Behind the two, a pair of delicate pink sakura petals drifted slowly through the air.
"No, no—it's not a loan. It's a gift!" Carl abruptly shifted his tone, a wide grin stretching across his face. "That's right. Since you've come all this way to meet me in person, Vice Admiral Oakryu must've handed it over voluntarily!"
Though his tone was light, the situation was anything but. Carl was here for something only Caesar Clown could provide: the core of a weapon he called "Death Nation." If Caesar didn't comply… well, Carl had already decided that resistance would be met with instant death.
Carl, unwilling to be burdened by Momonosuke, casually had Senbonzakura carry the child along like a sack.
"I see," Caesar muttered with a blank stare, sweat beginning to bead down his temple.
"I'm going to borrow something," Carl said, his voice calm and chilling. "A special existence… called the 'Death Realm.'"
"Yes… he'll be the main component of what I'm about to build," Carl added, eyes narrowing.
He frowned suddenly, his Observation Haki picking up movement. "That guy's actually trying to run away?"
Caesar was always willing to submit to anyone whose strength vastly outclassed his—but he was also the sort to betray the moment it benefited him.
Squeak—! A faint noise came from the corridor.
Cold sweat poured from Caesar's forehead as he stared at the surveillance monitors. "No… not that thing again…"
A breeze stirred the laboratory curtains.
Carl's mind shifted. If Caesar refused to cooperate, he could always switch targets.
A large man with three braided brown beards and a massive, round frame floated forward. The strange creature unfolded before Carl, its body oozing with gases.
Carl's eyes glinted red as his Kenbunshoku Haki pulsed outward. There were a few unexpected presences here—not strong by Admiral standards, but stronger than average soldiers.
Caesar's lips twitched. He hesitated, then shuffled forward obediently.
"The device… right!" Caesar's face twitched, and his gaze filled with hesitation. "Tch. Whatever, if I make it out of this, I'll just have Doflamingo build me another."
He spun around, gasping, "Who's there?!"
"That's right," Carl said, answering the unspoken suspicion in Caesar's tone.
"Stop the intruder!"
Caesar's man-made Devil Fruits and genetic experiments were crude compared to Vegapunk, who had already mastered feeding SMILEs to dead creatures. But Caesar had one asset: he was ruthless and willing to cross every ethical line.
"There is something for you," Carl muttered, pressing his palm against the worn sofa's armrest. A red summoning array lit up beneath his hand.
From within the summoning circle, a hideous creature slowly took shape—a massive, gas-based chimera.
"Feed this to him first," Carl instructed, pulling a special SMILE Fruit from his coat pocket and handing it to Caesar.
He wore a casual smile, as though they were old friends reunited after years. "Come, sit. Tell me who's chasing you. Maybe I'll help deal with them."
After all, Carl's authority came straight from Kizaru, who commanded the most secretive science forces under Marine HQ. And the ability Carl wielded now was a trump card far beyond Caesar's wildest nightmares.
"This ability of mine will be used to create an artificial human of terrifying power," Carl stared deep into Caesar's eyes. "So I'm going to borrow something from you."
Unbeknownst to most, Caesar had gathered the leftover poisonous gas from the Punk Hazard explosion and compressed it, storing it as raw material for future experiments.
And considering this was the same brat who pounced on Yamato the moment he saw her, Carl didn't feel even a shred of guilt about using him.
Figures emerged from deeper within the lab.
Some were part-human, part-spider; others had goat-like lower halves. Each of them was an abomination birthed from Caesar's grotesque experiments.
Carl tapped the ground with his heel and vanished instantly, reappearing on the other side of the corridor.
"This is…" Caesar's eyes locked onto the tiny figure next to Carl. "A child?"
"Woohohoho! I see him! He's over there!"
Carl ignored the panicked voice and stepped forward.
A bubbling, formless beast composed entirely of gas—the infamous Smiley—lurched into the corridor.
"So what's the plan?" Yamato asked, watching Carl with a childlike curiosity.
On this isolated island, Carl's assets were numerous. He had come prepared for total domination.
"Let's go," Carl said, his crimson eyes glowing with anticipation.
And though he was only a Vice Admiral candidate on paper, in battle, Carl was no different from a true Admiral-level monster.
Footsteps echoed down the metal hallway.
"I see," Caesar whispered, recognizing the Devil Fruit in Carl's hand. His eyes widened in alarm, but he nodded all the same.
"Death… The Land of Death…" Caesar muttered under his breath. His expression froze for a second, then he forced a smile. "Sure, no problem!"
A person like Caesar Clown had the word "danger" etched into his soul. He was a villain through and through.
Carl nodded, flexing his fingers ever so slightly.
He was quite familiar with Caesar—more than Caesar realized.
"'Land of the Dead'? That name sounds pretty cool," Yamato said with a grin.
To create an artificial human strong enough to rival Kaido's disasters, Carl would need a body with extremely high value.
Zash—!
"Relax. I'm not here to kill you." Carl pulled a cigar from his coat and offered it. "Smoke?"
"I'm not interested in SMILEs or Caesar's idiotic gigantification project," Carl muttered, his eyes flashing. "But this method of giving Zoan Fruits to corpses… that's a different story."
"Oi oi oi! Who do you think you're messing with?! You've run into the wrong guys!"
The monstrous assassins Caesar bred were deadly—but against Carl, they might as well have been kittens.
The number of people Carl had killed… could fill all of Marineford.
