"Although I can't defeat you, it won't be easy for you to defeat me either~" Monet said with a smile as he looked at the two.
Without Haki abilities, he was indeed no match for the Straw Hat Boy.
But... he could rely on the power of his Devil Fruit to buy time!
This way, even if he couldn't stall them to death, he could still buy enough time for Caesar to do what he wanted!
"In that case, then..."
Before Franky could finish speaking, he saw Monet's body dissipate into snowflakes once again, then vanish from the spot.
"Tch..."
Seeing this, Franky spat in annoyance and lowered his hands, which he had just raised.
"I don't want to get hit by your Laser. Even I would get hurt if that happened."
Monet's voice echoed around them, elusive and making it impossible to pinpoint his exact location.
Hearing this, Franky frowned, then turned to look at Luffy and said, "Luffy, what should we do?"
Luffy didn't speak but stared intently at their surroundings.
Then he said, "We have to find a way to catch him. Otherwise, it'll be hard to defeat him."
"I know that too."
Franky was troubled. Of course, he knew they needed to find an opportunity to catch the guy's true body, but the problem was... it was really difficult!
"You two seem troubled~" Monet said with a laugh. "Then let me help you find relief!"
With that, Monet activated his Devil Fruit Ability without hesitation.
Under the influence of his ability, the snowflakes in the room began to swirl violently, as if something terrifying was about to emerge from within.
The next moment...
"Bzzz~"
"Boom!!"
A massive amount of snowflakes surged upward, rapidly swirling around Luffy and Franky.
"What is this now?"
Luffy stared warily at their surroundings, his muscles tensing up.
Meanwhile, Franky frowned and said, "Is this guy trying to bury us alive?"
Was he planning to use the power of snow to steal their body heat?
What a sneaky guy.
Thinking this, Franky raised his hands without hesitation, gathering Laser energy, and said, "Luffy, tell me his location!"
"Can't do."
Luffy shook his head. "He's moving too fast. You won't hit him."
If Franky had Haki himself, it would be a different story, but the problem was... Franky didn't know Haki!
In this situation, even if Luffy gave directions, Franky wouldn't be able to attack before Monet changed positions, so giving directions was pointless.
"Too fast, huh..."
Franky grumbled unhappily, "In that case..."
"Franky Radical Beam!"
"Bzzz~"
The next moment, a terrifying Laser shot out from Franky's hands, mercilessly striking the icy snow wall beside them.
The terrifying high temperature instantly burned a massive hole through the icy wall.
Then, the laser continued its momentum, slamming directly into the door Monet had frozen with his ability earlier, blasting a huge hole right through it!
Monet: !!
Staring at the blasted hole, Monet was utterly dumbfounded.
How could the enemy blow open the snow hut and the door at the same time?
Was his memory really that good?
"Looks like it worked well~" Franky said with a smirk.
"Great job, Franky!" Luffy grinned, baring his teeth.
With that, Luffy quickly grabbed Franky and charged toward the hole.
Seeing this, Monet immediately shouted, "Don't even think about it!"
"Blizzard!!"
"Hum~"
"Boom!!"
The next moment, the snowflakes in the room trembled once more, transforming into an intensely dense blizzard swirling through the air!
The terrifying force made it impossible to keep one's eyes open.
Because of Monet's move, Franky and Luffy gradually lost their sense of direction.
"Never thought I'd get lost inside a room one day," Franky said with a grimace. "This is really...
"
If the crew found out about this, they'd laugh their heads off.
No, this can't go on.
"Luffy!"
Franky shouted, "I'll blast open this blizzard with my laser beam to give you a chance to charge out."
"Once you get the chance, leave this place immediately and find that guy named Caesar."
Even though they couldn't confirm the exact direction right now, as long as Luffy could escape this room, it would be enough.
As for Caesar?
Luffy could just search for him slowly.
"Alright!"
"I got it!"
Luffy nodded without hesitation, showing he understood.
Franky wasted no time either, immediately raising his hand to gather energy for his laser.
"You think I'll give you that chance?!" Monet shouted. "Ice Wall!"
"Hum~"
The next moment, an ice wall appeared in front of Franky. Then, propelled by the snowflakes beneath it, the wall swiftly moved toward Franky, looking as if it intended to crush him to death.
Seeing this, Franky spat in frustration, clearly realizing he couldn't fire his laser before the attack reached him.
So he had no choice but to abandon charging his laser weapon and quickly retreat with Luffy.
However, after retreating some distance, Luffy launched an attack on the ice wall.
"Gomu-Gomu Jet Bazooka!"
"Boom!!"
His fists, imbued with Haki, slammed fiercely into the ice wall, shattering it to pieces!
After doing this, Luffy said, "Now's the time, Franky!"
"Alright!"
Hearing this, Franky didn't waste words either. He immediately raised his arm to gather energy for his laser weapon, intending to blast a gap in the blizzard.
"Franky...
"
"I told you."
Monet, appearing above the two, said coldly, "I won't give you that chance!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Monet mercilessly tore away the snow beneath their feet, revealing an enormous hole.
Franky: !!
Feeling the ground suddenly vanish beneath him, Franky's pupils instantly contracted to their smallest.
"This is...
"
Damn it, they were right above the huge hole he had blasted open earlier!
Realizing what was happening, Franky immediately abandoned his laser attack and raised his arm, intending to use the recoil from his cannon to blast himself away.
"Luffy, grab me!"
"Got it!"
Luffy, who was also falling, didn't hesitate to stretch out his rubber arm and grab Franky's leg, preventing himself from falling further.
"I said..."
Monet appeared before Franky, sneering coldly, "I won't give you that chance!"
