Caesar's Laboratory, Punk Hazard.
The heavy metallic doors creaked open, and a gust of cold air blew in. Inside the lab, Caesar Clown glanced up from his work, surprised by the sudden arrival.
"Joker?"
Doflamingo stepped inside, blood still trickling from the corners of his mouth, his coat in tatters. His steps were slower than usual, but his presence still filled the room with tension.
"Young Master!" Monet called out, eyes lighting up with relief. But her expression quickly shifted into concern when she noticed his injuries. "You're hurt!"
Doflamingo waved her worry away with a tired smirk, his gloved hand pressed firmly against his torso. "We're leaving. Now."
"What?" Caesar blinked, confused. "But why? What about the research—our work? We've spent years building this place."
Doflamingo's voice was flat and cold. "Someone's here. Someone dangerous. I don't want them discovering the existence of SAD… or SMILE. Destroy everything. Burn the lab to the ground."
Caesar's jaw dropped. "Wait, wait! Destroy it?! But we have been pouring time and resources into this facility. It would be a waste to just destroy—"
"Caesar," Doflamingo interrupted, his tone sharper now. "This is not up for discussion."
But Caesar held up a hand, a glint of scheming confidence in his eyes. "Wait, wait. I have a better solution. Rather than destroy everything… why don't we just make this place unusable to everyone else? Temporarily."
Doflamingo raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"Let's make it a Land of Death. We release Shinokuni."
Doflamingo's fingers twitched. "Shinokuni?"
"It's a highly lethal poison gas I developed. Once released, it will cover the entire island in minutes. Anyone caught in it will be turned into white, petrified statues. It's fast, untraceable, and extremely difficult to neutralize."
Monet looked over, a little pale. "Will it affect us?"
"If Joker help us to escape, we should be able to escape before the poison spreads," Caesar answered, glancing at Doflamingo for approval. "This lethal gas will act as a deterrent. Once the gas covers the island, no one will dare to come back. They'll think this place is a dead zone."
A slow grin spread across Doflamingo's face—genuine and sinister.
"Fufufu... I like it. So can it kill?"
"Absolutely. Those exposed will be dead within 12 to 24 hours. Their lungs collapse. Skin calcifies. Nerves shut down. A beautiful, scientific death. Shurororo." Caesar said with twisted pride.
"Then don't waste time," Doflamingo said, turning away. "Release it. Now."
Caesar gave a sharp nod and dashed out of the lab.
He moved swiftly through hidden corridors until he arrived at the containment chamber deep below the facility. There, resting in a sealed dome, was a massive, gelatinous creature—a sentient chemical lifeform known as Smiley, enhanced with the Axolotl Zoan fruit.
Caesar floated over, reaching for a massive glowing orb—the chemical catalyst.
"You know what time it is, my pet," he said with a grin. "Dinner time."
He threw the orb into the chamber. Smiley wobbled forward eagerly, mistaking the orb for its usual treat. Without hesitation, it swallowed the catalyst whole.
Seconds later, the creature's body began to tremble. Its gelatinous skin bubbled, then began to disintegrate. A horrible wail echoed through the chamber as a violent reaction tore through its core. The candy had dissolved a volatile compound inside Smiley, triggering the transformation.
Gas hissed out in plumes as the creature expanded—and then imploded. The Axolotl died. In its place remained a swirling mass of deep purple poison, thick and cold, oozing out swiftly.
Caesar backed away quickly, sweat forming on his forehead.
"…This is way more intense than I calculated," he muttered. "Oh well—more reason for everyone to stay far, far away."
The poison, Shinokuni, began to spread.
It slithered outward from the chamber like a ghostly tide, engulfing everything in its path. The gas moved swiftly—silent, but unstoppable.
Not wasting another second, Caesar fled the chamber and regrouped with Doflamingo and Monet. The three got out of the lab, and escaped to the sky, leaving behind the laboratory—and the deadly fog now creeping across Punk Hazard.
From a distance, a haunting silence began to fall over the island.
...
A few minutes before the Shinokuni was released, Zoro and the others trudged along the jagged coastline, heading back toward the icy half of the island. Their clothes were scorched, some torn, some still smoldering faintly. A few bore shallow wounds, bandaged in makeshift patches. But despite their battered appearance, every face glowed with the pride of victory.
They had taken down the fire-breathing dragon.
Behind them, the dragon's massive carcass was strapped to a makeshift cart crafted entirely from wax, courtesy of Galdino. Kruz had offered to store the body inside his void pocket for convenience, but the crew refused—this was a trophy to be paraded.
Using the shore as their route, they moved steadily toward the ice side, where the Great White was docked. As they approached the frozen terrain, familiar figures came into view.
"There they are!" Sanji called. "Yo! We're back!"
Kuzan and the others turned toward the group. But the celebration was short-lived—the returning crew suddenly stopped, expressions shifting from cheer to confusion.
"What the hell…?" Zoro muttered.
Patches of white, thread-like bulks were scattered across the ice. Strange, fibrous growths covered parts of the frozen terrain, some writhing faintly in the wind.
"What is going on?" Sanji asked, scanning the area.
Robin spoke up in reply, "One of the Shichibukai, Doflamingo was here. He clashed with Zino not long ago."
"Doflamingo? Warlord?!" The crew who just returned frowned.
Gin glanced around, instantly alerted. "Where are they now?"
"They moved the battle," Nojiko said, pointing toward a shattered range of ice mountains in the distance. "Somewhere over there."
Galdino squinted. "Should we assist? That place looks like it went through hell."
