Inside a building on Punk Hazard.
"Ah!! Master... Master, I'm in so much pain!" A bloodcurdling scream echoed in a room that looked like a laboratory. The room was filled with purple gas.
After the screams, a synthesized electronic voice came from a Den Den Mushi in the room.
"It's okay! This is normal; it's normal to feel a little pain!"
"This is to help treat the wounds you sustained from that samurai's slash. It'll hurt for a bit, but you'll be fine after that!"
Outside the laboratory, a man with long, pointed black hair, ram's horns on his head, and a gaseous body held a Den Den Mushi and spoke.
"By the way, have you been seeing any hallucinations or anything like that?"
"I... I... It's a huge tiger! Don't come any closer! Ah..."
Another scream rang out, and then there was no more sound from inside.
Upon hearing the content of the voice, the horned man's face visibly darkened. He pulled a notebook from his pocket and muttered under his breath:
"Failed again, what a waste!"
Despite saying that, the man was actually recording data from the experiment. He firmly believed that given time, he would be able to create what he wanted.
After all, he was the world's greatest scientist— Caesar Courant!
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh~"
"Master, something terrible has happened!"
Just as Caesar was diligently recording data, a voice suddenly appeared, almost startling him so much that he dropped his pen.
Caesar immediately turned around, looked at the newcomer, and said with an unfriendly expression, " Monet, what are you doing? Don't you know I'm most afraid of being startled... cough cough!"
Don't you know I'm conducting an important experiment?
"I'm sorry, Master! But a very serious problem has arisen that I must report to you immediately!"
Upon hearing this, Caesar's expression softened slightly. After calming himself, he said calmly, "Speak! What's the matter that's so urgent?"
"We need to leave here immediately, now, right now!" Monet said to Caesar with a grave expression.
"Um?"
"What are you saying, Monet! Leave here? Why should I leave?"
"This is the perfect hiding place I finally found, and the manufacturing site for 'SAD' and my laboratory are all here. How could I just leave like that..."
"Owner!"
Before Caesar could finish speaking, Monet loudly interrupted him.
"It's not that you're leaving here forever, but rather that you should leave temporarily and return after some time! This is the young master's intention!"
"What? What does 'joker' mean?"
Upon hearing this, Caesar's face showed an extremely surprised expression. He knew that the Joker usually wouldn't interfere with what he did, but now he was being told to leave in a tone that sounded like a command.
Why is that?
Caesar's face showed resentment. Although Joker's words meant it was only a temporary departure, the problem was that he didn't want to leave this place for even a moment longer!
His experiment has reached a critical stage, and he is confident that given more time, he will achieve a new breakthrough. Asking him to leave at this point? Wouldn't that be putting him in a difficult position?
After leaving here, where will he find lab mice? Where will he find a laboratory?
With this in mind, Caesar looked at Monet, still wanting to find out what had happened that made him so eager to leave.
If the problem isn't too serious, then there's no need for this.
"I'll leave, but you have to tell me what happened first. Otherwise, I won't leave without saying anything. This place is all my hard work!"
"You know, I've been here for so long, I've developed an attachment to this place, it's hard to say I'd just leave without any preparation!"
Upon hearing this Monet hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Invaders have appeared on the island. The young master is afraid that they might threaten your life, so he asked me to take you away!"
"Intruder?"
Caesar was momentarily stunned, but then seemed to realize something, and a relieved expression appeared on his face.
"So you're talking about invaders? I thought it was something serious! I already knew there were invaders on the island. Don't worry, based on my observations, he poses no threat to us!"
"I'm confident," Caesar said, his gaze toward Monet carrying a hint of disdain, which extended to Doflamingo as well.
When did they become so timid? They're just intruders, why are they making such a fuss and telling him to leave right now?
It seems these people's composure is lacking, unlike him, a genius scientist, who can calmly handle everything!
Huh??
Seeing Caesar's confident demeanor, Monet was at a loss and asked in confusion:
"You already know there's an intruder?"
That doesn't make sense! Based on what she knows about Caesar, he should be a coward! How can he be so calm?
"Of course! And I've already sent men to kill him!"
"What?!!"
Monet's eyes widened, his gaze towards Caesar filled with utter disbelief.
But he immediately realized what was happening, and his face showed extreme anxiety. He grabbed Caesar's clothes.
"Then we'd better hurry up and leave! Otherwise, we'll be finished if they find out you ordered someone to deal with them!"
Seeing Monet clutching his clothes anxiously, Caesar's expression flashed with displeasure. He forcefully shook him off and said in a disgruntled tone:
"No, I just don't understand, what are you afraid of? He's just a samurai from Wano Country, isn't he?"
"Furthermore, judging from the footage transmitted by the Visual Den Den Mushi, this samurai is indeed quite strong, but he's far from being strong enough to frighten us, right?"
(⊙o⊙)...
Upon hearing Caesar's words, several question marks appeared on Monet's mind. After a long while, he asked with a strange expression, "Are you referring to the samurai of Wano Country as invaders?"
"Hmm? Isn't that right?"
"But the invaders I'm referring to are the Straw Hat Pirates!" Monet said calmly.
"So what if it's the Straw Hat Pirates? Are you afraid of them? No matter what kind of pirate crew they are, I don't... back down."
Caesar answered instinctively, but as he spoke, the expression on his face became increasingly strange, and sweat involuntarily streamed down his forehead, dripping onto the ground.
The next moment...
(#°Д°)!!
"Damn... the Straw Hat Pirates? You mean the pirate crew that Xia Chen the Sovereign belongs to?"
Caesar screamed loudly, his voice filled with terror.
"Yes!" Monet nodded.
In that instant, Caesar felt as if the sky were about to collapse; his legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.
But just a second later, Caesar was launched from the ground, transforming into gas and flying towards the door.
"Master, where are you going?"
"Run! You idiot! Don't take anything with you, hurry up!!"
Monet:...