Luffy vs Master

Inside Caesar's research room, Luffy and Caesar face each other after Luffy's explosive arrival. Caesar's face is bruised and contorted; Luffy grins through his own injuries, ready to continue the fight. Luffy and Momonosuke have crashed in on Caesar, while Law and Smoker are still moving elsewhere. Smoker, looking toward the chaos, tells Law, "WHITE HUNTER-YA AS FOR YOU, DON'T LAY A HAND ON CAESAR!!" The order is sharp because Caesar is central to Law's plan, but Smoker does not trust Law enough to let him decide the scientist's fate. Caesar, cornered but not beaten, stares at Luffy with fury as the room shakes from the impact of the sudden attack.

Law answers Smoker without changing his course. He says, "IF HEARTS START GETTING CRUSHED, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS." Then he sets the condition clearly: "SO UNTIL I GET MY OWN HEART BACK FROM VERGO, I CAN'T TOLERATE ANY RECKLESSNESS FROM YOU." He continues, "AS LONG AS WE'RE ON THIS ISLAND, YOU WILL DO AS I SAY." Smoker's silence acknowledges the logic, not the trust. Law asks, "YOU GOT THAT?" and moves on. A moment later his urgency breaks through: "!!? WHERE ARE YOU, VERGO!!" Law runs down the corridor, thinking, "I THOUGHT THAT... CAME AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND BY THE SHORTEST ROUTE BUT..." His expression twists as he realizes the enemy he needs is not where expected. The priority is no longer Caesar alone; Law must retrieve his heart from Vergo before Vergo can use it against him.

Caesar lunges in gaseous form, and Luffy shouts that he has him: "GOT...!!" But Caesar twists the situation instantly, grabbing at Luffy through the smoke. "SO YOU'VE GOT ME, DO YOU!?" he snarls as the gas coils around Luffy. Luffy is caught and yanked downward with a violent "GRAB," his body slammed into the floor. Caesar grins and gathers heat around his hands, preparing his counterattack. His fists ignite as he announces, "BURNING STYLE." The flames crackle with "TCH" while Luffy braces, and the fight shifts from pursuit to direct close-quarters combat. Caesar is not trying to flee yet; he is proving that his body and powers make him dangerous even when Luffy reaches him.

Caesar's burning attack erupts into "MIOK GAS!!" with a blast of flame and gas. Luffy is blown back, shouting, "WAH!!" and the impact roars "WHOOSH" and "ZOOM" through the room. Luffy lands hard, panting, "HAA HAA," and demands, "STRAWHAT...!!! WHAT'S YOUR REASON FOR COMING AFTER ME!!?" He answers with brutal simplicity: "...!? I DON'T REALLY KNOW, BUT APPARENTLY SOMETHING INTERESTING WILL HAPPEN IF I KIDNAP YOU!!" Caesar understands the implication and panics into anger: "SO YOU'RE IN AN ALLIANCE, THEN!! AND THIS WAS ALL INSTIGATED BY LAW! YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT GUY!! HE'LL BETRAY YOU FOR SURE, SO QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD!!!" Caesar tries to turn Luffy against Law, but Luffy is not fighting because of careful political reasoning. He has decided to grab Caesar, and Caesar's warnings do not move him.

Caesar rages, "SO YOU'RE STILL EAGER FOR MORE PAIN, THEN, YOU RUBBER BASTARD!" Luffy answers with a hard stare: "I'M THE ONE WHO DECIDES THAT!!" Caesar changes tactics, clenching both hands while gas gathers around him: "CLENCH" "CLENCH." A note explains that the attack name follows the same format as Shinokuni, with the "kuni" part meaning country or world, and that this one is literally "empty world." Caesar unleashes it with a shout: "KARAKUNI!!" The gas spreads across the room as Luffy leaps away, suddenly forced to confront Caesar's most dangerous advantage: not impact, not fire, but control over the air itself.

Luffy immediately feels the effect of Caesar's Karakuni. His face tightens, and he thinks, "UHH! THIS IS THE ONE THAT KEEPS ME FROM BREATHING..." Caesar laughs, "SHURORORORO!!" while Luffy is knocked back and gasped for air. The room becomes a death zone where Luffy cannot breathe if he stays too close. Caesar mocks him as Luffy staggers: the attack is not simply a visible cloud, but a space stripped of oxygen. Luffy hits the ground and gasps, and Caesar presses the advantage, forcing him to retreat before he can land another clean blow.

Luffy measures the danger while panting: "HAA... HAA... SO IT'S ABOUT THIS DISTANCE, HUH!!" Caesar confirms it with cruel confidence: "SHURORORO... THE SPACE WHERE YOU CAN'T BREATHE IS INDEED WITHIN A FIXED RANGE!!" Luffy asks the real question: "BUT CAN YOU KEEP THAT DISTANCE?" and begins his counterattack. "GOMU GOMU NO--" he calls, stretching his arm through the safe gap, then drives forward with "JET PISTOL!!" The blow slams into Caesar with a heavy impact, making him grunt, "UGH!!" Luffy has found the edge of Caesar's suffocation zone and uses his rubber reach to attack from outside it.

