A Woman Like Ice

In Laboratory Three's B-Block, second-floor examination room, Chopper asks the rescued child about the strange boy. "A BRAT... I MEAN A KID WHO TURNED INTO A DRAGON?" The girl answers carefully, "L...LITTLE MISS, WHERE DID YOU SEE THAT...?" She explains, "WELL, I SNUCK A PEEK INTO THE 'SECRET ROOM,' SO THAT'S WHY I'VE BEEN KEEPING QUIET ABOUT IT. I'M WORRIED ABOUT THAT BOY BECAUSE I CAME HERE ON THE SAME BOAT AS HIM." Chopper tries to calm her: "AH, I SEE. BUT... DON'T WORRY ABOUT HIM. THIS LAB IS REALLY BIG, AND THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF TREATMENT ROOMS. HE'S JUST IN A DIFFERENT PLACE NOW..." The girl asks the obvious question: "IS HE EATING NOW? WHY WASN'T HE EATING BEFORE?" Chopper replies, "YES, YES. HE'S EATING PROPERLY. NO NEED TO WORRY, BECAUSE HE'S DOING FINE." Then he adds the warning that matters: "BUT THAT BUSINESS ABOUT THE SECRET ROOM, KEEP IT A SECRET, ALRIGHT."

The scene shifts to C-Block, fourth floor, Caesar's research room, where Luffy is still blocked by Monet. Luffy shouts, "OI!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BIRD-LADY!!!" Monet answers with a cold laugh, "UFUFU," and throws up a huge layered snow dome around him. The attack is named "KAMAKURA JYUUSASHI!!!!" with a note explaining it literally as "ten bound books Kamakura," essentially "ten layer Kamakura." Monet says, "HOW'S THIS? I STACKED TOGETHER TEN LAYERS OF 'KAMAKURA.' THEY WON'T BE BROKEN THROUGH QUICKLY." Luffy complains, "SO YOU'RE JUST BUYING TIME!? I'LL BREAK THIS SORT OF THING IN A SNAP!!" Monet tells him, "STOP DOING POINTLESS THINGS!!!" She is not trying to defeat him with raw force yet; she is trying to delay him long enough for Caesar to escape.

Luffy glares at Monet and says, "I FEEL LIKE THERE'S NO WAY I COULD LOSE TO YOU!!!" Monet smiles back without denying it. "TRUE. I DON'T THINK I COULD WIN AGAINST YOU, EITHER. BUT WINS AND LOSSES ARE NOT DETERMINED PURELY BY FIGHTING STRENGTH, RIGHT?" Luffy reacts, "!?" and then Monet surges around him in a mass of feathers and snow. The cold wraps his body as he shouts, "UU" and "UWAH! CHILLY!!" He snaps, "YOU'RE LIKE ICE!! YOU... GET OFF...!!" but Monet clings to him and says, "I WON'T GET OFF YOU. FEEL MY EMBRACE... AND, WELL... YOUR POWER IS ALREADY SLIPPING AWAY FROM YOU." She explains the danger of her body directly: "YOUR PHYSICAL ENERGY WILL BE STOLEN AWAY IN AN INSTANT BY THIS COLD BODY OF MINE." Monet's confidence comes not from overpowering Luffy, but from making him unable to move or stay conscious.

Monet deepens the trap. She says, "LOOK... WE'RE ALREADY SURROUNDED BY DEEP SNOW..." and then adds, "IT FEELS GOOD, DOESN'T IT? NOW JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES." As Luffy's face contorts, she continues, "I EXPECT THAT YOU'RE GETTING UNBEARABLY SLEEPY... AND PEACEFULLY DRIFT OFF..." Luffy resists, shouting, "GOMU GOMU NO!!!" and drives a huge foot downward with "JET SPEAR!!!" The attack smashes through the snow prison with a tremendous impact, scattering debris and forcing Monet to react. Luffy's counter is not elegant; it is a desperate burst of strength against cold, sleep, and suffocation. The snow dome collapses under him, but the page makes clear that Monet has already dragged him into a very dangerous disadvantage.

