On Thunder God Island.
Dongye Huanglong, transformed into a giant dragon, soared through the thunderclouds, constantly tempering his body with lightning and training his Lightning Ability.
Lightning Dragon Great Torch!
Imitating Kaido of the Beasts' Fire Dragon Great Torch, Dongye Huanglong wrapped his true dragon form in lightning elements, creating a colossal lightning dragon.
Its terrifying might made Kibokun and Capone Bege gulp frantically.
The people inside the castle within Bege's body were so frightened by the lightning dragon Dongye Huanglong had become that they could not speak.
With such powerful abilities, why fear Doflamingo?
They just had to fight him.
200 Million Volts · God of Thunder!
Enel also transformed into a lightning giant thirty to forty meters tall, but before Dongye Huanglong's thousand-meter colossal lightning dragon, he looked like an ant.
"Boss God is terrifying!"
Seeing that this lightning dragon looked even more like a thunder god than he did, Enel's heart filled with longing.
Enel crazily absorbed the lightning of Thunder God Island, recklessly pushing past his body's limits.
500 Million Volts · Thunder Emperor!
The lightning giant Enel had become swelled wildly once more, growing to a hundred meters tall.
Though he was still tiny before the lightning dragon, he was enough to make Bege and the others tremble.
"What a powerful Rumble-Rumble Fruit User!"
Kibokun felt that this newcomer, Enel, was no weaker than the Whitebeard Pirates' new Second Division Commander. His bounty had to be worth 500 million Berries!
It was too terrifying. The Desolate Dragon Group had gained another Shichibukai-level powerhouse.
With Tyrant Kuma and Thunder God Enel as his right- and left-hand men, Dongye Huanglong could already crush any Shichibukai.
If he gained another powerful officer, they would practically be the prototype of the Beasts Pirates, with the bearing of an Emperor of the Sea.
"Ha ha ha~, Kibokun, why not join our boss? Better yet, bring your big brother Giberson along."
Capone Bege grinned. Having followed Dongye Huanglong, the God Slayer, he had no way back. He might as well keep following this madman and watch him climb step by step toward the position of an Emperor of the Sea.
Shanks, the new Emperor of the Sea, had only held that position for two or three years. They had every chance to drag him down.
"..."
Kibokun did not want to pay Capone Bege any attention. Their underworld forces were a gray faction, operating between the legitimate and criminal worlds. They did business with the World Government, member nations, the Marines, pirates, and mountain bandits alike.
Great Pirates changed with every era. Rocks, the three great legendary pirates, the One Piece, and the Emperors of the Sea—one batch of top pirates replaced another.
Yet several Underworld Emperor families had been passed down through a single bloodline for centuries.
For example, the Dark Gold Family · Du Family controlled the financial and currency industries, owning many legitimate and illicit banks, underground money houses, and lending all kinds of usurious loans;
The Maritime Family · Umi Family controlled transportation through deep-sea currents, with shipping routes spread across the Four Seas and the Grand Line;
The Poison Family · Drago Family controlled the assassin trade, encompassing all manner of human trafficking, organ trafficking, kidnappings, and assassinations.
Kibokun's family was an old force second only to these three great families, controlling the commodities and warehousing sectors.
As for the Pleasure District Queen Stussy, Underworld Broker Emperor JOKER, and Big News Morgans, they were all newly risen Underworld Emperors, still expanding their power and specialized domains as they awaited the completion of their respective monopoly structures.
Dongye Huanglong and Enel lost track of time in their training, completely immersing themselves in the days of growing stronger.
Capone Bege and the others could only wait miserably.
That wait lasted nearly ten days.
Meanwhile, Caesar Clown secretly returned to Punk Hazard with Monet and a Donquixote Family team.
Caesar, who called himself the world's second greatest scientist, did have some real ability.
He had also mastered part of the technique for integrating Zoan Devil Fruit abilities into objects.
With the Donquixote Family's support, he obtained a Zoan-type Newt-Newt Fruit. He fused part of his concentrated poison gas with the Newt-Newt Fruit, creating a purple Poison Slime.
He guided the Poison Slime to continuously devour Punk Hazard's poisonous gas, purifying the island's toxic mist and prioritizing the removal of poison gas from the laboratory.
When he returned to this long-abandoned research room, he unexpectedly discovered several experimental prisoners who had not yet been poisoned to death.
However, most of the prisoners in the laboratory had had their legs paralyzed after inhaling the poison gas.
After Caesar spun them a tale, he somehow triggered the same luck aura as Buggy. These surviving prisoners regarded Caesar as the savior who had rescued them, each swearing to follow him to the death.
Caesar naturally accepted these underlings, fitting the paralyzed prisoners with remote-controlled balloons to aid their movement and having them guard Punk Hazard for him.
Under Doflamingo's urging and Monet's supervision, Caesar quickly began researching Artificial Devil Fruits. Using the complete experimental equipment here, he began producing S Zoan Bloodline Factor.
On Thunder God Island.
Violet, the Stare-Stare Fruit User, and Capone Bege's group successfully intercepted a passing News Bird along the shore of Thunder God Island and obtained the newspapers from the past few days.
A Bounty Poster caught their attention.
It was actually a new face with a bounty of 300 million Beli.
Caesar Clown, formerly the number-two scientist of the World Government's science division, expert in researching weapons of mass destruction, Logia-type Gas-Gas Fruit User, extremely dangerous.
When Dongye Huanglong took a break and saw Caesar's Bounty Poster, he smiled.
He had not known which prison Caesar was being held in, but now this guy had actually come out to deliver himself to death.
"Come on, we're heading to Punk Hazard!"
Dongye Huanglong called out to Enel and prepared to leave Thunder God Island. Huanglong did not know where Caesar was now, but he knew that Caesar would definitely go to Punk Hazard.
If they went there now, there was a high chance they could catch him.
He wondered whether they would run into Doflamingo or someone from the Donquixote Family. This was going to be fun.
Doflamingo still wanted to do business with Dongye Huanglong, but that was impossible.
With a dragon's roar, Dongye Huanglong took Enel and Capone Bege into the sky and sped toward Punk Hazard.
Meanwhile, Caesar at Punk Hazard excitedly arranged his own private laboratory. From now on, this enormous research facility would be his personal domain.
With Doflamingo providing protection outside and a group of new underlings at his beck and call inside, he would become Punk Hazard's number-one scientist.
As the Poison Slime grew larger and larger, the poisonous gas on Punk Hazard became scarcer and scarcer. Given some time, it would completely purify the island's air, while it itself would become a dangerous poisonous gas monster.
"Shurorororo! Vegapunk, I will surpass you!"
Caesar officially started the machines and began producing the raw materials for Artificial Devil Fruits. The success of Experiment Subject 88 had shown him a path toward mass-producing powerful subordinates.
In the future, he absolutely could not fall behind Queen of Plague or Vinsmoke Judge. He, too, would have a powerful army.
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