"Ah~"
"It smells so good~"
"Huh?"
Hearing Luffy's commotion, Merry turned to look back and smiled, "Luffy, you're back..."
Merry's words trailed off as she froze, because she noticed that the lower half of the body that had just run off was now stuck to Luffy's back.
What was going on?
"Ah, I'm back."
Luffy nodded, then excitedly looked at the dragon meat and said, "Hey, Meiser, can we eat this?"
As he spoke, drool began to drip from Luffy's mouth.
"It's edible."
Meiser casually tossed a large piece of bone-in meat to Luffy and said, "I already tested it earlier. It's not poisonous."
After activating the Pupil Technique 'Kishu Mitsu Mikoto' in his right eye, Meiser could sense whether his body would experience any abnormal conditions, so he was certain the meat was safe.
"That's good."
Catching the meat, Luffy happily grinned and began cheerfully savoring the large bone-in meat in his hands.
"So delicious!"
"Right?" Meiser laughed. "Seems my cooking skills aren't bad."
"Hey, Luffy."
Usopp, who was also eating meat, pointed at Kin'emon's lower half stuck to Luffy's back and remarked, "What's going on with you?"
"Trying to pretend you're a centaur?"
"A centaur, huh."
Upon hearing this, Luffy's eyes immediately lit up, and he said, "That's so cool!!"
Usopp: ...
Was that what he meant?
"Damn it, what on earth am I stuck to?!" Kin'emon's lower half struggled. "Let me go!"
"Haha, you still haven't given up, huh."
Luffy glanced back at Kin'emon's lower half and said, "I can keep this up all day!"
Meiser: ??
Hearing Luffy's words, several question marks instantly popped up in Meiser's mind. Why did that sound so familiar?
Who said that...
After thinking for a long while and failing to remember, Meiser gave up.
Then, he looked at Luffy and said, "Luffy, you really have some weird tastes."
"Is that so."
Luffy laughed. "I actually think it's pretty fun."
A centaur or something... isn't it cool!
Seeing Luffy's eyes light up again, Meiser helplessly shook his head, unsure what to say for a moment.
Just then, the pair of legs on Luffy's back suddenly kicked out, slamming Luffy hard onto the ground.
"Thud!"
Seeing this, Usopp sighed in exasperation, "See, Luffy? There's no way he'll listen to you."
"Why not?" Luffy asked, lying on the ground in confusion.
"Because this guy is just a lower half. He doesn't have a brain or anything like that," Usopp explained. "So just give up and return him to the owner of this body."
Luffy fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then pouted and said, "Seriously, Usopp... do you even have any dreams?!"
"Huh?"
Usopp was taken aback by the question, then looked at Luffy with confusion. "What do you mean?"
What did he mean by whether he had a dream or not?
"Of course, I mean this guy!" Luffy, who had stood up, pointed at Kin'emon's lower half behind him. "This guy must be like that, right!"
"Hehe~"
"I see, a Lower-Body Person..." Usopp nodded at first, then opened his Shark Mouth and yelled, "How is that possible!"
How could something as strange as a Lower-Body Person exist in this world!
That's absolutely impossible!
"Then how do you explain this guy?"
"How should I know?" Usopp said helplessly. "But it's definitely not a Lower-Body Person."
Anyway, he didn't believe that Lower-Body People existed in this world.
"I don't care, he is a Lower-Body Person!"
Seeing Luffy's childish expression, Usopp immediately deflated.
"Fine, whatever you say."
He really couldn't be bothered to argue with Luffy.
"Hehe~"
Luffy laughed upon hearing this, then turned to look at Kin'emon's lower half behind him and grinned. "See, you're the cool lower half of a Centaur!"
But unfortunately, Kin'emon's lower half didn't cooperate with him and instead struggled violently.
"It seems this guy won't behave obediently," Merry said, staring at Kin'emon's lower half. "Do you need my help?"
As she spoke, a visible whirlwind appeared in Merry's hand, looking quite dangerous.
Seeing this, Usopp was stunned. "Merry, are you planning to take him out?"
"Of course not."
Merry shook her head. "I just want to make him behave."
Her attack would at most knock the other unconscious, not kill him.
Usopp blinked upon hearing this. Just to make him behave?
But why did Merry's attack seem so dangerous?
