A Door Apart

"Why is it so chaotic outside?"

In the enormous castle at the very heart of Mary Geoise, a deep, aged voice rang out through a white hall.

An armored man knelt on the floor and answered loudly,

"Someone infiltrated Mary Geoise and set fires everywhere. Many slaves took advantage of the chaos to escape.

"The prison holding Devil Fruit user slaves was also breached. Several of them are causing destruction throughout the area, and the guards have already engaged them.

"Through our efforts, the unrest has been contained to the outskirts of Mary Geoise, and the fires are under control as well."

Saint Saturn, standing by the window with a cane in hand, turned around. A small black hat sat impeccably atop his graying curls as he asked coldly,

"The disturbance is too loud. I expect you to put it down as soon as possible."

"Please rest assured!"

The armored man backed out while kneeling. Only after he had gone some distance did he wipe the cold sweat from his brow. He summoned his deputy and berated him,

"Send all those idiots out there. Equip every one of them with Seastone weapons! Bring back every single Devil Fruit user slave!

"Also, leave firefighting and evacuation to the rookies. You and I will each lead two teams to kill those bastards setting fires everywhere!

"If we don't kill them, Mary Geoise will be ashes by tomorrow!"

The deputy hurried off to make arrangements. Watching his deputy sprint away, the armored man felt an inexplicable unease, as though he had overlooked something.

Yet after giving it some thought, he still could not figure out what was wrong. He could only set his doubts aside and head out to organize the hunt for the arsonists.

As Kane tirelessly continued setting fires, the scattered disorder finally became a surging tide that began to sweep through Mary Geoise.

The armored man led his people in pursuit and interception throughout Mary Geoise, but they could never pin down Kane, who kept fleeing in every direction.

Still, he did not dare stop. While continuing to hunt Kane, he sent people to seek aid from God's Knights, hoping for their assistance.

At last, one of God's Knights seemed to have taken an interest. He left the enormous castle and entered the blazing inferno, recklessly spreading his Observation Haki in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, he detected one of Kane's clones.

"Found you. Come play with me properly."

With a vicious grin, he charged toward Kane's clone.

Kane's clone, who was busy setting fires everywhere, heard something slice through the air overhead. Sensing danger, he instinctively twisted aside as a longsword struck the spot where he had just stood.

A thunderous crash rang out. A massive slash mark appeared on the ground, and Kane finally saw the face of his attacker.

It was an elderly man with yellow hair and beard, wearing small round sunglasses. His face was lined with wrinkles, his body tall and powerfully built, and numerous medals hung from his clothes.

"Shepherd Somaz?"

Kane's pupils contracted. He had not expected God's Knights to act so quickly.

Still, none of his other clones had encountered members of God's Knights, which put him somewhat at ease.

"You know me?"

Saint Somaz raised his brows and smiled happily.

"Then we can have a good time. What sort of torture device do you like? Ropes or branding irons? Or perhaps..."

Saint Somaz rambled on for quite a while, then looked eagerly at Kane's clone, hoping to see panic on his face.

Yet Kane's clone merely shrugged calmly.

"I think ropes may be versatile, but they lack a sense of power.

"Branding irons have enough force behind them, but they're too crude..."

Controlling his clone, Kane spoke at length as though he were seriously discussing the matter with Saint Somaz.

This was only a clone. He was not afraid of God's Knights, and it did not matter if they fought.

But he needed the clone to create chaos, buy time, and draw the Celestial Dragons' attention.

As the saying went, talking was a weapon too. If he could stall for a while by talking, why fight to the death?

After all, injuries to the clone would affect the main body as well!

At first, Saint Somaz listened seriously. But the longer he listened, the more he felt something was off. Kane stood there spouting nonsense in a long-winded speech, but upon closer listening, it was all repetitive drivel.

Saint Somaz's expression darkened.

"You're stalling for time?"

"I just want to live a little longer."

Kane's clone spread his hands. "It's obvious you're an incredibly formidable figure. I truly don't think I have any chance of defeating you, so..."

"Enough!"

Saint Somaz roared and raised his longsword, pointing it directly at Kane.

"Rather than let you stand there wasting my time, I'd rather let you experience the torture devices in my collection firsthand.

"Thorn Cage!"

The moment he finished speaking, countless thorns burst from the ground and wove themselves into a massive cage, trapping Kane and Saint Somaz within.

"If you want to live a little longer, then struggle for me."

Saint Somaz grinned viciously and swung his sword at Kane's clone.

Helplessly, Kane's clone coated both arms in Haki and threw a punch to meet the attack, grumbling inwardly.

Why was the laboratory built so far away...

And why were there so many passcode doors...

What a pain!

