Pangaea Castle, Experimental Level.
The cold, desolate corridor was lined with all kinds of display boards showing strange formulas and biological structures. The entire floor felt as though it had been completely severed from the outside world—utterly silent, devoid of any movement—permeated by an air of mystery and oppression.
Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps shattered the eerie stillness.
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
An orange-haired young woman cautiously poked her head out from around a corner, like a cat sneaking out to steal food. Her sharp eyes swiftly swept the surroundings.
After a moment, once she confirmed there were no problems, Nami—hoisting a snakeskin sack over her shoulder—finally crept out from the corner.
"Phew~ As expected of the Five Elders' laboratory. It actually takes up an entire floor. It's so huge it's practically a city…"
Stepping into the corridor, Nami let out a long sigh of relief.
Even though Robin and Brook had already finished scouting this area, carrying priceless treasures under such circumstances meant she couldn't relax at all.
After all, this floor was just too bizarre!
They had originally assumed this place would be like the other areas of Pangaea Castle, heavily guarded by troops.
But after crawling through the ventilation ducts to reach this level, they were shocked to discover that reality was nothing like they had imagined.
The entire floor was a massive research base, filled with laboratories of every kind.
And the distance between each lab was enormous.
One might be developing weaponry and artillery, while the next was focused on life sciences.
Between laboratories of completely different styles and purposes, they could even sense traces left behind by the passage of time.
It was as if experiments had been conducted here continuously since the distant past.
When Nami recalled what Red had once said—that the Five Elders might be monsters who had survived from eight hundred years ago—
A chill ran straight down her spine.
Compared to Nami's anxiety, however, her three companions beside her felt something entirely different.
For Brook, who was far more bizarre than most of the experimental subjects on this floor, stitched corpses or clones floating in biotic fluid were nothing special.
As for Robin, she could spot countless historical clues hidden here—details that never failed to fill her with awe and contemplation.
And then there was Luffy, carrying dozens of precious Devil Fruits on his back…
He was completely fearless.
He grinned broadly, showing a row of gleaming white teeth, and strolled past Nami as if on a picnic, dashing excitedly to the door of a laboratory.
Pressing his face hard against the glass, he shouted cheerfully inside,
"Hey, guys, come take a look!?"
"There are tons of weird combat suits in here!"
"Do you think if we bring these back to Usopp, he could make one for each of us—just like his!?"
Luffy's eyes sparkled as he imagined something fun, his laughter full of anticipation.
Seeing him like this, all the vigilance on Nami's face vanished instantly, replaced by an expression that was three parts helplessness, three parts fear, three parts melancholy, and one part clenched-fist fury.
"Hey, Luffy! This is enemy territory! Could you please use your brain for once?!"
But Luffy clearly couldn't understand Nami's mood. Like a country bumpkin visiting a grand estate, he was completely absorbed.
Hearing her words, he turned around instinctively.
"Snacks? What snacks?"
"Is there a snack laboratory here too?!"
"..."
"You idiot…"
Bang!
With tears welling in her eyes, Nami slammed an Armament Haki-infused punch straight into Luffy's head.
"Bastard! You're completely ruining my sense of tension!"
"Do you even know where we are right now?!"
"Ah—owowowow…" Luffy whimpered, utterly baffled. "Why'd you hit me all of a sudden, Nami?"
"And aren't we inside Pangaea Castle in Mary Geoise? Nami, how can you be this forgetful?"
"Baka~" Nami clenched her fist, clearly about to smash her captain again.
But at that very moment—
The sound of a heavy metal door opening abruptly interrupted her.
Hiss—
The noise froze Nami in place, as if she'd been encased in ice.
Luffy, who thought he was about to be beaten again, cautiously opened one eye and looked at Nami, her fist still raised midair.
"Na—" Luffy started to speak in confusion, but in the next instant, a suddenly appearing arm covered his mouth.
