"Sigma! It really can block poison gas!"
Luffy watched as the poison gas was automatically filtered out as he breathed, and couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.
The group had already stepped onto the outer edge of the island and were heading towards its interior.
A moment later, a locked iron gate appeared in front of them.
"That pattern on top is... the symbol of the Navy and the World Government!" Robin looked at the patterns on both sides of the iron gate with some curiosity.
"This used to be an island belonging to the World Government, so it's normal to see naval and World Government symbols here!"
"But this island is now abandoned! You can tell by looking at those dilapidated houses!" Xia Chen said calmly.
" The World Government's island? What are they doing here?" Sanji asked Xia Chen curiously.
Upon hearing this, Xia Chen shrugged and smiled.
Who knows?
After saying that, Xia Chen walked towards the iron gate.
"You bastard!" Sanji gritted his teeth in anger upon hearing Xia Chen's words. He was certain that Xia Chen knew something but simply wasn't telling him!
It's best not to let him ever surpass Xia Chen in strength, otherwise he'll definitely kick him to death!
Thinking this, Sanji followed the others toward the iron gate.
Half a minute later, the group arrived at the iron gate, but as they had seen before, it was firmly locked. The only way to get in would be by force.
"Let me cut it down!"
Zoro volunteered, drew his Wado Ichimonji, and went to the iron gate.
A flash of light, accompanied by the sound of an iron door hitting the ground, Zoro managed to cut a gap in the seemingly impenetrable iron door.
As he sheathed his sword after slashing Zoro, he couldn't help but mutter something under his breath.
"Simple and easy!"
Everyone:...
--
"These houses don't look very old, but for some reason they're all so badly damaged!"
Nami said, looking around at the houses.
"By the way, do you guys think this might be some kind of shady experiment the World Government was conducting here, which failed, leading to a gas leak and causing this situation?"
Usopp suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Xia Chen couldn't help but glance at him, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
I didn't expect you to be such a good guesser. Although it's a little different from the truth, it's very close.
This level of understanding is slightly inferior to that of a certain man he knows who could deduce that a woman had kidnapped his friend simply by guessing the word "guess".
"Roar!"
Just then, a roar came from the direction of the sound, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and look in the direction from which the sound came.
A gigantic, fiery red creature hovered overhead, staring at them menacingly.
The moment they saw this creature, everyone except Xia Chen, who was already prepared, was filled with horror and disbelief.
"That... that is..." Luffy's eyes widened, and he could barely speak.
"Hey! You're kidding, right? How could something like that possibly exist?" Sanji was also completely shocked.
Robin remained relatively calm, but was also very surprised, saying, "But this form... it looks exactly like a dragon as described in legends!"
"A lizard-like body, enormous wings! Perfectly embodying all the characteristics of a dragon in mythology!"
While everyone was still reeling from the shock, the dragon paid no heed. Without a word, it raised its head, and a fiery red light flickered in its mouth.
"Get out of the way!"
Using his Observation Haki to sense what the dragon was about to do Luffy shouted loudly at the group.
The moment Luffy finished speaking, the dragon spat out a fiery red energy wave in the direction of the group. Everyone had already dodged to the side because of Luffy's warning, except for one person.
"What's the point of hiding from it?"
Xia Chen was speechless as he watched the group running away incredibly fast. Their attacks were barely enough to tickle him!
With a thought, a golden defensive shield appeared in front of Xia Chen.
"Boom!"
The energy waves dissipated completely upon hitting the defensive shield, having no effect whatsoever.
Then, Xia Chen slightly bent his finger and flicked it, sending a burst of energy swiftly flying towards the dragon in the sky.
"Pfft!"
The sound of flesh tearing rang out. It was a very small finger strike, but when it hit the dragon's neck, it blasted a huge hole through it.
The dragon that was attacked had no chance of survival, and its huge body fell from the sky, crashing to the ground with a loud bang.
After doing all this, Xia Chen looked at the group of people a dozen meters away from him and asked in a calm voice, "So... what are you hiding from?"
Everyone:...
Sanji walked over and couldn't resist kicking the dragon's corpse, cursing, "This guy, with such a big size, I thought it would be really strong, but it's just a showpiece!"
"That's right, if I had known this so-called dragon was so weak, I would have cut it down just now!" Zoro said as well.
"Those two!" Xia Chen couldn't help but mutter to himself, but he didn't actually say anything to them, wanting to save them some face.
"This is indeed a dragon, but it wasn't born naturally; it's a man-made creation, a creature Vegapunk created to protect this island!"
"Of course, to be honest, it's not something I can protect anyway!" Xia Chen said calmly.
"Man-made? Vegapunk?" Everyone exclaimed in unison. Then their eyes all turned to the dragon, their gazes filled with shock.
"This is actually man-made? I really can't tell! Dr. Vegapunk truly lives up to his reputation as the most intelligent human in the world; this level of skill is truly amazing! Come to think of it, I learned a lot of my skills from his notes~"
Franky said excitedly, his tone full of admiration for Vegapunk.
"I knew it! How could a creature like a dragon from fantasy possibly exist?" Usopp said after exhaling.
"Thank goodness it was fake, otherwise my eyes would have popped out of my head in fright, even though I don't have eyes, hohoho~"
"It was fake after all? Whew~ That scared me to death!" Chopper snapped out of his daze and patted his chest.
Usopp: "Your reaction time is way too long!!!"
"Alright, the dragon is dead. Now it's time to verify some things!" Xia Chen said calmly, then lightly leaped onto the dragon's corpse.
"Hey! Xia Chen, what are you doing? I want to go up too!" Luffy shouted at Xia Chen, and then jumped up as well.
Xia Chen walked on the dragon's back, and... well, there was nothing there, at least nothing he wanted to see!
That's right, what he was looking for was Kin'emon's half-body, but it wasn't here.
Well, if it's not here, it's not here! The fact that Kin'emon's half-body isn't here doesn't prove anything, and we can't conclude from this that Kin'emon isn't on this island.
We still need to explore this island a bit more.
Thinking this, Xia Chen jumped off the dragon's back, but before jumping, he glanced in a certain direction and a cryptic smile appeared on his lips.
"!!!"