Was it just his imagination?
"It's fine, Merry," Luffy grinned, showing his teeth. "I can handle it myself."
To become a powerful Centaur, one must first tame their hind legs, so... he'd better do it himself!
"Is that so... alright."
Seeing that Luffy didn't accept her suggestion, Merry didn't insist further and obediently dispersed the whirlwind in her hand.
"Alright, eat your meat first, then play with your Centaur body later," Meiser said.
As he spoke, Meiser tossed another large piece of meat to Luffy.
"Okay!"
Meanwhile, on the other side.
While Luffy and the others were enjoying their meal, Nami and the others had already been captured by Caesar's subordinates and taken to the laboratory on Punk Hazard.
"Master," a man in a protective suit said respectfully. "We've just captured a group of intruders."
Caesar, who was conducting an experiment, turned to look at his subordinate. "Intruders?"
"Shurororororo~"
"That's perfect!"
"Experimental materials are getting scarce, so they can fill the gap."
With that, Caesar put down the vessel in his hand and turned to walk toward the large door behind him, saying, "Come on, take me to see them."
"Yes, Master."
The man in the protective suit nodded, then turned and walked outside.
Soon, the two arrived at the special cell holding Nami and the others.
"This..."
Caesar fell silent for a moment after seeing Chopper and the others, then said, "These are the intruders you captured?"
"Yes."
The man in the protective suit nodded and said, "They're all from the same pirate ship."
"Shurororororo~"
"Each one has quite a personality."
As he spoke, Caesar casually picked up Chopper, pondering what he could do with this little guy.
"Indeed, each one is quite unique," the man in the protective suit nodded. "Especially this Tin-Man—I think you'll definitely like this one, Master."
"Tin-Man..."
After putting Chopper down, Caesar walked over to Franky and examined him closely, then exclaimed in amazement:
"What an interesting modification."
"You're right, I am quite interested in this one."
"Shurororororo~"
A cyborg who can modify himself to this extent... He must be hiding some fascinating secrets. Hmm, definitely worth researching!
After chuckling, Caesar glanced at his subordinate and asked, "Are all the captured people here?"
"There's one more who seems to be their companion," the man in the protective suit thought for a moment, then said, "But only a skeleton remains of him now, so I didn't bring it back."
"A skeleton?"
A flicker of surprise passed through Caesar's eyes. Why would there be a skeleton?
"Yes, a skeleton."
The man in the protective suit nodded. "Probably someone they killed during an internal conflict. Isn't that quite common among pirates?"
Caesar nodded in agreement. "That's true."
It certainly wasn't rare for pirates to turn on each other.
Then, Caesar waved his hand dismissively. "Since that one's dead, there's no need to worry about him."
"As for these people... keep a close watch on them. Make sure they don't escape!"
"Once I finish what I'm working on, I'll study these guys properly."
At the end, Caesar fixed his gaze on Franky, clearly intending to examine the cyborg's structure in detail.
"Understood!"
The man in the protective suit nodded, then seemed to remember something and said, "Oh, Master, there's one more thing."
"Speak."
"Remember that little boy named Momonosuke we captured earlier?" the man in the protective suit said. "For some reason, he's disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
Caesar paused, then frowned. "How could he disappear?"
Although Punk Hazard's laboratory was vast, escaping from here should have been impossible—after all, the main gate required a switch to open!
"We're not sure either," the man in the protective suit shook his head. "But he's been missing for several days now."
"Then find him."
Caesar said, "Bring him to me afterward. I'll make sure he understands the price of trying to escape!"
As he spoke, a cold glint of murderous intent flashed in Caesar's eyes. He hated nothing more than disobedient test subjects.
"Yes!"
The man in the protective suit nodded, then turned and walked outside.
Caesar stared at Chopper and the others for a while before turning and leaving the place.
A moment later...
"Huh?"
"Where am I..."
Sanji groggily opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. Then, as if remembering something, his expression changed. "Wait, I think I was drugged!"
At that moment, Sanji recalled everything.
Everyone who had stayed behind on the ship had been knocked out by some unknown gas.
Realizing this, Sanji sprang up from the ground.
"Hey, Miss Nami, Miss Perona, wake up!" Sanji called out.
"Huh?"
