Three Cards

Dressrosa reels from the explosion and the sudden public fall of Law. Citizens and fighters piece together what happened: "Dressrosa was in such a panic!" "So that's what happened!!" "Thank goodness!!" But the relief is short-lived. Luffy sees Law taken down and screams, "Oi!! Mingo!!" and then, furious, "How dare you do that to Tora-man!!!" Doflamingo, standing amid the wreckage, turns the moment into propaganda. He apologizes for the disturbance and announces that Law is the Shichibukai Trafalgar Law, the perpetrator behind the misprint of his abdication that morning. He claims Law tried to yank him down from his throne, but failed. Then Doflamingo tells Luffy that Law was originally one of his men and that he is the one who had to set things right.

Doflamingo's men move immediately: "Yin!! Carry Tora-man away!!" Marines ask Vice Admiral Bastille whether they should capture the Pirate Hunter, but Bastille orders, "Hold your positions." Through the Den Den Mushi, the Straw Hats demand an explanation: "Hey!! Explain to us what's going on there!!" They learn that Law-dono was felled before their very eyes by Doflamingo. Kin'emon recognizes the danger: "The 'Pirate Hunter'... and 'Kin'emon of the Foxfire' is it?" Doflamingo notices Momonosuke on the Sunny and smiles, realizing the boy who looked like Wano nobility is also aboard. Zoro and Kin'emon swear they will not hand Law over, while Doflamingo laughs, already seeing more pieces on the board.

Zoro and Kin'emon launch themselves into the fight to stop Law from being taken. Zoro's swords clash hard against Doflamingo's threads, while Kin'emon rushes in with his blade. The impact throws force across the square. Fujitora watches and recognizes Zoro's resolve, but refuses to reveal everything: "It is for both our sakes... That I will not say." Zoro's expression hardens as he realizes the blind admiral is not a simple bystander. The page turns into a layered standoff: Doflamingo is moving Law, Zoro is trying to cut through, Kin'emon is trying to protect the plan, and Fujitora's silence suggests that he is following a purpose of his own.

Fujitora's power slams into the battlefield. Zoro and Kin'emon are struck away as gravity and force tear through the square. The Den Den Mushi line erupts in alarm: "What happened to Zoro!? Kinemon!!" and "Zoro-dono has...!!" Kin'emon cries out, "Zoro-dono!?" as Zoro is sent flying. The attack makes the admiral's presence undeniable. Doflamingo's men and the Marines keep their positions while Luffy, still behind the colosseum bars, hears his allies being thrown back. What had been a direct rescue attempt becomes a disaster in seconds, because the Straw Hats are not only facing Doflamingo; they are facing the power of a Marine admiral as well.

Zoro is hurled through the air, but he is still conscious. He coughs and crashes, while the others cry, "Zoro!!!" and "Kinemon!" Zoro answers through the chaos, "I'll be right there...!!" then tries to orient himself: "But... this is Seastone, isn't it..." The detail matters because the colosseum's bars and structure are not ordinary obstacles. Luffy and the others are trapped behind material that blocks Devil Fruit escape and slows any clean rescue. Zoro's pain is real, Kin'emon's alarm is real, and Law is still being carried away, yet Zoro's first instinct is still to rejoin the others. The Straw Hats' rescue attempt has failed for the moment, but their will has not broken.

The Marines and pirates finally grasp who struck Zoro. A tremendous flying slash has torn across the square, and the watching Marines shout for Issho: "Isshou-san!!" "Admiral-dono!!!" Someone calls the attack "A flying slash... How ferocious..." Zoro, recovering with swords in hand, recognizes the opponent properly: "So the old blind gambler... was really a Marine admiral!!" Kin'emon checks on him through the line: "Kin'emon-san!! Are you alright!?" Zoro breathes hard and asks whether they got Kin'emon, too. The truth settles across the battlefield: the blind man who seemed like a wandering gambler is Admiral Fujitora, and he is now openly blocking their path.

Fujitora explains his position with grave courtesy. Luffy reacts in shock: "An admiral!!?" Fujitora says, "I fear that although your party treated me with kindness earlier... I must now bite the hand that fed me... Such are the workings of fate...!!" On the Sunny side of the call, the crew panics at the news: "A Marine admiral, that he is!!" "Here's an admiral on Dressrosa right now!?" They ask whether Doflamingo could be allied with the Marines, and if so, whether they are facing far more enemies than expected. The page makes the danger spread beyond the plaza. Doflamingo, Law, Fujitora, the Marines, and the Sunny are now tied into the same crisis.

As Doflamingo carries the wounded Law away, the Straw Hats shout into the Den Den Mushi: "Law-dono!! Law-dono!!" and "How are both of you flying!? Do you still draw breath!!? Please respond!!" Doflamingo laughs in the distance while Fujitora says they will talk more at the palace. He tells Doflamingo that if he cooperates, he will give him "these brats' heads," but first he will listen to what Doflamingo has to say and then make a decision. The two powers rise above the battlefield with Law hanging helpless between them. For Luffy's side, the rescue window is closing; for Doflamingo, the palace is the next stage where he intends to control the explanation.

