When they arrived at the once heavily guarded research institute and saw the front gate that had been more than half corroded, they couldn't help but frown.
Judging from the scene, the explosion must have been extremely sudden, leaving the researchers no time to react. Their escape must have been frantic.
Along the way, except for incomplete corroded bones from those who didn't escape in time, most of what they saw were scattered documents and scientific instruments, thrown all over the place in a mess.
Unfortunately, everything had already been corroded and burned. Who knew if they could still be used? Otherwise, if Kuma could slap everything back, even without getting the ship, this trip wouldn't be a loss.
He wondered if Wolf could repair them once Law removed the toxins?
Ian pondered for a moment, thinking he could come back later to check.
If nothing unexpected happened and they had enough time, maybe they could try.
Especially since... this place used to house the World Government's top scientists.
Even if they didn't count the one with the Best Brain in the World, the other scientists, anyone chosen by the World Government, were undoubtedly rare talents at sea.
What they left behind... surely included a lot of valuable technology!
While Ian was deep in thought, Law, staring seriously at the gate, said, "How do you plan to get in? This door doesn't look like something that can be cut open easily."
"Don't worry."
Ian, pulled from his thoughts by Law's voice, smiled and walked toward the gate. "Vegapunk already gave me the access code."
Indeed, Vegapunk had prepared thoroughly, not only warning them about the toxic air but also providing the access code.
As Ian tapped a few times on the electronic keypad…
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Boom!
The gate shook violently, letting out deep rumbling echoes.
And soon, the massive and solid door slowly slid open to both sides, revealing a wide, bright passage.
The research facility still had power. At the moment the door opened, it was as if the internal power system was activated, lights along the corridor lit up one by one, from the entrance and deeper into the passage.
In just a moment, the entire passage was fully illuminated.
But instead of being glad, the three frowned even deeper and lowered their heads to look at the footprints on the ground mixed with soil.
Someone had entered ahead of them and was walking in the same direction.
"Someone went in?"
Law's expression turned serious as he touched the footprint. "Judging from the moisture and hardness of the soil, they entered not long ago."
"Don't worry. Footprints this obvious probably aren't aimed at us."
Ian looked surprised for a moment, then, as if remembering something, he nodded slightly.
Someone entering now... Caesar Clown, or maybe someone else?
Ian pondered again. "But be cautious. Let's go in."
With that, he lifted his foot and walked forward with Kuma and Law.
They didn't know that just as they opened the door, deep inside the research facility, in a dim secret chamber, a faint blue light suddenly flickered to life, followed by a familiar electronic voice.
[A VIP customer has been detected. The System is activating...]
The journey was smooth all the way. Aside from the passages being somewhat messy and many corpses lying around, shriveled by the toxic mist for failing to escape in time, nothing unexpected happened.
Even after so many days since the explosion, the electricity was still running.
If it weren't for scattered documents, equipment, and corpses along the way, no one would have guessed this was an abandoned research facility.
Ian still had a rough understanding of the layout of the Punk Hazard research institute from his previous visit. Although last time he entered only under Zephyr's name and didn't have access to most areas, he had made a point to understand which place served which purpose.
However, Vegapunk's call hadn't told him where the ship was, so Ian didn't know where to go.
To be honest, even now, he couldn't figure out where in the research institute a ship could be hidden.
Could there possibly be an inland sea inside the facility connected to the outside ocean, allowing ships to navigate and enter the sea?
Otherwise, how could they sail out later?
It couldn't be that Vegapunk was fooling him, just making a single-person boat worth 7 billion belly that he could lift with one hand!
Since they didn't know which way to go, Law suggested... just follow the footprints on the ground.
This way, they could search and see what the intruder who sneaked in was trying to do.
For Law, having an unknown intruder hiding nearby made him extremely uneasy.
Ian thought about it, and since there was nothing else to do, he agreed to Law's suggestion.
The three followed the footprints slowly forward. But it had to be said, this guy was good at evading.
Almost an hour had passed, and they still hadn't seen him.
As they went deeper, though they hadn't found the target, the three became more serious, not daring to let down their guard for even a moment. They could sense in their hearts... that they were closing in on the sneaky little intruder.
Especially Ian, who even activated his Observation Haki; he scanned every corner of the surroundings with it.
Although they still hadn't found the intruder, it wasn't without gains. Using Observation Haki, Ian had learned quite a bit about most of the facility along the way.
This accident had indeed come suddenly. To escape, most of the institute's equipment had not been removed.
Even some documents remained intact. Though they didn't yet know how much of the equipment was still usable or whether the research files were complete, even partially damaged, it was still a valuable treasure.
Just the technology obtained from the abandoned laboratory on Karakuri Island had already advanced Grado's weapon workshop significantly.
And that was only partially deciphered. If they could decode everything, the workshop's technology would surely make a leap forward.
Now facing a more complete research institute, it was imaginable, if they could move it all, how astonishingly valuable it would be!
And then there were things outside the institute that others wanted to take but couldn't. Surely, even under disaster, such things would be even more precious.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
A little intruder was hiding inside. Taking over the place wouldn't be simple. They could deal with the treasures once the intruder was caught.