Caesar is knocked away and cries, "AHHHH THAT HURT! SHIT! SHURORORORORO!!!" Luffy skids after him with "DRIFT," keeping his momentum. Caesar, still confident in his science, says, "SEE, YOU'LL SUFFOCATE IF YOU GET CLOSE!!" Luffy forces himself forward anyway and mutters, "UU!! NOT AGAIN..." Caesar opens a new attack and says, "BEHOLD, THIS IS OXYGEN!" Luffy, startled, asks, "IT HURTS, DOESN'T IT?" Caesar grins: "I'VE STILL GOT PLENTY OF WAYS TO ATTACK SOMEONE UNAFFECTED BY POISON GAS, LIKE YOU!!" He forms a glowing blade and shouts, "'BLUE SWORD'!!" The note explains that the kanji read as "blue flame sword." Caesar has weaponized pure oxygen flame, changing from suffocation to cutting heat.

Caesar swings the blue flame blade at Luffy and declares, "NOW, BE CUT BY MY FLAME!!" The slash carves across the room with a sharp "SLASH," tearing through smoke and debris while Luffy dodges back. Caesar presses with more flame and laughs, "SHURORORORO...!!" but Luffy refuses to give him room. As Caesar prepares to harden himself, the phrase "ARMAMENT HARDENING!" appears, and Luffy gasps at the movement. Caesar's gas body and flame blade are now paired with Haki defense. The scientist is not merely hiding behind poison; he can fight in several layers at once, switching between gas, flame, and hardened body.

Luffy answers Caesar's hardened attack with speed and volume. He begins, "GOMU GOMU NO!!!" while Caesar watches in shock, and then Luffy and the others shout the attack's name: "KAMAKURA." A translator note explains that Kamakura is the name of a Japanese town and its famous festival, where guests relax in small huts made of snow. Luffy then unleashes "JET GATLING!!" His fists hammer Caesar at blinding speed, each strike detonating across Caesar's body as sound effects fill the page. Caesar is driven backward under the barrage, his defenses overwhelmed by the sheer number of blows. The battle's momentum swings back to Luffy: he cannot simply walk into Caesar's gas, but he can punch through Caesar's openings when they appear.

Caesar tries to escape and Luffy finds a sudden obstruction: "A WALL!?" Monet watches calmly and says, "I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANY LESS... YOUR AVERAGE PIRATE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO BREAK THIS WALL...!!" A huge barrier erupts between Luffy and Caesar, blocking the chase while Caesar reels away. Luffy smashes into the barrier with "UWAH HHHHH HHH!!" and Caesar stares at Monet's interference. "WHAT THE!? YOU!! YOU HAVE AN ABILITY!?" he blurts. Monet, winged and composed, answers with a soft "UFUFU." Luffy, on the other side, growls that "THIS IS A POINTLESS FIGHT...!!" and Caesar agrees in his own way: "HEH, IT SURE IS!" Monet tells her master, "MASTER, PLEASE GET AWAY FROM HERE!!" The fight is interrupted not because Luffy has lost, but because Monet has stepped in to preserve Caesar.

Monet spreads her wings and blocks Luffy directly. She tells Caesar, "I'LL BE SEEING YOU, STRAWHAT...!! GO AHEAD AND RAMPAGE TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!!" and Caesar flees with delight: "SHURORORORORO!!! I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!!" He adds, "I'VE ALREADY THOUGHT UP A WAY TO TURN YOU ALL INTO BODIES FOR MY EXPERIMENTS!!" Luffy shouts, "WAIT!!" and tries to pursue him, but Monet stops him, declaring, "I WON'T LET YOU GO AFTER HIM!!" Her reason is absolute loyalty and fear: "IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO MASTER... I WOULD BE ELIMINATED BY JOKER." Luffy remembers her from the war and says, "THAT BIRD-MAN I SAW IN THE WAR!!! WHAT'S HIS DEAL!!!" Monet's intervention ties Caesar's survival to Joker's larger shadow.

Back in the connecting passage between A and B-Blocks, the alarm returns. Sanji and Vergo face each other while the gate ahead begins closing: "BEEP" "BEEP." The G-5 Marines shout, "IT'S THAT BUZZER AGAIN!! THE GATE AHEAD OF US IS CLOSING!!" and "WE'VE GOT TO RUN!! HURRY UP!!!" Yet they are also amazed by Sanji's intervention. "THAT GUY...!? HE'S FIGHTING THE FAKE VERGO FOR US!!" one says. Another recognizes him: "'BLACK LEG' OF THE STRAWHAT PIRATE CREW!!" and asks, "WHY DID HE SAVE US!? SHOULD WE BACK HIM UP...?" Sanji responds with action rather than explanation, launching "FLANGE STRIKE '11'!" and driving a flaming kick into Vergo. The page places Sanji's duel against the same timer as everyone else: fight, flee, or be sealed with the gas.

