Chapter 311: Death Land Invasion! The Snow Woman's Blockade and the Oxygenless Death Trap
As Caesar pressed a button, the massive ventilation system outside the research facility suddenly emitted a harsh grinding sound of gears, then immediately began running in reverse.
The purple "Slime" poison gas, previously blocked by the heavy alloy doors, finally found an outlet.
It poured frantically into the major corridors of the research facility, following the thick ventilation ducts and the gaps damaged during the battle.
The harsh red top-level alarm sound instantly echoed throughout the entire massive underground facility.
The constantly flashing red light illuminated the cold metal walls, making them look like a hell of Shura.
Sanji, Nami, Franky, and the others in the labyrinthine corridor of Building B looked on in terror at the deathly poison mist, which was rapidly approaching like a purple tsunami.
The purple gas churned, and wherever it passed, even the steel floor hissed as it was corroded.
"Everyone, run! You absolutely cannot stop!"
Sanji roared, guarding the outermost edge of the group.
They had no other choice but to urge and lead those terrified giant children, running with all their might toward the deeper parts of the research facility.
Meanwhile, in another complex steel corridor.
Zoro, Robin, and the samurai from Wano Country, Kin'emon, were anxiously searching for an escape route.
Behind them, the hissing sound of spreading poison gas could also be heard.
Suddenly, the temperature in the corridor ahead plummeted, and tiny ice crystals even formed in the air.
Accompanied by a bone-chilling cold wind, an abnormally thick and massive ice wall rose from the ground without warning, instantly sealing the entire wide corridor completely and cutting off their path.
A strange figure slowly descended above the ice wall, which was overflowing with cold air.
It was a beautiful green-haired woman with pure white wings, but her legs had transformed into sharp bird claws — the Snow Woman, Monet.
The corners of her mouth curled into an eerie and cold smile as she looked down at the three people below:
"This path is blocked, everyone."
"Stay here obediently, be swallowed by the poison gas, and become the stepping stone for the Master's great cause."
Hearing the hissing of the poison gas getting closer and closer behind them, Zoro's eyes suddenly turned cold.
Without any wasted words, he reached back and drew the named sword at his waist, a chilling gleam flashing across the pitch-black blade.
He stepped forward, blocking in front of the group, and without turning his head, he barked to Robin and Kin'emon behind him:
"Leave this to me. Don't worry about me, go first!"
Robin took a deep look at Zoro's reliable back. Knowing her companion's strength, she decisively activated the power of the Hana Hana no Mi, and with a slash from Kin'emon, they broke a large hole directly into the steel wall on the side.
The two quickly passed through the hole in the wall to continue their escape, leaving this cold corridor battlefield to the great swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates.
...
The scene cuts back to the central control room in the deepest part of the research facility.
Caesar was sweating profusely, staring fixedly at the surveillance screen in front of him.
He despairingly discovered that his pride and joy, the death poison gas, was still unable to stop the progress of those two guys.
Just as he was preparing to activate the backup defense mechanism.
The super-alloy blast wall beside him, which was claimed to be unable to be destroyed even by heavy artillery, suddenly emitted a muffled metallic groan.
Immediately after, a huge, incomparable fist imprint suddenly bulged on the flat wall surface.
The next second, "BOOM—!!"
With an earth-shattering loud noise, that expensive super-alloy wall was completely pulverized like a fragile paper toy, turning into metal fragments splashing across the sky!
Amidst the swirling dust, Luffy appeared at the hole, his fist still emitting white steam due to intense friction.
He raised his hand, casually patting the dust off the Straw Hat on his head, his clear eyes now turning icy cold.
He stared fixedly at Caesar, who was paralyzed on the ground in the control room in fear:
"Finally found you!"
"You're that perverted scum who likes to feed poison to innocent children, Caesar, right!"
"I will definitely beat you up today!"
As soon as Luffy finished speaking, Victor walked in from the hole that had been smashed open, hands in his pockets, looking relaxed.
He very thoughtfully closed the remains of the broken door behind him, using his ability to seal the gap, isolating the poison gas trying to pour in from the outside.
Facing the murderous and steadily approaching Luffy, after a brief moment of panic, Caesar suddenly remembered his absolute home-field advantage as a Logia user.
He floated up from the ground, turned into a mass of gas, and let out a nauseating, frantic laugh:
"Shurorororo!"
"Don't be so arrogant, mere pirates!"
"Do you think you can defeat me just by relying on brute force?"
"In this room, I am the absolute god!"
Luffy shouted, not wanting to listen to his nonsense at all, and suddenly exerted force with his feet, preparing to rush over and end the battle with one punch.
However, the moment he took a step, his body suddenly stiffened.
An intense sense of dizziness struck his brain like a hammer.
Luffy opened his mouth wide, his hands clutching his throat tightly, struggling desperately to breathe, but he felt as if the surroundings had turned into an absolute vacuum, unable to inhale even a single bit of air.
His legs went weak, and with a "thump," he fell directly onto the cold floor, rolling in pain, his face rapidly turning purple.
Caesar floated in mid-air, transformed into a mass of purple gas, looking down at Luffy struggling to die on the ground, triumphantly showing off his trump card:
"Shurorororo! Feeling the pain, aren't you?"
"My Gas-Gas Fruit ability can instantly drain all oxygen within a certain range around me!"
"For creatures like you who need to breathe, without air..."
