Amid the increasingly frequent "meow meow" sounds from the detection shell, Sherwin and the others soon piloted the Dodo Advance to an area on the island that had clearly suffered a massive explosion.
There, they found the toxin aggregate "Smile" lying within the ruins and resting, with poisonous mist occasionally being released from its body along with its breathing.
It seemed that Smile had taken the site where Caesar had detonated the poison gas bomb—its own original body—as its lair.
Although it was an aggregate of purple poison gas, the monster true nature was a sticky, slack mass of red liquid.
From its appearance, it really did live up to the name "Smile," derived from a slime variant.
Because Smile had been granted the ability of the Salamander Fruit by Caesar, some axolotl-like features could still be seen on it, the most obvious being the six "horns" protruding from the sides of its head.
However, compared to real-world axolotls, whose largest individuals do not exceed one meter, the Smile before them was far larger.
Even the expanded Dodo Advance · Raging Dragon form looked two sizes smaller next to it.
Of course, given the diversity of life in the pirate world, even if axolotls of similar size were to appear later, Sherwin would not be surprised in the least.
"Barroar!"
When Sherwin and the others found Smile, it also discovered the Dodo at the same time.
Having dominated the island for nearly a year, it immediately roared at the "uninvited guest."
However, although Smile had ruled the island, it was not without rivals. There was also a gigantic red Fire Dragon on the island, a monster created by Vegapunk that could survive in any environment.
Smile poison had no effect on the Fire Dragon, and the Fire Dragon could not kill Smile either, whose true body was a mass of poison.
Thus, when it saw the Dodo Advance, whose appearance bore a slight resemblance to the Fire Dragon, Smile, whose thinking was closer to that of a beast, did not rush to attack.
Instead, it chose to observe, releasing large swathes of purple poisonous mist from its body as a form of intimidation…
Seeing this, Sherwin could not help but think of Chameleos and Gravios from the Monster Hunter world, which likewise spewed poisonous mist in a similar manner.
"A toxin aggregate that ate a Devil Fruit, meow? No wonder the poisonous mist here never disperses."
Haibara Meow, who was highly knowledgeable about both pharmaceuticals and Devil Fruits, immediately recognized the nature of the monster before them. She flicked her tail and sighed regretfully…
"It just a pity that it too big, there no way to capture it and bring it back for research, meow."
At this moment, Sherwin also realized something—
After this thing was taken down, there wouldn't be any corpse left for him to carve materials from. He couldn't possibly go stabbing at poison fog, could he?
"Haibara, do you have any way to make it keep this form after it dealt with? Even if it just for a little while."
Sherwin once again asked Doraemon for help without the slightest hesitation.
"You'd better give up on that idea, meow." Haibara Meow rolled her eyes at him bluntly.
"When I was dismantling Lasso before, I already discovered that once these inanimate objects that have eaten Devil Fruits are 'killed,' they immediately revert to their original form.
I suspect it because objects themselves don't possess lineage factors, so they can't retain the power of a Devil Fruit.
So even if I really did have a way to keep it in this liquefied state, you'd probably still be unable to dig out the Devil Fruit, meow."
"Haibara, you also want to capture it, right? Then would using the antidote you formulated to neutralize the poison on its body and shrink its size work?" Sherwin asked unwilling to give up, rubbing his chin as he continued.
This thing in front of them was actually another kind of Logia-type under special circumstances.
In the manga, it could disperse its body into countless separate droplets of poisonous liquid and then reassemble again.
Compared to true Logia Devil Fruit users, Smile situation might be even trickier, because its very body was a mass of poison.
So Sherwin estimated that even if it were struck by Armament Haki, it could still undergo elementalization.
Then in theory, even if most of its body were destroyed, it still wouldn't truly die.
Therefore, there was still a possibility of successfully capturing it.
Considering the case of the dachshund gun "Lasso," even if Smile were truly captured, it would most likely not be classified as a Devil Fruit, but it was still worth trying.
What more…
What if this ends up summoning Rimuru?
"Right… When I dismantled Lasu and Dudus main bodies before, they didn't die either, meow. Instead, they stayed in the part that best fit the concept of the 'main body,' meow…"
Reminded by Sherwin, Haibara Meow also reacted, "If it this kind of toxin aggregate, then what it calls its 'main body' should be the largest part of its body, meow?"
So you've even dismantled Dodo before… No wonder that guy always avoids you…
Sherwin finally understood why Dodo was so afraid of Haibara Meow, the one who created it.
Just as Sherwin and Haibara Meow were discussing how to capture Smile, the other side saw that the Dodo Advance had been shrouded in its poisonous gas without any movement for a long time, and finally launched an attack.
"Baaaargh!"
Smile let out another roar and charged toward the Dodo Advance in a somewhat clumsy run…
Then the Dodo Advance, controlled by Klee Meow, slapped a claw straight down onto its head.
"Bang!"
Smile head burst apart instantly, scattering into countless droplets of poison. However, they quickly reassembled again, restoring the form of an axolotl.
"Physical attacks are useless against it. Klee, burn it with fire, meow!" Haibara Meow instructed from the side.
"Use flames with a higher temperature. This kind of toxin will explode when it meets ordinary fire. If it gets blown apart, we won't be able to catch it, meow! But don't go too high either—if it too hot, it'll be completely burned away, meow!"
"Klee understands, meow!"
(=`=)
Earlier, because she had heard Sherwin and Haibara Meow discussing how to capture Smile, the little puppet had been holding back and not making a move. At this moment, she naturally wouldn't act on impulse either.
More importantly…
Flames were not bombs. Klee Meow control over them—or rather, her understanding of their destructive power—was far more precise.
"Dodo Advance! Use Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, meow!"
The figurehead of the Dodo Advance, shaped like Klee Meow Scorned Magnamalo-form head, opened its mouth and spewed out a vast torrent of blue-white flames, instantly vaporizing part of Shimeini body and turning it into a huge mass of purple poisonous mist.
As long as it didn't involve bombs, Klee Meow was still very reliable. When she controlled the Dodo to spray the flames just now, she had even deliberately angled them slightly to the side.
Otherwise, at least more than a third of Smile body would have been vaporized.
"Baaaooo——!"
With nearly half of its head and one foreleg gone, Smile let out a shrill scream.
Then Sherwin and the others saw that the poisonous mist which had just been vaporized flowed back into Smile body, and after surging a few times, it rapidly reverted from its purple gaseous state back into a red liquid.
"Because the real toxin is in a gaseous state, even flames are useless?" Haibara Meow flicked her tail.
"No, it should be that the temperature still isn't high enough. If we can burn even the toxin in its gaseous state directly, then it shouldn't be able to regenerate, meow…"
The little puppet, who had been listening with her ears perked up the whole time, immediately patted her chest and said,
"So we just need to raise the temperature a bit more, meow? That easy—leave it to Klee! Dodo Advance! Purple Flame Burst Mode, meow!"
The next second, Sherwin and the others immediately felt the surrounding temperature rising rapidly, and the flames gushing from the joints of the Dodo Advance quickly transformed into a purple color.
"Dodo Advance! Use Orochi Nagi, meow!"
(=`=)
In its Scorned Magnamalo form, the Dodo suddenly lunged forward, and at the same time a mass of purple flames ignited around its foreclaws as it viciously slammed down toward Smile head.
Huh? I don't think I ever told the cats about King of Fighters…
But then again, the Scorned Magnamalo is a dragon too… yeah.