Chapter Text
"Relax!"
"But—!"
"Luffy, this could be a trap!"
"Or maybe it’s not." Luffy retorted, sticking his tongue out at Nami.
The transporter snail hadn’t made another sound after crying and bleeding. Luffy hoped nothing bad had happened to it—he liked that snail. But Robin explained it was only imitating what the people on the other end of the line were doing, and Luffy was set on giving it a big lettuce leaf when it woke up, as a reward for its great performance.
They had left Fishman Island with many promises to fulfill. Jinbe was going to join his crew very soon, and Luffy still owed a ride to the Cry-Baby Mermaid —he’d figure out what to do about that later. Maybe he could take her to the forests of Dawn Island, though he thought it might be too far.
A pod of whales had approached them, and Brook said they must be Laboon’s family. After that, an emergency call had come through, desperately talking about a samurai cutting people down.
There had been a lot of whining, but Luffy had decided to go investigate and help.
It sounded like a great adventure, and the lava spilling from the distant volcanoes pointed that it was going to be one of the most exciting ones.
Nami put her hands on her hips, frowning at him before turning her back with a huff. "Whatever, when we get into trouble, you’re going to remember my words."
"I like trouble!" he replied instead, knowing that no matter what he did, Nami was still going to throw it in his face later.
Luffy shrugged.
"Idiot..."
Sanji came out of the kitchen, holding a cloth-wrapped bundle that looked like it was going to be their lunch. Luffy’s nostrils flared slightly, catching the scent of a grilled clam. He could imagine the juices running, smeared in a sour and sweet sauce—
"The Mini-Merry is ready!"
The packed lunch was handed to Robin, out of Luffy’s reach, and instead, a huge splash of seawater hit him in the face as the boat they were going to use was dropped overboard.
"Please, guys, someone switch places with me. Don’t let me go!" Usopp cried —Luffy leapt over the railing, carrying Zoro over his shoulders.
"Have fun, Usopp!"
"Guys..."
Luffy caught Robin, making sure she didn’t touch the water. She smiled gratefully, offering him the food containers in return. Happy, Luffy hugged them —now they were all his!
"Usopp, hurry up!" he shouted, too eager to start the adventure and hunt as many strange animals as he could find. "I wanna go already!"
Luffy had never seen a sea on fire before; he hadn’t even thought it was possible—but Sanji told Zoro he was dumb enough to burn water, so Luffy preferred not to argue with that. Sanji was the one who knew how to cook, after all.
It was getting hot, and the steam from the water was dampening his hair uncomfortably. He wasn’t even sure if it was sweat dripping down from his strands anymore. He took off his hat, hoping the air would reach his skin to ease it.
The boat began to move forward, following a path of clouds Nami had created, and very soon they were above the blazing flames, flying over the sea.
"This is delicious, don’t you think, Captain?"
Luffy nodded, lost between the exploding flavors in his mouth and the real explosions of fire happening around him.
He was aware of the dangers they would face, something almost inevitable considering the distress call that had drawn them to this island in particular. The man behind it had died, and the chances of suffering the same fate weren’t low—no matter how confident he was in his training and in that of his friends.
Luffy knew.
But he didn’t feel right just sitting still when he could do something. He wasn’t a hero—he didn’t consider himself one, nor did he expect to be one—heroes had rules to follow to keep everyone safe and happy, and Luffy wasn’t after that. Yet an itching restlessness opened up in his stomach at the thought of injustice toward others.
Sometimes he could ignore it, having better things to do, goals to reach, and other people’s problems weren’t his problem. Other times, the feeling clashed with smaller desires that crossed his path, and straying from his long-term goal could even be fun to follow—like right now.
Hopping on one foot, Luffy balanced on the Mini-Merry, stretching his neck to see what awaited them at the end of the burning sea. He could make out a huge gate as they got closer, and a lot, a lot of red.
"Don’t fall off."
Luffy laughed, letting Zoro’s warning sink deep into his brain. Without waiting much longer, he stretched his arms, grabbed the hot gate at the entrance, and pulled himself up with the momentum.
He wouldn’t lie, it wasn’t the best idea he ever had. His fingers hurt from the heat of the metal, and it felt like they could melt off at any moment.
Waving his hands side to side to cool the pain, Luffy lifted his gaze to the different posters stuck on the entrance.
