The crumbling laboratory and the spreading SAD poison gas seemed isolated from this place, quietly serving as nothing more than a backdrop.
Austin sat atop the railing, looking out over Punk Hazard, an island like a human tragedy.
"From the moment Luo called out the name of Warp, you were already affected."
Vergo fell silent.
He admitted that was true.
Having trained his Armament Haki to such a profound level, he ordinarily would not have feared some strange Devil Fruit ability. But the Warp Fruit was another matter.
He had been careless at the time, and he had started to panic.
Austin, meanwhile, found it quite amusing. Luo had actually tried to copy him.
And the imitation had been so clumsy.
Austin sat on the railing beside Vergo's hanging head, conjuring a bottle of orange juice and pouring it into his mouth.
"Come to think of it, this is really hilarious. You didn't seriously think that Luo brat's Devil Fruit ability could actually stop you from moving, did you?"
"Th-this..."
Vergo froze. He truly had felt as if he could not move forward.
It had been very similar to one of Austin's famous techniques, Don't Move. Supposedly, if someone exceeded a certain range of movement, they would be warped back to their original state.
Seeing Vergo's expression, Austin burst into laughter.
This was too amusing~
"You really got bluffed by that brat Luo. You wrapped your whole body in Armament Haki and got carried away, even neglecting to properly use your Observation Haki~"
"That brat Luo couldn't warp you at all, so he warped the ground and the surrounding buildings instead."
"???"
Even someone as cold and reserved as Vergo could not help but have his expression stiffen at those words.
As an observer—and someone at the pinnacle of Observation