Poison Gas Engulfs the Area, Battle on the Verge of Eruption

New World, Pharaoh Island

It belongs to the jurisdiction of the Navy's G-5 branch.

Bang!

He kicked a civilian to the ground, scattering the photos he was holding. If the Straw Hat crew were there, they would have noticed that the photos in the civilian's hand were indeed of the children they had rescued.

Of course, these are children of normal size.

The person who kicked the man was a naval admiral wearing an overcoat, a military cap, and underneath... a very flashy bodysuit, with metal armor on his feet.

"How many times have I said it? The children's deaths were 'accidents'! You're going Guotou!"

"Please do it again..."

"Please ask the Navy to help us search again,"

"If possible, could you help us contact Vice Admiral 'White Dove'? I heard he's best at—"

(The rank of candidate Admiral is an internal naval rank, but the official rank is still that of Vice Admiral.)

"Outrageous! You've Guotou!!"

The furious naval commander, Commodore Guotou... Yes, his name is 'Guotou,' just like his catchphrase.

"These are facts that have been repeatedly confirmed Vice Admiral Lieutenant General Vergo, our superior in the 'G-5' branch!"

"I've searched it ten thousand times!"

... The Guotou Commodore is exaggerating again...

The G-5 naval personnel behind him were speechless. This officer just loved to exaggerate, for example:

"If you keep arguing, I'll kill you all for obstructing official business, and then burn this town down!"

"Haha, Commodore, that would be going too far."

"Let's go!"

Faced with the menacing Commodore G-5, the parents gathered in the town could only silently wipe away their tears. As ordinary people, they had never even left this town in their lives, let alone gone to sea. How could they possibly find their child?

"Even Mr. Vergo, who protected this island from pirates, said it was an accident...?"

"How is this possible! Just playing near home turned into a 'shipwreck' death? How can we believe this..."

"Hmph, really."

The furious commodore, who had stormed Guotou, Commodore his lip. He was, after all, a commander capable of single-handedly taking down pirates with bounties exceeding one hundred million (he even single-handedly defeated the Caribou brothers with his clothes torn off). Did he have time to help ordinary people find a child? Besides:

"They actually wanted to contact 'White Dove' candidate Admiral, how infuriating! I wish I could be transferred to that guy's subordinate, with tons of merits, plenty of supplies, and the ability to get promoted and make a fortune without lifting a finger! Guotou's too comfortable..."

"Commodore, forget about it. Their unit is full of 'Second-generation Marine.' A few young kids have already risen to Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral just because of the prestige of 'White Dove' candidate Admiral. It's simply—"

It's so enviable!

While the Navy values strength above all else, higher ranks mean better equipment, more elite subordinates, greater access to advanced skills, and even priority in the allocation of Devil Fruit, among other things.

Just like the 'Six Powers,' only officers of the rank of colonel can apply to learn them. Tekkai and Shigan require Commodore general to obtain the training methods—not everyone has Garp as their teacher, allowing even junior officers to start learning the Six Powers. Otherwise, the Six Powers would have been rampant on the seas long ago!

Big Mom's family, where everyone can use Geppo, only acquired the detailed training method for Geppo because they gained the allegiance of several fallen Marines. Unlike other powerful individuals who are "self-taught" but unable to teach others.

For example, Sanji can learn something just by "looking at it," and Sanji can suddenly Luffy while running...

"Well, having Vice Admiral Vergo is a blessing for our G-5 branch. Let's not complain Guotou!"

Guotou Commodore knew very well that if it were any other Vice Admiral, they might not have been able to tolerate these "rogue" naval forces of the G-5 branch! The most important thing for a person is to be content.

However, what these naval officers didn't expect was that the two 'naval role models' they spoke of not only had pirate identities, but were also about to have a major clash with each other.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~ Dear real estate agents in front of your screens,"

In the Punk Hazard testing base, Caesar, having transformed himself into a wisp of smoke, picked up a microphone and began showcasing his 'goods' to underground arms dealers across the New World. After all:

Doing scientific research is very expensive!

Vegapunk has the Navy as a major financial backer, providing him with massive amounts of resources to burn, while a self-taught scientist like Caesar must offer 'products' in exchange for money. In this world of frequent wars and rampant powerful figures, what could be more valuable than more powerful weapons of mass destruction?

He tried to sell "human gigantification" to Big Mom, and provided Kaido with "Artificial Devil Fruit." Now, Caesar is about to introduce a third weapon that breaks the limits of human capability.

"I apologize for the hasty experiment, but I guarantee that after you see what's coming next, you'll feel it was well worth the price!"

In various countries of the New World, powerful figures operating in the underground markets watched Caesar speaking eloquently on the screen, quietly awaiting his next words.

"I will be showcasing various poison gas weapons that are more powerful, more perfect, and—"

"Highly efficient!"

As the screen switched, it showed the outside scenery: a giant jelly-like slime wriggled its body, chasing the armed personnel in the laboratory, the soldiers of G-5, and even the Straw Hat crew all over the place.

"Today, we are honored to have the elite of the Navy and the pirates: the G-5 branch led by 'White Hunter' Smoker, and the 'Straw Hat Pirates' with a total bounty of over 900 million to demonstrate the power of my new weapon!"

········

'Using the navy for experiments, what a grand gesture!'

'Aren't those the Straw Hat crew who just returned? How come they're getting mixed up with that mad scientist Caesar...?'

'Interesting. If this poison gas is really that powerful, equipping ourselves with some would be a good option.'