PUNK HAZARD
He tilted his head, thinking about the name. He was pretty sure he’d heard it before.
"You idiot! I told you not to do that."
Luffy turned, abandoning the attempt to make sense of the different symbols drawn before him. "Zoro told me not to fall. I didn’t fall."
"Whatever."
The Mini-Merry stopped, docked by Usopp at the edge of the shore, and the rest of the group joined him.
"This is interesting." Robin murmured, almost humming to herself.
Luffy followed the direction of her gaze, looking at the drawings beside her. They didn’t seem to have any meaning to him, no matter if he tilted his head or not.
He sighed, waiting for Robin to explain what she believed he should know.
"The island is under the supervision of the Navy and the World Government," she said. "I expected nothing less."
"The World Government?!" Usopp shrieked, far too close to Luffy’s ears, though thankfully not loud enough to hurt. "The Marine is inside?! Alright guys, let’s return to the Sunny!"
Luffy deflated. Maybe Usopp was right—certainly Robin was—but the Marines had never been a real obstacle to his actions. What was, however, was the gate blocking their way.
The cloud path was still there, so as long as it didn’t disappear, they could always return to the Thousand Sunny and look for a new island to explore—maybe one everyone would be happy to dock at.
The air sliced through, whipping into a gust that hit objects and people nearby.
Luffy turned, his grin widening as he saw the gate fall, cut down by Zoro’s swords.
"Problem solved."
The hot air struck Luffy’s body even harder as he stepped further into the island —as if the gate had been keeping the heat inside, and with it gone, the temperature hit them full force.
The landscape also came into sharper view. There were reddish mountains and houses that looked destroyed either by fire or by a bomb—a fire bomb.
"Luffy! Wait!"
He could hear his crew calling after him, running to catch up, but Luffy was too impressed by the small lava volcanoes dotting the stone path to really pay them any attention. They were incredible—tiny holes in the ground spilling lava that flowed like rivers between the houses.
He had mixed feelings about the sight, but he couldn’t deny the beauty hidden in its danger. Much like the blister beetle, which, though brightly colored and looking a lot like a grilled sausage, could cause blisters or even kill a person if eaten—Luffy had learned the hard way that the human digestive system wasn’t ready for that poison.
As fascinating as the lava pools were, the heat had become almost unbearable. Luffy pulled off his shirt, tying the sleeves around his waist so he wouldn’t lose it. From the corner of his eye, he saw the others doing the same.
He seriously considered stripping off his shorts too, when a roar tore through the air. Deep, guttural, carrying the kind of echo that marked a dangerous creature.
With his heart pounding in excitement, Luffy snapped his gaze to where the sound came from, eager to meet the day’s first obstacle.
A
Dragon
He blinked rapidly, squeezing his eyes shut and opening them again to make sure he was seeing right—Luffy definitely was.
Because the massive reddish figure covered in scales, sharp teeth, tusks, and huge clawed legs had not vanished or turned into something with a better explanation.
"It’s a dragon!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down, not knowing how else to release the buzzing electricity inside him.
He wanted to do something—many things. His hands itched to stretch out and touch the beast’s rough skin, his legs wanted to climb onto its back so it could carry him into the sky, while his eyes longed to get closer to its mouth and see more clearly the saliva-soaked teeth.
Could it breathe fire?
Oh, hell, if it could, Luffy was going to make it the crew’s new pet.
"I-is that a real dragon?"
"That’s what it looks like."
Zoro raised a brow, trying to appear skeptical, but Luffy knew how to read him better. The way his eye followed the creature’s form showed excitement—lots of excitement. "Dragons don’t exist."
"Neither did Skypiea!" he cheerfully reminded him.
Zoro snorted in reply, but his hands let go of his swords, relaxing as he stepped forward to get a better look.
The dragon did spit fire from its mouth, but not in their direction—which made the display far less impressive to Luffy’s disappointment—but instead toward the other side of the path the beast was blocking.
A shout with a strange accent followed.
"Out of my way, beast!"
The fall and dismemberment of the dragon happened too quickly—even with Luffy’s eyes wide open the entire time.
The dragon spewed a blast of fire, only for it to be split in half. The same strike cut through the scaly skin of its head, leaving a wound running from its eye down to its jaw.
Usopp screamed, Robin gasped, and Zoro readied himself to fight.
A roar—and the next thing Luffy knew, the dragon’s neck was severed from its body, crashing to the ground and leaving a massive dent in the earth.