Luffy breaks through the floor rather than through Monet herself. He grins weakly and says, "YOU... THE FLOOR...!! NISHISHISHI!!" but the victory is hollow: his own Jet Spear has opened the way beneath him. Monet watches him fall and comments, "...WHAT ASTONISHING LATENT POWER YOU HAVE..." Luffy and the rubble plunge down the ducts as he cries, "UWAH HHHHHH!!" Monet explains the consequence with icy calm: "...BUT NOW YOU'LL FALL DOWN THROUGH THE DUCTS. THERE'S NO WAY OUT UNLESS YOU CAN FLY. YOU REALLY DUG YOUR OWN GRAVE. GOODBYE." She adds that he will fall "INTO THE 'GARBAGE CAN' FAR UNDERGROUND." Luffy has escaped the snow shell only by dropping himself out of the fight, exactly the kind of time-buying Monet needed.

Back on Punk Hazard's other front, Doflamingo's thoughts and orders continue. He says, "I'D DESTROY THAT ROOM!!!" but then considers the immediate priority: "IF IT WERE ME, WELL... FIRST..." The page shows the violence already unleashed around Vergo and Sanji, with Tashigi wounded and panting. A huge explosion tears through the street-like interior space as Vergo's force and the chaos around the passage continue to escalate. The scene reads like Doflamingo thinking through Vergo's best move: Law has reached the S.A.D. production room, but enemies and witnesses are still scattered around the battlefield. Vergo's task is to eliminate the threat before Law can turn Punk Hazard into a strategic disaster.

Doflamingo's logic narrows around Caesar and S.A.D. He says, "AND HE'S ALSO GOING TO KIDNAP CAESAR, HUH..." and then rejects that option for himself: "NO, IF IT WERE ME, I'D JUST KILL HIM...!!" The reason is simple and terrifying: "WHY? BECAUSE CAESAR... IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD... WHO KNOWS HOW TO PRODUCE S.A.D." If Caesar were killed, Doflamingo himself would have a problem, and he tells Vergo so: "...BUT IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN I'D BE THE ONE WITH A PROBLEM, VERGO...!!" He asks, "AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I'VE GOT A PROBLEM?" The answer is violence, shown by a gunshot and a body struck down. Doflamingo's world has no room for failure: if a subordinate creates a problem, someone pays for it immediately.

In Dressrosa, Baby 5 fumes over Doflamingo while Buffalo tries to restrain her. Buffalo says, "BABY-5, COOL YOUR JETS-EEN!! WHAT'RE YOU GOING AGAINST THE YOUNG MASTER FOR-EEN?" Baby 5 shouts, "THIS TIME... THIS TIME I WON'T FORGIVE HIM!! I'LL MURDER THIS ROTTEN BASTARD!!!" Doflamingo asks, "...DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS THEN?" and Baby 5 answers with theatrical fury, "THEN!!? FU-FU-FU-FU-FU!!! WELL IT'D BE A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS!!" Trebol asks, "WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO, YOUNG MASTER? WITH THAT CUTE LITTLE LAW-CHAN?" Doflamingo's circle answers that Law's move is rebellion: "IT'S ALREADY DECIDED, RIGHT! THIS IS NO LESS THAN A REBELLION AGAINST US!!! DON'T YOU AGREE, YOUNG MASTER...!!" Doflamingo tells Vergo, "I KNOW IT'LL BE HARD FOR YOU TOO, VERGO. BUT YOU'VE GOT TO DISPOSE OF LAW FOR ME WHILE HE'S STILL THERE." His order is merciless: "MAKE HIM REGRET EVER BEING BORN INTO THIS WORLD... KILL HIM AS BRUTALLY AS POSSIBLE FOR ME!!!"

