"I wonder if Caesar is still in the same spot," Franky, whose legs had transformed into tank treads for movement, said while stroking his chin. "If he's not, finding him again won't be easy."
After all, that guy was a Gas-Gas Fruit user, capable of turning into gas and hiding.
"Huh?"
Standing on his shoulder, Luffy was taken aback by this, then exclaimed in disbelief, "That guy might run away?"
"It's just a possibility."
After saying this, Franky looked up at the large door ahead and continued, "But whether he is or not, we'll know once we reach that door."
"The door..."
Understanding what Franky meant, Luffy lifted his gaze and fixed it on the steel door ahead.
Soon, under Franky's control, the two arrived in front of the door.
Then, Franky pressed the switch to open it.
Creak~
Hummmmm~
As the door opened, Luffy and Franky saw Caesar standing inside the room!
"Caesar!"
The moment he saw Caesar, Luffy's eyes immediately changed.
Without hesitation, he charged toward Caesar, raising a fist imbued with Haki and striking out.
Thud!
"Agh!"
The struck Caesar let out a pained scream, his body flying uncontrollably backward.
Whoosh~
Boom!!
Monet, who witnessed the entire scene, instinctively furrowed his brow and said, "Straw Hat Boy?"
"I didn't expect you to find this place so quickly."
This was somewhat beyond his expectations.
"And me too!" Franky shouted.
With that, Franky quickly rushed to Monet's side, intending to subdue this woman first.
But when he reached her, he was stunned—because she could fly!
Franky: "Hehe, I can't let you catch me," Monet said with a light laugh.
Although he didn't know if his opponent could use Haki, he had no intention of taking that gamble.
After all... losing the gamble could easily mean death!
"I should have brought Nami or Perona instead," Franky said with a headache.
Against flying enemies, it's best to have someone who can fly deal with them.
"Well, you could always go swap them out~" Monet said with a smile. "I can wait here for you."
"That won't do."
Franky shook his head. "How could I abandon my captain and leave?"
If he had known about this before coming here, swapping might have been fine.
But since the fight had already started, there was no need for that now!
"Then give it a try," Monet said, staring at Franky. "See if you can defeat me with your own abilities."
With that, Monet unleashed his Devil Fruit ability without hesitation, creating an enormous ice spike!
Whoosh~
Clang!
"Huh?"
Franky, who had dodged the attack with a backward step, said in surprise, "This is... snow?"
"You're a Devil Fruit ability user?"
"That's right~"
Hovering in mid-air, Monet curled his lips into a smile and said, "I'm a snowman who ate the Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit~"
"Another Logia type..."
Franky's expression immediately turned grave.
He didn't know Haki.
In this situation, trying to take down a Logia-type ability user wouldn't be easy.
Unless he could get his hands on Seastone Chains!
Too bad Law's ability couldn't transfer Seastone inside, otherwise he could use Seastone Chains to capture this guy. Franky thought with some frustration.
"You don't know Haki, do you~"
Monet said with a grin, "That's good news for me~"
After chuckling, Monet began to scatter snowflakes over the area where Franky was, while his body vanished from sight.
"Using Elemental Transformation to hide, huh..." Franky frowned.
It seemed dealing with this kind of enemy really wasn't easy.
Meanwhile, Luffy looked somewhat surprised at the spot where Monet had just been and said, "Another Logia type?"
Why were there so many Logia-type ability users here?
One was in his grasp, and now here was another.
"Let go of me, Straw Hat Boy!" Caesar glared angrily at Luffy, who was holding him, and shouted, "Take your filthy hands off me!"
"No way." Luffy grinned. "I finally caught you, so how..."
Before Luffy could finish, he noticed flames suddenly erupting around him, forcing him to release Caesar and quickly retreat to avoid the attack.
"Burning attack!"
"Gastille!"
"Boom!!"
The next moment, terrifying flames exploded around Caesar, surging toward Luffy, who had retreated into the distance, and ultimately forcing Luffy all the way back to Franky's side before subsiding.
"Flames?"