Luffy shouted, stunned by the events.
What had just happened?
Why had the dragon died like that?
It hadn’t been Zoro, because Luffy knew he was still right beside him, and he didn’t believe he had moved at any moment.
"Hey!" Zoro barked, frowning and pointing with one finger toward the distance, past the dust rising where the beast had fallen.
Luffy squinted, and through the haze, the shifting air making the images ripple like water, he managed to see a tall figure approaching at full speed.
With a sword in hand and strange clothes, the figure charged straight at them.
"Hey, wait!" Luffy exclaimed, raising his arms to draw the attention to himself.
His crew and him weren’t enemies; maybe the thing that had killed the dragon was just confusing them with another fantastical creature.
"Is that a samurai?" Robin asked, and Luffy frowned at that.
He had heard something about the samurai—Luffy could almost be sure that’s what had brought them here, but he wouldn’t swear his hands on fire for the idea.
"The samurai?!" Usopp shrieked.
Apparently, they were supposed to know about the samurai.
Could they really blame him for forgetting when a fire-breathing dragon had just gotten in their way? Luffy didn’t think so.
"But—" he started, noticing how Usopp was hiding behind Robin, staring wide-eyed and terrified at what was supposed to be the samurai. "The dragon!"
Luffy was supposed to defeat that creature—or make it his pet, he still hadn’t decided—and then bring its body to Sanji so he could cook up a rich dragon feast.
How were they supposed to do that if someone else had already cut it down?
"Zoro!"
Luffy snapped his gaze to his friend, catching the exact moment when the samurai’s blades clashed with Zoro’s in a screeching sound.
Usopp screamed again, and Luffy reacted, grabbing both him and Robin to carry them to safety.
That wasn’t a normal samurai—or maybe all samurai were that strong, but Luffy couldn’t really make that statement since he had never seen one before. And even though he had full faith in Zoro’s strength as much as his own, he preferred making sure everyone was safe first.
Robin smiled at him the moment he set them down behind a wrecked house. She lifted her hands, crossing them in front of her chest, and with a nod, signed him to go back and join Zoro.
They could defend themselves well enough from there.
The clashing blades rang in the air, the ringing sound making it easier to follow the fight. Luffy moved closer, careful not to get between the two.
"You killed that guy on the snail?!" Zoro exclaimed during the next strike, blocking the blade aimed at cutting one of his arms.
The samurai jumped back, pushed away by the force of Zoro’s defense, but he didn’t fall. His wooden sandals slammed against the ground as he launched forward again. "I’ve killed many people—you’ll be next," he growled in response.
"Why?!" came the shout from behind one of the houses—Luffy laughed, raising a thumbs up in the direction he knew Usopp was hiding.
That was a good question.
But the samurai didn’t answer, choosing instead to slash out an attack that set the air on fire.
Luffy gasped, losing sight of Zoro in the orange blaze. He frowned, searching for something green, but finding nothing.
He braced his hands on his knees, glaring at the samurai’s satisfied smile.
"Leave him to me, Luffy!"
From above, Zoro came crashing down, biting one of his swords while spinning the other two like a fan.
Luffy shrugged. Zoro seemed fine—with all his limbs and not a drop of blood.
This looked like Zoro’s fight. Luffy wasn’t going to interfere unless they asked him to.
Feeling more at ease, Luffy sat down nearby, cross-legged, one elbow resting on his knee as he propped his face in his hand to watch.
Zoro leapt, saying something Luffy couldn’t hear, then came down again, slicing the air with a strike that also destroyed a large house in the distance.
The samurai staggered back, bouncing across walls multiple times to soften the blow. "A formidable opponent..."
"Sure thing, old man” Zoro laughed, readying himself for another move.
Not many seconds later, Luffy saw what would be the final attack. Zoro raised his arms over his head, spinning his blades in sync before bringing them down in a straight line.
The motion made a sharp, snapping sound, followed by the samurai’s body hitting the ground.
Luffy clapped.
It had been an impressive fight, and though blood spilled from several cuts, there wasn’t a significant amount to make him worry for the samurai’s life—after all, he still wanted to talk to him.
He jumped to his feet, gesturing for Usopp and Robin to join them as he approached.
Up close, there were strange things about the samurai. He wore undeniably odd clothes, wooden shoes that couldn’t be comfortable, and a topknot on his head shaped like a stalk of celery.
