Dark. Damp. Saturated with the stench of fear and despair.
This was practically the standard configuration of every slave dungeon.
Within Mary Geoise, almost every Celestial Dragon's castle was equipped with a dedicated slave prison.
Some were built deep underground. Some were directly arranged in a room within the castle itself. Others were separated based on the type of slaves being held.
But no matter where a slave dungeon was constructed, for the slaves imprisoned within, there was no difference at all.
Because the moment they were brought here, their lives had effectively come to an end.
The only reason they were still alive was simply because they lacked the courage to face death.
On this day, the slaves—exhausted after being toyed with by the Celestial Dragons—finally welcomed the most relaxing moment of the entire day.
The Celestial Dragons' rest time was also their only chance to breathe, to catch their breath.
Fortunately… there had been no casualties today.
They could only hope tomorrow would be just as fortunate.
However, just as the slaves carried this fragile hope and prepared to drift into sleep, a strange male voice suddenly echoed within the dungeon.
"ROOM!"
Buzz—
Under the flickering candlelight, an eerie spatial ripple burst forth, instantly enveloping the entire room.
"Huh!? What's going on?!"
The very next moment—
Before the resting slaves could even sit up, several razor-sharp flashes of slashing light abruptly appeared within the dim prison.
In an instant, the supposedly indestructible steel cell doors shattered into multiple segments, their cuts smooth and clean, floating eerily in midair.
Immediately after, several figures materialized inside the dungeon.
"Shh!"
The moment he appeared, Usopp raised a finger to his lips, signaling silence to the slaves.
"Don't make a sound! We're here to rescue you!"
"Anyone who doesn't want to stay a slave—gather around me now!"
As if rehearsed beforehand, Usopp spoke rapidly and decisively to the nearly hundred slaves inside the dungeon.
When his words fell, the entire prison plunged into absolute silence.
The slaves wore blank, stunned expressions. But soon, a small boy within the crowd stood up and ran toward Usopp.
His action successfully spurred the others into motion. Though they still didn't fully understand what was happening, the slaves began moving toward Usopp's position.
Fisher Tiger's heroic deeds were a story almost every slave in Mary Geoise knew by heart.
And every single day, they prayed that another hero would descend from the heavens, just like Fisher Tiger, to save them from their suffering.
They had simply never imagined that this day would come so suddenly.
"Big brother, are you heroes?"
Perhaps because of his young age—or perhaps because he hadn't been enslaved for very long—the boy smiled innocently, tugging at Usopp's pant leg as he asked.
"Heroes?"
Usopp lifted his nose proudly, a smug grin spreading across his face.
"We're not heroes!"
"We're pirates!!!"
"The Straw Hat Pirates!!!"
As he spoke, he raised his Green Vine Grapple Device, deliberately revealing the skull emblem wearing a straw hat.
"The Straw Hat Pirates…?"
The boy, whose mind was still immature, couldn't distinguish between pirates and heroes.
But at that moment, he etched that emblem deeply into his heart.
Once all the slaves had gathered, Usopp nodded to Law beside him.
Already experienced with this process, Law calmly swung his blade.
In an instant, the heads and limbs of every slave separated cleanly from their bodies.
As panic and terror spread across their faces, the bomb-laden shackles restraining them clattered to the floor.
Then Law used his Devil Fruit ability again, seamlessly reattaching everyone's bodies.
The entire sequence felt like a dream.
"All right. Next, line up one by one and walk into my body."
Usopp's body suddenly expanded, transforming into an unassuming little house, its door swinging open toward the slaves.
"..."
Though utterly confused, seeing that their shackles had truly been removed, the newly freed slaves finally stepped forward, one after another, entering Usopp's transformed storage body.
A dozen minutes later, Usopp looked at the now-empty slave dungeon and nodded in satisfaction.
He then summoned a Path Marker Insect.
No words were needed.
Having already looted several Celestial Dragon castles, they followed the Path Marker Insect with practiced ease, sprinting toward this Celestial Dragon's treasure vault.
…
…
At the same time, elsewhere—
"Another Devil Fruit?!"
Staring at the strange black-and-white fruit Apoo had handed over, Sanji's eyes flashed with excitement.