The plaza erupts as the Marines act. They shout, "Capture Roronoa Zoro!!" while Zoro and Kin'emon realize Law has been taken away. Luffy yells for Tora-man from behind the bars, and the group admits they are exposed. Zoro decides, "Let's get out of here for now!!" as Marines rush in. Then a new call breaks through: Brook's group is in trouble. The voice from the Sunny screams, "Gyahhhhh!!" and "The Sunny-go!! What's going on!?" At the colosseum, Zoro orders Luffy to hurry and find an exit, because Tora-man's voice has not disappeared yet. The Straw Hats are split between two emergencies: Law being carried to the palace and the Sunny suddenly under attack.

The danger at sea is revealed in full: Big Mom's pirate ship bears down on the Thousand Sunny. The crew stares in terror: "It's Big Mom's... pirate ship!!!" and "Why is a Yonkou's ship here!?" The figurehead even seems to sing, "Shuup shuup," making the monstrous ship feel alive. Sanji and the others realize Big Mom may be aboard, and the ship's forces confirm their target. They tell Mama that they have confirmed Caesar is on the Sunny and declare that, as expected, they had him all along. For the time being, they plan to sink the ship and pull up only Caesar. The Straw Hats understand the third crisis: Doflamingo has Law, Dressrosa has the Marines, and Big Mom has arrived for Caesar.

Caesar panics the moment Big Mom's crew closes in. He screams, "Please save me!!!" and insists, "I mustn't be captured by Big Mom!!" When Sanji asks what he did, Caesar confesses, "I once... tricked her in order to acquire research funds...!!" He brushes off the details, but admits that if they catch him, he will surely be exposed as a liar and killed. Then he turns selfish again: "As if I care about your shitty life!! But there's no way we're handing you over!! So just shut up!!" The enemy ship prepares to fire. Cannons aim at the Sunny, and the crew realizes, "They're getting ready to fire on us!!" The chase turns immediately into artillery fire across the sea.

Luffy tries to respond to every crisis at once, but Sanji forces him to think strategically. Luffy shouts to deal with Big Mom's ship one at a time, but Sanji says they need to get far away from Dressrosa and lose the pursuers. He warns that drawing a Yonkou any closer to Dressrosa would make the citizens panic and throw the soldiers' battle plans into chaos. Then the group notices Caesar aboard and asks why he is on the ship. Sanji explains that Law told them to bring Caesar to the next island, so they took him. Nami adds the key point: there are now three "cards" they are struggling against Doflamingo for: Caesar, the SMILE factory, and Momonosuke. She tells Luffy they should not return, not because she is afraid, but because protecting those cards matters.

Nami completes the logic of Law's sacrifice. The SMILE factory has not been destroyed yet, so that card is still Doflamingo's, but the other two cards are here on the Sunny. Law's fight with Doflamingo was merely a decoy so they could get Caesar and Momonosuke far away from him, and he was also buying time for the factory's destruction. Nami says Tora-man went that far to protect these cards, so delivering them right back into the enemy's hand would never repay his efforts. Her words reach Luffy. Law did not simply lose a duel; he shielded the strategy with his body. The crew understands that the right way to help him is not to rush backward blindly, but to keep the cards away from Doflamingo.

Luffy accepts the strategy without abandoning Law. Looking toward the palace, he says, "That's right, got it!! We're definitely gonna... steal back Tora-man!!!" Then he turns to the Sunny team: "Sanji!! Nami!! Chopper!! Brook!! Momo!! Keep on heading for Zou!!" When asked what the next island is, someone answers, "It is Zou, that it is!!" The Sunny crew acknowledges the order. But Sanji asks permission for one thing: "Allow me... to fire back at Big Mom's ship!!" The request stuns the others, because the point is to escape, yet Sanji is not willing to simply be shelled. The plan becomes clear: the Sunny will run toward Zou with Caesar and Momonosuke, while Luffy's side will recover Law.

Sanji's request receives the only answer he needs. As Big Mom's enormous ship surges after the Sunny, Luffy says, "Ah, sure thing!!" The others panic that they have already picked that fight and that it is far too dangerous, but Sanji grins because danger is already unavoidable: "Heh heh, you bet it is!!" Luffy says they will be waiting at Zou, and Sanji answers, "See you guys later, then!!" The split crew commits to both missions at once. Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Momonosuke will carry the cards away; Luffy, Zoro, Kin'emon, Franky, Robin, and Usopp will handle Dressrosa. Franky roars, "Leave the destruction of that factory to us!!!" while the others shout, "Stay safe, everyone!!"

The chapter closes on the two chosen paths. The Sunny crew will be heading for the palace's distant goal, while the Dressrosa side declares what they will be doing: "To kick Doflamingo's ass!!!" The Toy Soldier, Robin, and the others face the palace where Doflamingo waits, and Luffy's expression hardens into decision. Opposite him, Doflamingo's grin looms with the caption naming him "An evil deserving of a good beatdown!!" The three cards have defined the battlefield: Caesar, the SMILE factory, and Momonosuke must be kept from Doflamingo, while Law must be stolen back. The Straw Hats split because the situation demands it, but every route now points toward the same enemy.

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