Inside the core hub of the research facility — the Control Room.
Watching the chaotic scene unfold on the surveillance monitors, Caesar Clown, sporting a pair of curved ram's horns growing backward from his head, burst into laughter.
"Heh heh heh! So they actually managed to find this lab — I'll give them that much. But to come here themselves? Isn't that just walking into the spider's web?"
Vergo sat cross-legged in a swivel chair, one finger pressed thoughtfully against his chin. The light glinting off his sunglasses made it impossible to read what was going on behind them.
Monet, meanwhile, looked utterly indifferent. She calmly lifted her feather pen and began writing line after line in her daily logbook — recording the key events of the day, as was her routine.
Then, suddenly, the situation on the screen shifted.
The intruders had broken through the poisonous gas barriers. They knocked down the hazmat-suited guards, ripped off their gas masks, and put them on themselves.
Caesar's face twisted with rage.
He slammed his fists against the console again and again.
"Useless! A bunch of useless idiots! I give them one simple task and they still botch it! When this is over, I'll throw every last one of them into the gas chamber!"
Only then did Monet speak, her tone calm and reassuring.
"Dr. Caesar, there's no need to panic. We still have plenty of guards. Just release the Artificial Dragons."
"Yes, yes, you're right!"
Caesar spun around and tapped several buttons.
From within the reinforced cages scattered throughout the facility, one Artificial Dragon after another was unleashed.
Turning back to Monet, Caesar asked eagerly,
"What should we do next?"
He always placed great trust in his secretary's judgment — and her advice rarely went unheeded.
Monet pondered for a moment, then said:
"There are quite a few confidential experiment files in this facility. If those were to fall into enemy hands, it would be disastrous. We should send out more guards — but also, we should go ourselves and retrieve them."
Caesar nodded vigorously.
"Exactly! 'Deadly Gas,' 'Giantification Serum,' 'Artificial Devil Fruits' — not a single one of these achievements can be allowed to fall into their hands!"
Monet turned her gaze toward Vergo, still keeping up her role as Caesar's composed secretary.
"What do you think, Vergo-san?"
Caesar also looked to Vergo expectantly — he knew Vergo represented Doflamingo's interests.
"Agreed," Vergo said simply, lowering his hand from his chin.
"Eliminate them all. Just make sure the experimental data remains intact."
Inside the Facility
After sprinting down several corridors, and confirming that neither the poison gas nor the enemy pursuers were behind them, Tashigi and Hina (wearing gas masks) finally slowed their pace.
In the chaos, they had been separated from the main G-5 unit.
"To end up in such a sorry state… Hina is very displeased,"
she muttered around the cigarette in her mouth, pulling out a Den-Den Mushi to try contacting Smoker — to confirm his safety and that of their troops.
"Vice Admiral Hina!"
Tashigi suddenly called out.
Tina looked up and saw what Tashigi had found — a massive steel door with the words "Cookie Room" written above it. The name looked bizarrely out of place amidst the cold, sterile research facility.
"So this is what those hazmat-suited men were so desperate to defend, huh?"
Tina walked forward, forming a long iron rod that jutted from her right hand — its tip sharp as a spear.
Imbuing the rod with Haki, she hurled it at the door.
BOOM!
The impact pierced the metal door clean through.
A scream echoed faintly from within.
"Someone's inside!"
Tashigi warned.
Tina frowned. This island was supposed to be uninhabited — apart from the Navy and the David Jones Pirates. So who else could possibly be here?
She kicked the embedded iron rod, shattering one half of the door with a crash, revealing the room beyond.
The "Cookie Room" was spacious — and the group that had screamed were now huddled together, trembling in fear.
Tina's eyes widened.
The cigarette slipped from her mouth, scattering sparks across the floor.
"They're… children?"
Tashigi said, stunned.
"But… why are they all so huge? Are they giant children?"
The "children" cowering in the corner looked no older than ten — yet their hands were so large that they could have easily grabbed both Hina and Tashigi at once.
That was why Tashigi's first thought was that they might be young Giants.
But Hina's mind had gone to a darker place.
Her fists clenched tight for a moment before relaxing again.
"Tashigi… whether they're giant children or not, they were brought and locked up here right under G-5's nose."
