Chapter 100: Poison Gas
> "What's wrong, brat? Afraid to land?"
From the cliffs of Dressrosa, Donquixote Doflamingo smirked and shouted down at the Spade Pirates, still aboard their flagship.
Ace grinned coolly at the provocation.
> "Tch. Such a low-level taunt isn't your usual style, Joker.
What trap did you lay this time? Let me guess…"
Ace's eyes narrowed.
> "I've heard your scientist, Caesar Clown, recently developed a new poison gas weapon… 'KORO,' wasn't it?
Is that what you're using here?"
> "It's indiscriminate, after all. And your men aren't wearing masks.
So what, you're using them as bait?"
Doflamingo's smirk twitched—but he didn't reply. He didn't need to. His silence said enough.
> "Not exactly subtle either. That's not even your real body, is it?"
Ace's eyes locked onto Doflamingo's figure on the cliff.
"A clone made of threads, right? Using it to provoke me into charging… so you can trigger a poison gas trap and end the battle in one move. All while sacrificing your disposable soldiers."
> "As expected of Heavenly Yaksha. Ruthless."
The soldiers around Doflamingo looked visibly shaken.
> "What?! We're bait?!"
They stared at the man they served, waiting for a denial that never came.
Far above on King's Plateau, the real Doflamingo grimaced as he listened via Den Den Mushi.
Seated across from him, a hulking man with a silver-blond mane laughed loudly.
> "Fwahaha! Joker, that brat just exposed your whole plan!"
The speaker was Jack the Drought, one of the Three Disasters of the Beasts Pirates, sent by Kaido to assist Doflamingo.
> "I told you, tactics are useless. Strength is everything. Let me crush that Fire Fist brat myself!"
Jack stood, prepared to walk straight into the fight.
> "Relax, Jack. Let's enjoy the show,"
Doflamingo said, holding him back with a smile.
"The whole world is watching. If it ends too soon, wouldn't it be boring?"
> "Everything's under control. That kid can't escape his fate today."
---
On the battlefield, the Thread Clone—"Black Knight"—lunged toward the Spade.
But—
> WHOOSH!
A figure leapt from the deck.
> "Sky Sword Style: Third Form – Thunder Flash!"
In an instant, a brilliant streak of lightning split the clone in half. The threads unraveled midair and dispersed like dust.
> "What a dazzling slash! That's Kukai, the Sky Swordsman and one of Ace's right-hand men!"
> "He got the king!"
> "No, idiot! That was a clone!"
But—
> "Something's falling from it!"
A metallic canister dropped from the dissolving clone.
On it: the word KORO.
> BOOM!
It detonated midair, releasing a thick purple gas that rapidly spread toward the ship.
But Ace didn't flinch.
He calmly drew out a large white shell and held it toward the spreading mist.
> FWOOOOOSH!
The poisonous cloud was sucked into the shell, vanishing in a vortex of suction. The wind cleared.
> "That's… a Sky Island Wind Dial?"
> "No, it's even stronger—A Breath Dial!"
> "He absorbed all of it!"
Ace had brought the rare Sky Island shell—capable of storing and releasing hurricanes—and used it to absorb the gas completely.
---
On the coast, Dressrosa's soldiers stared in horror.
> "That gas… it was real poison."
> "We were inside its range! If Ace hadn't stopped it…"
> "Was Joker… really going to gas us too?"
> "We're… we're nothing but bait to him?"
Their faces twisted in realization.
Then—
> "He doesn't care about your lives. He never did!"
A booming voice rang out. A burly man stepped forward, wielding a massive meteor hammer.
> "Pirate or not, Doflamingo only sees you as tools to be discarded!"
Gasps echoed.
> "That's… that's Tank Lepanto!"
> "The former Captain of the Royal Army under King Riku!"
Doflamingo may have ruled Dressrosa for nearly a decade, but many of his soldiers were leftovers from the Riku dynasty, and many recognized Tank Lepanto, who once served King Riku loyally.
> "Soldiers of Dressrosa!" Tank shouted.
"Open your eyes! You serve a tyrant who treats you like cannon fodder!
Join me! Help restore the Riku Family and free Dressrosa!"
His voice cut through the chaos like a sword.
---
> "But… King Riku is dead…"
murmured one hesitant soldier.
Tank looked him straight in the eye.
> "No. King Riku lives. And so does his family.
They've been hiding in Dressrosa, waiting for this moment—
the moment to reclaim our kingdom from the pirate who stole it."
---