Escape

"Whew..." Li Ziming leaned against the wall, looking utterly bored.

"Tsk, Smoker gave me quite a scare when he showed up..." Caesar looked at Smoker. "I thought my whole plan had been exposed..."

"Hmph. That man's a stray dog. I can't control him..." Vergo shook his head, sounding a little relieved. "But this should be the last time he causes me trouble..."

"You brought this on yourself, Luo!" Caesar looked at him smugly. He was glad he had made Luo hand over his heart in advance. Otherwise, given Luo's strength and how well he knew Caesar, Caesar wouldn't have been nearly so confident.

"Hmph. I could deal with him easily even without his heart..." Vergo paid Luo no mind. To him, Luo would always be the man who could never break through his defenses.

"..." Luo said nothing. He only glared at Vergo, who responded by squeezing his heart.

"You never noticed, did you? Monet was following you the whole way. She knew your every move. What a shame. I thought I'd made a good friend, Luo..." Caesar said with theatrical regret.

"Ha. You should be grateful you have such a good secretary..." Luo shot back. "I should have been more wary of her, but her master was such an idiot that I let my guard down..."

"Hmph!" Caesar took the bait and squeezed Luo's heart. "Watch your mouth, brat!"

"Wow, you're amazing. You're fine even with your heart taken out..." Luffy said in surprise.

"Hmph. That's his own ability. But where's my heart?" Smoker demanded anxiously. He had no intention of dying without even knowing why.

"Ha. Right here..." Caesar produced another heart and looked ready to do something to it. Just then, Monet told him the video feed was ready. His attention shifted entirely to the screen.

Then