June 5, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Vidar Lund, transformed into a gigantic wooden golem, hurled a punch at Doflamingo, who simply used his strings to soar into the air and dodge it. At the same time, the Warlord began gathering his threads into thicker cords, rubbing them together at high speed.
In just a few instants, his strings heated up and burst into ignition. Then, moving at full speed, Doflamingo appeared before the colossal wooden golem, unleashing a blazing attack with his threads.
"Overheat!"
The cords shot forward with brutal force and sliced through the golem without the slightest resistance, setting it ablaze in the process and forcing Vice Admiral Lund to abandon his ostentatious giant armor in order to escape.
Being a Logia user of a Devil Fruit whose powers revolved around wood and vegetation, Vidar Lund had developed a certain resistance to fire as part of his basic training, but before attacks of this caliber there was absolutely no way he could prevent his powers from collapsing.
Doflamingo's attack not only wielded the power of fire, but was also coated in Armament Haki, which made it far more destructive than any ordinary strike.
Vidar Lund landed near his burning golem, and Doflamingo appeared beside him to finish him off, but at that exact moment Orion stepped in his path, smashing the Warlord in the face with a powerful punch while wearing his Kairoseki gloves.
Doflamingo's smiling face twisted under the force of Orion's blow, and the pirate was sent flying into the distance, crashing into one of the rocky cliffs nearby.
"Are you okay?" Orion asked, glancing in the direction where Doflamingo had been sent flying, fully aware that the pirate would immediately resume his violent assault.
"Yes, it takes more than that to injure me. Even without your intervention, I would have been fine," the stern vice admiral replied as he generated new trees to extinguish the flames consuming his golem by eliminating the surrounding oxygen.
"I have a powerful technique that can take out Doflamingo, but I need you to buy me some time to prepare it. Can you do that?" Orion asked, looking at the marine.
"No problem. I can't defeat him, but keeping him occupied won't be an issue," Lund answered.
"All right, keep an eye out for this signal," Orion said with a nod, raising his hand and forming an "ok" gesture by joining his index finger and thumb while leaving the other three fingers unmoving.
Doflamingo emerged from beneath the chunks of rock that had buried him after smashing into the cliff, sending massive stones flying into the sky. Then, still wearing his deranged smile, he extended several threads to seize those rocks and hurled them toward Orion and Lund in an attempt to distract them from his movements.
Had they been fighting a one-on-one battle, this maneuver would have been highly effective—just as it had been earlier when he used it against Orion. However, now that two people were fighting him at once, catching them off guard with this method was far more difficult.
Taking a step forward, Orion opened his Pocket Dimension, absorbing all the rocks without the slightest issue, while Lund advanced toward Doflamingo once more, clad in wooden armor—although this time it was much smaller in size, allowing him to move much faster.
Bang!
The pirate and the marine collided with tremendous force, generating a massive shockwave as trees sprouted around them and were immediately sliced apart by the strings invading the entire area. The battle between these two men was, without a doubt, one of creation versus destruction in the most literal sense.
Even so, Vidar Lund was slightly weaker than Doflamingo, and little by little he began losing ground in the midst of the intense exchange of blows with the pirate.
"Hahahaha! Lund, I didn't expect you to have so much vitality! After so many years keeping a low profile, you must have been desperate to catch me, weren't you?!" Doflamingo taunted as he increased the intensity of his attacks, forcing Vidar Lund to retreat further and further.
The vice admiral, however, did not respond to Doflamingo's words, focusing entirely on avoiding being sliced by the countless strings flying around him.
He had been undercover, acting as a corrupt marine within the Underworld's ranks for a long time, and one of his primary targets was indeed Doflamingo. This was because the Warlord was a special existence, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku believed he was capable of destabilizing the entire world and triggering a great tragedy.
For that reason, Sengoku had not only sent Vidar Lund on this undercover mission, but had deployed at least three other elite agents like him to work exclusively on the Doflamingo case.
Although this number might seem unimpressive at first glance, it had to be remembered that Lund was not just another vice admiral within the navy—his name ranked among the candidates for the soon-to-be-vacant admiral position. This meant that he possessed at least pseudo-admiral-level power, which spoke volumes about the importance Sengoku attributed to Doflamingo and the danger the pirate posed to the world.
Having four individuals of admiral-candidate caliber working on the matter was truly the limit of what Sengoku could mobilize "in secret."
Vidar Lund even knew that Sengoku was training a particular Marine to insert him into the surveillance mission on Doflamingo, and this young man even had a close blood relationship with the pirate, which made him the perfect candidate for a direct infiltration.
Now that he had been discovered by the very enemy he was supposed to spy on in secret, Vidar Lund was prepared to put his life on the line in order to obtain any kind of positive result. If working together with Orion they could defeat Doflamingo or at least inflict significant damage upon him, that would be the best possible outcome.
However, he also understood that this was the most optimistic scenario, and he was prepared to end his own life should he be defeated here by the pirate, so as to avoid being tortured and exposing the other Marine agents working on the case.
