Inside the Punk Hazard research facility.
Under the crushing, suffocating pressure of Souta Kiryuu's presence, Kibakun—the man with the Poke-Poke Fruit—obediently unleashed his powers. Piece by piece, he punctured the massive experimental equipment, each machine shriveling up like a balloon sucked dry of air. Once deflated, he neatly folded them and stored the remains inside Capone Bege's internal fortress.
Originally, Vegapunk and his team of scientists had prepared long lists, already deciding which heavy machinery to abandon because they were too large or inconvenient to move. But with Kibakun's ability, Souta Kiryuu had no intention of leaving anything behind. Whatever could be taken, would be taken.
And as for Caesar—his body beaten black and blue, both legs shattered—he was shackled with seastone cuffs and tossed aside like a ragdoll. Souta, having vented enough of his rage, did not immediately kill him. Caesar's Gas-Gas Fruit still had research and recovery value. Killing him now would only let the fruit respawn randomly somewhere in the world.
The Snow Woman, Monet—the Snow-Snow Fruit user—was also captured. She was locked in seastone shackles and imprisoned.
Meanwhile, Enel was dispatched across the island, ruthlessly hunting down every surviving prisoner and Donquixote Family soldier. Souta himself turned his attention to a bizarre creature—the massive purple newt-like slime formed entirely of condensed poison gas.
Under threat of death, Caesar had already relinquished partial control of the creature to Souta.
Without hesitation, Souta Kiryuu drove his dragon claws straight into the slime's toxic body. The purple venomous markings across his arms and torso writhed and pulsed, greedily absorbing its venom.
"This saves me a lot of time," he muttered with satisfaction.
For over a week, this poisonous salamander had roamed the island, drinking in the thick toxic haze until its body was swollen with condensed poison. Now, Souta harvested its accumulated essence, strengthening his own venom abilities even further.
As the absorption went on, the creature shrank. Once towering dozens of meters long, it dwindled to just a few meters—closer now to the size of a strange pet slime. Souta smirked.
This kind of Devil Fruit weapon was far easier to tame than Vegapunk's artificial dragon. Just like Mr. 4's gun-dog Lasso or Spandam's elephant-sword Funkfreed, once created, these weapons served whoever held them.
Now, the poisonous salamander recognized Souta as its new master. No matter how he squeezed or struck it, it submitted, obeying his commands without resistance. Of course, with only a rudimentary, instinct-driven consciousness, it could follow only simple orders.
Still, its existence—along with the defiance shown by failed artificial Zoan users—proved something undeniable: Zoan Fruits contained a will of their own. Mythical Zoans even more so.
After all, legends spoke of the Sun God Nika's fruit hiding itself from the World Government's grasp.
"Ridiculous," Souta chuckled to himself.
Tugging the poisonous slime along like a dog on a leash, he wandered the island, continuing to siphon its lingering toxins. Yet he was careful not to completely cleanse Punk Hazard. If the island became livable again, the World Government might reclaim it—or worse, it might become another battleground for Akainu and Aokiji.
No, this would remain his. Both the Island of Poison and Enel's Sky Island of Thunder—these would be part of Souta Kiryuu's territory.
The venomous newt wagged behind him like a loyal hound. It could split itself into numerous smaller slimes to feed on toxins, rejoining into one body when commanded. Physical attacks slid off its liquid form, while its poisonous essence could paralyze or kill opponents outright. Even its tiny fragments could detonate if ignited, turning into living bombs.
The creature reminded Souta of Big Mom's elite Homies—Zeus, Prometheus. His grin widened.
"Come, Slime."
At his word, the tiny scattered blobs fused again into a larger, hulking salamander, padding obediently after him.
With this new pet, Souta's intent to kill Caesar weakened slightly. Perhaps the scientist could still create more element-based creatures—living weapons of flame, lightning, swamp, snow. If so, Souta could fashion his own lesser versions of Prometheus and Zeus, rivaling the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit itself.
Yes. The path of combining science with Devil Fruits was worth pursuing further.
When Souta returned to the research facility, Kibakun was collapsed on the floor, tongue hanging out, utterly drained. In one day, he had punctured nearly the entire lab's worth of equipment—several times his usual workload. Thanks to the Little People tirelessly hauling, the facility was almost entirely stripped clean, not even stray research notes left behind.
"Boss, everything's ready. We can leave!" Capone Bege grinned, nodding at Kibakun's collapsed form. This man's strange power had made everything far easier than expected.
And this time, they had also captured not one but two Logia users. If Souta could subdue them, together with Enel, their force would boast three natural-element wielders.
"Mancheli," Souta ordered calmly, "heal that mutt. Don't let him die yet."
He already had plans for Caesar. The scientist's talents would be crucial to his Elemental Devil Fruit Weapon project. Killing him now would be wasteful. Later, when he was no longer useful, Souta could beat him senseless as he pleased.
"Understood."
Princess Mancheli scattered one of her healing dandelions over Caesar's broken form. His shattered leg mended, his bruised and battered face softened somewhat, though his fear remained etched in his eyes.
Souta loomed over him, a shadow filled with menace. "You'd better come up with more creatures like that slime. If you don't prove your worth to me, I'll make sure you regret ever being born."
His twisted smile made Caesar quake uncontrollably. Tears and snot ran freely down his face as he sobbed, nodding furiously.
With their spoils gathered, Souta and his companions retreated into Bege's fortress-body. Souta transformed once more into his dragon form, carrying Bege and Enel, and soared away from Punk Hazard, back toward Sky Island.
…
Meanwhile, in Dressrosa, Donquixote Doflamingo was in high spirits, preparing shipments of supplies for Punk Hazard. His plan was to push Caesar to complete the raw materials for SMILE production as soon as possible.
But when his men returned from Green Bit with troubling news, his mood darkened.
"The dwarves—were they all taken away?"
The officer nodded nervously.
The destruction of the Green Bit bridge by Enel had not only severed their access—it had allowed the entire dwarf tribe to vanish without a trace.
Doflamingo's expression turned to ice. Souta Kiryuu's actions had gone too far this time.
Now, he would be forced to use ordinary humans to cultivate SMILEs, slowing production significantly.
And when he tried to reach Monet on Punk Hazard for an update, his transponder snail only returned silence. Doflamingo's face sank into deeper shadow.