Seeing the still-burning flames nearby, Franky's head was instantly filled with question marks.
Could this gas guy also control fire?
Seriously, nowadays, who couldn't?
Monet, on the other hand, sighed helplessly.
If the other side was playing with fire like this, how could he use his own abilities?
What a reckless guy...
"Straw Hat Boy!"
Caesar, now hovering above the two, frowned as he looked down at Luffy and said, "Why are you targeting me like this?"
"I don't know the reason, but I know something interesting will happen if I catch you, so I'm going to do it!"
"Huh?"
"What kind of weird reason is that?"
Caesar stared at Luffy with a puzzled expression. What did he mean by "something interesting" happening after catching him?
This guy must be crazy.
Then, as if realizing something, Caesar's face lit up with understanding. "I get it now. You formed an alliance with that guy Law, didn't you?"
"He's the one who told you to do this, right!"
"That guy isn't trustworthy. He'll definitely betray you, so you should just give up!"
"I'll decide that for myself!" Luffy shouted angrily. "Right now, I'm going to catch you!"
With that, Luffy charged toward Caesar in the air without hesitation.
"Stubborn fool!"
Caesar roared, "If that's the case, then let me teach you another lesson!"
"Try this move again—Vacuum World!"
"Hum~"
The next moment, Caesar activated his Devil Fruit ability and directly sucked away all the air around Luffy!
"Dammit, this move again..."
Feeling unable to breathe, Luffy's face immediately turned grim.
"Shurororororo~"
"That's right, it's unbearable not being able to breathe, isn't it~" Caesar sneered. "Just lose consciousness quietly like this!"
This time, he wouldn't give the Straw Hat Boy a second chance!
He was going to finish this guy off directly!
Shurororororo~
Just then, Franky's steel arm shot over from below, grabbed Luffy in mid-air, and dragged him out of the suffocating zone.
"Ah!"
"It's air!"
Feeling the oxygen, Luffy immediately began gasping for breath, saying, "Finally, I can breathe—"
"Thanks, Franky."
That feeling of being unable to breathe was truly unbearable.
"No problem."
Franky first shook his head, then stared at Caesar and said, "This guy really isn't easy to deal with."
It was a shame he didn't know Haki, otherwise he could have helped Luffy.
"A Cyborg, huh."
Caesar stared at Franky's arm with great interest and said, "You're even more interesting than I imagined."
At that moment, Caesar felt a strong desire to learn more about Franky.
He really wanted to dissect this guy and see what kind of structure his body had.
As if sensing the malice in Caesar's eyes, Franky frowned and said, "Your gaze is really unpleasant."
"Shurororororo~"
"On the contrary, I quite like your gaze~" Caesar grinned as he stared at Franky. "Once I capture you, I'll dissect you!"
"Shurororororo~"
Upon hearing this, Franky's expression immediately changed.
This guy really was an evil scientist!
Meanwhile, Luffy angrily shouted, "I won't let you hurt my friend!"
With that, Luffy charged toward Caesar without hesitation.
"Haven't you had enough yet?!" Caesar sneered. "Then try this again!"
"Vacuum World!"
"Hum~"
The next moment, the air in the area where Luffy stood was once again sucked away by Caesar!
Watching Luffy's pained expression, Caesar sneered and said, "Straw Hat Boy, you're no match for me!"
"Just surrender quietly!"
"That won't do..." Luffy said with difficulty. "I still have to capture you!"
With that, Luffy quickly performed a backflip and retreated, returning to Franky's side.
It was only then that Luffy could breathe again.
"Huff... huff..."
After taking several deep breaths, Luffy said, "I see. I think I understand the range of your ability now."
"Shurororororo~"
"So you've already figured it out."
"Of course!"
Luffy said without hesitation, "When Franky pulled me out earlier, I didn't pay much attention, so I didn't know the range."
"But this time, I retreated on my own, so I naturally know how far it extends."
"That may be true, but... can you maintain that distance?" Caesar tilted his head and said. "That distance is quite difficult to control, you know~"
Looking down at Luffy staring up at him, a confident smile appeared on Caesar's face.