With that, Monet raised his bird-like claw and kicked toward Franky's body.
"Clang!!"
"Thud!"
"Damn it!"
Feeling Monet's attack, Franky's expression darkened instantly.
He knew that in this situation, he couldn't possibly defend against Monet's strike.
In the end, Franky and Luffy, having lost their chance to counterattack, fell together toward the hole below.
"Ah!!"
"Hehe~"
Watching the two fall with his own eyes, Monet smiled and approached the edge of the hole, saying, "Fighting requires brains too, you two~"
In a direct confrontation, he was indeed no match for Straw Hat Boy.
But that didn't matter—he didn't need to defeat them outright. As long as he could stall these two, that was enough!
So...
...throwing them down the hole was the best choice!
Thinking this, Monet smiled even more happily.
Then, he continued, "You two can fend for yourselves down there!"
"Hahahaha~"
With that, Monet left without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the two who had fallen were desperately searching for a way to stop.
"Ah!!"
"Dammit, this won't do."
Staring downward, Franky said with a fierce expression, "We have to find a way to stop!"
Though he didn't know what lay below, Franky instinctively felt that they couldn't afford to fall any further!
With that thought, Franky raised his right hand without hesitation.
"Strong Right Hand!"
"Whoosh~"
"Boom!"
His terrifyingly powerful fist flew toward the steel wall beside them in an instant, smashing a huge dent into it.
Using this dent, Franky forced himself to a stop.
"Luffy, grab me!" Franky shouted.
"Got it!!"
Realizing what Franky had done, Luffy immediately stretched his arm toward him.
"Whoosh~"
"Click~"
"I've got you!" Luffy yelled.
Hearing this, Franky nodded, then used the strength in his arm to pull both of them toward the steel wall.
Just as they were about to reach it, Franky raised his other fist and slammed it hard into the wall.
"Boom!!"
With a single strike, he blasted a large hole in the wall!
In this way, Franky used his own strength to create holes in the wall, forcibly stopping both of them in mid-air.
"Fi...finally, we're safe."
Glancing down at the bottomless hole below, Luffy wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "What kind of place is this anyway?"
It looked like the mouth of a monster.
Was it trying to swallow them whole?
"I don't know where this is either," Franky said, frowning.
Who would've thought that beneath that room lay a bottomless cave?
"Whoever designed this research institute must have been out of their mind," Franky thought to himself, feeling utterly speechless. "Aren't they afraid someone might fall?"
What a ridiculous design.
Shaking his head, Franky turned his gaze upward.
"Let's climb up, Luffy."
They weren't too far from the opening now, so climbing up shouldn't be a problem.
"Alright!"
Luffy grinned, showing his teeth. "I'll leave it to you, Franky!"
"Leave it to super me!"
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't be serious!"
Usopp stared dumbfounded at the dragon behind them, still spewing flames. "Why can this thing breathe fire too?!"
"Because this is an enhanced type," Brownbeard said with a grim expression. "So it possesses all the abilities of that Giant Dragon."
That was exactly why he found this dragon so troublesome.
"Enhanced type?"
Usopp paused for a moment, then swallowed hard. "You mean... this thing is even scarier than the Giant Dragon we encountered before?"
If that were really the case, it would be downright terrifying.
"Building B is now covered in flames because of it..." Perona stared intently at the dragon in the distance. "Do you need me to take it out?"
As she spoke, Perona summoned her Negative Spirit.
If her help was needed, she would send the Negative Spirit to deal with that creature.
"We really do need to handle this thing," Nico Robin said, glancing around at their surroundings. "Otherwise, these oil tanks might explode."
At her words, everyone's expressions immediately changed.
Oil tank explosions?
If that happened, the walls of the research institute would be blown apart!
In that case...
"Hurry, take action!" Nami said without hesitation. "Take that thing out now!"
"Alright!"
Perona nodded, then decisively released her Negative Spirit.
"Roar?"
Seeing the Negative Spirit appear before it, the dragon's eyes showed a human-like confusion, clearly not understanding what this thing was.
However, it only hesitated for a moment before giving up on thinking and simply bit down.
The next moment...
"Hum~"
"Roar..."
After the Negative Spirit passed through its body, the dragon immediately lost control and crashed to the ground.
"Great, it worked!" Usopp shouted.
"As expected of Perona~" Nami praised.
"Hara hara hara~"
Hearing the praise, Perona immediately placed her hands on her hips and laughed proudly.
"A mere dragon is no match for this lady!"
"Hara hara hara~"
Nami smiled at her words, then turned her attention to the oil pipes around them. "Next, we need to put out these flames."
With that, Nami decisively activated the power of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, intending to create a cumulonimbus cloud.
Seeing this, Brownbeard asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Of course, I'm going to use rain to extinguish the flames here," Nami replied.
With the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, she could easily create a cumulonimbus cloud right here!
"Rain, huh..."
Brownbeard fell silent for a moment, then sighed with admiration. "Logia-type Ability Users really are incredible."
To be able to do something like this is truly astonishing.
At that moment, the dragon lying on the ground rose once more, letting out a roar even more terrifying than before.
"ROAR!!"
"It's over, it's been provoked!" Usopp shouted.
This guy must have been angered by Perona's Devil Fruit ability!
"It seems using Negative Spirits to take it down isn't very likely," Perona frowned. "In that case..."
"Explosion Ghost!"
With that, Perona decisively used her Devil Fruit ability to create an enormous Explosion Ghost, intending to blow that arrogant bastard of a dragon to pieces!
But before she could release the Ghost, Nico Robin grabbed her arm from the side.
Perona: ??
What's the meaning of this?