Since entering Mary Geoise, this was already the sixth Devil Fruit they had found in Celestial Dragon treasure vaults!
On average, every two vaults contained at least one Devil Fruit.
And beyond that—countless famous weapons, priceless treasures, and rare artifacts!
Treasures worth billions were so common in Celestial Dragon vaults that they could practically be described as everywhere.
It was more than enough to show just how extravagantly the Celestial Dragons lived.
In the next second, Sanji casually tossed the Devil Fruit toward Capone, who was currently transformed into a castle. The fruit landed precisely inside a room dedicated to storing Devil Fruits.
"Wonder if there's one suitable for that moss-head…"
Sanji muttered softly, his gaze sweeping across the mountain-like piles of treasure.
Although his Speed-Speed Fruit allowed him to frequently gain the upper hand against Zoro, it was precisely because of this that Sanji understood just how terrifying Zoro's talent truly was.
If Zoro were to obtain a Devil Fruit, he might completely overturn their current balance—and once again overwhelm him in combat power.
Even so, Sanji still hoped to compete with Zoro fairly.
As time passed, the gold, silver, and jewels were rapidly packed into Capone's castle body by the Supernovas.
But after everything was collected, Sanji frowned slightly. After a moment's thought, he spoke to the others:
"This won't do."
"Our time is limited. The Celestial Dragons will notice something's wrong soon."
"From here on, we need to be selective. Only grab valuables that are easy to take."
"Understood."
The Supernovas nodded in agreement, fully understanding Sanji's concerns.
Still…
The pain of leaving behind mountains of treasure in plain sight was almost unbearable.
But Sanji couldn't empathize with their sorrow at all.
"All right. Pack up—we're moving to the next one!"
With a wave of his hand, Sanji led the Supernovas out of the castle.
Under the cover of night, they quickly advanced toward the neighboring castle district.
…
…
Pangaea Castle—the residence of the Celestial Dragon patriarch.
"Hey, Nami! We've been walking forever! Haven't we found the treasure yet?!"
"Shh! Be quiet!!!"
In the vast, opulent corridor, Luffy—who had been cautiously advancing step by step for ages—suddenly looked up, irritation written all over his face.
Since entering Pangaea Castle, they had been constantly hiding and dodging patrols.
That part was fine.
The real problem was—
From time to time, updates from Usopp's team and Sanji's team flooded their shared telepathic channel!
One moment, dozens of slaves rescued.The next, another Devil Fruit or priceless treasure discovered…
They received messages like this almost every ten minutes.
Meanwhile, Luffy's four-person group had been inside Pangaea Castle for over an hour—doing nothing but avoiding patrols and crawling through pipes.
The contrast was devastating for Luffy!
In truth, Luffy wasn't the only one feeling bored and irritated.
Nami felt the same way.
The treasure location marked by her Pickup ability was clearly just ahead—yet they were forced to inch forward at a snail's pace…
That torment was even worse than hearing about everyone else's success.
But there was no helping it.
Pangaea Castle was simply too massive.
In a sense, its scale rivaled that of a small island—or even a country.
Without access to the internal moving mechanisms of the castle, reaching the treasure location was incredibly difficult.
Thankfully, at that moment—
A cyan-green ghostly flame suddenly appeared from the ceiling and slammed directly into Luffy's skeletal body.
"Brook's back!"
Luffy's eyes lit up instantly.
Nami and Robin quickly turned their attention as well.
"Yohohoho~"
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting."
Brook laughed lightly, apologizing to his companions.
But the Nami who had just told Luffy to stay quiet immediately burst out excitedly:
"How is it?!"
"Is anyone guarding the Celestial Dragons' treasure vault?!"
After more than an hour of "long-distance travel," they had finally reached the destination marked by Nami's Pickup ability.
However, this area was extremely strange—the building materials had clearly undergone special treatment, completely blocking mental detection!
Not only was Observation Haki useless here, even Robin's psychic powers couldn't penetrate it.
Fortunately…
They had another method of reconnaissance.
That was Brook, who could operate in full spiritual form.
However—
Faced with Nami's questions, Brook first nodded, then immediately shook his head.
The sight left everyone looking confused.