Luffy crouched down, squatting before him.
"Who are you?!" The samurai didn’t look happy, glaring fiercely at them.
Usopp managed to grab one of his ammo pieces and slingshot from his bag, aiming it at the stranger’s face.
"Who are you?" Luffy asked curiously, ignoring the first question. He was pretty sure he’d already asked that before... maybe not—but he had certainly thought it.
"He’s the samurai who cut down the one who asked for help, Luffy." Robin said softly from behind him.
He shrugged. There could be more samurai here.
This island could be an island of samurai, and they just didn’t know it. "We don’t know that..."
"He’s a samurai!" Usopp argued, stomping his feet in frustration—Luffy pouted.
While they spoke, the stranger studied them carefully, his eyes scanning each of them one by one. Luffy could tell he was sizing them up, and if his sword hadn’t been lying several meters away, he might’ve worried that he’d lunge at their throats to slit them.
"I am a samurai," the samurai finally spoke—giving Usopp the satisfaction that he’d surely rub in his face later. "Kin’emon, from the Land of Wano."
Luffy grinned wide, noticing how Kin’emon’s crushed pride and defeated spirit briefly came back to life when he mentioned his country with his chest puffed out.
“I’m Luffy!” he declared right after. It was only fair to introduce himself back—understand each other before fighting again, if that’s what they wanted later. “And I’ll be the King of the Pirates!”
The moment the last syllable left his mouth, Luffy realized something had changed. The tension in the air was still there, but now it felt heavier, almost as if the world was holding its breath for an explosion. Luffy frowned, glancing around, trying to spot what had shifted.
“Pirates?!”
The samurai’s furious roar was the only answer. He had already been hostile toward them—never friendly—but his strikes hadn’t carried true rage, almost as if they were mechanical. Now, it was as though the emotion inside him had burst open, spilling through every pore like daggers meant to hurt.
The samurai moved as if he wanted to kill them, fueled by the storm of his emotions. He tried to push himself up, hands pressing against the hot ground, but a sudden strike pinned him down.
Zoro growled, slamming a hand against the samurai’s chest, while his other hand held a gleaming black blade just inches from the man’s throat. “Hey, careful with what you’re doing, old man.”
“You’re pirates!” the samurai snarled, not caring about the blade that should’ve been threatening him. He kept trying to rise, but Zoro forced him back, scraping a shallow cut across his skin.
Luffy tilted his head, frowning. “Yeah, we know that, duh.” It was like the samurai couldn’t think of anything smarter to say, repeating himself like a broken record—poor guy. “Now, tell us why you’re here, and why you’re cutting down people.”
The samurai fell silent, lips pressed tightly together, head turning away from them. Luffy groaned at the gesture, poking his side to get his attention. But nothing happened—he stayed in place, mouth clamped shut.
Zoro broke the silence first, his voice a low growl. “I think my captain asked you something.” His sword pressed again, leaving another shallow cut. “If I were you, I’d start talking.”
“I’ll never tell anything to pirates!” the samurai spat, crossing his arms and sinking closer to the ground to keep the blade away.
Why didn’t he want to talk?
Luffy felt annoyed, and for a moment he wondered if Torao felt the same way when he shook him from side to side. But that was fun, and Luffy always ended up laughing and trying to tickle the man, even while taking blows to the head.
“Captain, I fear getting an answer out of him will be difficult,” Robin said as she stepped forward, placing one hand on his shoulder while the other rested firmly on her hip.
“I don’t think so,” Zoro replied, jabbing the hilt of his sword into the samurai’s stomach. “Talk.”
Still nothing.
“Friend or foe?” Usopp complained, pulling the slingshot band tight. “Although I doubt someone who cuts people up could be a friend… no offense, Zoro.”
“None taken.”
“It would be far from accurate to claim the one who called for help was truly innocent,” Robin added thoughtfully. “However, judging from this samurai’s attitude, I’d say his actions don’t favor him much.”
In an instant, the redness in the samurai’s skin flared, and his scowl twisted into a snarl, baring his teeth. “I don’t attack innocents!”
There was a pause, then Usopp threw his arms up and laughed mockingly. “Ha! You’re talking now!”
“I fell for the trap.”