"No matter how powerful your Haki is, or what kind of amazing Devil Fruit ability you have, it's a dead end!"
After saying that, Caesar took a lighter out of his lab coat pocket and held it high.
A cruel light flickered in his eyes as he prepared to directly ignite the high-concentration gas he had already released around him, burning this suffocating Straw Hat into a charred corpse.
"Farewell, Straw Hat!"
Caesar laughed wildly, and with a "click," he ignited the lighter in his hand.
However, the moment the flame lit up, the smile on his face suddenly froze.
Scanning with his peripheral vision, he was shocked to find that the man with red and purple eyes was standing quietly in place.
Victor was standing with his arms crossed, looking at him with a mocking gaze as if he were looking at an idiot.
Not only that, Victor's expression was normal; he didn't show any signs of oxygen deprivation or suffocation at all.
Caesar's eyes almost popped out; he was completely incredulous.
Of course, he didn't know that the thick and vast Chakra inside Victor could completely maintain the body's vitality in such an extreme environment through internal circulation.
Victor looked at the smug Caesar, a trace of undisguised mockery flashing in his eyes:
"Draining oxygen? Is that the extent of your tricks?"
"When it comes to gas techniques, you seem to have chosen the wrong opponent to show off to."
Before he finished speaking, Victor's hands blurred in front of his chest, forming seals at high speed.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Victor took a deep breath and exhaled violently.
A violent airflow, like a Category 12 hurricane, suddenly exploded within the relatively closed control room!
This powerful Wind Release Ninjutsu not only instantly blew Caesar's pride and joy, the high-concentration poison gas, into disarray.
It also used the violent wind pressure to forcibly pour fresh air from the outer corridor, completely breaking the oxygen-free desperate situation.
With the crazy influx of fresh oxygen, Luffy, who had been struggling in pain on the ground, took a deep breath of air.
"Haaa—!"
Sufficient oxygen instantly filled his lungs, and Luffy's eyes, which had been unfocused due to suffocation, lit up again in an instant.
"You bastard!!!"
Accompanied by a deafening roar, Luffy's legs stomped hard on the ground.
He was like a cannonball fired from its chamber, his right fist instantly completely wrapped in pitch-black, cold Armament Haki.
His gaze locked onto Caesar, who was being blown about by the gale in mid-air, his face full of panic!Chapter 312: The End of the Human Realm! Rinnegan Soul Extraction and Major Deviation
Faced with the violent influx of fresh air, Caesar's pale and grotesque face was filled with terror and despair.
He roared loudly, his hands waving frantically, attempting to control the atmospheric pressure once more to suck the surrounding oxygen back out.
However, the hurricane Victor created not only poured in fresh air but also sent the entire surrounding airflow field into a state of chaotic fury.
In such irregular gales, Caesar's Gas-Gas Fruit ability simply could not condense a formed vacuum domain.
"Go to hell! Scum!"
"Gum-Gum Grizzly Magnum!"
Two giant black fists slammed down without reservation amidst Caesar's desperate, shrill screams.
"BOOM—!!!"
A destructive shockwave exploded within the central control room, instantly shattering the expensive and sophisticated experimental instruments into a flurry of flying fragments.
Caesar was hit head-on as if by a giant hydraulic press; his face collapsed and deformed the moment it made contact with the black fists, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments.
Under Luffy's matchless and violent thrusting force,
Caesar's body was like a bunker-buster missile, smashing directly through the thick super-alloy floor of the control room.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A continuous series of cracking sounds rang out as Caesar's body smashed through multiple layers of solid floorboards all the way down.
Finally, he fell heavily into the dark ruins of the research institute's bottom floor, his bones shattered, completely losing consciousness as he collapsed into the pile of rubble like a puddle of mud.
Victor followed the huge hole that had been smashed through, leaping down lightly and walking slowly to the front of the unconscious Caesar.
In the dim underground ruins, Victor's heterochromatic eyes—one red and one purple—showed no emotional fluctuation.
He slowly extended his right hand, fingers spread, and pressed it coldly onto Caesar's blood-stained crown.
"Human Path: Soul Extraction."
Accompanied by a low, cold chant, a strange suction erupted from Victor's palm.
Caesar, who was in a deep coma, suddenly twitched violently.
He opened his mouth wide, letting out a shrill soul-wail.
A translucent, twisted spirit taking Caesar's form was seen being forcibly extracted inch by inch from his broken shell by Victor.
During this process, all the deeply hidden secrets in Caesar's mind—
The core formula for the SAD Artificial Devil Fruit raw materials, the inhumane data from the giantification experiments on children, and all the transaction details and secret codes between him and the underworld king, Doflamingo—
Everything about him was like segments of fast-forwarded videotape, instantly and completely read by Victor's brain.
Victor's eyes flickered slightly as he suddenly exerted force with his palm; the soul was instantly and completely ripped out, and Caesar's life force was subsequently severed entirely.
At the exact second Caesar's soul dissipated, the mechanical prompt of the system sounded in Victor's mind:
[Ding! The host has killed a core plot character, Caesar Clown, causing a major deviation in the subsequent New World plot.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: 50,000 Ninja Points.]
[Detected that the host of the Gas-Gas Fruit has been confirmed dead.]
[The system has intercepted the rebirth wavelength of this Devil Fruit and is performing fruit reshaping... Rebirth successful!]