Vergo accepts the order: "ROGER THAT. I'LL EVEN TAKE A PICTURE OF HIS DEAD BODY AND SEND IT TO YOU, DOFFY." Doflamingo answers, "WELL, I'LL SLICE OFF AN EAR THEN." Vergo adds, "WITH THE CAMERA I JUST BOUGHT AT DRESSROSA," only to be corrected: "BUT YOU DIDN'T BUY A CAMERA, DID YOU." Vergo pauses and admits, "THAT'S RIGHT. I DIDN'T BUY A CAMERA." The call then reaches Punk Hazard. Caesar answers the ringing Den Den Mushi with Monet: "OHH, JOKER!!" "YES, JOKER." Doflamingo says, "FU-FU-FU!! I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT." He warns them that "LAW IS A GIVEN," but Luffy also needs special care: "BE SURE TO PAY SPECIAL CARE TO STRAWHAT...!! THAT BRAT... HE'S AWAKENED KING'S HAKI!! HIS POTENTIAL MAY BE EVEN GREATER THAN LAW'S...!!" He adds that Baby 5 and Buffalo are coming, and that once everything is settled, they will all come to Dressrosa.

In B-Block, the patrons of the Brownbeard bus are caught in fresh chaos. Zoro watches Momonosuke streak through the air and says, "THIS GUY IS EVEN MORE OF A NUISANCE THAN THE GIANT DRAGON, EH. IT'S PRETTY QUICK...!!" Someone else yells, "THIS IS NO TIME TO BE LYING DOWN!! STOP THAT DRAGON!!" Flames spread across the tanks and walkways while the dragon roars, "ROAR!!" and explosions blast through the block. The warning is immediate: "B-BLOCK IS ALREADY A SEA OF FIRE!!! IF WE DO NOTHING, THE TANKS IN THIS AREA WILL CATCH AND EXPLODE...!! THE OUTER WALL WILL BREAK, AND THE DEADLY GAS WILL FLOW IN FROM THE OUTSIDE!! AND THEN WE'LL ALL BE GONERS!!" The group has survived one sealed passage only to find the next block turning into a bomb.

Kin'emon steps forward with his hatred of dragons burning hotter than the flames around them. He says, "NOW JUST A MOMENT, PEOPLE...!! UPON HEARING THE WORD 'DRAGON,' I CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO SIT IDLY BY...!! I HOLD A GRUDGE AGAINST THEIR VERY EXISTENCE!! I PROMISE IT WILL FALL BY MY HAND!!!" Brook refuses to yield the target: "NO, NO, IT WILL BE ME! THERE'S NO WAY I CAN FORGIVE THAT DRAGON!!!" He argues that the dragon tried to bite him earlier, and someone replies, "IT'S 'CAUSE YOU'VE GOT NO MEAT ON YOU TO EAT." Brook insists, "BONES ARE QUITE NUTRITIOUS, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW!!!" Then he and Kin'emon bicker over who gets to defeat the dragon: "KIN'EMON-SAN!! PLEASE ALLOW ME THIS ONE!!!" "WHAT NONSENSE! STAND BACK, YOU!!!" "NO, IT'S MINE!!" "IT SHALL BE MINE!!" The danger is real, but their rivalry turns it into a ridiculous duel for vengeance.

Nami raises her hands and tries to make her weather technique work: "WORK... WORK..." Kin'emon, watching the motion, says, "MY SAMURAI IMPRESSION-- THAT'S MORE LIKE A NINJA." She calls, "NIN NIN NIN PLEASE WORK!!" while Usopp asks, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING..." The trap activates over the dragon as she unleashes "THUNDER TRAP!!!" and the lightning crashes down. Momonosuke roars, "GURR RYYYYA HHH!!" while Usopp follows with "TAKE THIS-- THE WORLD'S SMALLEST FLOWER!! SPECIAL GREEN STAR!!!" Someone shouts, "AH!! MY TARGET HAS...!!" and the onlookers misread the whole thing as ninjutsu: "HUH!! SO THE BREAST-BAND GIRL IS A USER OF NINJUTSU!!" Nami snaps, "STOP CALLING ME THAT!!" The page shows the crew piling improvised techniques onto a threat they still do not understand.