The tension seemed to ease slightly, and somehow that made the other sounds around them clearer to Luffy. He didn’t believe enemies were usually this stupid—well, exceptions existed, but most weren’t. Even though Zoro still held his blade against the samurai’s skin, there didn’t seem to be any real threat left in the moment.
Luffy lifted his gaze, scanning the surroundings again. The dragon’s body still lay sprawled and ready to roast, but through the haze of heat, he could make out four small lumps sagging in the distance, half-sunken in some kind of liquid.
He sighed, shaking his head. “If you’re not a bad guy, then why did you cut them down?”
There was no need to point out what must’ve been bodies—the crew already knew where to look. Gasps and sighs followed, broken by the samurai’s sudden outburst, his voice defending his name and his actions.
“Because I’m looking for my son, and they’ve imprisoned him!”
“A son…”
“Another samurai?”
Luffy was about to ask more questions—like whether the son wore a miniature version of that weird outfit—but Robin raised her hand, signaling him to stop. “Why do they have him imprisoned?”
The samurai uncrossed his arms, looking far more frantic now than even when he fought Zoro—emotional. “He boarded the wrong ship, and they brought him here, but they won’t let him go.”
“So, it’s basically a kidnapping.”
“Yes!” the samurai roared, his voice rising—not with intent to hurt, but to make himself clear. “They have a laboratory, and many children inside.”
“Oh…”
“No, Luffy—”
The bad guys might not really be the bad guys, and the good guys might not be so good either. Just like the Marine was corrupt and pirates followed their own rules, assumptions weren’t always true. Either way, did it really matter who had started the fight, or what dispute had formed, when the life of a child was in the middle?
Maybe yes, maybe no.
“We’re gonna help you get your son back!”
“Damn it.”
There was another curse that Luffy ignored, too focused on catching the small shifts in the samurai’s face. For just a second he’d gone blank, before a rush of euphoria — poorly controlled — lit up his eyes.
“Why would you do that?” Hope — disbelief. “You’re pirates.”
A moment when a belief was shattered.
“Well, ‘cause I want an adventure, and you want your son!”
“But—”
“Don’t expect too many explanations from the captain, samurai.” His words were cut off. “But I can assure you he’s not going to change his mind.”
Zoro sighed, putting his swords aside and standing up, dusting himself off while giving Luffy a displeased look. “If he says we’re gonna help, then we’ll have to see it through to the end.”
It was all jokes, little pushes not meant to hurt — Luffy knew it, his crew knew it. Because at the end of the day, they all backed each other up, never questioning feelings but sometimes actions, always pulling one another onto a better path.
“Yes!” So Luffy grinned, patting Zoro warmly on the back. “Lead the way!”
“Ow…”
Things had changed really fast — and Luffy didn’t think it was for the better.
They’d managed not to freeze, stealing coats off some guys with clouds around their legs who’d tried to kill them — if not for that last part, Luffy might’ve felt a little bad about taking them on. The clouds didn’t move very fast anyway, and looked more like diapers than anything else.
They met up with the others in what seemed like a laboratory, and for some reason now had with them a bunch of huge, big-headed kids — Luffy just let it slide. If Chopper and Nami wanted to deal with them, so be it.
Then there was a new target to take down: the evil scientist of the island, the one who’d kidnapped the giant kids and the samurai’s son — now that was something Luffy could understand, something he knew how to deal with.
He vaguely remembered them splitting into three groups. Nami and Usopp stayed with the kids, Chopper, Brook, Sanji, and Zoro went to look for a way to fix the big-headed children, and Luffy, Franky, and Robin went to punch the scientist right in the face.
Didn’t go exactly as planned, but hey, they were good at improvising.
There’d been an explosion the moment they stepped outside their shelter. Sanji’s group doubled back to protect Nami and Usopp — but Luffy figured they’d get back on mission soon after.
What Luffy didn’t figure on, was being chained and locked up in seastone with Smokey right beside him.
Luffy didn’t even know he was on the island too!
“Oh, how wonderful to see all of you here! The star Marine, White Hunter Smoker, and the rowdy pirate, Straw Hat Luffy! What a spectacle you’ll make!”
The scientist was weird. He had horns and a squeaky voice that annoyed Luffy way more than he expected — even more than his laugh.
He floated in front of them, half his body made of gas, darting anxiously back and forth.
He talked too much and mocked them — Luffy just wanted to punch him already.
Luffy huffed, trying to raise his arms, but the seastone quickly drained his strength.
