Chapter 49: The Artist

"Kill!"

"Fire the cannons, fire!"

"Ah, save me—"

Boom boom boom,

With cannonballs and flames bearing down on them, the pirate ship adorned with a parrot skull flag finally approached the 'Don Quixote' ship. However, a more brutal assault awaited them.

As for the other pirate ship flying a shark skull banner, it cunningly slowed down at the critical moment, using its companions as sacrificial pawns.

"Half Moon Slash!"

On the deck of the Don Quixote, Diamante's people surged forward with their swords. With both hands raised above their heads, taking advantage of their tall stature and long arms, the extended Western-style sword in their hands transformed into a swift gleam, slashing through the pirates who were swinging ropes towards them.

Squelch,

The two-meter-long Western-style sword turned into a silver light, sweeping through a large fan-shaped area, instantly causing a group of pirates to scream and fall into the sea! Only broken ropes and severed arms hanging on the ropes bore witness to the unlucky pirates' attempt to board by leaping.

Hiss—

A chorus of gasps filled the pirate ship; was this three-meter-tall swordsman on the other side even playing by the rules?

"Firearm squad, suppress that beanpole!"

An immediate order came from the pirate team leader, pointing at Diamante. However, due to his loud voice, he was immediately silenced by a barrage of lead bullets from Doflamingo, unable to lift his head.

"String String Six-Armed Asura!"

Behind Doflamingo, four arms made of intertwined threads gripped firearms of various lengths. With his own hands included, he unleashed the firepower of an entire squad by himself.

Boom!!

And the burly Pica clamped a small cannon beneath his ribs, spewing flames as hundreds of iron pellets created a storm of metal on the deck of the opposing pirate ship.

Although this type of shotgun blast wasn't particularly damaging, it was merely skin-deep for pirate bosses and above. But for ordinary pirates, it was a devastating blow!

At least, after witnessing a large group of their comrades fall with bloodied bodies, there were few left who dared to attempt a reckless jump.

Swipe,

And the "straw that broke the camel's back" came in the form of two figures leaping onto the pirate ship.

"Vergo, watch out for yourself—"

As Rosinante landed, he somersaulted and his long blade sliced horizontally across the waist of a pirate who hadn't yet reacted.

Squelch,

Flash past the pirate, and Rosinante lunged towards other enemies behind him, leaving the pirate clutching his belly to slowly topple.

"Kill!"

Facing Rosinante, who had leaped onto their ship, a group of pirates immediately brandished their blades aggressively.

Though they were nothing more than an undisciplined rabble compared to a regular army, there was an entirely different level of risk when lives were on the line. For these pirates, after all, their lives were already as good as forfeit.

As long as they could deliver a final blow or even just a bite before they died, it would be a win!

Unfortunately,

Both Rosinante and Vergo were outclassed in terms of strength and reaction speed by several notches by these ordinary pirates!

Their fierce group attack seemed riddled with openings to Rosinante; and when faced with the full force of the pirate's strike, Rosinante took a deep breath and met it head-on with his own long blade.

Clang!

With a sharp and intense metallic collision, the crude long knives in the pirates' hands instantly shattered into pieces.

Just like detonating a bomb, the shards brimming with tremendous kinetic energy shot in all directions with a mournful howl.

Several pirates who were closer were immediately sliced and pierced by the flying fragments! The sound of their flesh hitting the floor echoed as a chorus.

Bang!

On the other side, Vergo was not to be outdone. His sailor's cutlass swung horizontally and vertically, splattering blood and limbs in a swirling dance.

"Monsters—"

First, they were bombarded by long-range cannons, and as they closed in, they were bombarded with a large amount of flammable "slime" which ignited many crew members.

After finally entering the familiar melee battle, the pirates were astonished to find that their opponents were equally brutal in close combat. Two "kids" dared to jump onto their deck and slaughter them... The key question was, could they actually overpower their opponents?

This battle was unwinnable!

Soon, the pirate ship began to turn in an attempt to escape. Meanwhile, all the crew members retreated into the cabin, utilizing the complex internal structure to hunker down and defend, causing a furrowed brow for Rosinante.

Are they backing down?

Not a trace of a pirate's spirit... Well, truth be told, this is what most pirates should look like.

"Let's go,"

Moving to the ship's side, Doflamingo waved his hand and two ropes on the Don Quixote automatically extended toward the pirate ship. Coiling around Rosinante and Vergo's wrists, they were pulled back to the Don Quixote with a leap.

"The String-String Fruit is such a convenient power."

Back on the Don Quixote's deck, Rosinante released the rope from his wrist.

If you don't consider the upper limit, the early practicality of the String-String Fruit would definitely rank among the top Devil Fruits.

"Vufufu, I feel like this fruit is really perfect for me."

As Doflamingo inserted his flintlock pistol back into his waist, the arms made of threads behind him began to disintegrate, sending threads flying towards the ship's sail overhead. Swiftly, he repaired the cracks caused by the lead bullets and cannon fire.