'I'm afraid Caesar might overdo it—'

Various conversations echoed through the Underworld. Compared to the 'comfortable' first half of the Grand Line, the kings, lords, and mayors of the latter half were far more concerned with the upgrading of weapons of war. After all:

Even experts can be killed by various high-tech weapons!

Moreover, in war, the vast majority of those conquering territories are ordinary people made of flesh and blood. Even using it to deter hostile forces is extremely necessary; without some trump card, one cannot survive in the New World.

"Hey, what are these weird things that explode when you chop them?"

After Zoro sliced a small slime in half with Flying Slash, causing it to explode cleanly, the Straw Hat crew no longer dared to underestimate these wriggling creatures. Of course, they weren't exactly afraid.

"How about I freeze them all?"

Nami suggested,

"I can create a 'barrier' using poison-resistant plants,"

Usopp also raised his hand.

"If we can find out the weaknesses of these 'slimes', it will be much easier."

Their weakness... no, its weakness is water.

Of course, Roman wasn't going to give away any spoilers. One reason was that the Straw Hat crew could handle this kind of thing, and the other was:

Wow, these jellies have all gathered together!

Luffy looked excitedly at the giant purple slime that had merged into a building several stories high, and then turned to Roman with great interest.

"I've decided, I'm going to keep it! Its name will be Little Soft— "

"Roman, think of a way to catch it quickly!"

··········

"I'm sorry, our ship can't possibly carry something that big. However:"

With a wave of Roman's hand, a slime the size of a human head was wrapped in white paper and then covered with a layer of solid ice!

"Perhaps we could try raising a small one..."

While the group was chatting, a giant 'candy' was thrown from the nearby laboratory base and entered the body of the giant purple slime.

It's here!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~ Eat, eat, my dear pet."

Behind him Monet grumbled, "It can't hear what you're saying at all," as Caesar watched the giant purple slime swallow the "candy," revealing several pieces inside:

Fruit with concentric rings of patterns!

Artificial Devil Fruit.

These are 'artificially created, highly poisonous Devil Fruit's carefully selected by Caesar.

Although it is only a semi-finished product, while granting the user the ability to be highly poisonous, it will also produce various unknown mutations and has no practical value. But what if it was originally intended to be consumed by someone who can only take effect after death?

For creatures that have eaten Devil Fruit, this Artificial Devil Fruit would also kill them.

"Then, see you in the next life!"

Boom!

The giant slime that had just digested these Artificial Devil Fruit instantly swelled, collapsed, and decomposed! It turned into a burst of poisonous gas—it had been killed by its own master.

That's right! This giant slime is also a 'Devil Fruit user'. Its true form is a gel-like H2S Gas Bomb made by consuming the 'Salamander Fruit - Axolotl Form' through high technology.

Since Devil Fruit grants it life, it naturally inherits the fatal weakness of not being able to eat two Devil Fruits. Therefore:

"This enormous monster just died like that?"

"Turn into smoke... no, into poison gas!"

As the giant slime suddenly disintegrated and spread, everyone instinctively ran away from this obviously dangerous substance. A laboratory guard caught in the toxic gas was instantly transformed into:

"Statue!?"

"That person... froze!"

"What is this thing?! 'Master'! Please save us..."

In an instant, everyone around was horrified! They had all seen poison gas before, but this kind of terrifying gas was simply challenging the limits of humanity; a living person could be turned into a grayish-white statue in an instant—

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~ everyone."

In the laboratory base, Caesar was proudly introducing his 'new product' to the powerful figures of the New World.

"No matter how deadly ordinary poison gas may be, it can be withstood and escaped by those with strong physiques."

The difference in physical constitution between humans in this world is like the difference between an infant and Ultraman. Ordinary people are still made of flesh and blood, and a fall can be fatal; but even if the strong are seriously injured and on the verge of death, they can survive for hours in a cauldron of boiling oil.

The same poison gas, instantly fatal to ordinary people, is merely a tickle in the throat of the monsters of the in the Grand Line... no, even to lowly soldiers. Therefore:

"Therefore, I've added a 'protein coagulant' to my new hybrid toxin. It can coagulate any creature covered in the gas—note, any!"

"They'll all instantly freeze, then silently die in the subsequent gas attack! Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~"

The terrifying laughter echoed throughout the base—and even spread across the entire island through a Den Den Mushi that had somehow appeared in a corner of a room.

"Whoosh! Domination, war, theft of kingdoms!"

Caesar's voice was filled with an evil allure, like the whisper of a demon.

"You can also turn your mortal enemy into a 'statue' and forever admire his tormented, pleading figure. Many uses, buy now while supplies last!"

"I'm not going to catch that Caesar anymore,"

Standing before the base, watching his former subordinates, abandoned by Caesar, turn into statues weeping blood and tears, Luffy solemnly adjusted his Straw Hat.

"I'm going to kill him! — Roman,"

"You say,"

The White Knight beside him nodded.

"I'm listening."

"Get everyone out of here!"

'This' includes the Straw Hat crew, the G-5 Marines, and:

The subordinates abandoned by Caesar.

"Can."

On the other side, 'Roman' and 'Nami', dressed in naval admirals' coats, flew onto the Sunny Merry. As soon as the two of them landed on the deck, the light in their eyes immediately disappeared, and they turned into two simple 'White Knight' puppets.

Much easier.

Among the White Knight who were 'slacking off' on the battlefield, Roman had been remotely maintaining the energy of the two puppets, stretched his neck.

Swish swish swish —

Meanwhile, after several flashes of light, Zoro shattered the steel gate of the laboratory, which could withstand artillery fire, into eight pieces.

"Those who don't want to die, go in."