"Vice Admiral Hina…"
Tashigi's voice trembled as realization dawned.
"You mean… there's a mole inside G-5? That can't be… Everyone might be rough around the edges, but—"
"If we want the truth," Hina said, grinding the fallen cigarette under her heel, forcing a faint smile, "we'll just have to ask them ourselves."
Elsewhere
Jewelry Bonney, with her pink hair flowing behind her, had made her way to the second floor — into a dusty archive room lined wall to wall with documents.
She hadn't arrived by chance — she'd found a floor plan earlier and followed it straight here.
"Where is it…? 'Pacifista,' 'Pacifista'…"
Bonney muttered, her eyes and fingers scanning rapidly across the shelves, searching for any trace of data left behind by the "genius scientist" Vegapunk.
But instead of finding anything about the Pacifistas or her father — the "Tyrant" Kuma — she found something else entirely. Documents that made her blood run cold.
"'Deadly Gas'… time from inhalation to complete death… maximizing human use as test subjects… What the hell is this?"
She read only a few lines before goosebumps prickled all over her skin.
Her eyes flicked to another file nearby.
"'Giantification Drug' — best suited for children… giantification side effects remain… life expectancy: does not reach adulthood… 'Candy' can be used for behavioral control, but causes addiction…"
Bonney froze.
Now she understood — those hazmat-suited figures weren't here by accident.
They were conducting inhuman experiments in this supposedly abandoned facility.
"Those bastards…"
Bonney hissed, tearing the documents to shreds.
Her father's fate had already filled her with hatred for human experimentation — and now, to learn they were doing this to children?
"These monsters aren't even human!"
She ripped apart every document she could grab, toppling a bookshelf with a loud crash, then reached into her jacket for her lighter.
As a pirate, she was used to surviving in the wild — a lighter was always handy. Even after joining the David Jones Pirates, she'd kept that habit.
But—
Whoosh…
The air grew suddenly cold.
Bonney froze mid-step.
She looked down — and her eyes went wide.
Her legs were encased in ice.
An icy chill crawled up her body, making her shiver uncontrollably.
What's going on…?
A Devil Fruit attack?
When did she—?
A cold, melodic voice echoed through the room.
"You outsider… what are you planning to do with our precious research data?"
A harpy with emerald-green wings landed gracefully in front of her, talons pressing against the ground.
Her youthful face bore a soft smile — but her tone was laced with killing intent.
"An ability like Aokiji's 'Ice-Ice Fruit'…?"
Bonney muttered, oddly relieved now that she could see her enemy.
"So it's a Devil Fruit power after all."
Monet chuckled darkly, stepping closer. With a flick of her wings, snow filled the air — and each falling feather turned to a blade of ice.
"My Snow-Snow Fruit may not rival Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit," she said coolly, "but it's more than enough to deal with you, Big Eater Jewelry Bonney."
Monet clearly knew who she was dealing with — she'd read up on the Supernovas.
She swung her wings, sending the blade-feathers slicing toward Bonney's neck.
Bonney dropped and rolled across the floor, dodging the icy attack.
Using her hands to spring off the ground, she flipped backward, putting distance between them.
Monet frowned in surprise.
She looked down — the ice around Bonney's legs had melted away, leaving only puddles on the floor.
"What a strange ability…" Monet tilted her head. "Did you just melt the ice? Could it be… your power happens to counter mine?"
"As if I'd ever tell my ability to an enemy!"
Bonney stuck her tongue out and tugged down the skin under her eye, making a face.
"Id-i-ot!"
Monet smiled faintly — but her expression had grown much darker.
With a sharp sweep of her wings, dozens of snow-white rabbits burst forth, each like a living snowball flying through the air toward Bonney.
Bonney sidestepped swiftly — the snow rabbits smashed into the wall one after another, pounding it like drums.
"Tch," Monet clicked her tongue.
Bonney sprinted to the side — but suddenly stumbled,
tumbling to the floor and rolling once.
Monet's eyes flashed. She saw her chance.
"Haaah!"
Snow surged around her body, puffing her up until she looked like a monstrous snow creature.
FWOOSH!
She lunged toward Bonney, an icy gale swirling in her wake.
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