The Eternal Truth, sailing at full speed, took about a day to reach Punk Hazard.
Yake only dropped anchor after steering the ship into a concealed location.
"It looks like this island really is in bad shape." Yake flew high into the sky and surveyed the entire island. There were three research facilities on the island; two had already become ruins, and the only one still intact was Yake's target.
A pale purple toxic fog now hung over the island. Even with Yake's extraordinary physique, he could not stay here for long. Fortunately, Reiju could absorb poison, so she would be able to help.
"Alright, I've confirmed the direction. Robin, I'll leave the ship to you. Reiju, let's go!"
"Be careful, Captain!" "Yake-sama, Reiju, be careful, meow!"
Only after setting foot on the island did Yake realize how foul the purple toxic fog smelled. It was a little nauseating, but still within his tolerance. Reiju, on the other hand, looked as if she had returned home. The purple fog was continuously drawn into the butterfly wings of her battle suit, and the violet glow grew increasingly dazzling.
"Not bad. This toxic fog tastes pretty good. I like it." Reiju took a deep breath of the poisonous mist as though she were thoroughly enjoying it, then seductively licked her lower lip at Yake.
"Stop fooling around. We have serious business to do!" Right now, Yake only wanted to find the fruit Vegapunk had left behind.
"Hmph, what a blockhead," Reiju muttered under her breath. What an unromantic man.
Besides Yake and Reiju, the island also held prisoners abandoned by the World Government. The closer they got to the intact research facility, the more prisoners there were.
"You two aren't from this island, are you? You must have a ship, right? Please, take us with you!" A green-faced prisoner dropped to his knees and begged Yake for help.
With him taking the lead, the prisoners watching nearby also surrounded them!
"Save us!" "Please!" "I just want to leave this damn place!"...
Yake shielded Reiju behind him and remained silent. Only after a long while did he say, "I can't save you. The only people who can save you are yourselves."
"But I can give you a little help."
Yake stretched out his hand. Metal from the ruins and the ground was drawn together, forming an iron sphere in midair. He then used Thunder Metallurgy to turn the iron ball into molten metal, improvising more than a dozen small boats. They would definitely float, though they could only be rowed by hand.
"Take these boats and use them yourselves. I still have things to do. Whether you survive or not is up to you." After saying that, Yake left with Reiju.
He had helped, but not completely. In the end, people had to rely on themselves.
"Thank you, thank you!" "I'll never forget your kindness for as long as I live!!!"
After expressing their gratitude, the prisoners scrambled to claim the boats. Each boat could only hold so many people... As for how they would divide them up, that was no longer Yake's concern.
"Captain, this should be the place, right?" Reiju pointed at the towering research facility before them.
"That's right, this is it. Let's split up and search. Don't overlook any corner. Oh, and if you find any research materials, take those too!" Yake instructed. That would be more efficient. They really could not stay in this place for long; it would be best to leave as soon as they got what they needed.
Unfortunately, Observation Haki could only sense living beings. Otherwise, he would not have needed to search room by room.
Many of the research facility's doors were tightly shut. Yake could not be bothered to open them one by one, so he directly melted the metal doors with high-voltage current. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit's powers were indeed convenient.
"Damn it, where is it?" Yake grew increasingly agitated when he still could not find it. He tried hard to recall what he remembered from the anime and vaguely remembered that it should be underground. He decided to check the underground passageways.
Walking down the stairs, he found three doors before him. Yake melted all of them in one go and finally saw something familiar.
In the room on the left stood a transparent glass case. Inside was a purple-black fruit shaped like an apple, speckled with yellow spots.
"I finally found you, Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Azure Dragon Form replica." Yake smashed the glass case and seized the Artificial Devil Fruit Vegapunk had called a "failure" in his hand.
Without the system, he definitely would not have eaten this fruit. But with the system, he could take a gamble. After all, that meant becoming a dual Devil Fruit user.
Yake placed the Devil Fruit in his storage inventory. Now was not the time to study it.
"Reiju, I've found what I came for. I can leave anytime. What about you?" Yake took out a Telephone Snail and asked.
"Alright, Captain. Looks like you're very happy! I've gathered some research materials too." Seeing the Telephone Snail mimic a goofy grin, Reiju guessed that Yake was in a good mood.
"Haha, you could tell? Let's go. We'll meet at the entrance!" Yake said with a laugh as he left the underground passageway and prepared to meet Reiju at the research facility's entrance.
Yake waited at the entrance for a while before he saw Reiju coming down, dragging a large pile of bags and boxes. It seemed that Reiju had made quite a haul as well.
After putting away the materials, equipment, and other items Reiju had collected in his storage inventory, Yake and Reiju left the island.
The prisoners had already vanished, presumably having left the island as well.
"Robin, we're back! Cough, cough, cough..." Yake and Reiju returned to the ship, and Yake could not help coughing. He had spent quite some time on the island, so it had still affected him a little. After all, training could not exactly strengthen his internal organs too.
"Yake-sama, are you alright? Your complexion doesn't look very good, meow!" Anna looked at Yake with concern written all over her face.
"Let me handle it! The Captain has been poisoned, but it isn't too serious." Reiju stepped forward and embraced Yake.
"Captain, lower your head a little," Reiju said softly. Reiju was around five foot nine, but Yake was over seven feet tall. Without lowering his head, she would not be able to do that.
Yake lowered his head as instructed. Reiju then held his head in place, pressed her lips to his, and kissed him deeply, drawing the poison from his body.
Reiju kept her eyes tightly shut, her face flushed red. With so many close friends watching, she still felt a little embarrassed.
But Yake's eyes had already widened. He had not expected such a benefit to come so quickly. He wrapped an arm around Reiju's waist, naturally. Yes, it was all for detoxification.
Anna shyly covered her face... everything except her eyes, as she stared wide-eyed and curiously at Yake and Reiju's passionate kiss.
Robin clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, wondering whether she should punch Yake to death.
Damn it, she beat me to it. I was clearly here first.
The poison was obviously not that serious, yet Reiju kept drawing it out for a long time, whether intentionally or not.
Before they knew it, Yake's hand had already climbed to Reiju's ample chest. Only then did Reiju come to her senses. Blushing, she pushed Yake away and ran to the side. After wiping away the silver thread at the corner of her lips, she realized Robin, Anna, and Perona were all staring directly at her. Feeling even more mortified, she hurried back to her room. Pressing a hand to her chest, she discovered that her heart was pounding nonstop.
"What an insatiable Captain~ Hehe."