"Don't bother," Nami replied, shaking her head. "Zino isn't there anymore."
"What?" Sanji frowned. "Wasn't he fighting? Why is he leaving?"
"He went to Raijin Island." she continued.
"Raijin Island?" Binko asked, feeling confused. "Island with lightning? Why would he run off there?"
"He should be trying to awaken his ability," Kuzan answered calmly.
That word dropped like a stone in the middle of the group.
"Awaken...?" Usopp repeated slowly.
"Wait, you're telling me devil fruit powers can awaken like Haki?" Mikita said, eyes wide.
The realization rippled through the crew. If that were true... just how powerful would Zino become?
A silent awe fell over them. The thought of Zino pushing his powers to the next level sent shivers through their spines. But the moment was broken when Nojiko squinted at the horizon.
"Guys… look over there." She said, pointing into the distance. The crew followed the direction of her finger pointing.
Far off in the distance, near the heart of Punk Hazard, a structure stood—barely visible—but a plume of dark purple gas was rising into the sky above it.
"That doesn't look good," Stev said, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh no! It's spreading fast!" Usopp warned, already peering through his binoculars. "Some kind of gas… and it's engulfing the facility."
The gas crawled along the landscape like a creeping tide. Ice, ground, air—it consumed everything in its path.
"That's not a good sign," Mikita muttered. "We need to get out of here."
"But what about Zino?" Chloris asked. "He's still on Raijin Island. We can't just leave without him."
Nami looked toward the east. "Then we go to him. Let's sail to Raijin Island."
No more hesitation. The crew turned as one and made their way aboard the Great White. The rear of the crocodile-like ship closed. The oversized 'crocodile' then crawled and submerged into the ocean as a submarine.
Not long after it submerged, the poisonous gas spread fully all around the island and reached the sea.
...
Raijin Island.
High atop one of the tallest storm-battered mountains, Zino sat unmoving in a meditative posture. His entire body was no longer flesh and blood but had transformed into pure, pulsating lightning. From a distance, he looked like a glowing statue made of energy, radiating a deep purple hue.
The dark clouds overhead had calmed since his arrival. Earlier, they had raged, unleashing a torrential downpour of lightning bolts that struck the island like an endless bombardment. But now, the storm had grown quiet. Only a single bolt would strike at a time—thick, powerful, and deliberate—landing with precision directly onto Zino's waiting form.
Each lightning strike fused into his body seamlessly, feeding his element and strengthening his connection to it. His transformation had reached a new height. Slowly, Zino opened his eyes. They glowed with a deep electric light. His body flickered with energy, no longer even resembling a human form. His hair danced like crackling lightning bolts, restless and alive.
Behind him, a dark ring of purple lightning rotated endlessly around his back, hovering like the drums of Raijin, the thunder god. The ring gave off a constant high-pitched hissing sound, and wherever it moved, it left trails of small purple sparks suspended in the air.
Then, a glowing interface appeared in Zino's mind.
[Lightning Element - Level 150, Stage 5: Awakened Lightning]
Seeing the message, a smile spread across his face. "Finally," he whispered. "I awakened it."
Almost immediately, another interface appeared before him.
[Any awakened elements can be used without the one element per use restriction.]
Zino raised his brows, intrigued. "Oh? Does that mean I can use lightning even when I'm using another element?"
[Yes. That means, other than using any one element, you can use lightning in tandem with that one.]
He grinned wider, eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Nice. Looks like I just hit two birds with one stone."
The storm above him remained silent now, as though even the heavens acknowledged his breakthrough. Zino stood up slowly. The moment his foot touched the rocky surface, a surge of power rippled outward. Lightning flickered at his fingertips, crackled from his shoulders, and danced around his legs like restless spirits.
"It's time to go back," he said.
CRACKLE!
In a fraction of a second, Zino disappeared. In the next instant, he had already arrived back at Punk Hazard, near the coast where his ship, the Great White, had once been docked. He reappeared with a flash, touching down on the icy terrain with ease.
"Wow." He blinked, momentarily stunned by his own speed. "This… is way too fast—"
But he never got to finish that sentence.
The moment his awakened lightning body interacted with the air around him, something went wrong. The residual sparks from his form made contact with the invisible toxic gas lingering across the island.
BOOOOM!
The reaction was instant. The Shinokuni gas didn't just ignite—it exploded. A colossal fireball, tinted with violet light, burst into the sky, consuming everything in its path. A massive shockwave followed, flattening entire clusters of frozen trees and sending a blast of searing heat across the land. The very ice cracked and trembled beneath the pressure.
The explosion triggered a chain reaction across Punk Hazard. Wherever the poison gas had spread, fire erupted, igniting with terrifying speed and force. It was like a network of silent bombs had gone off all at once. The sky turned red, then black, then purple again as each blast echoed like thunder through the air.
In just a short time, the inferno had devoured all of the poisonous gas. The island quieted once more, but not from peace—rather, from the eerie silence that followed chaos.
Zino stood there, blinking, stunned.
"Oops," he muttered.
A mix of guilt and confusion settled over him. He didn't know what the gas was or how it had spread, but now, he was certain that its presence had been no accident.
"Did Doflamingo… want to destroy the laboratory?"
The thought made his heart sink. His eyes narrowed as he remembered something.
There were innocent people inside that lab.
"This is bad."
Without wasting another moment, Zino shifted forms. The lightning around him vanished as he transformed into his air logia body. He didn't want to risk triggering more explosions. As a gust of wind, he shot through the air, heading straight for the ruined laboratory with urgency in his heart.