There was a thunderous commotion below.
"Catch him!"
"You won't get away!"
"Who is that man in the black ninja gear?!"
"Doctor's orders! Apprehend them all!"
The shouts of the guards echoed through the narrow underground passageways.
"Let's go watch a good show," Carl said with a faint, amused smile.
Yamato nodded with interest, gripping her kanabo as the two descended slowly into the facility's lower levels.
Underground.
"Tch!" Law crouched low, his hand tightly gripping the sheathed Kikoku—the cursed nodachi known as "Demon Wail." His amber eyes were sharp, calculating.
From all sides, hybrid soldiers charged in—men whose lower halves had been altered into that of horses by twisted SMILE experimentation. Beast Pirates guards enhanced into centaur forms, armed with all manner of crude weapons.
But Law wasn't the only target.
Across the passage was a man in sleek black shinobi garb, wielding a katana with a practiced, graceful style that marked him as a seasoned swordsman.
Law scowled. "Oi! You barged in here too, right?! Why'd you expose my location?!"
His infiltration had been flawlessly executed—Op-Op Fruit powers made slipping past guards trivial. Not a single patrol noticed him… until this mysterious warrior's reckless intrusion triggered a skirmish that caught everyone's attention.
"My apologies," said the swordsman grimly—Kin'emon, once a retainer of the Kozuki clan. "I mistook you for an enemy. My son, Lord Momonosuke, has been captured… I lost control."
Ever since he slipped into the facility, Kin'emon's nerves had been fraying. When he stumbled upon Law in the dark, he reacted on instinct, drawing his blade without hesitation.
"Fine. Doesn't matter now—just help me get out of this mess!" Law snapped, pivoting aside as a centaur jabbed at him with a trident.
More patrols were flooding in. Delaying meant death.
"ROOM!"
Law thrust his palm to the floor. With a hum of power, a white vortex burst forth, expanding into a translucent dome—his iconic surgical space.
The Room activated.
Now, everything within this field—every stone, every enemy, every weapon—was subject to Law's surgical manipulation.
With his cursed sword drawn, Law slashed with supernatural precision.
Shup!
Cold steel shimmered in arcs.
Law didn't flinch as a dozen attackers lunged in. He simply smiled and whispered, "Takt… Slaughterhouse."
Slice—!
All around them, screams erupted.
"What's happening?!"
"My head's floating—!!"
"Why is my body running away without me?!"
Panic tore through the centaur soldiers as their bodies were dismembered into separate parts—heads hovering, torsos walking, legs spinning in circles—yet none of them bled. No pain. No death.
It was the eerie, surgical precision of the Op-Op Fruit.
"Impressive!" Kin'emon gasped in awe.
"Let's move," Law muttered, already dashing toward the next hallway. "They're sending reinforcements."
Kin'emon hesitated only a moment before sprinting after him.
Whatever their intentions, they were allies now. At least in survival.
"Oi! Why are you here?" Law asked between steps.
"I'm here to find someone," Kin'emon answered grimly. "My son, Momonosuke, was taken and brought here!"
Law's eyes narrowed. He'd seen a young boy dragged away earlier—he hadn't thought much of it at the time, but it now made sense. That must've been Kin'emon's son—the heir to the Kozuki clan.
"There's something going on in this lab," Law said gravely. "Children from nearby islands are being kidnapped. I've been investigating for months."
It was a chilling truth.
"No matter what, I will rescue my son!" Kin'emon vowed, his grip on his sword tightening.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the wall ahead exploded—debris and stone flying!
From the rubble stepped a familiar, towering figure clad in a Marine coat.
"You won't escape, Law," said the voice coldly.
Law's eyes went wide with shock. "You… Vergo…"
Vergo, once a trusted Vice Admiral, had deceived the entire Navy. Years ago, Law had unknowingly given him classified intel, believing he was a loyal officer. But Vergo had been a Donquixote Family mole all along—his betrayal led directly to the massacre at Flevance and the death of Corazon, Law's savior.
Law's chest burned with rage.
"And me—Stone Bite!" a second, ominous voice boomed.
Above, a massive human face formed from the stone ceiling itself and lunged down with snapping jaws.
Law instinctively leapt back.
CRASH!
The giant stone head slammed into the ground.
"…Pica," Law muttered, cold sweat beading at his brow.
Vergo alone was already overwhelming—his full-body Armament Haki could tank blows that shattered steel. Now add Pica, a top executive of Doflamingo, with the Ishi Ishi no Mi (Stone-Stone Fruit), able to control and become living stone on a colossal scale.
"This just got worse," Law hissed.
"What kind of sorcery is this stone?! Incredible," Kin'emon said, eyes narrowed.
The two warriors prepared to face down a deadly reunion with ghosts of Law's past—and threats that might crush them both before they reached the boy who held Wano's future.
