"Luffy, did you hear something?"
Uta furrowed her brows slightly. "It sounded like a child's voice…"
Luffy snapped out of his thoughts, nodded, and replied, "Those are the children Caesar captured."
While speaking, he glanced at Monet standing beside him.
Monet's heart jumped.
Caesar can't die!
"It must've been your imagination." Cold sweat trickled down her temple.
"Heh. As far as I know, Caesar is conducting three main research projects on this island."
First, assisting Doflamingo in the research and production of SAD, the raw material used to create artificial Devil Fruits.
Second, helping Big Mom with her gigantification experiments.
Third, privately developing and perfecting his own poison gas weapons—the same type that caused the explosion on Punk Hazard two years ago.
"Take us to the room where the children are being held," Luffy said.
"Y–yes…" Monet replied.
---
Monet walked ahead, trying not to think too deeply.
Mind reading is nonsense! Total nonsense!
"Why isn't the Navy doing anything?" Uta asked, confused, once Monet left the institute's lounge area.
[Obviously because Vice Admiral Vergo is a member of the Donquixote Family!]
Monet thought that instinctively—then froze.
Her face drained of all color.
She wanted to strangle herself on the spot.
Luffy shook his head. "There's a vice admiral named Vergo. He's Doflamingo's infiltrator inside the Marines. He's the one helping Caesar hide all this."
"That man is awful!" Uta said angrily.
Led by Monet, the two soon arrived at the room where the children were kept.
Because of Caesar's human experimentation, the kidnapped children—taken from nearby islands—had all grown abnormally tall.
They were playing around at first, but as soon as they saw Monet walk in with Luffy and Uta, they rushed over.
"Candy~!"
"I want candy!"
"Where's today's candy?"
They surrounded Monet, their voices rising with growing agitation.
Kids asking for sweets is usually a cute, heartwarming image…
But Uta, knowing the truth behind those candies, felt so enraged she could hit someone.
Caesar Clown… that Shichibukai Doflamingo… and that Marine Vice Admiral Vergo…
What a bunch of rotten monsters!
Monet tried to calm them. "There's no candy today. Please sit down and behave."
"We want candy!!" some of the children shouted, becoming increasingly unstable.
Uta stepped forward quickly. "Kids, those candies are poisonous! You can't keep eating them!"
"I want candy!!!"
One of the taller boys, completely out of control, threw a punch at Uta.
Luffy raised his hand and blocked the strike effortlessly.
"That's enough talking… Uta, send them to your world."
Uta nodded immediately. She smiled gently at the children.
"I hid the candies in a special place. Listen—I'll sing a song. Only those who pay attention will get candy~"
The moment her voice began, the room went silent.
One by one, the children collapsed peacefully onto the floor, drifting into a deep sleep.
Monet blinked in surprise.
What kind of ability is that?
She felt uneasy and hurried to explain, "This has nothing to do with us! This is an agreement between Caesar and Big Mom. We only help cover up the disappearances."
Uta glared furiously at her. "That still makes you complicit, Donquixote woman!"
Plop.
Monet fell to her knees in a perfect dogeza.
"If you're angry because of this, you may take my life…"
"And how much is your life worth?"
Luffy smiled slightly. He wasn't some self-righteous hero who enforced justice blindly.
But when a chance to do the right thing presented itself, he took it.
Since fate brought them together, he'd use the opportunity to save those children.
Monet trembled in fear.
Buying time was impossible now.
And if Doflamingo arrived at the island while the Straw Hats were still here…
She'd be dead before she could even scream.
[What do I do?]
[Should I trigger all the detonators Caesar planted across the island? Would that kill Luffy?]
The moment the thought formed in her mind, she felt horror wash over her.
What should she do?
What could she do?
What would appease the wrath of a Yonko?
It was all Caesar's fault!
She was only covering up the disappearances—she had no interest in gigantification, which was the main reason Big Mom was funding these experiments.
Luffy ignored her. Instead, he sensed Nami approaching from outside the institute.
"A huge fight is about to break out on this island. Uta, keep the children under your control and come with me. And you—Snow Maiden."
People dragged into Uta's Sing-Sing World were also influenced in reality.
But the larger the number, the weaker the control.
At best, it left them in a "sleepwalking" state.
The three then led the children outside the institute.
"Luffy!" Nami ran up to him. "Zoro is holding off Aokiji! I have no idea why he came to this island!"
Then she noticed the children.
Their pale eyes.
The empty, lifeless stares.
Their zombie-like silence.
"I know. I'm ready to move. This island is about to become the battlefield for Aokiji and Akainu."
Then Luffy looked at Sanji and smiled.
"Want to get stronger?"
"Luffy…"
Sanji was frustrated—genuinely so.
He couldn't stand the fact that Zoro had to fight an Admiral alone.
It stung.
Last time, before going to Skypiea, Luffy himself fought Aokiji.
And now, when Aokiji showed up again, it was Zoro who stepped up.
Sanji vowed then and there to train harder than ever and find a way to become truly powerful.
Next time an Admiral showed up…
He'd be the one kicking Zoro aside to take the hit.
Suddenly, a fruit flew toward him.
"This is a copy of Kaido's Devil Fruit. Unfortunately… it turns you into a pink dragon when eaten."
Sanji caught the fruit, dead-eyed.
Luffy said, "Eat it or don't. It's your choice. If you don't want it, give it to someone else."
After some thought, Luffy had decided Sanji was the best candidate.
Sanji was genetically modified—yet not a "failure," as Judge claimed.
He was the perfect creation.
He simply hadn't awakened yet.
Once awakened—and combined with a Devil Fruit—his combat potential would skyrocket.
Sanji stared at the artificial fruit in his hand and sighed.
"Luffy… I read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia when I was a kid. If I ever ate a Devil Fruit, it was going to be the invisibility fruit."
That fruit was his second dream.
Because then he could peek into the women's bath.
"But that dream's gone now… That damned Absalom stole it!"
Sanji took a bite of the artificial fruit.
BOOM!
(End of Chapter)