Yamato gave Caesar a skeptical look and raised her brows. "This guy's your target, huh?"
The one leading the enemy group was a crocodile-legged mutant, laughing wildly as he advanced.
Carl was already thinking ahead—to the S.A.D. production device Caesar had hidden away.
For a moment, silence gripped the entire facility.
No one dared make a move.
Any resistance against Carl would be crushed instantly.
"So that's your 'Land of Death,' huh?" Carl said, almost to himself.
He turned to Yamato and shrugged. "I'll grab the target. You can trail behind and handle the scraps."
"No, no need for that!" Caesar stammered, his awkward smile plastered on nervously. "Vice Admiral! What… what brings you here, really?"
Normal people would want to run away the moment they see you…" Yamato muttered with a touch of exasperation.
Before them stood a centaur—a massive man with the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a brute wielding a double-edged battle axe. Clearly, they had been tracked from the start, and Yamato's expression tightened.
"Tch," she sighed, shifting her kanabo to her shoulder, "this guy's gotten even stronger again."
"That's for sure," Caesar Clown nodded reflexively, sweat beading down his temples. "But I don't have time to deal with that right now—what matters is staying alive…"
He shivered slightly. This wasn't just a monster anymore—Carl had evolved into something beyond monstrous. A super monster.
Caesar's gaze dropped to the sofa beneath him—except, it was no longer a sofa at all. It had transformed into a flowing, golden-brown form. "This is…" he stammered, shocked. "Sand?!"
"Don't panic," Carl said with a wink, patting the now-sandy sofa beside him. "Didn't you just say you're looking to escape?"
"Borrow—anything! I'll lend you anything!" Caesar cried, clinging to Carl like a man clutching a lifebuoy in a typhoon. "As long as I've got it, it's yours!"
Artificial Zoan Devil Fruits were never guaranteed to awaken, not even under extreme stress. The success rate was inconsistent. The man sitting across from Caesar, Solomon Carl, was a prime figure in the Kizaru faction—and rumors of his power had circulated frequently in the New World and within secret Marine channels.
Just like Momonosuke in the original timeline—who consumed an artificial Devil Fruit modeled after Kaido's Uo Uo no Mi, and eventually succeeded in awakening it—Carl, too, seemed to defy the odds.
Suddenly, a swirl of pink cherry blossom orbs burst through the door to the lab's control room—energy-laced remnants of an earlier confrontation.
Carl raised his eyebrows slightly, his tone still calm. "At least I'm willing to contribute some effort."
His speed now exceeded the threshold of what could be followed even by advanced Kenbunshoku Haki. Even Yamato's Observation couldn't clearly sense him in motion. That's because Carl's transformation wasn't natural—he had absorbed and refined Zoan-type abilities using an unknown method. It wasn't just eating a Devil Fruit. It was something more… technological.
A wave of killing intent rippled through the air, chilling enough to freeze the blood. From the shadows ahead, a feral roar echoed.
"Also," Carl added, eyes narrowing, "I need a steady supply of iron, carbon… and other refining materials."
Caesar nearly tripped over himself while packing his notes, test tubes, and vital blueprints into a small briefcase. "Y-Yes! Understood!"
Several more centaur units appeared at the rear entrance—clearly not standard models. Their polished armor and formation screamed elite patrol force—likely from the Beasts Pirates' remaining forces. Only true lunatics or Kaido's top iron-blooded warriors would dare to stand against Carl now.
But the more terrifying revelation was that Carl could consume even inanimate materials using scientific alchemy.
"Look here." Carl unrolled a glowing map made from an unknown alloy and gestured at its shifting design. "This is one of my unique powers—alchemy. I can refine matter and reconfigure it at the molecular level."
To put it simply—[Alchemy] worked on the principle of equivalent exchange.
"Well then," Carl nodded in satisfaction as Caesar nervously sat down, "let's begin."
As a former senior researcher under Vegapunk in the Marine's Special Science Group, Caesar's knowledge wasn't shallow. Even if he had been exiled for unethical practices, his intellect was sharp.
"Oh?" a voice called out suddenly from the corridor. It was low, amused, and chilling. "You don't look happy to see me."
"[Release]!" Carl commanded softly.
Caesar nearly collapsed. "H-How do you know about that project?!"
Carl didn't answer. He just walked forward—eyes calm, footsteps deliberate. The man in the control room had the imposing aura of a Vice Admiral candidate. Wearing the Marine coat of justice, three long swords at his side, a cigar clenched between his teeth—Solomon Carl now sat casually on the transmuted sand sofa, watching the chaos unfold.
"I want your 'Death Kingdom'," Carl said flatly. "And I want your full cooperation in refining my materials."
Caesar swallowed hard. His mind flashed back to the time he dared to deceive Big Mom—a Yonko. Even then, he had retained enough nerve to bluff. But now? He couldn't even raise a hand in resistance.
This place… this research lab… it housed the central reactor for SAD, the compound needed to mass-produce artificial Devil Fruits. It could create weapons capable of warping biology and genetics—turning beasts and even humans into monstrous hybrids. It had already worked with Sheepshead, Ginrummy, and the rest of the Smile-enhanced army.
"I-It's really you…" Caesar whispered, his voice cracking.
Tread. Tread. Tread.
Yamato finally arrived through the side corridor, panting slightly from the sprint—but still fierce, her kanabo glinting with residual Haki.
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