That's the ability of the Ishi Ishi no Mi (Stone-Stone Fruit)," Luo Chensheng explained grimly. The cursed blade 'Kikoku' in his hand slowly emerged from its sheath, black light reflecting off the curved steel.
"That guy, Pica, might be the most troublesome of all the top executives under Donquixote Doflamingo. Among the three top officers—Trebol, Diamante, and Pica—he has the most devastating defensive capability. His Paramecia-type Stone-Stone Fruit, once in a fitting terrain like Dressrosa, grants him near-Logia-level manipulation."
"Stone-Stone Fruit?" Kin'emon blinked in confusion. He could not grasp the implication.
As a samurai of Wanokuni who had been sent twenty years into the future, Kin'emon lacked even basic knowledge of Devil Fruits. His own Fuku Fuku no Mi (Clothes-Clothes Fruit) ability was something he still attributed to a mystical fruit from the outside world, rather than a Devil Fruit.
Luo didn't have time to elaborate further.
Kaka—!
The walls trembled violently underfoot.
"The octopus!" Kin'emon exclaimed, raising his katana.
Sa! Sa! Sa!
From the cracked floor and walls, massive stone tendrils—each one lined with jagged thorns—exploded outward, snaking through the air. Atop one of the largest stone protrusions, Pica's face, oversized and distorted, emerged from the rock formation, glaring down at the two intruders.
"Shi shi shi…" His high-pitched, squeaky voice grated against the walls.
The stone spikes shot forth in an instant!
Clang! Clang!
Sparks lit up the room as Kin'emon and Luo's blades clashed with the hardened tentacles. The samurai's blade crackled with fiery resolve, while Luo maintained a surgical calm.
"ROOM!"
A white spatial dome unfurled in Luo's palm. He moved to counterattack—
Boom!
—but a heavy blackened fist smashed into his gut before he could finish.
"Guh—!!"
A mouthful of blood erupted from Luo's lips as his technique collapsed.
"Like I told you… you can't escape," came a cold voice laced with contempt.
Vergo, cloaked in full-body Busoshoku Haki, stepped forward from the shadows. His bamboo stick leaned against his shoulder as if taunting them. He had entered the battlefield unseen, striking at the exact moment Luo dropped his guard.
Meanwhile, in another section of the laboratory…
A boy with a shaved crown and a single tied bun—wearing a loose pink kimono—sat cross-legged before a strange-looking fruit. The swirling spiral patterns that marked all Devil Fruits adorned its surface.
He reached forward, fingers trembling with hesitation.
Snap—!
A firm hand seized the fruit before him.
"Interesting…" Carl murmured, red light flickering in his eyes as he held the object. "Is this an artificial Devil Fruit?"
He rotated it between his fingers, his keen Observation Haki scanning it. "Structurally, it doesn't feel too different from a natural one."
"Hmm…" Beside him, Yamato crossed her arms, her sharp crimson eyes narrowing in curiosity. "Father created dozens of Zoan soldiers using this stuff… But they don't all succeed."
"Who are you?!" the boy finally shouted, startled, snatching at the air. "Give it back—that's my fruit!"
"Your fruit?" Carl arched an eyebrow. "Wait, why is a kid here?"
He squinted. "Didn't that bastard Caesar Clown keep all the children locked up in the Biscuit Room? How are there still kids in this research facility?"
Carl leaned closer, cigar clamped between his teeth, eyes flashing a deeper red.
The boy's aura was faint. Very faint. Completely ordinary.
He scanned the child's features—traditional hair bun, pink kimono, and accent… Wanokuni origins?
"Oi, kid. Where did you come from?" Carl asked, crouching slightly.
"I—I was kidnapped!" the boy stammered.
"I know that much," Carl sighed. "I mean, where were you kidnapped from?"
The child hesitated, shifting his gaze toward Yamato.
Then suddenly—sparkles filled his eyes.
"Whoa!" he gasped, heart-shaped pupils spinning as he stared at Yamato's imposing figure.
"She's so beautiful! Big sister, marry me!"
Momonosuke lunged forward with wide-open arms, leaping in Yamato's direction.
"…Huh?" Yamato tilted her head, confused. She hadn't expected such a reaction.
Smack!
Carl planted his hand firmly atop Momonosuke's head, lifting him into the air by the scruff like a misbehaving puppy.
"Even at your age, you're already like this?" he said, unimpressed.
He narrowed his eyes, studying the boy.
There was a faint impression in his memory.
A boy with this exact appearance…
Though he wouldn't normally remember someone so young and weak, the name Kozuki stirred something. The boy's mother—Kozuki Toki—had once stood at the heart of a world-shaking prophecy.
And this kid…
"Momonosuke, huh?" Carl muttered. "So, you're that brat."
He didn't know how the kid ended up here, but one thing was certain—
He couldn't ignore a Kozuki. Not in a land ruled by Orochi and shadowed by Kaido.
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