Crack!
A bolt of lightning split through the gloomy sky as torrential rain poured down. The sea, stirred by fierce winds, had lost its former calm.
Giant waves surged onto the deck from time to time, and after each onslaught, they would leave behind some gifts from the ocean.
"Be more careful next time. Don't let yourself get swept up again."
On the deck, Tiger picked up an unfortunate sea bream and tossed it back into the ocean. Though he was a Fish-Man, he was one of the few among Fish-Man who could communicate with fishes.
The deck swayed violently under the pounding of the sea, but the crew had long grown used to such turbulent waves. A mere storm like this was just an appetizer in the New World.
However, not everyone could survive in such weather, the ship wreckage that had appeared on the deck proved that.
"Sister, are you sure this is the place? This doesn't look like a place where anyone could survive."
Before long, a light appeared on the dark sea surface. It wasn't a lighthouse on the coast but a sea of fire.
Everywhere in sight was engulfed in roaring fire, and the sea itself reflected a strange, fiery red hue.
Boom!
Volcanoes on the island spewed lava intermittently. They all appeared to be active volcanoes.
Volcanic ash was beaten down by the rain, but the pungent smell of sulfur still drifted over with the sea breeze, causing Tiger, who was used to the scent of the sea, to furrow his brow.
"Such heavy rain, and the flames still haven't gone out. There's something seriously wrong with this island."
"It should be right. According to the intel I got from Sir Queen, the person I'm looking for is here."
The person Misu was searching for was, of course, Law. However, Misu only knew that Law had become a Shichibukai, not where he was now.
To find Law's whereabouts, Misu had to resort to other means.
According to the Six Degrees of Separation theory, a person is no more than six people away from any stranger. [TN: The six degrees of separation theory posits that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance "steps" away from each other. This means that, on average, you can connect with any other person in the world through a chain of five or fewer intermediaries.]
In other words, through at most six brokers, one could get to know any stranger.
But that was only a theory. The actual relationships could be unclear even to those involved. Even with this theory, putting it into practice was extremely difficult.
However, for Misu, this wasn't complicated. She submitted her request to Queen, and Queen quickly found Doflamingo.
Logically speaking, due to the Op-Op Fruit, Doflamingo was deeply concerned about Law's safety.
After all, this was tied to the Immortality Operation. Yet, he truthfully gave up Law's location.
Law's whereabouts were somewhat secret, but not entirely unknown. Some within the World Government and Marine were aware of it. Even if Doflamingo hadn't said anything, some clues could be found by working through Tesoro.
Besides, Doflamingo knew that the Beasts Pirates had some connections to the Flevance incident. Considering Law's origin, he had some guesses about what the Beasts Pirates might be planning. That's why he so readily revealed Law's location.
Law had gone to Punk Hazard to investigate some of the World Government's research data. This indirectly led to his contact with Caesar, who was conducting experiments there, and thus established a new connection with Doflamingo.
In a way, this was part of Law's plan.
Doflamingo had some business dealings with the Beasts Pirates, something Law was well aware of. In fact, the entire Underworld of the New World knew about it.
To take down Doflamingo, the first thing Law needed to do was deal with this issue. He aimed to sabotage Doflamingo's trade and make him lose value to Kaido.
In Law's view, someone like Doflamingo couldn't possibly maintain a stable relationship with Kaido. The only thing holding it together was mutual interest. As long as that chain of profit was broken, Doflamingo—unable to deliver—might end up bringing disaster upon himself.
"That may be true, but this island really doesn't look like it's habitable."
"Mr. Tiger, this island used to be an experimental site for the World Government. There was an accident during the experiment, and later, the duel between Aokiji and Akainu also took place here."
"Then I take back what I said. No lifeforms should be able to survive on this island anymore. But in this world, there are always exceptions. Fish-Man Karate: Sea Drum!"
Tiger didn't believe any creatures could survive here, but still moved to the bow and threw a punch forward. He was clearing a path for the ship.
For some reason, the flames on the island extended all the way to the sea. Since the ship was still made primarily of wood, charging straight into the sea of fire wasn't a wise choice.
Only after the fist's shockwave parted the sea of fire did their ship continue forward.
"You all stay here. We'll be back soon."
"Sister, don't you need us to go with you? This island looks like it has plenty of trouble."
"No need. Just guard the ship. Sir Tiger and I won't take long."
After the ship docked, Misu didn't bring a large group, only Tiger accompanied her as they advanced into the island's interior.