“My lovely Smiley will finally be shown off in all its glory!” The scientist — Caesar — squealed, raising his arms and speaking to the air.
Luffy rolled his eyes, settling more comfortably on the floor. “What’s a Smiley?”
The giant transponder snail, as tall as a tree, let out a strangled sound, mimicking the projection spilling from its mouth. The image was the only thing keeping Luffy from getting too bored. It showed a massive pink blob eating a candy, alongside more people with clouds around their legs, wearing yellow suits.
“My pet!” The scientist pointed eagerly at the candy, which was now beginning to deflate, pink fumes spilling out in waves. “It petrifies the body in an instant so its poison can spread through the nervous system. My lovely Smiley!”
Luffy blinked, not getting how that could be a pet. “Looks like jelly!”
Beside him, Smokey snorted.
“You are thinking of using us as test subjects, am I wrong?” Robin asked, leaning closer so Luffy could rest against her — the seastone was starting to hurt his back.
“Of course I am!” The goat-scientist nodded, grinning ear to ear. “What better way to prove the power of my weapon than with famous figures like you?”
Franky belched, earning a small smack on the head from Robin — Luffy laughed, sticking his tongue out when Franky glared at him from Robin’s lap.
“This is bad!” shouted the girl who’d come with Smokey. “Our soldiers will get word to the Marine Headquarters—To Vergo!”
The scientist cackled, his laugh echoing so hard it bounced off the walls. “Oh, my little Marine, how would they do that?” he sneered. “They have no transponder snails, and besides — Vergo wouldn’t listen to you anyway.”
“What are you talking about?”
Luffy could tell something serious was going on, by the way Smokey tensed, his muscles going rigid like never before — and also from the shine in the girl’s eyes, what looked like the start of tears.
“I guess there’s no need to hide it anymore, you’re going to die anyway.” The goat-scientist shrugged, still wearing that wide, insufferable grin. “Vergo works for Joker, his right hand, I dare say.”
The girl sobbed, clumsily covering her mouth with her tied hands. “No…”
“He’s here, in the labs. A little visit to his soldiers won’t do him any harm.”
Smoker growled, the girl cried harder, Robin held her breath, and Luffy felt like he’d missed something important somewhere in the conversation. “I don’t get it.”
Whoever this Vergo was, he had to be well-known—too bad Luffy didn’t usually read the newspapers.
Robin hummed quietly. “It’s Marine business, Luffy,” she whispered, shaking her head with amused disbelief but not drawing attention to herself. “They were betrayed.”
“Oh.”
Luffy wasn’t about to get involved in Marine affairs—he might butt into other people’s lives, willingly or not, but the Marines were a different level. He wasn’t going there by choice. They could figure out their problems on their own. Luffy had already had enough of them with his grandfather through the years to want more.
Ignoring the hiccuping sobs of the girl with glasses and the threatening aura of Smokey, Luffy inspected the place again, feeling that something had shifted. The projected image kept running, showing the jelly-like creature chasing people in yellow suits, the winged girl absentmindedly moving her feathers in a corner, and the scientist flying from one spot to another, pressing buttons and pulling levers.
But there was something else, a change in the structure, in the atmosphere. Luffy blinked, tilting his head from side to side to understand—it was something he felt under his skin, something familiar.
He sensed it before he saw it; at the far wall, one of the entrances to the room, a tiny projectile was launched in their direction.
“Where’s Vergo?! Does he want us to start without him?”
“I believe he’s busy, master.”
The little thing landed on Franky’s face, hitting one of his eyes, but his complaint died on his lips when Robin’s hand covered his mouth. She gestured for silence, glancing briefly at their captors before smiling playfully.
She knew something, and Luffy nodded silently, excited for her to share it.
“With what?!”
“Roronoa Zoro and Foxfire Kin’emon are facing him near the tanks.”
“Huh? Did I hear that right—near the tanks?! Tell him to get out of there right now, it’s way too delicate for him to be there!”
“I will, but I’m sure he knows it already.”
Robin opened her hand, revealing a very crumpled paper ball.
“What’s he playing at?! He should just defeat them.”
Franky grimaced, and Luffy was about to complain about how boring the discovery was when the paper fell to the side, revealing keys.
“Very well, no matter.” The cage started to move, shaking violently and rocking their bodies—Robin clenched her fist tightly, securing the contents in her hand. “We’ll start without him.”