The moment after, Robin and Brook moved in perfect sync from either side, dragging Nami and Luffy into a nearby laboratory to hide.
Tap… tap…
Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, mixed with the faint sound of a cane striking the floor.
In an instant, even the usually composed Robin and Brook felt cold sweat bead on their foreheads.
Fortunately, whoever had entered the experimental level seemed unaware of Luffy and the others.
The footsteps passed by their hiding place, gradually fading as they moved deeper into the experimental level.
Only after all sound disappeared did they finally relax.
"Phew~"
Everyone let out a long breath.
"That guy… could he be one of the Five Elders Red mentioned?" Nami asked quietly.
Robin shook her head. "I'm not sure. But I could sense an extremely dense spiritual power coming from him."
"Yohohoho~ This place really is full of dangers at every step," Brook said with a sigh, wiping nonexistent sweat from the air.
"Mmnnngh—!"
At that moment, Luffy, whose mouth had been tightly covered by all three, began struggling violently.
Only then did they notice his face had turned deathly pale and hurriedly let go.
"Hah—! Hah—!"
"You guys… are you trying to murder your captain?!"
Finally able to breathe again, Luffy stuck out his tongue and protested angrily.
But Nami, Robin, and Brook ignored him entirely and continued discussing the situation.
"What should we do? The direction that guy went… seems to be our escape route."
"Do we risk going past him?"
Nami looked toward where the footsteps had vanished, worry written all over her face.
"That would be unwise," Robin said calmly. "We still don't know what the situation outside is like. If we cause trouble now, it could interfere with Red and the others' operation."
"So…" Brook's soul flames flickered slightly. "Instead of risking that route, we should look for a way upward."
"As long as we leave this area of mental interference, we can re-establish contact with Red."
"After that, our next move won't be so uncertain."
"…Yes. At this point, that's our best option."
Nami and Robin nodded in agreement.
"Then the scouting will be up to you."
"Yohohoho~ I'll gladly take the job."
As his words fell, a幽 green ghostly flame suddenly emerged from Brook's body. After nodding to Nami and Robin, it drifted upward to scout the higher levels of the experimental floor.
...
...
"Almost there… almost there."
"Only the final fifth of the area left. Once that's done, all the slaves in the castle zone will be freed."
Above the chaotic skies of Mary Geoise, Red gazed calmly at the city below, now engulfed in flames, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
As the freed slave groups continued to grow, more teams led by Sanji were dispatched to rescue others.
In just half an hour, more than a dozen forces were charging into the castle area nonstop, liberating slaves.
Some of those teams even included brave souls who hadn't yet removed the explosive collars from their necks, yet still threw themselves into battle without hesitation.
Perhaps they knew this might be their final chance in life.
Rather than cowering behind the strong like pitiful wretches, they chose to seize fate with their own hands.
And the faster they helped the Straw Hat crew complete the rescues, the sooner they could leave this hellish nightmare behind.
Time slowly passed.
At last, through the slaves' relentless efforts, every captive in the castle area was fully liberated.
By then, it had been a full four hours since the Straw Hat Pirates and the Supernovas had reached the summit of Holy Land · Mary Geoise.
During that time, Pangaea Castle hadn't remained completely inactive.
About an hour earlier, a CP0 unit that had completed its authorization procedures suddenly emerged from Pangaea Castle and entered the castle area—normally accessible only to Celestial Dragons.
But the moment they appeared, Red, overseeing the entire operation, noticed them.
In the next instant, one Hyperspace Hole after another opened before the CP0 agents, teleporting them—before they could react at all—straight into the underground area where Zoro was located.
CP0 agents were strong, but after several major incidents, their ranks had already suffered heavy losses.
And in this era of chaos, many of the strongest CP0 operatives had been dispatched into the territories of the Four Emperors for missions.
Those left guarding Mary Geoise were almost entirely the old, the injured, or outright deadweight.