Sanji yells at the Marines, "WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING!!! HURRY THE HELL UP AND GET OUT OF HERE!!" Vergo stands firm after the blow, and the G-5 soldiers are stunned: "UOHH!! STR... STRONG!!" Robin notices the larger danger: "I THINK THEY'RE TRYING TO LOCK US IN WITH THE GAS AGAIN!!!" Sanji looks over and says, "HEY, LOOK!!" The other gate opens with a hiss, "SFFFF," and panic spreads through the passage. "WAHH!! THIS IS BAD!!" someone shouts. Another cries, "THE OTHER GATE IS OPENING!" and the warning is clear: "THE DEADLY GAS IS COMING! RUN!!!" The toxic cloud begins pouring toward them again, while Vergo and Sanji remain in the center of the danger. Caesar's plan is repeating the previous trap, this time with Sanji, Vergo, and G-5 caught in the passage.

The Marines hesitate over Vergo's identity even as the gas approaches. One mutters, "...!! VICE ADMIRAL VERGO..." and another says, "FORGET HIM!! WOULD THE REAL VERGO TRY TO KILL US!!" Vergo, darkened by Haki, stands like an iron figure. Sanji studies him and realizes, "THIS GUY'S LIKE A MASS OF IRON OR SOMETHING." When Vergo notes, "I SEE... SO IN SHORT," Sanji tells him, "DON'T GET IN MY WAY." Vergo dismisses the fight: "THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU." Sanji answers with personal conviction: "YOU'RE THE TYPE... THAT MY CAPTAIN HATES THE MOST..." The page narrows the conflict. For Vergo, the Marines are disposable and Sanji is irrelevant. For Sanji, Vergo's cruelty toward those who trusted him is exactly the kind of thing Luffy would never tolerate.

Sanji and Vergo clash at close range. Sanji drives a kick up into Vergo's guard, and the impact is so hard that the page includes a note: the sound effect where Sanji's tibia and fibula are breaking is "*CRACK* *CRACK*." Sanji's face tightens in pain, and the duel continues with rapid exchanges. He is knocked back, recovers, and attacks again, but Vergo's hardened body absorbs and answers the blows. The sequence is mostly impact and motion rather than dialogue: Sanji's legs, Vergo's kicks, and the cracking sound together reveal the cost of trying to match Vergo physically. Sanji is buying time for the others, but the fight is dangerous even for him.

The G-5 Marines shout from the passage, "HEY!! 'BLACK LEG' BRO!!!" and warn him, "THE POISONOUS GAS IS COMING UP BEHIND YOU!! AND THE GATE'S CLOSING!!! SO GET OVER HERE, QUICK!!!" At the same time an emergency broadcast echoes through Laboratory 3: "REPORTING FROM D-BLOCK. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST! ATTENTION, ALL BLOCKS OF LABORATORY 3." Vergo hears it, and the report begins: "AS OF NOW, TRAFALGAR LAW HAS...!!" Caesar, listening elsewhere, snaps, "IS THAT PUNK SERIOUS... IF YOU START MEDDLING WITH THAT EVEN YOU'RE GOING TO SUFFER SOME CONSEQUENCES!!" The broadcast continues: "HE'S INVADED THE SAD PRODUCTION ROOM!!" Vergo reacts with surprise: "!?... WHAT THE HELL!?" The fight in the passage suddenly becomes part of something larger: Law has reached the room Caesar and Doflamingo most need protected.

The broadcast repeats the critical information: "I REPEAT... KIDNAPPING MASTER... AND NOW THE SAD...!!" Nami, Luffy, and the others listen while someone says, "I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU GUYS ARE AFTER." Vergo understands Law's strategy at last: "HE TEAMED UP WITH THE STRAWHATS TO MAKE THIS COUNTER-ATTACK!! AND HE BECAME A ROYAL SHICHIBUKAI JUST TO REACH THAT ROOM...!? LAW!!!" In the SAD production room, Law stands in silhouette and judges the scale of the plan. "THAT BRAT... HE'S CONSTRUCTING THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO!!" Vergo thinks, and Law's own line lands with ominous weight: "DOES HE INTEND TO THROW THE ENTIRE NEW WORLD INTO CHAOS!!!" The chapter closes on the revelation that Law's target is not merely Caesar, but the production system behind SAD, a resource whose destruction could destabilize the balance of the New World.

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