The wall behind them opened. Freezing air and snow blasted against them.
A shadow with blond hair peeked in briefly before vanishing—Luffy grinned.
“Have fun!”
The cage was launched outside.
His body vibrated, his blood bubbling restlessly beneath layers of skin and muscle, unable to contain itself. Luffy could feel it—every part of him begging to give that rat Caesar what he deserved.
A clown.
Caesar Clown.
Luffy advanced, Momo wrapped around his neck, through the empty hallways of the laboratory—having already knocked out the lackeys that had shown him the way.
They deserved it. Luffy couldn’t feel compassion for them.
The corridors were frozen, and the sound beyond a metal door a few meters away grew louder. Muffled voices, whispers, bursts of laughter, followed by dull thuds—all crashing into his ears.
Caesar was going to pay for everything.
For locking him in a cage, for endangering his crew’s lives with poisonous gas, and for abusing the children—for using them as disposable tools, playing a cruel game of how long they could survive, with not a hint of remorse.
Momo had told him, and Chopper had begun to suspect it: Caesar was poisoning the children, testing how long each could last before death.
Stripping them of their freedom long before they could even understand what it meant to be unchained.
Luffy walked, each step measured, firm, deliberate. His fingers flexed, fists tightening, coated in armament haki—and every particle of air heavy with conqueror’s.
He heard bodies collapse, limp and unconscious, to the floor. One after another.
Securing Momo around him, Luffy attacked, stretching his arm until Caesar’s gaseous skin broke under his fist.
The crack of bones shattering brought satisfaction, even more so when Caesar’s body smashed into a metal wall, denting it under the force.
“You’re still here, Straw Hat?!” The few cloud-legged people left standing pointed their weapons at him, useless beside the bleeding Caesar. “Monet should’ve killed you!”
Luffy laid Momo’s unconscious body to the side, ensuring he was protected by a metal structure in the corner. He didn’t want anything to happen to him—the kid was already too weak from hunger and the effort of escaping the garbage pit they had fallen into.
Luffy would defeat Caesar, and make sure Momo and all the children could finally rest without worrying about the future.
“Alright then, I’ll deal with you myself…”
Caesar had gotten back up, wiping the blood from his face with his clothes. He still had cuts where the skin had split, and red drops around his mouth.
Luffy hated his voice, his laugh, his figure, and those stupid horns. They drilled into his eardrums like a deafening shriek.
He was going to silence it.
He coated another fist, forcing the pressure in his blood to rise, feeling the familiar heat burning on his now pink skin.
Caesar also readied himself for the fight, stretching his arms out to his sides. "After all, you’re just another one of the Worst Generation."
Luffy knew the limits and reach of the gas power — the Gas-Gas Fruit. He had fought him before, and Cesar wasn’t a good opponent.
He didn’t have a solid body, wasn’t prepared to take hits, didn’t have the strength to deliver them. And even if he was a logia, haki made it easy to catch him.
The only real problem was the oxygen he controlled, cutting it off from Luffy’s lungs with ease — but even that had a limit.
The attack only worked within a specific radius around the user, and luckily for Luffy, he was made of rubber.
He moved back, anticipating the lack of air, and took a huge gulp of it. An instant later, both his fists slammed against the clown’s chest.
Caesar went flying again, his head hitting the ceiling before he turned into gas once more, preventing further damage. But it didn’t stop the blood from flowing, staining his face and body, dripping onto the floor.
Caesar staggered, trying to recover clumsily. "You’re just lucky, Straw Hat, very lucky. But that luck will run out soon. You and all those brats from two years ago are just kids pretending to be adults..."
Kids.
Just kids.
Was that what they’d always see him as?
His grandfather still beat him down, insulted him, belittled his abilities the same way he did the first time he dumped Luffy into the bandits’ forest.
Nami hit him without thinking, speaking to him with overly simple words, slow and exasperated — as if he couldn’t understand otherwise.
Sanji sent him off to “play with Chopper,” kicking him out of conversations before he could say anything.
Franky barred him from the workshop, never thinking that Luffy could follow orders if they just asked.
Luffy knew they had grown — but so had he.
They weren’t kids playing at being pirates. They weren’t kids playing at being adults — Luffy wasn’t playing at anything.
