The Fall of the Lizard King

Lizard King Hanafuda had long served as an arms distributor under Kaido.

Yet all this time, not even Kaido or his three Calamities knew that Hanafuda had siphoned off part of the materials used to research Lineage Factors for his own ambitions.

Obsessed to the point of madness with ancient species—especially ancient lizard species—Hanafuda had used the ruins where he obtained the Ancient Zoan Lizard Fruit, along with some research data leaked by Vegapunk, to actually develop something.

He regarded the result of this research as the foundation for conquering the world and overthrowing the World Government.

A massive black iron meteor fell from the sky. Ace, whose body dispersed into flames as he flew into the air, had beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Oh? A brat from the outer seas actually managed to dodge that move. You got lucky thanks to your Devil Fruit too. After all, you're a Logia..."

"But before me, now transformed into the Ancient Lizard King, your struggle is meaningless!"

"Fire Fist!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Towering waves of flame surged forth again, only to be swept aside in one stroke by Hanafuda, whose chain hammer was coated in Armament Haki and whistled through the air.

"Useless, useless, useless, useless! How long can you keep staying in the sky, brat?!"

Purple-black mist seeped from the grotesque lizard's mouth. Each time it touched the lizard corpses strewn across the ground, the poisonous fog grew even denser.

In the blink of an eye, the entire island was blanketed in toxic fog. Only the Spade Pirates who had barely escaped the island, along with the surviving islanders who had moved away from the shore, remained unharmed.

"Captain, if it comes down to it, retreat already! We're no match for that monster! We can't beat him!"

"Hmph, trying