Though it had been abandoned, the outer perimeter still bore barbed wire left by the World Government. The danger sign seemed to be a warning to anyone who came near.
The area was littered with ruins; some buildings looked as if they had melted. Lava flowed through cracks in the ground, and the high temperature made Tiger extremely uncomfortable.
It wasn't long before he took off his outer clothing, going shirtless as he followed behind Misu.
He disliked this kind of hot environment. While the Fish-Men did yearn for sunlight, the temperature of the deep sea still felt more comfortable to Tiger.
"Sister, don't you feel hot?"
Even bare-chested, he was sweating profusely, yet Misu, wearing a thick nun's habit, looked completely unaffected.
"Sir Tiger, what are you saying? Can't you endure even this much?"
"Uh... if you canceled your ability first and then said that, it would be a lot more convincing."
Seeing that half of her face was still concealed under a mask and that she was in her Human-Ceruledge form, all of Tiger's doubts were dispelled.
"Fire-types are really willful, huh?"
Looking at Misu, whose hair had turned into purple flames, Tiger had figured it all out. Since Misu's body itself was burning with fire, it made sense that she didn't feel the heat.
"So, Sister, where exactly is the person you're looking for?"
"Well... I'm not sure. Someone was supposed to come pick us up, but we haven't run into them. I can't get to them through Den Den Mushi either.
But it's fine. Sir Queen gave me a map of the island. The laboratory's location is marked on it. We'll just head there ourselves."
If there's a miscommunication when picking someone up, unexpected things can happen. Right now, while Misu and Tiger were on their way, someone had already been standing in the snowstorm for quite a while.
On the other side of Punk Hazard, Monet helplessly rubbed the Den Den Mushi with her wings. After Law arrived, he had used the Op-Op Fruit's powers to replace Monet's hands and feet with bird wings and talons.
Because Den Den Mushi are biological communication devices, their individual quality could vary. The one in Monet's hand had fainted from the cold due to its frailty.
"That useless Caesar… can't even keep the Den Den Mushi warm. What a waste of the young master's effort."
Grumbling about Caesar's incompetence, Monet looked out toward the sea.
"What's taking so long? Didn't they say they'd be here soon?"
This was the result of a miscommunication between Monet and Misu. The standard port of Punk Hazard was on the icy side of the island. After all, compared to magma, the cold side was actually easier to survive in.
Monet wasn't afraid of the cold. Misu, having Ceruledge's ability, wasn't bothered by scorching heat, while Monet was the user of Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit. As the inferior version of Kuzan's ability, Monet thrived in frigid climates.
She had considered whether she might have come to the wrong place, but after waiting for so long, she feared that if she left now, they might arrive the next moment. With that mindset, she decided to keep waiting.
Meanwhile, the guest she was waiting for had run into something strange.
"Is that… a dragon?"
From the sea of fire, a giant red dragon suddenly appeared and, without warning, attacked Misu and Tiger.
"Maybe. But why does this thing look so much like Mr. Kaido's Hacchan?"
Tiger grabbed the dragon's biting fangs with both hands and hurled it away. He saw clearly that the dragon's neck had definitely been broken, but moments later, the twisted neck eerily healed itself.
This regeneration ability was very similar to Hydrachton's, and this dragon was one of Vegapunk's creations.
Before Punk Hazard was abandoned, Vegapunk had made many bizarre inventions to guard the island.
As a top-tier fantasy creature, dragons naturally fell within Vegapunk's field of creation.
It just so happened that at that time, the Marines had sent over a sample of Hydrachton's blood, giving Vegapunk a new direction for dragon development.
Compared to the dragons provided to the Marines' wyvern unit, this one was of noticeably higher quality; at the very least, it regenerated much faster.
However, when Vegapunk relocated, this dragon was left behind here. Although it was stronger than the Marines' dragon, it was still a failed product compared to the experimental materials that Vegapunk had obtained.
Being a perfectionist with OCD, Vegapunk didn't take it along, which led to today's events.
Looking at the dragon, Misu seemed to realize something.
"Looks like… someone has stolen Lord's power."
She usually didn't seek trouble with the Marines, and their dragons were also not widely deployed.
After the wyvern unit was wiped out by friendly fire in the aftermath of the Summit War, they were reduced to scouts assigned only to Vice Admiral-level ships. This was Misu's first time seeing a creature like this.
Two massive arm blades formed from purple flames. Before the newly regenerated dragon could rise, Misu's Bitter Blade severed its neck.
The cursed flames continued to burn on the downed dragon's wound. The head that should have regenerated was instead consumed by the ongoing blaze.
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