章 114: Pangolin, Great Swordsman, Ancient Ability User!

The puppet quietly entered the underground palace, protected by an illusory body barrier, and leisurely observed the confrontation between Ming Ge and Solomon.

"Pressy Brontë, Zoan-type Pangolin Fruit User!"

The scale-armored creature placed his long serrated sword on the ground, staring indifferently at Ming Ge and his crew.

"By the order of His Majesty Solomon, I sentence you to death!"

The puppet, leaning at the entrance, was amused by Solomon's audacity. As for Brontë, the puppet thought, If you're going to fight, just do it—no need for the dramatic introduction.

With a thunderous crash, Brontë swung his serrated broadsword down at Ming Ge's head, but before the blow could land, a massive boulder suddenly rose up to block it.

"Crucus Stone!"

This was Pika's move. His feet melded into the earth, causing the rocky ground to erupt into eight enormous tentacles that encircled Brontë.

Unfazed, Brontë thrust his head, covered in tough scales, straight through the rock.

"I'm a pangolin! No matter how hard the rock is, I can penetrate it!"

After slicing through the rock, Brontë continued his assault on Ming Ge with his sword.

"Stonebite!"

Pika manipulated the rock to form fourteen heads resembling his own, which lunged at Brontë to bite him. But once again, Brontë easily pierced through.

"I told you, I'm a pangolin! Your abilities are useless against me!"

With his powers being countered, Pika felt a surge of frustration, but he wasn't finished. He merged his body into the ground, absorbing all the rocks on the island, and transformed into a colossal stone giant.

With a sharp roar, the entire underground palace began to collapse.

"Damn!"

The puppet, who had been enjoying the spectacle, cursed and quickly used his Earthly Immortal technique to blend into the ground. When the chaos subsided, he emerged again.

By then, the vast underground palace had vanished, leaving only the massive stone giant angrily smashing his chest. But Brontë was nowhere to be seen.

Just as Arías was trying to make sense of the situation, the stone giant suddenly crumbled again. Pika, bloodied and battered, was flung out as Brontë's sword slashed across his chest. If it weren't for Pika's weapon-hardened Haki, that blow would have been fatal.

"I told you, I'm a pangolin! No matter how hard the rock is, I can penetrate it!"

Brontë's sword showed no mercy. If this stone man wanted to block him, he would have to kill him first.

Pika's struggle caught Ming Ge off guard, prompting him to signal Diamanti.

"Half-Moon Funeral!"

Diamanti unleashed a sword technique that sent a sharp wave of energy towards Brontë, forcing him to retreat.

Solomon remained seated on his luxurious sofa, casually squeezing the plumpness of the beauties beside him as he watched the battle with calm detachment. Even after the underground palace collapsed, two more beauties emerged from the dust to clean the dirt off his body.

Diamanti, having momentarily driven Brontë back, was preparing to assist Pika when a figure suddenly appeared, moving like a phantom. With a single strike from his western blade, the figure sent Diamanti flying.

"Don't interfere with the battle over there."

The figure emerged from the dust, wearing a sharp tuxedo and white gloves, resembling a gentleman on his way to a formal event. But the sharpness in his eyes made Diamanti abandon her plan to aid Pika and focus instead on this new opponent.

Ming Ge recognized the man after a moment and sneered, "Shadowless Sword Hogel, the once world-famous swordsman, now reduced to Solomon's lackey."

Hogel remained unruffled by the taunt. "It is the greatest honor of my life to serve His Majesty."

"Doflamingo, do you think I've been hiding because I'm afraid of the strongest people in the world?"

Solomon's laughter echoed through the ruins. "I simply don't engage in meaningless disputes!"

"You want to challenge me, but you're still too young!"

"Really?" Ming Ge laughed wildly in response. "Good, good! This is the demeanor of a true king of the underworld. Show me everything you've got!"

Torrebol, the last of Ming Ge's senior cadres, fired a stream of sticky mucus at Solomon.

"Slimy Launch!"

The mucus, incredibly tough, could easily penetrate walls. If it hit someone, even if it didn't pierce through, it would immobilize them.

But suddenly, a massive figure fell from the sky—a fat man armed with a minigun. He unleashed a hail of bullets that tore through the mucus and continued to barrage Torrebol.

The bullets pierced Torrebol's slimy body, but he remained unharmed.

"How is this possible?" the fat man exclaimed in disbelief. "My gun fires Seastone bullets! Even a Logia user would be dead by now! Why are you still standing?"

Torrebol smirked, knowing that the fat man had no idea he wasn't a Logia user. His fat appearance was just a cover, his real body hidden within the mucus. Using Observation Haki, he had avoided every bullet aimed at his true body, leaving the mucus riddled with holes but him untouched.

Seeing all three of his cadres held off by the enemy, Doflamingo's calm demeanor began to falter. He frowned and unleashed a Bullet String attack at Solomon.

This time, there was no one left to protect Solomon.

The only guards remaining were the three powerful figures facing Doflamingo's crew, but Solomon had already proven himself to be as strong as any Shichibukai.

Pushing the beauties away, Solomon's body began to transform. A different type of scale, distinct from Brontë's, started covering his skin, deflecting the Bullet String with ease. The scales only bore a slight dent from the impact.

"Kid, you want to challenge me? You're not qualified yet!"

Solomon pulled a massive mountain-breaking ax from behind the sofa. His face elongated, his skin turned black and green, and a long, scale-covered tail extended from his backside.

"I possess the powers of the Ancient Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Crocodile!"

He roared and swung the axe down with tremendous force.

Ming Ge quickly wove silk threads, hardening them with Armament Haki to block the attack.

Clang!

The giant ax cut through countless layers of defense, almost unstoppable.

"Spider's Web Wall!"

Using the remains of the underground palace, Doflamingo created a spider web woven from silk threads to intercept the ax. The web only held for a moment before shattering, but it had absorbed enough of the ax's force to neutralize the attack.

For now, Brother Ming was not yet at the peak of his strength, having not completed his Devil Fruit awakening. Controlling the underworld was proving more difficult than he had imagined.