Meanwhile, aboard the Thousand Sunny.
In the quiet food storage room, a cantaloupe that Sanji had neatly placed in a fruit basket suddenly underwent a strange distortion on its surface.
Immediately after, the color of the skin began to change, and strange spiral patterns representing demonic power quickly spread across the surface of the cantaloupe.
In just a few seconds, this fruit quietly transformed into a brand new Logia Gas-Gas Fruit, silently waiting to be discovered.
...
The research institute's core SAD Production Room.
This place had already turned into a bloody and cruel execution ground.
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a dull, heavy thud, Vice Admiral Smoker's tall frame was once again slammed hard against the rigid metal reactor.
Bones all over his body were broken in multiple places, blood flowed from his forehead into his eyes, and his vision was a complete blur.
Even though he pushed his Smoke-Smoke Fruit to its limits to elementalize, he still couldn't evade Vergo's Armament Haki strikes, which clung to him like maggots on a corpse.
Vergo's entire body was covered in pitch-black Armament Haki, making him look like a black demon god who felt no pain.
Holding a bamboo pole also stained black by Haki, his eyes were cold and heartless as he treated the dignified Marine Vice Admiral Smoker like a tattered sandbag, delivering a one-sided, brutal beating.
Scorching blood splattered everywhere, staining the expensive and massive experimental equipment nearby.
Smoker bit down hard on the cigar that had long since gone out; even though his consciousness was starting to fade and his legs were trembling so much he could barely stand,
He still let out a roar, swinging his Sea Stone Jitte in an attempt to counterattack.
But the gap in strength was like a chasm.
Vergo simply leaned to the side, easily dodging Smoker's spent attack, and sent him flying again with a backhand strike of the pole.
Not far away, Law watched this scene, gritting his teeth and suppressing his psychological shadow of Vergo, just about to raise his hand to activate his "ROOM" space ability to provide rescue.
But at that moment, Vergo gave a cold snort and kicked Smoker back heavily.
He turned his head, looking at Law with cold eyes, and slowly pulled a transparent cubic box from his coat.
And inside that box, a bright red heart was beating vividly.
"Want to save someone? You'd better look after yourself first, Law."
A cruel smile curled at the corner of Vergo's mouth as his fingers suddenly tightened, squeezing hard through the cube box.
"Aaaargh—!!!"
Law instantly let out an extremely shrill scream.
His face turned as pale as paper, his knees buckled, and he knelt heavily onto the cold floor.
The piercing pain of his heart being directly ravaged by an external force was like ten thousand arrows piercing his core, causing him to lose all strength in an instant.
He could barely maintain a clear consciousness, let alone concentrate enough to use the Ope-Ope no Mi ability, which required high focus.
Law clutched his chest in agony, gasping for air as sweat instantly soaked his clothes.
Vergo looked down condescendingly at the two opponents gasping for their last breaths before him, his tone full of superior disdain and mockery:
"Weren't you quite arrogant outside just now? Why aren't you talking anymore? You wanted to personally clean house? Don't make me laugh, Smoker."
Vergo took heavy steps, resting the pitch-black bamboo pole on his shoulder:
"Your Haki is simply too weak; it's completely fragile.
"In the first half of the Grand Line, you might have been able to show off, but in this New World where monsters congregate,"
"Weakness... is an unforgivable original sin."
Hearing Vergo's piercing mockery, an unwilling low growl issued from Smoker's throat as he lay in a pool of blood.
He used the blood-stained Jitte to prop himself up against the ground, forcing his nearly broken body to wobble as he stood up once more.
With trembling fingers, he fished a fresh cigar from his pocket, placed it in his mouth, struck a match, and relit it.
After taking a deep breath of the pungent smoke, Smoker turned his head to look at the bewildered Tashigi.
Looking at his subordinate's terror-filled face, a flash of determination crossed Smoker's eyes.
He raised his voice, using all his strength to command coldly:
"Tashigi! Leave immediately! Get out of here right now!"
"But... Vice Admiral Smoker..."
Tashigi shook her head desperately; she wanted to rush up and fight alongside her superior, even if it meant dying here.
But before she could finish, Smoker rudely interrupted her with a shout:
"Shut up! Obey orders! Go!"
Smoker bit his cigar, glaring at her with an incredibly stern expression as he roared, "In a Haki battle of this level, you staying here won't help at all; instead, it'll only distract me because I'll have to protect you!
"Don't be a burden to me here, beat it!"
Hearing these merciless words, Tashigi bit her pale lip hard.
She knew Vice Admiral Smoker was intentionally speaking so harshly to protect her.
But she hated her own weakness even more, hated that she could only be a burden to her superior at such a life-and-death moment.
Amidst a massive sense of humiliation, powerlessness, and deep grief, Tashigi forced back the tears welling in her eyes.
She took one last deep look at the blood-covered Marine silhouette that still stood as firm as a mountain.
She turned around and broke into a run, rushing recklessly toward the depths of the dark passage.
"Vice Admiral Smoker! You must hold on! I'm going to find the Straw Hat crew to help youChapter 313: One Sword Style: Great Dragon Shock! The Beast's Bloodlust and the Female Marine's Pride
Inside the steel corridor of Building B, the temperature had already dropped below the freezing point.
The howling cold wind, mixed with ice and snow as sharp as blades, raged within the dark, enclosed space.