Hearing Sanji's voice, the two frowned instinctively before opening their eyes in a daze. "What's going on?"
Then, as if noticing something, they exclaimed, "Wait... where are we?"
Weren't they supposed to be on the pirate ship earlier? Why were they surrounded by steel walls now?
Chopper, who had also woken up, looked around with the same bewildered expression, clearly not understanding what had happened.
"I don't know where this is either," Sanji said with a grim expression. "But it seems we've been captured."
"Captured..."
Perona lowered her head in thought, then her pupils contracted. "I remember now! We all fell asleep inexplicably on the ship earlier, right?"
"Yes."
Sanji nodded. "At the time, I thought it might have been some natural phenomenon in the New World, but now it's clear that wasn't the case."
"We... must have been captured by someone."
By the end, Sanji's expression had turned even grimmer. He really wanted to know what these people's purpose was in capturing them. Did they want their bounties?
But Chopper's bounty was only 50 Berries—was it even worth capturing him?
And also... why was Brook nowhere to be seen?
"Captured?"
Chopper was startled by this and cried out in alarm, "Did someone come for our heads?"
Perona: ...
Why is a cute thing with a 50-Berry bounty worrying about that?
If she weren't afraid of hurting Chopper's feelings, she'd really like to give a proper retort.
"Maybe," Sanji replied, frowning as he surveyed their surroundings.
"What do we do now?"
"Of course, we find a way out," Sanji said.
With that, Sanji walked up to the steel door and delivered a powerful kick.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
After several kicks, Sanji faced reality.
This door... he probably couldn't kick it open.
"Huh?"
Franky, awakened by the noise, looked at Sanji in confusion. "Sanji, what are you making a fuss about?"
"Ah, you're awake."
Sanji turned his head to reply, then pointed at the door in front of him. "I'm trying to kick this door open."
"Door?"
A few question marks appeared above Franky's head. What door?
Then, Franky realized something was off.
"Huh?"
"Where is this..."
Wasn't he just eating the delicious food Sanji made on the deck? How did he end up here?
What in the world happened...
Damn it, his head hurt, and he couldn't remember.
"It should be pretty obvious," Nami said with a grim expression. "We've been captured."
"Captured... Who on earth could have taken us here without making a sound?"
Franky's face was full of disbelief—they were no pushovers, after all.
"I think someone must have used Hypnotic Gas."
Nami thought for a moment before continuing, "And it's precisely because of that we were brought here without a sound."
She couldn't think of any other possibility.
"Right, Hypnotic Gas!"
Chopper jumped up as if he had just remembered something. "Now that I think about it, I did smell something strange back then, but before I could warn anyone, I was knocked out by the Hypnotic Gas."
By the end, Chopper's expression turned somewhat dejected again. If only he had held on a little longer, he might have been able to save his friends.
Thinking this, Chopper lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry..."
Perona, who had been examining the door, paused at his words and looked at Chopper in confusion. "Why are you apologizing?"
"If I had noticed earlier, everyone wouldn't have been captured."
Perona sighed inwardly upon hearing this—was that all it was?
"It's not your fault, Chopper," Perona said. "Who would have thought someone would ambush us with Hypnotic Gas in a place like that?"
"Yeah, Chopper, don't blame yourself," Nami chimed in. "Besides, even if you had noticed earlier, you might not have been able to save us under those circumstances."
After all... Merry, who possessed the Power of Wind, wasn't on the ship, so there was no way to blow away the Hypnotic Gas.
Chopper blinked at their words. "Really?"
"Yes."
"Okay..."
Seeing everyone say so, Chopper put aside his earlier emotions and stopped feeling down.
"This is a real headache."
Franky stood up, frowning as he looked around. "Who on earth captured us and brought us here?"
"Any ideas?"
"Maybe someone has their eyes on our bounties."
After saying this, Nami paused briefly before continuing, "Of course, it's also possible we've run into slave traders."
At the mention of "slave traders," Chopper's face immediately paled.
"Will we be sold?" Chopper asked tearfully. "Will we be Slaves for the rest of our lives?"
As if imagining some terrible scenario, Chopper's tears welled up in an instant.
Seeing this, Perona immediately walked over and patted the little guy's head. "It probably isn't slave traders."
"Why not?"
