Punk Hazard.
Everyone in the Dream Crew, along with Morgans and his people, was shocked when they saw the lab facilities inside the base.
Even though they didn't know much about the equipment, the size of the lab, the research data, and the complexity of it all told them one thing—this place had top-level science.
But they had guessed wrong. Most of the research here was related to lineage factors.
Whether it was Vegapunk's work on artificial Devil Fruits, Caesar Clown's human enlargement project, or even the studies by Vinsmoke Judge—one of the former science trio—it all came down to exploring and using lineage factors.
That made them realize the research being done here was even deeper and more complicated than they had thought.
"This is just crazy... These so-called scientists, what they've made is impressive, but something about it just feels wrong…" Nojiko muttered.
Ryuen didn't feel like commenting.
If this were just a regular human society, he might have hated people like Vegapunk and maybe even tried to take them out.
But this world wasn't normal.
It had beastmen, fishmen, merfolk, giants—too many different kinds of people.
So he didn't really care about the cloning stuff.
Next to him, Robin had already started taking notes, writing everything they saw into her notebook.
"Gahaha~"
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and record everything!" Morgans shouted excitedly to his crew.
"Morgans, some things can't be shown to the world," Ryuen warned him.
"Don't worry, I'll sort through everything carefully. I'll make sure nothing too sensitive gets out to sea!" Morgans quickly replied.
He wasn't stupid.
Some things were way too valuable—like the artificial Devil Fruit copies. That was something they needed too, and now he was part of the Dream exploration team.
"Alright, everyone, get started. Pair up and collect all the data. Put everything into Nami's special space."
"Also, if you find anything marked as dangerous, do NOT open it or go in. Got it?" Ryuen reminded everyone.
"Got it!"
"We know!" everyone shouted back together.
Everyone split into pairs and got to work.
Just then, Ryuen called out, "Wait—Sugar and Reina, you two stay behind. You don't need to help. Go find somewhere to hang out."
He stopped the two "kids" just as they were about to run off.
"Huh?" Reina and Sugar looked shocked, eyes wide like saucers, staring at Ryuen in confusion. "Why? We want to help too."
They pouted, looking like two wilted eggplants, their faces full of disappointment.
"No reason. I'm just being nice and looking out for you little ones," Ryuen said casually.
"Ahhh!"
"Nami, Ryuen's bullying us!"
"You're the little one! I'm older than you!" Reina and Sugar shouted one after the other.
"Even if you're older, it doesn't count. You two are tiny like bean sprouts. There's a lot of dangerous stuff here. I don't think you can handle it!" Ryuen shot them down without mercy.
"Ahhh!"
"So unfair!"
"You're looking down on us?!"
"I'm gonna beat you up!"
"Take this!"
After getting mocked for their height, the two kids exploded like firecrackers, fuming with anger. They charged at Ryuen like wild tigers.
But Ryuen moved quickly and firmly pinned both of them down with one hand each.
The two little troublemakers struggled as hard as they could in his grip.
"Ohohoho~"
Robin couldn't help but laugh at the scene. Her laughter was light and pleasant, like a ringing bell.
"Hahahaha~~~"
"Sugar, get him!"
The others burst out laughing too. The whole mood lightened up and became cheerful.
Robin walked over to Ryuen and said softly, "Ryuen, let them come with me. I'll watch over them and make sure they don't touch anything dangerous."
"Alright then." Hearing Robin speak, Ryuen let go.
With Robin keeping an eye on them, he felt more at ease. These two were usually calm on their own, but together they were pure chaos.
This lab had all kinds of stuff. If they messed with something dangerous, it could be real trouble.
"Hmph!"
"We'll let you off this time!"
"Robin, let's go!" Reina and Sugar huffed, but the moment they heard Robin was willing to look after them, they perked up like two happy little birds and followed her without a second thought.
Ryuen shook his head helplessly.
"Nami, let's…" But when he turned around to leave with Nami, he realized—he was all alone!
Even Morgans had vanished with his team.
"Ah, what the—"
...
Nobody teamed up with him...
Ryuen felt a bit down for half a second, then sighed and started moving on his own.
He decided to go check out the prisoners Aokiji had frozen earlier. He remembered there might even be some giants among them.
With his hands casually tucked into his pockets, he strolled off toward a direction no one else had picked.
The sound of his flip-flops echoed through the empty hallways of the base.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
Half an hour later, Reina's sudden scream echoed through the entire lab!
In an instant.
Everyone rushed in the direction of the scream!
In just a few breaths, the members of the Dream Crew arrived at where Reina and the others were.
But then...
When they saw the terrifying scene before them, even the ones who had just arrived froze with wide eyes, completely shocked.
"What happened?!"
Morgans showed up right after, along with his team.
"H-How... how could this happen…" Leah said in horror.
"Damn it!"
"So this is what the world government is really like?!" Nojiko shouted in anger.
No one said a word, but judging from everyone's heavy breathing, it was clear they were all furious.
The prisoners Ryuen had been looking for—the ones frozen—had finally been found.
But...
When they saw the scene in front of them with their own eyes, the shock they felt was beyond words.
What they saw completely changed how they saw the World Government and those scientists.
The frozen people were definitely wearing prison uniforms—that part was clear.
But what was truly shocking was that it wasn't just adult prisoners—there were young children too.
And the children came from all kinds of races: giants, fish-men, the Mink Tribe, longarm tribe... almost every race found across the sea.
There were kids from each of them.
What was even more terrifying was the look on these children's faces—twisted and full of pain, like they were suffering something horrible. It sent chills down everyone's spine.
"Bastards!"
Ryuen's roar echoed out!
In that instant, an overwhelming wave of power burst across the whole Punk Hazard island!
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