"What did that sound just now mean?"
Luffy looked up toward the high ground in confusion and said, "What is that S.A.D.?"
Why did that woman's expression change as soon as the alarm went off?
"I have no interest in telling you," Monet said expressionlessly.
"It seems like it must be something very important," Franky guessed. "Probably something used to make poison gas."
He suspected that the monster they had seen earlier in the live broadcast was something Caesar had created through some special method.
And this thing called S.A.D. was likely the factory producing the weapon!
"I see."
Luffy nodded. It seemed Meiser and the others had found a very important place.
Then, Luffy turned his gaze back to Monet and said, "Never mind, first..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he heard the sound of a Den Den Mushi coming from Monet.
"Buro buro buro~"
"Buro buro buro~"
"Buro buro buro~"
"Kacha~"
"It's me."
"Joker~"
"..."
Realizing who it was, Monet's face immediately lit up with a brilliant smile.
She looked as if she had just received a call from family.
"Joker?"
A few question marks popped up above Luffy's head. Who was that?
"Probably some kind of codename," Franky guessed.
People who liked to hide their identities like this were mostly active in the underground world.
Could it be someone from the underground world that Caesar had mentioned before? Franky thought to himself.
It wasn't impossible.
"It seems you have other people with you," Doflamingo said.
"Yes, Straw Hat Boy is here."
"I see."
Doflamingo nodded, then said, "Be careful with this guy. He's a possessor of Conqueror's Haki."
"His potential might even be higher than Law's!"
"A possessor of Conqueror's Haki?"
Monet looked at Luffy in surprise, clearly not expecting this brat to also be a man with Conqueror's Haki.
That was truly astonishing.
But the thought of killing a possessor of Conqueror's Haki made Monet lick the corner of her mouth excitedly.
"This voice..."
Luffy frowned. "It sounds kind of familiar."
"Oh?"
Franky looked at Luffy in surprise. "You know it?"
"I feel like I've heard it somewhere before..."
Luffy scrunched up his face, trying hard to remember, then his eyes lit up. "I know! It's that bird-person we met during the Summit War!"
Franky: ??
What was Luffy talking about?
Monet, meanwhile, frowned at Luffy and said, "Watch your mouth!"
What bird-person?
That's a flamingo!
"Fufufufufu~"
"Still as rude as ever," Doflamingo sneered.
"I have nothing to say to a bastard like you."
"What, are you still angry about what happened back then?" Doflamingo tilted his head and said, "It was just an invitation for the Blood-Eyed Ninja to join my side. Is it really worth getting so worked up over?"
Is this guy a bit too childish?
"There was such a thing?"
Franky's expression immediately darkened. He knew all too well how much their companions meant to Luffy, so... this guy called Joker really deserved a beating!
"That's right, that's exactly it!" Luffy said irritably, "If it weren't for Jimbei and the others holding me back back then, I would've already punched him!"
Upon hearing Luffy's words, Doflamingo burst into laughter as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Fufufufufu~"
"What an ignorant little brat.
Punch him?
What a joke.
If it weren't for all those strong fighters around him back then, I would've already killed him!
Ah well, no point getting angry with a dead man anyway. There's no way this guy is leaving Punk Hazard alive."
Shaking his head, Doflamingo continued, "I happen to have an overly energetic woman causing a ruckus here. I'll send her over to assist you later."
"An energetic woman?"
Monet was taken aback for a moment before smiling as if she had thought of something. "Baby 5, right?"
Thinking about it carefully, that girl really did have too much energy.
"Mhm, I'll have Buffalo go with her," Doflamingo said. "Once you've finished handling everything at Punk Hazard, return to Dressrosa together."
Since Punk Hazard had already been exposed, there was no need to keep Caesar and the others there any longer.
They could just come directly to Dressrosa and continue producing Artificial Devil Fruits!
"Understood~"
"Click~"
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Monet cheerfully put it away, clearly in a very good mood.
"Even though I don't know what that bird-person means, I'm definitely going to catch Caesar!" Luffy declared with a serious expression.
With that, Luffy prepared to leave, clearly not intending to continue engaging with Monet.
"That won't do~"
Monet, her body radiating cold, flew up into the air and said, "I can't let you disturb Caesar~"
He was the scientist her master cared about most. She absolutely couldn't let them take him away!
With a light hum, Monet increased the output of her ability, causing the snow in the room to accumulate at a visible rate.
"We have no interest in playing around with you here!" Franky raised both hands toward Monet in mid-air and said, "Let me finish you off with this move!"
With that, Franky struck his signature pose and began gathering a Laser Beam in his palms.
Seeing this, Monet's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Although she didn't know what the other was using, she instinctively felt something was wrong.
It was as if... if she didn't dodge, she would die!
Thinking this, Monet immediately performed Elemental Transformation without hesitation, then hid her true body within the swirling snowstorm below.
The next moment...
"Franky—Radical Beam!"
"Vrrrm"
"6~"
A terrifying laser beam shot from Franky's hand, striking the area where Monet had just been.
The intense heat instantly vaporized the snow in that part of the air!
Then, without losing momentum, the laser pierced straight through the wall of the room!
"BOOM!!"
"So cool!!"
Luffy stared excitedly at Franky, his eyes turning into two light bulbs.
"Hey, hey, Franky, what is that?"
"This is a laser weapon I learned from Vegapunk!" Franky gave Luffy a thumbs-up. "After two years, I've integrated it into my own body."