Monet had completely abandoned her human form, transforming into a massive snow monster with sharp fangs.
She moved like a ghost through the dancing snow, utilizing the advantages of the Logia Snow-Snow Fruit to launch fierce attacks on Zoro from his visual blind spots.
After several exchanges, the meticulous Monet keenly noticed something unusual about Zoro's moves.
She discovered that although the Marimo swordsman before her possessed superb swordsmanship and unleashed peerless sword energy...
With every swing of his blade, that sharp edge capable of cutting through steel seemed to be deliberately avoiding her vital organs.
Monet suddenly flapped her wings, coming to a halt amidst the wind and snow in mid-air.
She stuck out her long tongue, licking her cold lips, and let out a light chuckle from above:
"I've heard of your great name, the Great Swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates."
"Although your bounty is terrifyingly high and your strength is indeed impressive, you... at your core, you don't cut women, do you?"
"Having such a naive bottom line on a life-and-death battlefield like this is truly the height of stupidity."
Just as Monet prepared to increase her intensity to completely bury this merciful swordsman...
A sudden burst of hurried footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
Tashigi, attracted by the sounds of the intense battle here, arrived panting for breath.
She took in the two people facing off in the field at a glance, her mind racing as she instantly made a decision:
In her current state, she would definitely not be able to survive this dangerous facility alone.
She had to first help this Marimo pirate deal with the Snow Woman before her.
Then, she could borrow his powerful combat strength to go to the SAD Production Room and rescue Vice Admiral Smoker, who was in a desperate situation!
Tashigi took a deep breath and suddenly drew the famous sword, "Shigure."
Without the slightest hesitation, she stepped onto the thick snow and charged toward Monet in mid-air with unwavering resolve.
Looking at that familiar face running recklessly through the wind and snow, her eyes filled with incomparable stubbornness and tenacity, Zoro's brain momentarily short-circuited.
The cold wind ruffled Tashigi's short hair, and the figure of the short-haired girl in the depths of his memory—who had held a bamboo sword and defeated him countless times in the Shimotsuki Village dojo—perfectly overlapped with the Tashigi before him at this moment.
An unprovoked irritation and a mysterious panic instantly seized Zoro's heart.
He subconsciously reached out his hand and roared as if he had lost his reason:
"Hey! Don't go over there! Kuina!"
Hearing the commotion, Monet gave a cold laugh and suddenly flapped her wings in mid-air, forcibly changing direction.
She abandoned Zoro and spread her snow-white wings, like a bird of prey, diving down at high speed toward the charging Tashigi.
Her sharp, bird-like claws pressed down on the blade of "Shigure" like iron pincers.
Immediately after, Monet opened her massive mouth filled with terrifying fangs and bit down hard on Tashigi's slender shoulder.
"Ah—!"
Tashigi let out a scream of agony.
Hot blood gushed from her shoulder like a fountain, instantly staining the white, cold snow beneath her red.
"Stop it!!!"
Seeing Tashigi fall wounded in a pool of blood, Zoro's fury was completely ignited.
In that instant, his figure suddenly transformed into a blurry black afterimage, flashing in front of Tashigi.
A cold light flashed in Zoro's eyes as he swung the wado ichimonji gripped in his hand forward.
An unstoppable, sharp sword energy whistled out, directly forcing back Monet, who was about to continue her attack.
Monet tumbled and landed on the snow not far away.
When she looked up, she met a pair of eyes that made one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
Zoro lowered his head slightly, his eyes devoid of even a shred of warmth.
In Monet's eyes, the surrounding wind and snow seemed to have come to a standstill.
The man before her seemed like a terrifying Ashura slowly crawling out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, radiating an aura of endless destruction.
A sense of terror originating from the deepest part of biological instinct instantly seized her heart.
"You've certainly seen the kind of tame beast that has had its teeth pulled..."
Zoro gripped the hilt of the wado ichimonji tightly with one hand as he walked toward Monet step by step.
"But who can guarantee you that when a real beast enters a state of berserk rage, it won't actually eat people?"
Hearing this declaration that sounded like the whisper of a Shinigami, Monet discovered in terror that under the pressure of this pure killing intent...
Her body, which was made of the Snow-Snow Fruit she was so proud of, was actually so stiff that she couldn't move even a single finger.
That bone-deep fear stripped her of all her mobility.
She couldn't even perform the most basic elementalization to escape.
Zoro suddenly stopped his pace and raised his sword high with both hands.
Without any Haki infusion, relying solely on the peak, ultimate sword energy of a swordsman and that pure killing intent enough to sever a soul—
"One Sword Style: Great Dragon Shock!"
A dazzling, peerless sword light flashed out.
In Monet's desperately shrinking pupils, this sword light passed through her body without any obstruction.
In the next second, Monet's massive snow monster body was split perfectly in two down the middle.
Because it was not imbued with Armament Haki, this snow body did not shed a single drop of blood.
However, the extreme mental terror brought about by the immersive experience of watching oneself be split open alive caused Monet's brain to completely shut down instantly.
Accompanied by a shrill scream that went out of tune, Monet's psychological defenses completely collapsed.
The two halves of her body fell limply to the ground, and after a series of violent tremors, she was directly scared unconscious by this soul-level death pressure.
Tashigi, sitting on the cold snow, pressed her trembling hand tightly against her still-bleeding shoulder.
She looked up blankly at the broad back of the man standing in front of her with a long sword.