Inside Saint Saturn's laboratory, Kane broke through another passcode door. Finding Ginny absent from the room beyond, he decisively turned and rushed toward the next room.

Ivankov and Kuma were also breaking down passcode doors, but like Kane, they found nothing.

Their infiltration of the laboratory had gone smoothly. When the guards encountered Kane and the others, they were wiped out immediately, without even having the chance to raise the alarm.

However, the laboratory and its passcode doors seemed to contain some material that interfered with and blocked Observation Haki, forcing Kane and the others to break into every room to search.

Hancock and her two sisters stayed close behind Kane. They did not know what Kane was looking for, but from his urgent movements, they could tell it was something extremely important.

"Excuse me... what are you looking for?"

Hancock asked softly and nervously, then hurriedly explained,

"We've been here before. Maybe... maybe we can help!"

Kane suddenly stopped kicking the door. He glanced at Hancock, kicked open another passcode door, and quickly said,

"We're looking for a woman. She was captured by the Celestial Dragons a year ago. Pink hair, in her thirties, originally from the Revolutionary Army..."

"Jewelry Ginny?"

Hancock spoke the name with uncertainty. The endless booming of doors being smashed throughout the laboratory abruptly ceased, and all three men turned to look at her.

Kuma even stopped breathing. His body beneath the armor trembled slightly, while intense anticipation rose within his chest.

Ivankov began dancing strangely in excitement, his voice filled with agitation.

"Little girl, you've seen Ginny? Tell us where she is, quickly! Hee-haw!"

Even though all three wore faceplates, Hancock could still feel their burning gazes and nervously looked away.

Kuma and Ivankov did not make her feel anything in particular, but Kane's gaze alone made her heart race.

Because she could always smell grass and trees on Kane, and that was her favorite scent.

"She... she's in that direction. There's an infirmary over there."

Boa Hancock lowered her head and pointed in a direction. Then she came back to herself and ran that way with her two sisters.

"We'll take you there."

The three quickly followed. The anxious Kuma even ran ahead of Kane for the first time, sticking tightly behind Hancock.

In the blink of an eye, the group arrived before a massive passcode door. As before, Observation Haki could not penetrate it.

"She's behind it."

After saying that, Hancock stepped aside, and Kuma anxiously threw a punch.

But the instant his fist touched the door, a wave of weakness suddenly swept over him. His legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees.

"Seastone!"

Kane yanked him away, his face darkening.

Kuma unwillingly tried to rush forward again. Ginny, the person he had longed for, was behind that door. He absolutely refused to let a door stop him.

Even if he smashed himself to death against it, he would save Ginny!

"Calm down!"

Kane slapped Kuma's helmet, finally making him calm down a little. Yet choked murmurs still escaped Kuma's lips.

"Ginny... Ginny is behind it... I..."

"All of you, step back."

Kane spoke quietly as he carefully examined the material of the passcode door.

He was not afraid of Seastone, but this door was the sturdiest thing he had seen so far. Ordinary methods would never open it.

Moreover, there was a large alarm light on the door. Although it had not been activated yet, Kane did not need to think to know that damaging the door would definitely trigger the alarm.

Everyone obediently backed away a few steps and watched Kane nervously.

"Further back."

They retreated again. Only once they were twenty meters away did Kane stop them from backing up any farther.

They watched as his arms transformed into two enormous, strangely shaped launchers that sprayed white mist at the passcode door.

"Mysterious boy, you..."

Ivankov could not help asking curiously, but a sudden chill interrupted him.

Then Kuma's deep voice, faintly trembling, sounded beside him.

"It's low temperature. That white mist is extremely cold."

"What? Mysterious boy, he... That's unbelievable!"

Ivankov's eyes widened in disbelief. Even from twenty meters away, he could feel a chill comparable to deep winter. If they had not retreated...

Ivankov did not dare imagine how cold it was beside Kane now, but he definitely did not want to find out.

Kane, who possessed the Snow-Snow Fruit, did not care about the low temperature at all. Instead, he found it rather pleasant and comfortable.

And thanks to the Snow-Snow Fruit, he could create weapons with functions similar to liquid nitrogen sprayers.

He had considered using a cutting machine or welding torch to break down the door, but they would have been too slow and more likely to trigger the alarm.

Several minutes later, the passcode door, constantly chilled by the icy white mist, had changed color. Kane estimated that it was already nearing minus one hundred degrees Celsius.

Still feeling it was not enough, Kane sprayed for a while longer. He only stopped when he felt his stamina was about to drop below the warning line in his mind.

Then he raised his right hand high, and the launcher turned into a massive meteor hammer.

Armament Haki coating...

Giant Strength...

Turtle shell...

Break for me!