Usopp's plant attack bursts with "RAFFLESIA!!" and a note explains that tengu are red-faced goblins known for their long noses after someone shouts, "UOHH!! AND OF COURSE, THE GREAT TENGU GOBLIN IS PROFICIENT IN SORCERY!!!" Usopp protests, "WHO'S A GOBLIN!!" The dragon roars, "ROAR RRRR...!!!" and the attack goes off with "PUFF." Robin joins with calm precision: "Quarenta Fleur!! Quatro Mano!" Her blooming arms seize the dragon, and she commands, "HOLD!!" Even the confused bystanders shout, "EVEN THE COURTESAN USES NIN-JUTSU!!!" The dragon struggles while fire spreads around them. Usopp cries, "OHH! IT'S FALLING!! I'LL STOP IT!!" but another voice says, "NO. LEAVE THIS TO ME!!!" The crew is finally coordinating, each person adding a piece to the attempt to bring the dragon down.

Kin'emon takes the opening. With Brook thrown aside and someone calling, "PLEASE, FOLLOW AFTER ME, SIR CORPSE!!!" Kin'emon faces the dragon's flame and declares, "FOX FIRE STYLE." The fire comes straight at him, but he cuts it apart with "BLAZE CLEAVER!" His sword slices through the burning attack, splitting it before it can engulf the area. The page emphasizes the special nature of Kin'emon's technique: he is not merely attacking the dragon, he is cutting fire itself. Against a creature spreading flames through a block full of tanks, that ability matters more than brute force. The others watch as the dragon's most dangerous weapon is neutralized.

The group reacts to Kin'emon's flame-cutting with shock. Zoro says, "HE CUT FIRE AGAIN." Brook calls it "FABULOUS!!" but Kin'emon replies, "NOTHING OF THE SORT." The dragon roars, "GUR RYYAH HHH..." and someone asks, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CORPSE!!" Brook answers, "HMM? OH, RIGHT, I'M A CORPSE." A note explains "Karyuu Issen" as a flaming willow flash and also a pun on a red-light district name. Kin'emon attacks with "KARYUU ISSEN!!!" and Brook follows with "GAVOTTE BOND EN AVANT!!" Their blades strike together, cutting into the dragon and stopping its charge. The comedy around Brook's corpse jokes does not undercut the effectiveness of the two swordsmen; together they finally bring the creature under control.

The dragon collapses, and the group celebrates: "YOSHA!!" "WE TOOK IT DOWN!!!" Someone yells, "YOU!! PLEASE SAY, 'BONES ARE DELICIOUS'!!" while the others hurry, "GET ON, QUICKLY!!" Nami notices Kin'emon's obsession and asks, "I'VE GOT MY REASON, BUT KIN'EMON-SAN, WHY ARE YOU...!? IT'S LIKE YOU'VE GOT A PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST THIS DRAGON!" Kin'emon answers through fatigue, "HAA HAA. A VENDETTA...!! THAT'S JUST ABOUT RIGHT, THAT IT IS!!" The fallen dragon lies beside them as Brownbeard waits, and then someone calls, "HEY, LOOK!! OVER THERE...!!" Another huge figure emerges with "BUUOHHH!!!!" and the group reacts: "AHHH, PLEASE WAIT!!" "HUH!?" The victory over the dragon immediately gives way to a new alarm.

The new figure is Chopper in Monster Point, towering over the battlefield and roaring "BUUOHHHHHH!!!" Someone shouts, "CHOPPER CHANGED INTO HIS MONSTER FORM!!!" and Zoro asks, "WHAT THE HELL'S HE DOING!!" The group stares as Chopper thrashes in the lab, enormous and out of place amid the fire and smoke. The scene then cuts back to B-Block's second-floor examination room. A worker says, "TODAY'S CHECKUP IS ALL DONE. YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE BISCUIT ROOM NOW. THERE'LL BE CANDY THERE, TOO." Another asks, "HEY, NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, WHERE'D THAT BOY GO?" The child reveals the missing piece: "THE ONE WHO WENT INTO THAT 'SECRET ROOM' THAT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO GO IN... THAT 'MOMONOSUKE' BOY, WHO TURNED INTO A LITTLE DRAGON...!!" The chapter closes by confirming that the dragon Kin'emon hated and helped defeat is connected to the son he has been desperately trying to find.

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