To land an effective blow on him, Straw Hat Boy would have to enter his ability's range!
And the price of entering that range was gradual suffocation!
So... Straw Hat Boy, what will you do?
Shurororororo~
At this moment, Caesar was brimming with confidence!
"Say whatever you want, as long as I know this distance, it's easy to handle," Luffy said.
With that, Luffy activated Second Gear without hesitation.
"Second Gear!"
"Zzzzz~"
White steam billowing from his body, Luffy used Shave without hesitation and vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already right in front of Caesar.
Seeing this, Caesar was startled. So fast?
"Vacuum..."
"Gomu-Gomu Jet Pistol!"
"Bam!!"
Not giving Caesar a chance to activate his ability, Luffy punched him hard in the abdomen, sending him flying backward.
"Ah!"
"That hurts, you bastard!!"
Hit in the stomach, Caesar was in so much pain tears streamed from his eyes.
As a scientist, when had he ever suffered like this?
"That worked pretty well~" Franky laughed loudly. "Good job, Luffy! Just knock him out like that!"
"Alright!"
Luffy, who had landed on the ground, nodded, then charged toward Caesar without hesitation.
"Gomu... Rocket Launcher!"
"Boom!!"
"Huh?"
Looking at the sudden snow wall that appeared in front of him, blocking his attack, Luffy was instantly stunned.
Where did this snow wall come from?
"It's that woman!"
Franky frowned, looking at Monet, who had appeared beside Caesar at some point, and said, "She's a Snow-Snow Fruit Ability User."
"What a pain," Luffy grumbled.
It seemed catching this guy really wasn't going to be easy.
"You're already quite impressive, Straw Hat Boy~" Monet, floating in mid-air, said with a smile. "Ordinary pirates couldn't break through that move of mine."
After saying this, Monet glanced at the shattered snow wall, her eyes filled with emotion.
As expected of a pirate with a 500 million Berries bounty.
"Damn Straw Hat Boy!" Caesar, who had burst out from the snow, said angrily, "I'll kill you!"
"Please wait a moment, Master~"
Monet, who had landed beside Caesar, said with a smile, "This is a meaningless fight, so please leave here first."
Hearing this, Caesar was momentarily stunned, then grinned and said, "You're right~"
"The important experiment is only halfway done, can't waste time here~"
Reminded by Monet, he remembered what he needed to do now, so there was no point staying here wasting time.
With a cold laugh, Caesar floated into the air, intending to leave this place first.
"Are you planning to run away?" Luffy shouted.
"Of course," Caesar said without hesitation. "Staying here to fight you is pointless, so I don't plan to stay."
"Goodbye, Straw Hat Boy, Iron Man!"
With that, Caesar unhesitatingly turned into gas and vanished on the spot.
The next moment...
"Boom!!"
A cannonball blasted into the area where Caesar and Monet were, shattering all the snowflakes there!
But unfortunately... there was simply no way to keep them there.
"Shurororororo~"
Caesar, who had reached the doorway, glanced back mockingly at Luffy and Franky, saying, "You two can stay here and have fun!"
"I'll come back to deal with you later!"
"Shurororororo~"
With that, Caesar's body transformed into gas and swiftly vanished from the spot.
"Dammit..."
Realizing the enemy had already escaped, Franky's expression immediately turned grim. "What do we do, Luffy?"
"Of course we go after that guy," Luffy replied without hesitation. "We absolutely can't let him get away!"
This was what he had promised Torao, so... he had to catch that Caesar!
"I'm afraid that won't do~"
Monet, who had reformed her body in the open space, smiled as she looked at Luffy. "I can't let you two go after my master~"
With that, Monet unhesitatingly unleashed her Devil Fruit ability, sealing the door of the room with ice and snow.
Then, she froze it solid!!
After doing this, the smile on Monet's face grew even wider.
This way, these two wouldn't be able to chase after Caesar!!
"Now then, how should I deal with you?"
Looking at the two men glaring intently at her, Monet slowly narrowed her eyes.
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