While Vidar Lund was locked in an intense fight with Doflamingo, Orion had kept his distance, watching the battle as he prepared his strongest attack: Door Collapse.
This technique truly had the power to destroy everything around it, since it could collapse space itself; yet it came with two big drawbacks, that made it extremely difficult to activate. Not only did it require a very long preparation time, making it impossible to use in a normal one-on-one battle, but it also consumed a massive amount of energy, leaving him completely exhausted.
He would only have one chance to launch this attack, so he had to make absolutely sure he did not fail when the time came.
With his forehead marked by veins swollen from the effort he was making, Orion activated his Prism Eyes and his Observation Haki, studying Doflamingo carefully as he searched for the perfect moment to strike.
However, what he saw the instant his Prism Eyes activated caused his face to turn pale: Vidar Lund was fighting a clone made of strings.
If Orion had not used his Prism Eyes and had relied solely on Observation Haki, he would never have noticed the deception, since the clone contained Doflamingo's life force, making it extremely convincing to the senses.
Only someone like Shanks or Lucky Roux—masters of Observation Haki—would have been able to detect the Warlord's trick, which made Orion quite fortunate to possess special abilities that could assist him in combat.
Yet now a new question arose: if Lund was fighting a clone, where was the real Doflamingo?
Looking toward the distant cliff, Orion remembered that Doflamingo had taken several moments to emerge from beneath the rocks that had crushed him, which had allowed him to speak with the Vice Admiral and coordinate the final attack.
Orion hadn't given the matter much thought at the time, but now that he had new information, there was something undeniably suspicious about the amount of time Doflamingo had taken to return to the battle.
Immediately, Orion made an important decision and dispelled the Door Collapse technique he had been preparing. At this moment, his main objective was no longer to ready a final attack, but to avoid being killed by a moment of carelessness. He needed to preserve as much mobility as possible—there would be time later to consider an offensive.
As soon as he dissipated his most powerful special ability, Orion's mind relaxed significantly, allowing him to activate his Observation Haki more fluidly, which, in effect, saved his life.
A chilling sensation ran through his entire body, and without wasting even an instant he used Soru to leap away from the place where he had been standing, activating his Space Door at the same time in an attempt to flee into his Pocket Dimension.
Several strings shot up from the ground without warning, erupting exactly where he had been a moment earlier, and they destroyed his Space Door before he could step through into the other dimension.
He already knew that Doflamingo's strings coated in Armament Haki were special, capable of affecting even spatial abilities, so he wasn't surprised to see his Space Door collapse. He simply sighed in relief for having evaded the Warlord's lethal strike.
"Tch. You're more perceptive than I expected. It would've been lovely to see you impaled right now," Doflamingo said with a twisted smile as he emerged from underground to attack Orion.
In the distance, Vidar Lund had finally destroyed the string clone and rushed back toward Orion and Doflamingo to rejoin the fight.
Just then, Vergo—who until now had been searching for the Ope Ope no Mi among the containers filled with fruits—appeared beside Doflamingo and said,
"Doffy, I found the Ope Ope no Mi."
The Warlord's stern subordinate raised his hand and revealed a red, heart-shaped fruit adorned with the classic circular patterns present in all Devil Fruits.
When he saw the fruit he had sought for so long in his subordinate's hands, Doflamingo's triumphant smile broadened. With the power of this fruit, he could perform the procedure to become immortal, and once he achieved that, he could then go and steal Marie Geoise's national treasure.
Once he got his hands on that mysterious book capable of granting all kinds of powers, he would be the one to control the world, shaping it to his liking in the future.
The brilliant future he had dreamed of ever since the tragic events of his childhood flooded Doflamingo's mind, filling him with euphoric exhilaration.
Even so, the pirate knew that this was not the moment to indulge in daydreams, since he first needed to secure the Ope Ope no Mi and eliminate the two pests standing before him.
"Vergo, return to the base with the Ope Ope no Mi. I'll head over once I'm done with this trash," said Doflamingo with complete confidence.
They were currently within Whitebeard's territory, so lingering here for too long was not advisable if they wanted to avoid trouble.
To begin with, the reason he had chosen this place to carry out the transaction with the mercenaries was because he knew Lund was a traitor, and he wanted to limit the Marines' involvement in the matter.
Doflamingo's plan had always been to kill Vice Admiral Lund, and choosing this island was simply a way to ensure that no one would interrupt him while he did so. After all, the Marines would never dare enter Whitebeard's territory openly unless they wished to start a war.
While it was true that the legendary pirate couldn't control everything that happened within his vast domain, this particular sector was under the authority of the famous pirate Whitey Bay, which meant the security here was somewhat stricter.
Now that they had finally obtained the Ope Ope no Mi, the best move was to secure it immediately while he took care of eliminating Lund and Orion. That was the most effective plan, and despite his wild appearance, Doflamingo was a very meticulous man in his actions.