"Amazing!"
Though Luffy didn't quite understand what was going on, he still felt it was amazing.
And... it was also really cool!
Hearing this, Franky immediately burst into hearty laughter.
"A weapon like this is definitely powerful!"
"Super!!"
With that, Franky struck his signature pose again, overjoyed.
"You two seem to be having quite a bit of fun..."
"Huh?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Franky paused, then said in surprise, "So that move didn't finish you off."
He had thought this attack would destroy the snow and defeat his opponent.
But... the opponent was unharmed?
"If I had been hit directly by that move, I might indeed have been taken out." Monet, having reformed his body, looked gravely at Franky. "But I dodged it."
In that split second, he had sensed an extremely dangerous feeling and decisively shifted his position.
That was how he managed to avoid the damage.
Otherwise, even as a Logia type, he would have suffered serious injuries!
After all... his element was snow!
"So it seems my idea was right." Franky grinned. "Though Logia types are tricky, as long as you can destroy the corresponding element, you can still take them down."
"What do you mean?"
Luffy blinked, clearly not understanding Franky's words.
"He's a Logia type with the snow element," Franky explained. "But that kind of thing is vulnerable to high temperatures!"
"As long as I can vaporize all the snowflakes, his true body will be hit!"
As for the finer details, he didn't bother explaining—Luffy, that blockhead, wouldn't understand anyway.
"Oh!"
"I see!"
Luffy wore an expression of sudden realization. "So it's the incredible laser that can kill snow, right!"
Franky: ...
He felt he had wasted his breath explaining in such detail.
After a moment of silence, Franky said, "You could think of it that way."
"So cool, Franky!"
"Hahahaha~"
Praise made Franky burst into laughter again. "It's mainly Vegapunk's technology that's amazing."
If it weren't for that man, he wouldn't have been able to master such a powerful weapon.
"I say..."
Listening to these two men chat, Monet said with a grim expression, "Are you two not taking me seriously enough?"
They had actually started chatting...
Did they not see him as a threat at all?
Thinking this, Monet angrily launched an attack at the two.
"Snow Serpent!"
"Hum~"
The next moment, the ice and snow on the ground began to tremble, and several agile ice serpents emerged.
After roaring, the ice serpents viciously lunged at Luffy and the other.
Seeing this, their expressions changed, and they quickly leaped sideways to evade the enemy's attack.
But to their surprise, the moment they jumped, the ice and snow beneath their feet moved.
"Hum~"
The ice and snow transformed into several serpents at an incredible speed, then tightly coiled around the two!
"Don't even think about it!"
Luffy roared, instantly vanishing from his spot.
Franky, however, was not so lucky. He lacked Luffy's speed and the ability to move through the air, so he could only watch helplessly as the swift serpents coiled around his body.
But just before being captured, Franky raised his hands, preparing to gather a laser.
He was then lifted into the air, entangled by the serpents.
"Franky!"
"Don't worry about me!"
Franky shouted, "Take her down now!"
"Got it!"
Luffy responded and swiftly charged toward Monet.
"Gomu-Gomu Jet Gatling!"
Luffy roared, raising his fists imbued with Haki and striking at Monet.
The overwhelming barrage of punches sealed off all of Monet's escape routes!
If they landed, Luffy was confident he could defeat her!
Monet understood this too, so without hesitation, she used her Devil Fruit Ability to create a massive circular shelter.
"Snow Dome!"
"Hum~"
The next moment...
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!!"
A torrent of fists slammed into Monet's snow dome, shattering the massive structure to pieces!
After this, Luffy landed not far from the remains of the snow dome.
"Such tricks won't work on me!" Luffy shouted.
"Not necessarily~"
Monet smiled, then vanished right before Luffy's eyes.
Luffy was momentarily stunned but quickly sensed something and turned to look in Franky's direction.
"Franky, she's..."
"Too late!"
Monet, now appearing beside Franky, transformed into a snow demon, her teeth sharp and menacing.
She then aimed for Franky's neck and bit down!
Yet, faced with this situation, Franky remained completely calm, as his attack was already fully charged.
"Franky Radical Beam!"
"Hum~"
A terrifying laser shot from Franky's palm, striking the floor below!
"Boom!!"
The impact blasted a massive crater into the ground!
The snow covering Franky's body was instantly vaporized into water by the intense heat.
"You can still fire a laser in that state?"
Monet, who had abandoned her attack due to the laser, glared at Franky with a grim expression. "What kind of body structure do you even have?"
This was utterly absurd!
"Interested in my body, miss?" Franky grinned. "If you surrender, I might just let you study it."
Hearing this, Monet's expression darkened.
"Surrender?"
"In your dreams!"
After cursing angrily, Monet's body dissolved into snowflakes once more, concealing herself within the area.
The large hole burned into the ground quickly cooled due to the snow and was eventually covered by it, completely obscuring the original cavity.
Franky glanced at it before turning his gaze away, then looked around and said, "Luffy, can your Observation Haki track her position?"
"Yes."
Luffy replied, "But she moves too fast in the snow. Hitting her won't be easy."
His Observation Haki could indeed detect her life force within the snowy terrain, but her movement speed was absurdly fast!!
That was precisely why he couldn't take her down quickly.
"Moving quite fast, huh..."
Franky frowned as he scanned the surrounding snowfield and said, "It seems this Logia-type Ability User is even more troublesome than I imagined."
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