Either well-connected nepotism hires, or agents so badly wounded during missions that they'd been reassigned to desk work.
In short, these people didn't even get to witness Zoro's Pokémon-ization before being cut down by his Nine Sword Style · Demon Aura Swordsmanship.
At this point, Red had no idea how much longer the events in the castle area could be kept under wraps.
He was already prepared for the final battle.
What he didn't expect, however—
Was that before he could organize all the freed slaves to head toward Capone's position and retreat, Nami's panicked cry suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Help!!! Red!!!"
"We… we seem to have accidentally wandered into a really terrifying place!!!"
"Hm?" Red froze.
In the very next moment, Robin's voice followed.
Though her tone remained as calm as ever, its subtly quickened pace spoke volumes about the seriousness of the situation.
"Don't worry too much, Red."
"There's no longer any restriction on mental power here. I can use Teleport at any time to take everyone out of Pangaea Castle."
"But the place we're in now is rather unusual… this entire floor is filled with brilliantly blooming flowers."
"I suspect… this might be the place you mentioned before…"
"The Chamber of Flowers where Im, the true ruler behind the World Government, resides."
???
Far away in the castle area, Red's thoughts came to a screeching halt.
Wait—
Didn't we agree to leave immediately after stealing the Devil Fruits?
How did you end up charging straight into the final boss's lair while we weren't looking?!
We're not even all here yet—starting the endgame boss fight now feels a bit too reckless, doesn't it?!
For a moment, countless thoughts raced through Red's mind.
His first instinct was to immediately open a Hyperspace Hole and pull Luffy and the others back to retreat.
But before he could fully raise his arm, another thought flashed through his head.
Even Sabo—whose strength hadn't reached Admiral level—had managed to escape unharmed after being surrounded by the Five Elders and Im…
Maybe… he didn't need to be so cautious.
The world feared Mary Geoise because they didn't know what kind of power lay hidden within.
And the unknown was what crushed courage.
Red didn't believe his group was capable of confronting the World Government head-on…
But if it was just a matter of escaping from them, he didn't think he'd do any worse than Sabo.
Besides, all the slaves they could save had already been rescued.
Those still imprisoned within Pangaea Castle were simply beyond their current ability.
So…
"Looks like the 'agents of justice' part is over?"
"Which means… we can go back to being lawless pirates again?!"
Red stopped himself from activating the Hyperspace Hole, a grin spreading across his face.
In the next instant, he spoke directly into the shared voice channel.
"Luffy—interested in pulling off something big?!"
"Huh?!"
Red's words made everyone in the channel freeze.
Something big?!
All the Supernovas stopped in their tracks.
They looked at the shattered castle area—ravaged as if by relentless bombardment—and at the occasional Celestial Dragon corpse lying on the ground.
Though most Celestial Dragons had escaped under guard, rough estimates put the death toll from this incident alone at well over a hundred.
At that moment, the Supernovas felt that even if they died on the battlefield the very next second, their names would already be etched into history.
And now you're telling us… you want to go even bigger?!
Do the Straw Hat Pirates have a completely different understanding of the word "big" than normal people?!
For a brief moment, the Supernovas chose silence.
They had already seen more than enough of what the Straw Hats were capable of tonight.
Now, they wanted to see—
Just how far this seemingly unstoppable crew could really go.
Soon, Luffy's voice rang out in the channel.
"Of course!"
"I've been waiting for you to say that, Red!"
Inside the Chamber of Flowers, Luffy grinned widely, clenching his fists as they crackled loudly.
As the person who had known Red the longest, Luffy was more than willing to quietly follow Red's lead during the theft.
Because he understood—
Red's approach was about respecting everyone's lives, about never using his companions as expendable pieces.
But at the same time, Luffy also knew—
Red was an absolute, unparalleled agent of chaos!!!
Once he was sure his friends were safe, he would, in his own way—
Turn the entire world upside down!!!
(End of Chapter)