In deep shock, only one pure thought remained in her mind:
So cool...
...swordsmanship.
However, this shock only lasted for a moment.
In the next second, a deep sense of inferiority, humiliation, and unutterable sorrow completely overwhelmed her.
She hated herself! She hated her own incompetence and weakness!
To protect her, Vice Admiral Smoker was currently being unilaterally and brutally beaten by that traitor in the SAD Production Room.
And now, she, a Marine Captain representing the world's justice, actually had to rely on a pirate to save her.
The tears she had held back for so long finally broke through the dam of her eyes.
Tashigi lowered her head deeply, buried her face in her uninjured arm, and began to cry out loud with "wuwuwu" sounds.
Hearing the low sobbing from behind him, Zoro slowly returned the wado ichimonji to its scabbard.
He turned his head and looked at Tashigi, who was sitting in the snow crying like a fountain, and let out a long, somewhat helpless sigh.
He reached out and irritably scratched his short green hair, muttering in a small voice:
"Women and such are really a hassle."
"And this face..."
He walked up to her and looked down at her.
Although his tone still sounded stiff, there was a trace of tenderness between the lines that even he didn't notice:
"Well, stop crying."
"Your current unwillingness and pain... I can understand your feelings."
"This feeling of watching yourself be powerless is indeed unpleasant."
"But if you don't want to stay this weak for the rest of your life, then wipe away your own tears, pick up your sword again, and go train as if your life depends on it."
Looking at Tashigi sitting on the ground, Zoro's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to his distant childhood.
In his memory, the weakling back then who could only hide under the moonlight crying because he couldn't beat others was none other than himself.
And the one who had brandished a bamboo sword, was incredibly strong, and stood before him smiling to encourage and comfort him was Kuina.
However, fate is a fickle thing; time had passed, and now the roles of the two seemed to have completely swapped.
He had become the one strong enough to protect others, while she, with the same face, was crying on the ground.
What a pity...
Kuina, who had promised to become the World's Greatest Swordsman together with him, was already gone forever.
At this thought, Zoro's usually resolute eyes dimmed slightly.
A flash of hard-to-detect sadness and loneliness quickly passed through the depths of his eyes.
Hearing these words that carried a hint of scolding yet were inexplicably sincere, a surge of intense shame and annoyance rose in Tashigi's heart:
She, a dignified Marine Captain, had actually fallen so low as to be educated and pitied by a pirate!
But it was undeniable that Zoro's words, which struck directly at her soul, also ignited that unyielding fighting spirit deep within her.
She clenched her teeth and haphazardly wiped the tears and snot from her face with the back of her hand.
With her uninjured hand, she tightly gripped the hilt of "Shigure," which had fallen to the side.
Supporting herself on the cold ground, she shakily stood back up.
Tashigi struggled to steady her breathing.
In order to get this powerful combatant to go save Vice Admiral Smoker, who was in a desperate situation...
This female Marine, for the first time in her life, went against her principles and told a clumsy lie to a pirate:
"That... your Captain is currently facing a great danger!"
"He needs your help! Please come with me!"
After saying this, Tashigi didn't look at Zoro's eyes but instead turned around, turning her back to the man who had just saved her life.
Then, she slightly turned her head, revealing half of her profile.
The cowardice and tears in her eyes had completely faded, replaced once again by the determination of a swordsman and the pride of a Marine.
She looked at Zoro and corrected him seriously:
"And one more thing."
"My name is not Kuina. I am Tashigi, a Chapter 314: Black Blade and Demon Bamboo! The Great Swordsman's Support and the Severed Gears
On the dark, winding corridor leading deep underground to the SAD Production Room.
Tashigi, a Marine Captain, finally experienced the profound despair that the members of the Straw Hat Pirates endure daily.
Even with her leading the way as a guide and constantly turning back to check on him...
This directionally challenged Marimo could still naturally turn into a completely sealed dead end at the next simple, unmistakable fork in the road.
"What on earth are you doing?!"
Tashigi stomped her feet in frustration, clutching her short hair frantically as tears nearly welled up in her eyes.
"I've been right in front of you, telling you to follow me!
"Why would you run in the opposite direction when there's only one straight path?!"
Facing Tashigi's breakdown and roar, Zoro rubbed his forehead and argued back loudly with an indignant look:
"Shut up! There's clearly something wrong with the structure of this building!
"Who designs hallways this counter-intuitively? There isn't even a clear sign!"
Amidst this chaotic atmosphere, the two of them stumbled and dashed toward their destination.
...
Meanwhile, in the SAD Production Room.
The air was thick with the heavy scent of blood and the pungent odor of chemical reagents.
Vice Admiral Smoker's tall frame lay completely collapsed in a cold pool of blood, his Jitte broken beside him.
With multiple fractures across his body, he didn't even have the strength to move a finger, having completely lost his ability to fight.
Law, not far away, was in no better shape.
Because his beating heart was being squeezed tightly in the enemy's hand.
He could only kneel on the ground in agony, gasping for breath, utterly powerless to launch any counterattack.
Vergo stood like an invincible black demon, looking down coldly and ruthlessly at the fallen Smoker.
He slowly raised the pitch-Black Bamboo stick in his hand, gathering his strength to the peak, prepared to completely crush the head of his former colleague.
"It's over. Farewell, disgrace of the G-5," Vergo said in an icy voice, his arm swinging down violently.
