Enel looked coldly at Caesar:
"You think I would agree."
Caesar suddenly began laughing, a deranged, almost manic laughter.
There was a hint of grim resolve in his eyes as he looked at Enel and struggled to stand up.
"Yeah... you bastard..."
It was precisely because they had known each other for years and understood each other's temperaments that Caesar didn't bother wasting time with useless pleas for mercy.
He knew very well that even though Enel said they had known each other for so long, his killing intent had not diminished in the slightest...
"Then let's all die together..."
As he spoke, the hand pressing on the button began to relax...
Shua—
Caesar's entire forearm was cut off and disappeared.
Replacing it in front of him was a wooden staff.
Law held Caesar's severed forearm by the thumb and walked over. Caesar tried to move his fingers, but they were pinned in place by overwhelming strength.
Caesar's expression grew darker as he glared at Law.
Enel spoke:
"Any last words?"
Caesar's face remained gloomy. His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something.
Suddenly, he grinned hideously:
"I was stalling for time, you idiots!"
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
"If you press that thing too hard... it explodes anyway, you fools!!!"
Boom Boom Boom—
Irregular explosions erupted across the ground inside the barrier.
Poison gas and toxic liquid mixed with shards of iron and Seastone powder erupted violently.
The blasts surged irregularly toward the three people at the center.
Law raised his hand and swung it.
A transparent barrier rose up, shielding the two of them.
Caesar kept laughing wildly, but seeing the calmness of the two inside, he started to feel something was off.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Caesar shifted.
A huge hole opened up.
A tanuki leaped out from the earth and grinned at him.
Then Caesar was launched dozens of meters into the air on top of a mound of dirt.
Crash—
Caesar fell straight in. His expression froze as he realized... these were all the bombs buried throughout the island!
A chill ran up his spine as he thought of something. Caesar glared at Enel, eyes wide with rage.
Enel crossed his arms and snorted coldly:
"I was stalling for time too, you idiot."
Caesar's little tricks had never escaped Enel's Observation Haki.
The defenses of the island's key locations had long since been secured.
But because the bombs were buried across the island, even a single trigger would set them all off.
Even signal interference would trigger an immediate chain reaction, blowing up the entire island.
After careful research, they discovered the only way was to press the controller to standby mode first.
Only then could the bombs be moved safely—hence the entire performance between Enel and Law.
The Devil Fruit Recycler's needle, laced with Seastone powder, pierced deep into Caesar's body, leaving him too weak to crawl out of the bomb pile.
As the explosions drew closer, Caesar, despite his unwillingness, shut his eyes in despair...
Damn... that lightning bastard... damn... Vegapunk!!!
Boom!!!!
The island shook violently. Blinding white light filled the air, laced with a cloud of purple poison gas.
At the edge of the barrier—
The stone in Law's hand vanished, replaced by the fully charged Devil Fruit Recycler.
He looked up at the oncoming blast wave and poison mist with some annoyance.
He tossed the Devil Fruit Recycler to Enel outside the barrier.
Both hands pressed downward into the air:
"Compression!"
The barrier covering one-third of the island shrank rapidly.
The poison gas that had surged to the top was blocked, and with the barrier shrinking rapidly, the blast wave collided with Law's power.
The barrier began to warp irregularly, its shrinking slowing down.
It wasn't that Law lacked power—it was that these bombs were designed by Caesar to destroy the entire island.
Though the primary effect was poison, the sheer density of the bombs made the explosion devastating.
Sweat began beading on Law's forehead as he compressed the barrier.
Enel tossed the Devil Fruit Recycler in his hand and walked over:
"Can you handle this or not..."
Before he could finish, Law cut him off:
"Shut up, you lightning bastard!!!"
His eyes locked on the barrier, now compressed to the size of four football fields. Veins bulged on his arms:
"Haah—"
Inside the barrier, all the bombs had detonated. The shockwave, losing its force, was rapidly compressed under Law's power until it shrank to the size of a single house.
It formed a sphere of purple liquid wrapped in light, floating before them—inside was the compressed poison gas...
Law wiped the sweat from his forehead and sent the sphere crashing toward Enel.
Enel clicked his tongue and sidestepped with a flash of movement:
"That's dangerous, kid."
Law snorted:
"Good. I hope it blows you up."
Enel smacked his lips:
"Still as nasty as ever, huh."
Veins bulged on Law's forehead:
"The nasty one is you, bastard!!!"
...
Punk Hazard, inside Vegapunk's laboratory.
With the purple liquid sphere floating behind him, Law arrived with Enel to see Vegapunk.
"Sensei."
Vegapunk nodded.
"No unexpected problems, I hope."
Law shook his head:
"No, though a third of the island did blow up."
To buy time and confuse the enemy, they hadn't disarmed the bombs inside the barrier. So one-third of the island was destroyed.
But the research facilities had been secretly reinforced beforehand, so there were no casualties.
Vegapunk said:
"Good."
He took the Devil Fruit Recycler Enel handed him, glanced at the fruit inside, then stored it away.
Law moved the purple liquid sphere closer:
"What do we do with this? It's all compressed poison."
Vegapunk frowned slightly at the massive sphere. If Law released it, the poison would instantly expand and spread...
Enel spoke:
"Come with me. We'll toss this somewhere in the New World, onto some pirate's island."
"You've been stuck here for years. It's time you went out."
Law paused. Go out, huh...
Vegapunk smiled:
"He's right, Law. You should get out more."
"Young people shouldn't stay in one place too long."
"Besides, I want to move too."
"The government has no idea we've already disarmed all the bombs Caesar planted."
"Egghead Island is nearly complete anyway."
"This is a good chance to relocate."
Law thought for a moment, then nodded heavily:
"Alright."
...
Grand Line, Tarkia Island.
A small island at the edge of the Calm Belt, close to the New World.
The island was rich in minerals, but because it was so close to the New World and the Calm Belt, Sea Kings roamed freely, making its routes incredibly dangerous.
Secretly, it was under the control of Knock, one of the Four Emperors of the New World.
It was used for weapons manufacturing and trading with the Revolutionary Army, the skies above the island filled with ceaseless black smoke...
Whoosh—
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The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total