Upon hearing his captain's words, Vergo nodded firmly without hesitation and, without uttering a single word, began sprinting at full speed toward the horizon, vanishing without leaving a trace. Even though he did not possess a movement technique like Soru, his natural speed was incredible.
Both Vidar Lund and Orion tried to intercept Vergo's escape, but they were stopped by a wall of strings that cut off their path before they could advance too far.
"Where do you think you're going? We still have unfinished business to settle here," said Doflamingo, surrounding the entire area with his strings, trapping his two enemies inside a massive birdcage.
Orion clenched his fists tightly, thinking that, after all, he would not be able to prevent the Ope Ope no Mi from slipping through his fingers after so much time searching for it.
However, just when he was prepared to cast aside his regrets and focus entirely on Doflamingo, the voice of Vice Admiral Vidar Lund resonated beside him.
"Go after the Ope Ope no Mi. Don't let it fall into their hands," said the vice admiral with his usual seriousness.
Orion raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked,
"If I go after Vergo, what will happen to you?"
Orion knew Vidar Lund was no match for Doflamingo on his own, so if he left… the vice admiral would likely meet a tragic end, and Lund himself knew this.
"Don't worry. From the very beginning, I was prepared to die if it meant maintaining peace in the world and serving justice," replied Lund with a faint smile.
This was the first time Orion had ever seen the austere man show any expression at all, much less smile. Looking at that small smile illuminated by the midday sun, Orion couldn't help but think that the Marines weren't entirely bad.
Just as his wife Christina Kelly had told him on several occasions, while it was true that the Marines were full of corrupt officers and that the institution itself was rotten, it was also an organization filled with noble people willing to risk their lives for others.
In this world, not everything was simply black or white, and most people lived within the shades in between.
Taking a deep breath, Orion looked firmly at the resolute Vice Admiral Lund, as if wanting to engrave his expression of that moment into his memory, and finally nodded, saying,
"I'll recover the Ope Ope no Mi and come back to help you with Doflamingo."
Vidar Lund nodded once more, still wearing that faint smile, and added,
"In any case, if you see Sengoku… tell him I don't regret the choices I made in my life."
Orion said nothing else, and with a leap he used Geppo and Soru simultaneously, darting through the air.
"Where do you think you're going?!" shouted Doflamingo, utterly enraged when he saw Orion turn his back on him, and with a precise movement he sent ten thick cords composed of countless strings shooting out from each of his fingers.
Orion sensed Doflamingo's attack closing in, yet he made no move to defend himself, knowing that Lund was covering his back.
Just as he expected, a gigantic tree, one that could rival the great Tree of Knowledge of Ohara in size, suddenly appeared, blocking Doflamingo's attack successfully. After repelling it, the tree did not cease its growth, eventually crashing against the ceiling of the massive birdcage—although it couldn't break it.
"Your enemy is me, Doflamingo," said Vidar Lund, tossing his vice admiral coat off to the side.
"You think you can defeat me in battle?" asked Doflamingo as large veins bulged across his forehead, revealing his anger.
"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" said Vidar Lund, showing another faint smile.
Then he lifted his arms, and countless trees began to sprout throughout the area at great speed, filling the immense birdcage with vegetation.
Doflamingo had no intention of letting the vice admiral delay him here while Orion went after Vergo, so he immediately decided to use all his power to eliminate Lund as quickly as possible.
The fight between the two powerful men began with brutal violence, as both unleashed their most devastating attacks, resulting in massive destruction across the island's terrain, which kept shifting constantly due to the new trees sprouting from the ground and the threads coated in Armament Haki that were capable of cutting through anything in their path.
Meanwhile, Orion reached the edge of the great Birdcage and managed to escape it without any trouble by using his Pocket Dimension. Once he was outside the cage, he opened the system map and saw Vergo's current position, noticing that he was advancing at full speed, getting farther and farther away from the island.
Without hesitating for even a second, Orion used his usual Soru + Pocket Dimension combo and began to pursue Doflamingo's subordinate. His goal was to retrieve the Ope Ope no Mi and return as soon as possible to assist Vidar Lund, since the vice admiral would not be able to hold out for long fighting Doflamingo on his own.
Even so, if the opportunity presented itself, Orion also wanted to eliminate Vergo in order to further weaken Doflamingo's forces.
Running at full speed, Orion needed only a few minutes to catch up to Vergo, who was swimming across the waters of the New World and generating large waves, creating a rather impressive scene when viewed from above, where Orion was positioned.
Even so, the method Vergo had chosen to flee the area was considerably inefficient compared to Orion's Soru + Pocket Dimension combo, although the pirate had no other option available at the moment.
He could not use Rokushiki like Orion, and traveling by ship on his own would be impossible without a crew, so the best he could do was simply swim away from the area and later decide how to proceed.
Unfortunately for him, as long as he remained within the system's identification range, Orion would be able to locate him no matter how much he tried to hide, which was one of the most useful functions of the system.
Drawing his cutlass, Orion used Soru to descend at full speed toward Vergo, thus beginning a new battle for the Ope Ope no Mi.