—who had been listening to a report—heard the commotion outside. He rushed to the window and saw the enormous stone figure in the distance.
Recognizing the monster's location, his expression darkened. "That's the direction of the Donquixote Auction House," he said sharply. "Go—find out what happened there! And spread the word—we're moving to full battle readiness, Level One!"
The subordinate's face turned pale, but he immediately obeyed and hurried off.
Akio didn't stop there. He pulled out several Den Den Mushi from a drawer and began making calls one after another.
As the Akio Gang mobilized, other factions across the city did the same—dispatching spies toward the Donquixote Auction House to investigate.
The leaders of the Dars Gang and Regis Gang were especially frantic. Both knew that Gilbert had been inside the Auction House.
At the Dars Gang's headquarters near the city center, Dars watched the distant destruction, his expression stormy. "Find out if Gilbert is alive," he barked, his voice nearly a roar. "Full combat readiness—Level One!"
He already knew what had happened at the Auction House. Wapol's fate didn't concern him at all—but Gilbert's did.
Gilbert was his key ally. If something happened to him now, their carefully planned operation would be completely derailed, and their move against the Akio Gang would have to be postponed again—something Dars absolutely couldn't afford.
"Forget it," he growled. "I'll go myself. Guard our territory—and keep your eyes on the Akio Gang. The moment something unusual happens, contact me through the Den Den Mushi."
Growing increasingly uneasy, Dars decided he had to confirm Gilbert's condition personally. After all, his usual informants weren't strong enough to handle the chaos surrounding that giant stone monster.
Without another word, he transformed into his werewolf form, smashed through the window, and leapt into the sky—stepping on the air as he sped toward the massive stone figure.
Though Doflamingo was also an ally of his and Gilbert's, betrayal was second nature to pirates. Dars wasn't about to bet Gilbert's life on the Donquixote Family's loyalty.
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