An Island That Seems Not to Exist

In R-Block, second floor, the secret room, Caesar broadcasts to the soldiers of Punk Hazard. He addresses them directly: "SOLDIERS OF PUNK HAZARD!! YOU'VE ALL BEEN FOOLED!!" The crowd below watches screens showing different parts of the lab, and one man asks, "IT'S BROWN-BEARD!! WHAT'S HE TALKING ABOUT?" Caesar declares, "EVERYTHING CAESAR HAS SAID IS A LIE!!" and then threatens them: "IF YOU STAY HERE, YOU'LL ALL BE KILLED!! YOU'RE WATCHING ME FROM SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW, YEAH!?" On the first floor of R-Block, Brownbeard explains to his men, "BROWN-BEARD IS RIGHT BELOW US DOWN ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF R-BLOCK!!" Someone asks if they should call him up, but Brownbeard says, "...NO. I'M HEADING DOWN THERE." He insists, "I HAVE TO REVEAL TO YOU CAESAR'S TRUE INTENTIONS!!" The page begins the chapter's central betrayal: Caesar's own followers are about to learn that their savior has been using them.

At R-Block's first floor, in front of the R-66 gate, Brownbeard reaches the sealed entrance while a monitor and intercom chatter nearby. He yells, "CAESAR!!" Caesar answers coldly through the screen, "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HERE, MY MOST EXCELLENT SUBORDINATE, BROWN-BEARD!! YOU'RE BEING QUITE INSISTENT!!" Brownbeard demands, "GIVE ME BACK MY MEN!! WE WERE ROBBED BACK THERE, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ISLAND, BUT..." Caesar brushes him off: "IT'S NOT AS IF THEY DIED!! THEY SHOULD HAVE COME BACK A WHILE AGO!!" The page shows Brownbeard standing wounded but furious before the massive R-66 door. He is no longer acting like a loyal underling begging for orders; he has come to confront the master who abandoned his people.

Brownbeard's men report that they cannot get inside. One says, "MASTER--!! THE FRONT ENTRANCE IS SWARMING WITH MARINES AND THE GATE IS CLOSED..." Another adds, "HAA... HAA... WE CAN'T GET INSIDE!! TELL US WHAT WE SHOULD DO...!!" Caesar mutters, "WHAT'S WRONG? ...OH, BROWNBEARD'S MEN?" and then dismisses them entirely. When asked, "MASTER, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THEM INSIDE?" Caesar says, "FORGET ABOUT THEM. THE ISLAND IS GOING TO BE COVERED WITH SHINOKUNI BEFORE LONG, ANYWAY." The words devastate Brownbeard. Caesar continues with casual indifference: "GOOD GRACIOUS, I WONDER WHAT COULD BE WRONG. I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM THEM. ACTUALLY, I WAS ALSO JUST STARTING TO WORRY...!!" The page exposes Caesar's cruelty in real time. His subordinates are pleading for help, and he treats their deaths as an inconvenience already accounted for.

Brownbeard sees the truth and begins warning the others. He says, "IF... THEY HAVEN'T COME BACK ALREADY... AND THEY'RE STILL OUTSIDE... THEN..." and then, shaken by what Caesar has done, "I CAN'T TRUST ANYTHING YOU SAY ANYMORE!!! HOW COULD HE SAY SUCH A THING TO MASTER!?" Someone asks, "BROWNBEARD, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU!!" Brownbeard turns to his fellow subordinates and shouts, "YOU GUYS TOO! WE'VE SPENT TWO GOOD YEARS ON THIS ISLAND TOGETHER!! BUT WE'VE GOT TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! WANT TO KNOW WHAT THIS GUY HAS BEEN CALLING YOU BEHIND YOUR BACKS!?" Caesar has called them "HINNEY FIGS!!" "FINNEY TIGS!!" and, most clearly, "GUINEA PIGS!!" Brownbeard finally understands the insult beneath Caesar's affection. The men who worshiped Caesar as a savior were test subjects to him.

The soldiers laugh because they do not understand Brownbeard's slurred words. They shout, "DAHAHA HAHAHAHA!! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, BROWNBEARD!!!" "SPEAK CLEARLY!!" and "WHAT SORT OF INCAN-TATION ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!!" Brownbeard tries again, "PINNEY... GIGS!!" and someone mocks, "MIGS--" while another asks, "WHAT THE-- MY MOUTH WON'T MOVE WHY--!?" Brownbeard realizes the problem: "THEY'RE ALL IDIOTS, SO THEY HAVEN'T REALIZED!! THEY DON'T KNOW THAT HE'S JUST TRYING TO SAY 'GUINEA PIGS'!!" Caesar has secretly drugged him too, explaining, "IT'S A MUSCLE RELAXANT. YOU CAN FEEL THE POWER SLIPPING AWAY FROM YOUR MOUTH AS WELL AS YOUR WHOLE BODY, RIGHT? SHURORORORO." Brownbeard collapses toward Caesar's dragon-like form as the crowd continues laughing. Caesar is not only lying to his men; he is physically silencing the one subordinate trying to warn them.