Caesar didn’t finish talking. He opened his mouth again, smiling wickedly despite the wounds on his face. "Look how that turned out for Law. The kid’s worthless these days. Who would’ve thought — with all that crazy aura on his wanted posters, he turned out to be nothing but a rat of la—"
Luffy’s chest rose and fell sharply, lungs sucking air while the blood rushed to his ears, pounding with his heartbeat. Before he could think, his fist smashed straight into Caesar’s nose.
He heard it break, felt it beneath his knuckles — the bone shifting out of place and tearing through the skin.
"Shut up!" he yelled furiously. "Don’t you dare talk about him like that."
Torao wasn’t there; he couldn’t defend himself.
But Luffy could do it — they could badmouth him, insult him, and Luffy would answer each and every one of them with his fists.
But Torao wasn’t there.
He wasn’t with Luffy when the prophet spoke of the future awaiting him, he wasn’t there when the clown dragged his name through the dirt.
But he would be. Because he had promised Luffy, and Luffy had promised him — someday, Law would be at his side.
Law was intelligent, powerful, someone to look up to — Luffy would follow him if that’s what he wanted. Luffy would follow him even if it wasn’t Law’s wish, because he simply was… unique.
A light he had learned to seek out — not like the sun, blinding, scorching, and overwhelming, but the moon: calm, a steady guide, and with golden eyes burning like a bonfire, overflowing with warmth and allure.
He wasn’t a rat, he wasn’t worthless — and Luffy wasn’t going to let anyone call him that.
"Oh? But I’m just telling the truth." Caesar shrugged, though the pain was clear. His hands trembled under his purple gloves, and the gap between his teeth showed where one root had been broken off. "Joker’s enjoying that obedient little dog side of his. And there are plenty of experiments underway thanks to it."
Luffy’s jaw tensed unconsciously. His teeth ground together, threatening to chip under the pressure. "You don’t know what you’re talking about— don’t you dare!"
Caesar laughed at him, raising a brow in his direction.
He smiled as if he knew something Luffy didn’t, as if he could choose what Luffy was allowed to know.
Luffy didn’t like that.
He was sick of people doing that.
"It’s been a long time since you vanished, Straw Hat." Caesar hummed, fixing his yellow eyes on Luffy’s — but they were wrong, hideous. Even if the color was similar, they lacked something, because they weren’t golden, they weren’t bright and warm. "It’s not wise to get on Joker’s bad side. You should know better than that."
Luffy growled, far more annoyed than he had been before.
Joker this, Joker that.
Luffy didn’t care about Joker—he hated him. Because that person was behind the laboratory, because he commanded every person on this island, because he was Caesar’s boss and spoke badly about Law.
Luffy wouldn’t think twice about going against him if he ever crossed his path.
“I don’t care!”
He wasn’t going to waste more time; his patience was already reaching its limit.
He stepped back, running in reverse to gain momentum, and bit into his thumbs, making a small incision.
Caesar must have realized the attack—or maybe it was the waves of haki he couldn’t help but release, pouring out of his body like overflowing seas
Luffy made sure Momo was out of the way.
“Joker controls everything! You’re dead if you’re his enemy!” Caesar shrieked. “He’s got the underworld, the Marines in his hands, and the kingdom of Dressrosa under his power! You’re nothing compared to him!”
There was something there, as if one of those words had reached him before.
A déjà vu, maybe, but Luffy couldn’t put his finger on it.
It sat wrong with him. A hole opened in his stomach, a void dragging him down, almost uncomfortable. Luffy felt like something important—something big—was slipping away from him.
But this wasn’t the time to stop and think, was it?
His fists swelled, despite the itching that told him to pause for just a second more, to put together the puzzle laid before him. Luffy coated his skin with armament haki, turning it into that shining black with purple sparks.
“Let’s think this over, Straw Hat,” Caesar’s voice jumped several octaves, cracking mid-sentence into a pathetic whine. “Joker can still forgive you, I’ll tell him it was all a mistake, but let’s calm down. I can get him to let you see La—”
He didn’t let him finish—the hole in his stomach widened, sending shivers through him and a heaviness he forced himself to ignore—and he struck, slamming his enlarged fists against the clown’s body.
“I told you to shut up!”
The heaviness didn’t fade, and maybe he should have let the clown share a bit more of the information he had. Maybe he’d rushed into action when waiting just a moment longer wouldn’t have hurt much.
Monkey D. Luffy defeated Caesar Clown, sending his body flying out of the laboratory.