As Sherwin and the others drew closer, the island shrouded in violet smoke finally revealed its full outline before them.
Judging from those distinctive research buildings and watchposts, this was unmistakably Punk Hazard.
"Klee, it up to you."
Sherwin patted the little doll head.
"Okay—!"
(=`=)
Klee Meow responded with spirited energy and dashed straight toward the engine room.
"Flamethrower! Start meow!"
With her voice echoing from inside, a long tail of flame burst out from the stern of the Dodo Advance.
Powered by the tremendous thrust, the ship lifted off from the sea and flew toward Punk Hazard, now only a short distance away.
"Dodo Advance! Switch to Magnamalo form meow!"
The little doll was having the time of her life. Under her control, the airborne Dodo Advance rapidly shifted and clacked into motion.
Before it plunged into that purple toxic mist, the transformation finished, and a protective barrier rose along the deck perimeter, shielding everyone aboard.
The moment the barrier fully sealed, the Dodo Advance—now in Magnamalo form—crashed straight into the violet fog and landed firmly on the island surface.
"How is it? Dodo is amazing, right? She has other forms too! I'll show them to you when we get the chance meow!"
Klee Meow bounded out of the engine room excitedly, proudly showing off to Shirahoshi and Suika Meow, who had only recently joined.
"Mhm mhm! She really amazing! So she can go on land too, not just dive underwater? Oh, and since you've been to Skypiea… that means she can fly too, right?"
Shirahoshi, having only seen the sea-dragon form, asked with great excitement.
Suika Meow remained more composed—she was hardly interested in anything besides drinking, fighting, and partying. However…
"Drinking in the sky… that sounds pretty fun meow?"
Maybe because a long time had passed since Caesar experiment leaked, the island was still wrapped in violet mist, but it didn't interfere with visibility too much.
Compared to normal weather, it was roughly like thin morning fog—just purple in color.
So Sherwin could clearly see the research facilities on the island…
There were far more of them than what the manga had shown.
After all, Akainu and Aokiji hadn't fought here yet, so most of the structures were still intact…
But because the terrain hadn't been altered, Sherwin had no idea where the laboratory storing the artificial Devil Fruits was located.
Most of the buildings looked almost identical, making it impossible to tell them apart.
The only thing he could be sure of was that it definitely wasn't in the middle area, which hadn't turned into a lake yet.
So Sherwin had no choice but to circle around Punk Hazard outskirts and search the buildings one by one.
Hmm? Wait…
Since even the Sakura Dragon Fruit had been considered a failure and left behind by Vegapunk, didn't that mean there might be other similar things in the remaining labs?
Sherwin finally realized—this island might contain more valuable things than just that artificial Sakura Dragon Fruit.
"Haibara, Purah Meow, we might be able to find some of the World Government science unit tech left behind here!"
Sherwin turned around. "Eh? Where Haibara?"
"Haibara Meow just collected some of the toxic gas outside and took it back to the lab for analysis meow, check it!"
(ゝω)~☆
Purah Meow, who wasn't good at biochemical research, answered.
Then she quickly hopped onto Sherwin shoulder, tugged his ear, and asked, "Which is stronger meow—the science unit research, or Germa technology meow?"
"In theory, the Science Division should be far more advanced. Whether it their chief scientist, Vegapunk, or the immense funding supported by the World Government, none of it is something Germa can compare to," Sherwin answered.
"But it hard to say how much is actually left here, because anything that remained is most likely something Vegapunk already deemed a failure."
Even though a failed product didn't necessarily mean it would perform poorly, Sherwin still felt it was better not to be too optimistic.
Purah Meow, however, didn't care about that at all. To her, it didn't matter whether the technology was considered a success or a failure—what she wanted to learn was the creator way of thinking.
Since the pirate world and the Monster Hunter world were different in many ways, some of her original ideas might not work here.
But some technologies that were impossible to develop in the Monster Hunter world could be easily achieved in this one.
So for Purah Meow and Haibara Meow, the most important thing was to study the research mindset of the scientists here.
