Chapter 49: The Curtain Rises

Boom!

The fireplace wall exploded, and a large mass of sticky white substance shot out, heading straight for Gluss and Kujaku.

Kujaku was about to do something when he felt himself being pushed aside by Gluss.

"This guy's Devil Fruit ability is strange. If you get caught, it's hard to escape. You go first! I'll hold him off!"

Gluss grabbed the sofa he had been sitting on and threw it at the incoming sticky substance.

Bang! The sofa shattered into pieces, scattering wood fragments everywhere.

The white substance continued its assault, undeterred.

Gluss quickly bent down, pressing his hands on the ground. The carpet lifted, and the floor beneath rapidly stacked up to form a mud wall.

"Mud Wall!"

Boom! The white sticky substance struck the rising mud wall and was finally stopped.

Seeing this, Kujaku dashed towards the figure that had emerged from the shattered fireplace.

She whipped out her long whip and lashed out fiercely.

"What a violent woman."

Snap.

Kujaku smiled with satisfaction when she saw her whip had struck a man wearing a metal mask and covered in heavy metal clothing.

"As long as I can turn the enemy into an ally, this battle is still winnable!"

Kujaku was confident in her ability.

Although her Whip-Whip Fruit ability might sound a bit odd, its actual power was far greater than it seemed.

Enemies struck by her whip would temporarily turn into allies, unable to resist her commands, and would follow her orders.

This mental subjugation depended on various factors, such as the enemy's strength, willpower, and Haki.

Even more terrifying was that this control was not limited to living beings but could also affect inanimate objects.

Thus, even if the enemy blocked her whip with metal clothing, she could use her ability to move the metal away and then attack their body.

A sneer appeared on Gladius's face under the mask. His clothes, struck by Kujaku's whip, indeed began to writhe as if trying to escape.

But in the next moment, his entire right arm swelled crazily, turning into a balloon, aiming at the airborne Kujaku.

"Black Feather Explosion!"

Gluss was alarmed, "Dodge quickly! His body will explode!"

Before he could finish speaking, Gladius's right hand exploded with a loud bang, sending a violent shockwave towards Kujaku.

Boom! A strong wind swept through the royal palace, causing the entire hall to tremble.

"Iron Body!"

Kujaku barely managed to shield herself with her arms when the shockwave hit, sending her crashing through the wall behind her.

"I told you to escape first! These guys are incredibly strong! That's how they captured me."

Gluss rushed anxiously towards where Kujaku had been thrown.

"Behihi, it looks like the good show arranged by Ilia is about to begin. I wonder if the Young Master has arrived yet."

From the shattered fireplace emerged a hunchbacked old man, covered in sticky substance, leaning on a cane.

Behind him were a man and a woman.

On the left was Gladius in his heavy metal attire.

On the right was Baby 5, dressed in a maid outfit with a rocket launcher on her back.

Gladius looked down from the broken wall and saw a group of people running across the empty palace hall below.

"Should we kill them now or wait for the Young Master to arrive?"

Trebol sniffed his sticky nose.

"Behihi, the main forces of the navy are still fighting that bug in the city. The ones here are just some insignificant characters. Killing or severely injuring them won't matter."

"By the way, Law has appeared too. It's a joyous occasion. The Young Master has been searching for him for years, and it turns out he's been in the North Sea all along."

"Law? Where is he? I haven't seen him for years. I'll catch him and bring him back to the Donquixote family!"

Baby 5's eyes sparkled with delight, and a sweet smile appeared on her face.

"Don't worry, this is the real stage for the drama. The performers will gather here soon, it just needs a bit of time."

They walked to the window and looked down at the stone bridge, where the group was speeding up.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from the distant sky, resembling a helicopter.

Kujaku, bleeding from the corner of her mouth, looked up and saw a fat man with spinning limbs diving down towards the bridge.

Boom!

The entire stone bridge shook violently, and the surface cracked, with large stones falling down.

"Damn, the road to the city is broken!" shouted the white bear.

"Should we jump off the bridge?" a lieutenant yelled.

"Below the bridge is

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