BOOM—!!!
At that critical moment, the incredibly heavy steel door of the SAD Production Room was suddenly blown to pieces from the outside by a violent, peerless flying slash!
The wild sword ki, like a runaway horse, swept in with a whistle, carrying fragments of shattered metal.
Vergo's eyes narrowed, and he was forced to abandon the lethal blow to Smoker to quickly defend himself.
He held the pitch-Black Bamboo stick horizontally in front of his chest with both hands, steadily blocking the sharp slash.
However, under the immense impact, his body still involuntarily slid back half a step.
Amidst the swirling dust and the piercing sound of metal scraping, Zoro, holding the unsheathed wado ichimonji in one hand and followed by a panting Tashigi, stepped slowly into the bloody battlefield.
Zoro's sharp, single eye scanned the room.
He saw the brutally beaten Smoker and Law kneeling on the ground, clutching his chest.
But notably, there was no sign of his Straw Hat-wearing Captain.
Zoro slowly stopped his pace and glanced sideways at Tashigi, who was hanging her head, looking too guilty to meet his eyes.
He curled his lip and let out a disdainful snort:
"Tch... Marine woman, you've got guts, daring to lie even to me."
Zoro rested his sword on his shoulder, his tone revealing absolute trust and pride in Luffy:
"I knew it. My Captain isn't so weak that he'd be easily defeated by some piece of charcoal that popped out of nowhere."
With her lie exposed to her face, Tashigi turned bright red with shame, even to the tips of her ears.
She suddenly bowed deeply and apologized loudly:
"I'm sorry! It was wrong of me to lie to you!"
"But... but please, you must save Vice Admiral Smoker! You're the only one who can deal with him now!"
Standing opposite them, Vergo expressionlessly reached out a finger and pushed up the sunglasses on his face, one lens of which was shattered.
He looked coldly at the intruding swordsman, his tone carrying undisguised contempt:
"Straw Hat Pirates, 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro... Hmph, what does it matter if you're a supernova with a bounty over a hundred million?"
"Do you think that with those pieces of scrap metal in your hands, you can cut through my tempered Armament Haki?"
With that, a deafening roar erupted from Vergo's throat.
His muscles instantly bulged, and deep, abyss-like pitch-black Armament Haki surged from his body like flowing ink, covering every inch of his skin without a single blind spot!
Facing this Armament Haki coating, known as 'Flawless, Absolute Defense'...
Zoro didn't retreat an inch; instead, he let out a disdainful sneer.
He slowly raised his hand, untied the dark green bandana from his left arm, and solemnly tied it tightly around his head.
Then, he bit the famous sword wado ichimonji horizontally in his mouth and gripped the hilts of Kitetsu and yubashiri in each hand.
Vrrr—!
As Zoro's aura climbed, a thick purple demonic ki instantly swirled around the three famous swords.
Immediately after, powerful Armament Haki flowed over them like water, turning the blades of all three swords into black blades radiating an aura of destruction.
Zoro lowered his body slightly, a cold, Shura-like killing intent erupting from his single eye:
"Perfect Armament Haki? Don't make me laugh."
"Listen well, in this world, there is nothing that I, Roronoa Zoro, cannot cut!"
The moment those words fell, the two of them, like two violent beasts, slammed into each other in the center of the vast production room!
CLANG—BOOM!
The violent collision between 'Black Bamboo' and 'Black Blades' triggered a visible, terrifying circular shockwave.
The wild air currents instantly swept across the room, causing even the massive, sturdy SAD storage tanks nearby to tremble violently under the impact, emitting the groans of overstressed metal.
Vergo had originally thought he could use his proud Armament Haki to completely suppress the young swordsman in terms of strength and defense.
However, the moment their weapons met, an undisguisable shock appeared on his hard, cold face.
He was horrified to find that the terrifying strength coming from Zoro's arms, and the Armament Haki attached to the blades, were not at all weaker than those of a battle-hardened Marine veteran like himself.
What made his heart race even more was that the sharp, peerless sword ki Zoro unleashed was actually dismantling his absolute defense!
In a spark-filled, intense struggle, the two briefly separated and then quickly closed in again.
Zoro's beast-like keen intuition instantly caught the fleeting gap in Vergo's transition between moves.
His eyes became as cold and ruthless as a true Shura at that moment, and his demonic ki completely exploded:
"Three Sword Style: Purgatory Onigiri!"
Three pitch-black sword lights, like the claws of a demon reaching out from purgatory, slashed down in a bizarre and domineering intersecting trajectory.
The terrifying power left three lingering black cracks in the air.
Squelch—!
Blood splattered.
This unstoppable strike carved a gruesome, bone-deep wound right through Vergo's proud full-body Armament Haki defense.
At the same time, the domineering and violent sword ki residue traveled down the Black Bamboo, directly numbing Vergo's wrist as he gripped the weapon.
In the pain of the sudden heavy wound, Vergo's fingers loosened.
The transparent heart box he had been squeezing instantly flew out of his hand, tracing a parabolic arc through the air.
Law, who had been enduring the severe pain to watch the battle, saw his eyes, which had been as dull as dead ashes, suddenly sharpen the moment the heart box flew out.
He lunged forward, stretching out his trembling hands to catch the heart box steadily in his palms before it could hit the ground.