"Because the other side didn't put handcuffs on us," Perona raised her hands to show Chopper her wrists before continuing, "So I don't think this is a group of slave traders."
"Oh, I see..."
Chopper immediately breathed a sigh of relief—it was a relief it wasn't slave traders.
Meanwhile, Sanji, who had been listening to their conversation, instinctively furrowed his brows upon hearing this.
No handcuffs, huh...
Although Miss Perona made a good point... there was another possibility.
That the other side was so incredibly powerful they didn't even need to worry about whether they would escape!
Thinking of this, Sanji's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
"I hope it's not that other possibility."
"By the way, why haven't I seen Brook?" Franky looked around at his companions and said, "Where did that guy go?"
He remembered Brook was sitting right next to him earlier. Could it be that the kidnappers forgot about him?
"Not sure," Nami shook her head and said, "There are only five of us here."
So she didn't know where Brook was either.
"Maybe the people who captured us aren't interested in skeletons," Chopper looked up and said, "They only capture humans."
Franky: ??
Hearing Chopper's words, several question marks instantly popped up above Franky's head.
"You shouldn't count as human either."
"You're the same!" Sanji opened his Shark Mouth and roared, "How dare you say that about others?!"
This guy Franky hardly even looks human anymore, where does he get the nerve to say something like that, damn it!
Franky didn't take any offense at this. Instead, he gave Sanji a thumbs-up and said, "Are you saying I'm a pervert?"
"You really know how to give compliments~"
"6
super
~"
In the end, Franky struck his signature pose, making Sanji's eyelids twitch.
He wasn't complimenting him, damn it!
Just then, an unfamiliar man's voice sounded in the room.
"Hey, you guys!"
"?"
Nami, who was pondering countermeasures, was momentarily stunned, then looked up at her companions and said, "Did one of you just say something?"
"No, that's an unfamiliar voice," Franky, lowering his arm, turned to look at the corner of the room and said, "It came from over there."
Hearing Franky's words, everyone instinctively looked toward the corner they had been ignoring, and then noticed some strange and bizarre things.
"Is this... building blocks?" Chopper tilted his head and said.
"How can building blocks talk?!"
Chopper pondered for a moment and thought that was true.
Then, he asked somewhat confusedly, "Then what is this?"
"How should I know," Sanji said helplessly.
This was his first time seeing such a strange and bizarre thing too, okay?
"Do you like riddles?" Kin'emon's head spoke again, "In foreign languages, it's called a Puzzle~"
"He said riddles..."
The group gathered closer and said, "What kind of riddle?"
Meanwhile, Sanji narrowed his eyes, staring at the fragments of Kin'emon's head and said, "It really was this guy's voice..."
"What exactly are you?"
Why can it still talk even after turning into this?
Could it be... it's something created by some Ability User?
"What do you mean, 'what exactly are you'?" Kin'emon said discontentedly, "You're too rude!"
Do these guys even know how to talk, damn it!
But unfortunately, no one paid attention to Kin'emon's attitude, instead pondering what exactly this thing was.
"Is it insect carving?" Nami asked curiously.
"Insect carving?"
Upon hearing the words "insect carving," Perona immediately jumped back several meters, her eyes becoming much more alert than before.
Kin'emon:
So, what is that woman afraid of?
After glancing at Perona, Franky turned his gaze back to Kin'emon and said, "It must be a new type of Den Den Mushi."
Other than that, he really couldn't think of any other explanation.
After all... in this world, only Den Den Mushi could speak human language!
"I am no insect carving!" Kin'emon protested indignantly. "I am a human being!"
"A living person!!"
"A person..."
Upon hearing Kin'emon's explanation, everyone immediately wore an expression of speechless disbelief.
This strange, block-like creature before them claimed to be human... It felt truly bizarre.
"You're really human?" Nami asked doubtfully.
"Yes."
After receiving this confirmation, Nami fell into deep thought.
Why would a person become like this?
An Ability User?
Meanwhile, Perona sighed in relief. "Oh, so it's just a human."
If it was human, there was no need to fear.
Her expression then returned to calm as she stepped back to rejoin Nami and the others.
Kin'emon: ??
Witnessing this scene, Kin'emon's head instantly sprouted several question marks.
So... this woman was actually afraid of insect carvings?
People from the outside world... have such small courage?