Besides, they had once bought an old blueprint designed by Vegapunk during his early years back on the Sabaody Archipelago, and both Purah Meow and Haibara Meow were deeply impressed by the wild and imaginative ideas shown in it.
Now that they knew they could get access to more of Vegapunk work, Purah Meow was already getting restless with excitement!
"…Hey, Purah, being excited is fine, but can you stop tormenting my ears?"
Feeling like his ears were about to be pulled off, Sherwin helplessly reminded the little Purah who was clinging to his ear with one paw while twisting around on his shoulder.
"Ah! Sorry, Sherwin, I just got too excited and forgot, meow! Check-it!"
(ゝ)~☆
Purah Meow let go of Sherwin ear and stuck out her tongue apologetically.
After a short while, the laboratory door opened.
"Hmph~"
Before Sherwin even caught sight of Haibara Meow, her tsundere little "hmph" sounded ahead of her.
Right after that, the smug little kitten strutted out of the laboratory with her head held high, walking with the kind of proud steps that showed she recognized no one.
(=`へ=)
"You made it sound so serious, but this poison gas is just so-so, meow!" Haibara Meow said, shaking her head.
"The toxin outside isn't very strong, and the onset is pretty average. If the dose is small, someone with good enough constitution could tank it outright, meow."
"But it does have some merits," the little kitten added.
"Once inhaled—or rather, once it gets on you—getting rid of it becomes very difficult. Even with my specially made antidote, I can only temporarily suppress it, not completely remove the residue left in the body, meow."
"No wonder the poisonous mist never dispersed. Whoever made this toxin must have known its shortcomings, so they used certain methods to make the mist linger for a long time, meow."
"So what you mean is… you'd have to breathe this poison mist for a long time before it could actually kill someone?"
Sherwin was a bit surprised. He didn't expect the gas Caesar created to be this… underwhelming.
After all, Caesar later made a gas bomb said to be capable of killing Big Mom. How did this one end up so mediocre?
"That not it, meow," Haibara Meow said, seeing right through Sherwin thoughts and even defending Caesar instead.
"In this world, tons of people have bodies tougher than Popo. For those kinds of people, so-called strong toxins really don't hurt that much.The one who made this gas must have understood that.
That why they prioritized penetration and lingering effect over toxicity. The goal was to affect physically stronger people more effectively, meow."
Hearing the little kitten explain it that way, Sherwin finally understood Caesar design philosophy.
He sacrificed "attack power" in exchange for "magic penetration," and on top of that, designed the gas so the debuff could keep stacking.
He also recalled that some of Caesar men were the prisoners who had survived on the island back then. They lived only because they hid in buildings in time.
So Caesar later "Land of the Dead" evolved into a version where, once contaminated, a person body would be covered in a layer of purple toxic ash, rendering them unable to move as they slowly waited for death.
But as long as the poison mist and the toxic ash were dispersed in time, there was still hope of survival. That was how Smoker marines managed to live.
Back when Sherwin was reading the manga, he had thought this was just another one of those "bombs that can't kill anyone" like in the early chapters.
But after hearing Haibara Meow explanation, it suddenly felt a lot more reasonable.
This was the most logical explanation he could think of. Otherwise, for Caesar—one of the top scientists in the pirate world—to spend so many years developing poison bombs, only for the final form, the "Land of the Dead," to have such mediocre lethality… it would really be hard to accept.
Of course, the pirate world was full of things that didn't make sense, but people in this world did have very high poison resistance, something shown multiple times in the manga.
Not to mention Luffy, who fought Magellan head-on and stacked resistance through sheer will.
Kawamatsu ate poisonous fish for over ten years and only suffered constant vomiting and diarrhea.
The Mink Tribe could still fight Jack even after being hit with poison gas… though that poison was also one of Caesar creations, so the example wasn't too convincing.
Also, the poison bomb Capone Bege used in the attempt to assassinate Big Mom was made by Caesar as well.
Although it ultimately failed, it still showed that he indeed had more lethal toxins at his disposal.