Brook then explained:
"There are indeed no guards above… but that room isn't a Celestial Dragon treasure vault."
"It's more like… a research facility."
"A research facility?!"
Nami and Robin exchanged glances, confusion evident in their eyes.
Robin spoke directly:
"A research facility that blocks mental detection… This is very likely an important World Government experimental area."
"So Brook—did you see what treasure Nami's ability detected?"
"Yes."
At this, the ghostly flames in Brook's eye sockets flickered.
"If I'm not mistaken, what Nami sensed…"
"Should be the Devil Fruits in that room!!!"
"There's an entire crate full of Devil Fruits inside!"
"And several of them are displayed openly."
"If the labels are correct, those Devil Fruits are—"
"Zoan-Type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Vermilion Bird;"
"Zoan-Type, Cat-Cat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: White Tiger;"
"Zoan-Type, Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Black Tortoise;"
"And…"
"Zoan-Type, Ox-Ox Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Qilin!!!"
"Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, Black Tortoise…" Robin's eyes lit up. "Along with Kaido's Azure Dragon…"
"Aren't these the Four Divine Beasts Red once talked about?!"
"Red said that the Azure Dragon Fruit originally belonged to the Celestial Dragons, but was lost due to an accident."
"So they've already gathered these powerful Mythical Zoan Fruits long ago…"
"Four Mythical Zoans—and a crate of unknown Devil Fruits?!"
"Nami's Pickup ability is ridiculously powerful, isn't it?!"
At that moment, Red's voice suddenly echoed in the minds of the four, expressing amazement at Nami's ability.
He had expected the Celestial Dragons' vaults to be rich—but not this rich.
However…
That lab capable of blocking mental detection was, if Red wasn't mistaken, very likely the personal research facility of Saint Saturn, the Warrior God of Science and Defense among the Five Elders.
Which meant—
Compared to the Mythical Zoan Fruits, the research data inside might be even more valuable!
With that thought, Red immediately conveyed his concerns to Nami and the others.
He also warned them of the possible dangers.
Once they entered the research facility, their mental link with Red would be severed.
If Saturn had left any safeguards inside, and something went wrong, Red wouldn't be able to know immediately.
The risks were self-evident.
It could even affect the actions of the Straw Hats and the Supernova Alliance elsewhere in the castle district.
Usopp's and Sanji's operations were going extremely smoothly.
Even without touching Pangaea Castle's treasures, their gains would still be enormous.
So was this risk truly worth taking?
However—
After hearing Red's words, neither Luffy nor Nami showed the slightest hesitation.
Luffy slammed his fist into his palm, grinning:
"We've already come this far—how could we just give up now?!"
Nami's eyes sparkled as she licked her lips greedily:
"Exactly~ There's no such thing as returning empty-handed in my dictionary!"
Already expecting this, Red smiled faintly:
"In that case…"
"Go all out without holding back!"
"Even if you're discovered, it's fine—I'll make sure everyone escapes safely!"
"Hehe, I knew you were the most reliable, Red!" Luffy laughed foolishly, praising his vice-captain sincerely.
"Cut it out~" Red replied with a smile of his own.
…
…
Meanwhile—
At the boundary between Pangaea Castle and the castle district.
A lone figure walked leisurely along a strange road, bathed in moonlight.
"This is weird… what kind of place is this?"
Zoro walked alone under the moon, like a traveler taking a post-dinner stroll.
Just then—
A faint glimmer of light appeared before him.
Though extremely dim and inconspicuous, it stood out sharply in the silence of the night.
"Hm?" Zoro raised his head, curiosity sparked by the odd structure before him.
Simple and heavy in architectural style, yet built in such a hidden corner…
Rather than a residence, it looked more like a small warehouse—or a control room.
The strangeness instantly piqued Zoro's interest.
And besides, his mission was "free action."
Which, translated differently, meant—
Do whatever you want.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zoro stepped forward, heading toward the structure.
…
…
Ten minutes later—
BOOM!!!!!
A colossal explosion shook all of Mary Geoise as a deafening roar erupted from the center between Pangaea Castle and the castle district.
Blazing flames illuminated the entire sky above Mary Geoise.
(End of Chapter)