Caesar's intentions were already clear to Doflamingo; he wanted to pit the tiger against the wolf, using the Beasts Pirates to divert the problem called Big Mom. However, Caesar had forgotten one thing: the tiger was far more dangerous than the wolf, and he might not have the ability to control it.
Things could get even worse. If Charlotte Linlin and Kaido decided to sit down and talk, and they uncovered any suspicious points, Caesar would be in serious trouble. He might even end up repeating the impressive feat of that idiot from back then.
"The lone hero? What's that?"
"Nothing, you probably wouldn't want to know. But Caesar, for the sake of our years of cooperation, I have one last thing to tell you."
"Hm?"
"If you want to die, stay far away from me. Don't splash blood all over me."
With that, Doflamingo directly hung up the Den Den Mushi and turned to Trebol, who was standing by.
"Trebol."
"Doffy, have you come up with something new?"
"Notify Monet later and tell her to speed things up. Get Caesar's formula and process for producing SAD. I have a feeling that guy won't last much longer."
In Doflamingo's eyes, Caesar was dancing on the edge of a blade; one misstep and he'd shred himself. Apart from SAD, the core for making artificial Devil Fruits, Caesar had very little value.
Although he had made some progress on the weapon called "Shinokuni", the technology hadn't yet materialized, so its value was close to zero.
Caesar's reckless actions had triggered a sense of crisis in Doflamingo, who was already preparing to clean his hands of him.
Their alliance had always been based on mutual benefit. There was no real camaraderie.
Doflamingo needed Caesar's skills, and Caesar needed Doflamingo's money and protection. But now, the danger Caesar posed was starting to outweigh his value. In this situation, self-preservation was the only sensible move.
If Caesar hadn't been right next to her, Doflamingo would've given Monet the order directly. In fact, this was part of Monet's job as a secretary from the beginning. But, it was now time to step things up.
But Caesar was completely unaware of Doflamingo's intentions. He hadn't realized the reality of the situation.
Caesar, Judge, and Queen—all three of them were arrogant, but in terms of sheer arrogance, Caesar easily ranked at the top.
Judge had seen much of the world as he brought out Germa as mercenaries. Queen was enlightened by the knowledge from the Ohara library and often gets beaten up, so both had a much clearer grasp of reality than Caesar.
While Caesar was fantasizing about his future, Misu and Tiger had already moved beyond the bounds of the laboratory.
"Fish-Man Karate: Shark Arrows!"
Due to Kuzan's influence, the ice region of Punk Hazard was extremely cold, and the water struck by Tiger was no exception.
The water blades turned into sharp blades midair from the extreme cold, cutting down all who tried to block their path.
With just a few simple punches, Tiger had shattered the morale of their enemies. Not even some of the special creatures could stop them, like certain failed experimental subjects.
"Giant beast-man? How is something like this on the island?"
Amid the world of ice, a massive purple creature appeared before Tiger and Misu.
It had a beast-like head, purple skin all over its body, and a pair of black curved horns on its head. This thing was a failed product of the World Government's past attempts to resurrect ancient Giants.
It was once intended for trade with the Beasts Pirates, but the quality was so poor that Kaido wouldn't even glance at it. After all, these dim-witted monsters were no match for colossal Pokémon like Emboar.
To the Beasts Pirates, these were defective goods, but here they were still somewhat useful. It was thanks to this creature that Caesar managed to trick more funding out of Charlotte Linlin.
At this moment, the knights aboard the ship also arrived. They hadn't crossed the sea of fire but had instead gone around from the outside, landing on the opposite side of Punk Hazard.
"Form up! Take that thing down!"
The well-trained knights displayed excellent coordination. Two of them cooperated to attack the giant's knees, and once it collapsed to the ground, they launched heavy blows at its neck, easily taking down this large being that only had size going for them.
None of the enemies along the way could stop them; whether it was Caesar's subordinates or the failed test subjects. The biggest problem only emerged after they reached the ship.
The children varied greatly in size, which was the result of Caesar's experiments. The larger the child, the earlier they had arrived and the more affected they were by the drugs.
Upon reaching the ship, the larger children began collapsing, holding their heads in pain. As time passed, the same symptoms appeared in all the children.
What started as mere headaches turned into irritability, aggression, and a craving for a certain kind of candy.
Some of these children had been kidnapped, while others had been deceived.
Caesar first secretly administered drugs to alter their size, then, along with Monet, lied to the parents and children, saying the kids had contracted a disease that could kill adults if transmitted, thus tricking them into coming to the island.
To control the children, Caesar fed them candy laced with a special drug.
The ship's accompanying medical personnel were at a loss. They had no idea what was happening to the children and had no choice but to seek external assistance.
Soon, doctors from the Beasts Pirates' Pokémon Center received word and organized an emergency consultation, but even this group of experts from around the world couldn't figure out what was going on.
"These are the blood samples they analyzed, and the patients mentioned a candy that emits smoke. Eating it makes them feel happy. Doesn't that sound like that drug?"
"There are tons of drugs like that. I've never heard of this one before. Better ask Lord Queen, he should know more."
Soon, a document was delivered to Queen. Glancing at the analysis data, Queen responded without hesitation.
"This stuff's NHC10, isn't it? Where did you find this?"
"NHC10? Lord Queen, isn't that a poison?"
"Poison? It's foolish to talk about toxicity without considering dosage. This is good stuff, but very dangerous. Only a handful of countries in the world are authorized to use this drug.
Even their doctors need approval to administer it, so it's no surprise you didn't recognize it."
This kind of substance was Queen's area of expertise, and he had done extensive research on it.
NHC10 is a designated special stimulant globally. It can be used to treat certain rare diseases, but dosage control is critical.
With long-term use, it leads to chronic poisoning. Addicts may feel euphoria while under its effects, but experience severe pain when they can't take it.
Although the drug is banned in most regions, the members of MADS were never ones to follow the rules. Their experiments had always violated World Government's rules. Dealing with a mere drug was nothing to them.
"It's Sister Misu's group that encountered this issue. They've come across many children who have overdosed on this drug and are asking for a solution."
"There's no cure. Use tranquilizers to calm them down first, then take time to slowly cleanse the drug's effects. That's the most effective method."
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