Without any hesitation, Law immediately activated his ability and thrust the beating heart back into his chest cavity.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
The long-lost, complete heartbeat echoed powerfully within his chest.
The moment his heart returned, that death-like feeling of weakness vanished instantly.
Law took a deep breath of the blood-scented air, and his deep eyes instantly erupted with a killing intent and fervor like a volcanic eruption.
He slowly stood up from the ground.
He reached out and picked up the nodachi 'kikoku' that had fallen beside him, the blade unsheathing half an inch, glinting coldly.
Seeing this, Zoro cleanly withdrew his attacking stance.
"It looks like you have a long-standing personal grudge to settle yourself.
"In that case, I won't steal your prey here."
Law didn't look back; he simply gripped the hilt with one hand while his other hand snapped open in front of him.
"ROOM!"
With a low, cold shout, an unprecedented and incredibly massive hemispherical space instantly expanded.
This giant 'Operating Room' not only completely enveloped the vast SAD Production Room...
But it even broke through the walls, encompassing the towering central mountain of Punk Hazard within this blue-tinted space of rules!
Feeling this singular power that shrouded heaven and earth, Vergo's expression changed drastically, and a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
But he still refused to admit defeat; he roared, regripping the Black Bamboo and lunging at Law like a maddened black bear:
"Don't waste your energy! It's useless!
"My tempered Haki can block any slash in the world!"
Law gripped his long blade 'kikoku' with both hands, looking coldly at Vergo as he charged like a cornered beast.
"You remnants of the old era only know how to sit high above, self-righteously measuring the strength of others..."
Law's gaze became sharp to the extreme at this moment, his killing intent soaring:
"Do you hear it, Vergo? The gears of the new era..."
"...have been completely destroyed by us!!"
The moment the words fell, Law drew his sword.
A brilliant blue-white sword light, carrying the irresistible power of rules, flashed through the massive 'ROOM' space.
Everything seemed to fall into stillness for a second.
In the next second, Vergo, who claimed to have perfect defense...
The indestructible SAD storage tanks filled with dangerous raw materials around him...
And even the towering central mountain range of Punk Hazard itself...
In this moment, all were sliced cleanly and evenly in half by Law's single strike!Chapter 315: The End of the Old Plan! The Rampaging Heavenly Yaksha and the "Ghost" on Board
Accompanied by a deafening, earth-shattering roar.
The central mountain of Punk Hazard, completely severed by Law's peerless strike, began to undergo violent displacement and large-scale landslides under the influence of gravity.
Thick alloy walls and expensive precision instruments, along with the massive storage tank containing the toxic SAD raw materials, were all completely shattered in the blinding blue-white sword light.
A massive amount of toxic waste liquid and shattered steel poured out like a bursting dam, crashing into the bottomless rift.
Since the towering mountain had been sliced open, the howling winds from outside the island finally found an outlet, rushing madly through that massive rift.
The powerful natural wind, like the invisible hands of a scavenger, completely blew away the lethal poisonous fog that had tightly enveloped the island.
As the haze dissipated, the long-awaited brilliant sunlight happened to shine on Law's face as he gasped for breath.
Standing in the distance, Smoker and Tashigi stared blankly at the scene, their hearts filled with a complex mix of emotions that they couldn't calm for a long time.
Smoker exhaled a puff of murky smoke.
The monsters of the new era are truly going to overturn this long-silent sea.
Luffy and Victor followed the ruins along the edge of the rift, like two agile birds, jumping down lightly and landing steadily.
Luffy looked at the scattered wreckage and the neatly sliced mountain, his mouth agape.
He heartlessly gave Law a thumbs up and let out a hearty laugh:
"Wahahaha! Tra-guy, that strike just now was super cool!"
"That momentum is almost on par with Zoro's!"
Standing not far away, Zoro heard his Captain's evaluation; a satisfied curve tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he let out a tsundere-ish cold snort.
Then, he nimbly sheathed the wado ichimonji.
Law took a few deep breaths of fresh air to calm his heaving chest.
He leaned his nodachi on the ground and looked at Luffy and Victor, his eyes flashing with sharp light:
"The SAD manufacturing plant has been completely destroyed."
"Although your way of doing things is far too crude, regardless, the first step of my plan has been completed without any major mishaps."
"Next, as long as we take Caesar, our only bargaining chip, to negotiate with Doflamingo and force him to abdicate..."
"Ah, about that gas-playing bastard."
Victor's expression was indifferent as he bluntly interrupted Law's grand blueprint: "He's already dead."
The air froze at that moment.
The confident expression on Law's face instantly froze.
"D... Dead?!"
"Are you kidding me?! If he's dead, then what do we use to blackmail Doflamingo into giving up his privileges as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?!"
Seeing Law's near-breakdown, Luffy naturally pressed down on the Straw Hat atop his head.
He grinned, revealing a natural, brilliant smile; his clear eyes reflected the simple logic unique to pirates:
"Blackmail?"
"Forget about those roundabout, troublesome things!"
"Since that Doflamingo guy has done so many bad things, why don't we just charge into his lair and beat the crap out of him!"
Facing this group of pure combatants who were completely unreasonable and only thought about direct confrontation, Law closed his eyes in despair and buried his face in his hands.
He finally truly realized just what a terrifying ship of thieves he had boarded.
...
Meanwhile, far away in Dressrosa in the New World.
Deep within this island full of passion and false prosperity, inside the luxurious hall of the royal palace.
