This time, the Donquixote Family had mobilized their full force.
With such strength, defending their three sailing ships from cannon fire should have been an easy task.
But this time, something was different.
Because...
These cannon shells were way too fast!
And the worst part? You couldn't even intercept them at close range!
Just moments ago, Lao G had tried exactly that. He struck a shell mid-air—but the terrifying explosion that followed blasted him straight into the sea.
It wasn't just close-range interception that failed. Even trying to block them from a distance didn't work.
The blast radius was devastating—enough to injure anyone within ten to twenty meters. And that was only because people in this world had strong physical constitutions. If not...
The damage could've been much worse.
As a result, interception rates plummeted.
Boom!
A cannon shell pierced through layers of defense and slammed into one of the sailing ships.
In an instant, the vessel was blown in half.
The situation—
Was dire.
---
Meanwhile, Doflamingo finally caught sight of the attackers.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
What the hell is that?
Four ironclad warships, lined up neatly, loomed in the distance.
Each one was equipped with two sets of terrifying dual-barrel heavy cannons, unleashing a relentless barrage.
For a moment, Doflamingo thought he was hallucinating. He even removed his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes.
But the sight remained unchanged.
He was stunned.
Only for a moment, though. He snapped back to reality quickly.
His family was under heavy fire. He had no time to gawk.
Using the power of the String-String Fruit, he zipped through the air like a swinging pendulum, gaining speed rapidly.
Within three minutes, he had closed the gap—
To less than two kilometers.
Now, he could clearly see the uniforms worn by those aboard the warships.
Jun Lin's soldiers?!
So they were planning to hunt him instead?
How ironic. He had come to this auction expecting to ambush them. Yet they were the ones who set the trap.
But in the end... guns are still just guns. No matter how powerful—
As long as he eliminated the people using them, it would all be over.
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes behind his shades, a dangerous gleam flashing.
Just then, fire erupted from the warships.
Dozens of shells soared toward him like a vast, deadly net.
Of course, this wasn't an issue for someone like Doflamingo.
He wasn't some novice in Observation Haki who could only sense living beings. No—he could perceive any threat directed at him.
Be it person or projectile.
With the slightest shift—barely even a meter—he avoided the trajectories of every incoming shell.
But what he didn't know...
Was that these shells weren't normal.
They were equipped with proximity fuses.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom...!
Explosions erupted in rapid succession, engulfing him in a storm of fire and shockwaves.
Only after several dozen seconds did the smoke begin to clear, revealing the aftermath.
Thick threads twisted and coiled like a cocoon, shielding Doflamingo inside.
But these weren't ordinary threads—
They shimmered with an inky black sheen.
He had infused them with Armament Haki.
Even Hina, watching from the warship's command deck, couldn't help but be impressed.
"This guy's battlefield instincts... are top-tier."
From the moment the proximity fuses triggered to the actual detonation, Doflamingo had less than 0.01 seconds.
And yet, he managed to react in time—and survive.
"Don't give him a single opening!" Hina barked into the voice snail. "All auxiliary cannons, maintain fire! CIWS machine guns—begin full suppressive barrage!"
She then turned to her communicator.
"Ian, is Baby 5 ready?"
Regular fire could suppress Doflamingo, sure—but to take him out?
Hina wasn't so optimistic.
She needed a trump card.
And that card was—
Baby 5.
For Branch 157, Baby 5's Devil Fruit ability was nothing short of cheating.
After all, once she understood the design of a particular weapon...
She could become it.
Even weapons that current technology—like Seras's—couldn't produce?
Her fruit had no such limitations.
"Ready, Commander!" came Baby 5's firm response.
"Then launch!"
"Understood!"
---
The thunder of artillery continued without pause.
Machine guns roared in between.
Doflamingo still hadn't dropped his defense.
He had no choice but to endure.
On one of the warships, Baby 5 stood at the bow.
Both her arms had transformed into massive, complex devices.
To most people in this world, they looked like oversized metal boxes—nothing out of the ordinary.
But if Luo Lan were here, he'd have recognized them instantly.
Vertical Launch Systems.
Stuff from his previous life.
Just what had Seras taught her?
And come to think of it—didn't one country in Luo Lan's world use deck-mounted launchers instead of embedding them?
It looked weird back then, too.
Now Baby 5's setup?
It had the same vibe.
"Wife, Commander Hina gave the order—fire now. Are you... okay with this?"
Ian was hesitant.
After all, Doflamingo had once been Baby 5's young master.
"No problem at all, hubby!"
Their vocabulary had clearly changed under Luo Lan's influence—hubby and wifey all day long.
Baby 5 nodded firmly.
Then, with a deep breath, she fired.
A sharp, elongated missile launched from the first vertical system.
Fire ignited at its tail, propelling it high into the sky—straight toward Doflamingo.
A second. A third.
One after another, missiles rocketed upward.
By the time the thirty-second missile launched, Baby 5 dropped to one knee, panting heavily.
The more complex the weapon, the more energy her fruit consumed.
Creating two massive vertical launchers and firing 32 high-powered missiles?
She was completely drained.
---
Inside his cocoon of hardened threads and Armament Haki...
Doflamingo's expression was dark.
He hadn't been in such a sorry state since that one battle with Tsuru all those years ago.
Damn Jun Lin... how the hell are their weapons so powerful?
He had nearly reached his limit.
But still...
He was holding on.
Barely.
Suddenly, he felt it.
A tremor in his Observation Haki.
Danger.
Real, mortal danger.
But what was it?
There was no time to think.
The first missile slammed into his cocoon.
Its destructive power far exceeded that of naval cannons.
The cocoon was instantly torn apart.
Then came the second missile.
The third...
All the way to the thirty-second.
The sky turned red with flames.
And from within it, a scorched figure fell...
Crashing hard into the sea.