Following that:

"Come, let me mend your wounds as well."

Amidst the hail of lead bullets and flying iron shards on the battlefield, Rosinante and the others were certainly dealing massive damage, but they couldn't claim to come out unscathed. So, one by one, they took off their outer clothing, cleaned their wounds with alcohol, and had Doflamingo use his string powers to stitch them up.

"We're still lacking too many 'specialists' on our ship."

After binding his waist wound with a bandage, Rosinante sighed as he took off his tracksuit.

The current Don Quixote family was severely lacking in specialists, and many positions were filled with a "whoever can do it" mentality.

Rosinante himself was juggling the roles of "lookout," "chief strategist," and "weapon developer"… and Doflamingo was juggling "tailor" and "doctor." At the same time, they were both combatants and gunners...

"No, none of that really matters."

Doflamingo patted Rosinante's shoulder as he held his forehead,

"I think what we need most right now is an 'artist'."

What's an artist?

"Are you sure..."

Faced with Rosinante's confusion, Doflamingo pointed to the other side of the deck.

There, Trebol and Diamante were in the midst of a "cockfight," each holding their own "masterpiece," spewing saliva as they argued that the Don Quixote family's emblem should be drawn by them.

But if they set sail with something like that hanging, it felt like they'd already lost without fighting.

"I leave it to you, Rosinante."

"Alright... I'll figure something out."

Although Doflamingo said so, where was Rosinante supposed to find an "artist"?

"If we're looking for an artist, we should head to Acarnania, which is known as the 'Land of Fairy Tales'."

Rosinante's understanding of the One Piece world came from both his previous life's anime and the various books and newspapers he studied in his free time. But he wasn't as familiar with the details as the "locals."

Torrebor was well-versed in the customs and cultures of the countries in the North Blue.

"The famous story of 'Great King Nolan' was created by the artists of Acarnania, based on a historical figure from Lubniel."

Noland the liar, wasn't he the man from Skypiea's golden bell legend?

"Torrebor is right,"

Diamante chimed in from the side. Even though he had confidence in his own "artistic" abilities, the performance of the other crew members was enough to make him face reality.

Of course, Torrebor's "toilet" flag was absolutely unacceptable!

"Acarnania is known as the 'Land of Fairy Tales.' Most of the fairy tale picture books and fables in the entire North Blue originated from there."

"But let me make it clear beforehand, not just anyone can come aboard our ship—"

Diamante, holding a Western sword, tilted his head, afraid that Rosinante might actually go and "recruit" an artist onto the ship.

An artist... What can they do?

Are they going to throw paint at opponents to disgust them during fights?

"Well, I'll handle it."

Rosinante saw Diamante's undisguised expression, but chose not to say anything.

But don't underestimate artists. In the future under Captain Kidd, a young girl named Miss Goldenweek could control others' emotions with color. Her ultimate move, "Dream Color Rainbow," could even forcibly turn everyone's dreams into "reality."

And this wasn't even a Devil Fruit ability; it was simply an incredibly powerful ability.

Thinking of artists, Rosinante suddenly thought of someone.

Jora, one of the future executives of the Don Quixote family, a user of an Art Fruit ability.

In Rosinante's eyes, this "Art Fruit" was equally a top-tier Devil Fruit among Devil Fruits. Like the "Tongue-Tongue Fruit," it belonged to the terrifying category of Rule-type Devil Fruits.

The Art Fruit allowed the user to transform the target into any artwork the user could imagine.

And whether the target is a person, other living creatures, lifeless weapons and ships, or even natural phenomena like rainbows and the ultimate nemesis of Devil Fruit users— the "ocean"— all would turn into artwork the moment they came into contact with smoke!

"Acarnania..."

Looking up at the endlessly vast horizon, Rosinante felt quite intrigued about the destination of this voyage.

What would they encounter in this "Land of Fairy Tales"?

---

On the Shark Submerge III,

"Captain, what do we do next?"

A group of ragged pirates looked at their captain in awe. If they charged ahead recklessly like their previous "comrades," they'd probably be just as beaten up by now, wouldn't they?

"Hmph,"

Captain Cleveford, his coat clean and neat, disdainfully glanced at his subordinates. After receiving the intelligence, he had already guessed that this was a power struggle within the "Spade Maruzuki" family.

Unlike the captain of the Parrot Pirates next to him, who only knew how to be aggressive, Cleveford had long understood that the "Don Quixote" ship was not to be trifled with. As they closed in, he suddenly ordered to slow down and change course, successfully avoiding a disaster.

"What do we do next? Do I even need to say?"

Drawing his command knife from his waist, he pointed towards the "Parrot Pirates" ship surrounded by smoke and fireworks.

"Attack!!"

Can't take on that merchant ship, but can't beat the already battered Parrot Pirates either?

For pirates, other pirates are just as much prey and enemies.

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(End of this chapter)