The absolute king of the Underworld—the "Heavenly Yaksha," Doflamingo, was sitting on a wide sofa.
He swirled a red wine glass in his hand while discussing upcoming arms deals with his Top Executives.
Suddenly, the Vivre Card in his coat used to confirm the life and death of his subordinates let out a violent burning sound without warning.
Doflamingo frowned slightly and suddenly reached into his coat.
He saw that the two Vivre Cards representing Vergo and Monet had now completely lost their luster of life, their edges charred and curled.
And what made his soul tremble and flare with rage even more was the Vivre Card representing his core cash cow—Caesar Clown.
That card didn't even go through a process of struggling; it had actually burned to ashes and completely dissipated into the air!
The veins on Doflamingo's forehead writhed madly like bulging earthworms, and his eyes beneath the sunglasses were instantly bloodshot.
"Caesar is dead... My SAD raw materials... My SMILE Artificial Fruit Factory..."
Doflamingo suddenly crushed the goblet in his hand, letting the crimson wine mix with blood and drip through his fingers.
He threw back his head like a frenzied beast and let out a shrill roar filled with endless killing intent:
"Straw Hat boy!! Trafalgar Law!! I..."
"...swear I will skin you two reckless brats alive!!!"
Having lost Caesar, his only trump card, Doflamingo knew better than anyone how severe the consequences would be.
What he was about to face was the world-shattering, ruthless wrath of the Four Emperors' "of the Beasts" Kaido, the so-called strongest creature in the sea, land, and air, who was entrenched in Wano Country.
...
By the cold and dilapidated coast of Punk Hazard.
The sea breeze whistled as Sanji and Nami led the giant children on a long trek, successfully reuniting with Luffy and the others.
Draped in a tattered Justice coat, Smoker, representing the Marines of the G-5 Branch, officially took over the escort and subsequent treatment of these victimized children.
Facing the Straw Hat crew, this Vice Admiral, who had always viewed pirates as mortal enemies, exhaled a heavy puff of white smoke.
To repay the favor of saving his subordinates and revealing the truth...
Smoker, for the first time ever, reached a tacit "temporary blindness" with the Straw Hat crew, acting as if he hadn't seen this group of swaggering pirates.
Tashigi clutched her bandaged, injured shoulder, her cheeks slightly flushed.
She walked up to Zoro with somewhat awkward steps, her eyes darting around, but she finally mustered the courage to bite her lip and thank him:
"Even though you are evil pirates."
"But... for what happened in the corridor just now, and for saving Vice Admiral Smoker, thank you!"
Zoro crossed his arms and irritably scratched his short green hair.
He didn't dare look at Tashigi's familiar face and waved his hand impatiently, turning to leave:
"So annoying. Since you've said thanks, hurry up and take these troublesome brats back to your Marine base and stop bothering me."
With the sea breeze blowing, the Straw Hat crew officially bid farewell to the Marines and boarded the "Thousand Sunny" anchored in the harbor.
As they were about to set sail, the Wano Country samurai Kin'emon walked solemnly up to Luffy and fell to his knees with a thud.
He formally kowtowed to Luffy, expressing his deepest gratitude.
Then, he asked Luffy to borrow a small lifeboat with a sail.
As a proud samurai who valued honor more than life, since he had not yet found Momonosuke...
He absolutely could not shamelessly stay on the ship, nor did he want to involve these benefactors in the dangerous, murky waters of Wano Country.
Luffy looked at Kin'emon's determined eyes and didn't force him to stay.
He simply smiled and agreed to his request, generously giving him enough food and fresh water.
After thanking him again, Kin'emon jumped onto the small boat alone, raised the sail, and vanished by himself into the unpredictable thick mist of the New World.
After experiencing a series of intense battles, everyone finally returned to the absolutely safe Sunny.
Once his tense nerves relaxed, Luffy's stomach immediately let out a thunderous protest.
He immediately lay on the deck without any sense of decorum, flailing his limbs and clamoring for a grand celebratory banquet.
Sanji exhaled a smoke ring helplessly, rolled up his sleeves, and headed toward his beloved kitchen, ready to show off his skills and treat everyone well.
As the attentive Navigator, Nami habitually walked toward the orange grove at the stern and the storage room on the lower deck to carefully check if the ship's food supplies had been damaged by poison gas or the battle while everyone was away from the island.
However, not long after she entered the dim storage room...
"Ahhh!!!"
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream filled with panic from Nami came from deep within the storage room!
"Everyone, come quickly! Something strange has snuck in!"
Hearing the Navigator's distorted cry for help, everyone on deck changed their expressions.
"What's wrong?!"
Luffy, Zoro, Victor, and the others reacted with lightning speed, instantly turning into afterimages and rushing into the lower-level storage room in a panic.
Everyone looked toward the corner, following Nami's trembling finger.
There, in the wooden fruit basket originally used to store ordinary cantaloupes and apples, right in the center of a pile of common fruit, sat a piece of fruit covered in eerie spiral patterns and possessing a strange-colored skin!
Chopper, who had run in behind the others on his short legs, stared with wide eyes the moment he saw the appearance of that fruit.
He held out a furry hoof, pointed at the fruit, and shouted:
"This... these eerie patterns! There's no mistake! This is a Devil Fruit!"
"Why is there a Devil Fruit out of nowhere on our ship?!"