On Green Bit, the Tontatta tribe and the few remaining members of the Riku royal family had already entered Capone Bege's fortress-like body castle.
High above, Souta Kiryuu transformed into a colossal dragon, carrying both Enel and Capone Bege as they sped toward Punk Hazard.
Inside Bege's inner fortress, Viola's gaze fell upon Baby 5. She had never expected this former high-ranking officer of the Donquixote Family to betray Doflamingo and throw her lot in with Souta Kiryuu.
"Don't look at me like that. You betrayed the Young Master too." Baby 5 scowled at the cold stares of Viola and Rebecca. She had left to follow the man she loved, and even Doflamingo himself had given his reluctant approval.
"I was forced to serve the Donquixote Family," Viola replied icily. Years ago, her loyalty had been the price to spare King Riku's life. Though her family bore an unforgivable stain, at least Rebecca was spared from being hunted down, given a chance to live.
"Hmph. I'm no longer a Donquixote officer. From now on, I'll be Lord Souta's personal maid, serving him like a wife." Baby 5's voice softened as her cheeks flushed red. She wanted nothing more than to live happily by Souta's side. She even dreamed of a grand wedding someday.
Viola, recognizing Baby 5's hopeless romanticism, let her hostility fade. After so many years in Dressrosa, she understood Baby 5's flaws well. Doflamingo had killed countless men who tried to exploit her, and Baby 5 herself had more than once turned her blade against Doflamingo. In the Donquixote Family, no one else dared such audacity.
High in the skies, Capone Bege pressed his hat against the roaring wind, his cigar glowing in the gale. "To ride atop the boss's dragon form… what an honor. This thrill puts Kuma's Paw-Paw bubbles to shame!"
Enel, gazing out at the boundless sea, felt humbled. "The Blue Sea is far more vast than the White-White Sea. My vision in Skypiea was so narrow…"
Guided by a permanent pointer from Vegapunk, Souta Kiryuu flew steadily toward Punk Hazard, the abandoned island still shrouded in poisonous gas.
I wonder if Caesar escaped… Souta recalled the treacherous scientist who had once nearly killed him. Though Caesar had armed him with toxic and invisibility factors and detonated Punk Hazard to aid his escape, the debt of blood still demanded repayment. His Logia powers of the Gas-Gas Fruit made him a valuable target, but Souta was determined to wring every ounce of use from him before exacting vengeance.
I'll decide how to deal with him later. Souta's eyes narrowed as they soared past a storm-wracked island crackling with constant thunderbolts.
"Raijin Island—the Thunder God's Isle!" Capone Bege exclaimed in shock. The name alone betrayed its nature: endless, violent lightning storms. Of the three entry islands into the New World, it was the most perilous, infamous for its unstable magnetic fields.
"Raijin Island? Just like my title…" Enel's eyes gleamed with desire. He felt as if the island itself was calling to him, a crucible where his power could ascend further.
"Then let's see for ourselves." Souta felt the thrum of his own lightning stirring restlessly, resonating with the island's storms. For Enel, a man of the Goro Goro no Mi, this was a paradise of growth.
The dragon landed on Raijin Island's outer coast, only for bolts of lightning to rain down immediately. Bege recoiled in horror, unwilling to venture deeper.
"Bege, leave Kibakun here and wait. Enel, forge some golden lightning rods for him," Souta ordered, reverting to human form, sparks crackling across his body. Both he and Enel had taken several direct strikes, leaving them tingling—but strangely invigorated. The storm offered them a rare chance for training.
Kibakun, dragged from Bege's fortress, paled. "Lord Souta, please! My brother is the Dark Emperor of Storage, Kiberth! He commands vast power on the seas. If you release me, I swear he'll reward you handsomely."
With anyone else, Kibakun would have blustered threats. But against the man bold enough to slay a Celestial Dragon, he dared not utter a single insult. One wrong word could mean death.
"Behave yourself, and maybe one day I'll let you go," Souta replied coolly, hauling him into the storm. Enel ascended in a flash of lightning, greedily devouring the energy to fuel his drums.
"I'll behave! Please don't let the lightning kill me—!" Kibakun's plea ended in a scream as a bolt struck him squarely, leaving him smoking and twitching. The Sea Prism Stone cuffs on his wrists sapped his strength, preventing him from using Haki.
"Remember—no extra words, no extra moves, or I'll abandon you here," Souta warned, smiling faintly as another bolt punished Kibakun. Fear would keep him compliant, at least until they reached Punk Hazard and began hauling Vegapunk's equipment.
"Yes! I'll obey anything you command!" Kibakun croaked, his charred skin trembling with every spark.
"Good." Souta tossed him back into Bege's golden lightning ward before he and Enel advanced deeper into the storm-torn island, seeking to hone their thunderous might.
Meanwhile, in another stretch of the New World, a flamingo-marked ship intercepted a fugitive—Caesar Clown, escaped from a Navy prison. Under Doflamingo's blend of threats and promises, the mad scientist bent the knee. In exchange for protection, Caesar pledged to provide artificial Devil Fruits.
Thus, Doflamingo dispatched Monet the Snow Woman and a trusted squad to escort Caesar to Punk Hazard. Their task: purge the lingering poison gas and secure the abandoned labs for Caesar's experiments.
The storm of the New World was only just beginning.
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