Caesar twists the betrayal even further. He says, "OH, THAT'S RIGHT... I JUST REMEMBERED, BROWNBEARD... ABOUT YOUR FORMER UNDERLINGS... I ABANDONED THEM!" Brownbeard, barely able to speak, howls, "YOU!!! YOU ROTTEN BASTARD... HOW DARE YOU... MY MEN!!" Caesar laughs in front of the watching soldiers and adds another confession: "AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT... THERE'S ONE MORE THING. FOUR YEARS AGO, THE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION THAT BROUGHT ALL THE SOLDIERS HERE TO THE BRINK OF DEATH..." Then he says it plainly: "THAT WAS MY DOING." Brownbeard realizes the scale of the lie and screams, "SO IT WASN'T VEGAPUNK...!? YOU... YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DID THAT TO THEM!! BUT YOU PRETEND TO HAVE SAVED THEM...!?" The page reveals the foundation of Caesar's cult. He poisoned the island, blamed Vegapunk, then posed as the savior of the victims he created.

Brownbeard snaps. He surges forward despite the relaxant, screaming, "UUUU OOOHH HAA!!!" and the soldiers panic: "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BROWN-BEARD!!" "SOMEONE HELP ME!!" "OI!!! BROWN-BEARD!!!" They cannot understand why he is attacking the man they call their savior. Brownbeard bellows, "UAARUROOO OOOOOOO!!! BUOOOHH!!!" and warns them, "THIS ISLAND IS A LIVING HELL, ORCHESTRATED FROM START TO FINISH BY CAESAR!!! RUN, YOU GUYS!!" Others shout, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO OUR GREAT SAVIOR...!!" and "HE'S A DEMON MASQUERADING AS A MAN!!" while someone cries, "RUN AWAY, EVERYONE!!" The page becomes a revolt born too late. Brownbeard is trying to save men who still do not know whether to fear Caesar or him.

Caesar turns the room against Brownbeard by twisting the story for the soldiers. Someone cries, "OH NO!!! BROWNBEARD HAS BECOME QUITE DANGEROUS!!!" and Caesar says, "WE MUST BE TOO LATE... IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S SOMEHOW BEING MANIPULATED BY STRAWHAT!!" The soldiers shout, "FIRE!!" and open fire as Brownbeard charges on his reptilian mount. Caesar smiles and says, "SHURORORORO!! AND NOW FOR THE FINISHER." He flicks something and prepares a gas attack while the soldiers still believe he is protecting them. The page shows how easily Caesar weaponizes their loyalty. Brownbeard is telling the truth, but Caesar's authority turns him into the villain in their eyes before he can save them.

Caesar unleashes "GASTA..." and a violent gas explosion erupts across the room. Brownbeard is struck amid the blast, and soldiers scream "MASTER!?" and "GYAH HH!!" One cries, "DAHHH!! TH-THAT WAS CLOSE!!" while another says, "IT GRAZED ME!!! SHIT, WHO'S THIS NOW!!" The blast is enormous, black and white gas filling the double spread as Caesar's attack catches Brownbeard and nearly hits his own men. At the edge of the chaos, Luffy appears. He looks grim and furious, telling Caesar, "I'VE BEEN PICKING THOSE SORTS OF FIGHTS THE WHOLE DAMN WAY!!" The page pivots from Brownbeard's failed charge to Luffy's arrival. Caesar's broadcast has exposed the truth, and now the person who actually can hit him has reached the battlefield.

Luffy steps through the smoke, and the soldiers recognize him: "IT'S STRAWHAT LUFFY!!" Brownbeard lies badly hurt nearby, still clinging to the belief that Caesar once saved them. A subordinate says, "OUR LIVES WERE SAVED THANKS TO MASTER'S KINDNESS," and another insists, "MASTER IS OUR MERCIFUL SAVIOR GOD...!!" Luffy's face remains hard as he listens. Around him, Brownbeard groans, "AULU... AULU..." while the crowd hesitates between what they have heard and what they were taught to believe. The page is quiet compared to the explosion before it. Luffy has arrived at the moral center of the conflict, where Caesar's followers still cannot fully accept that their savior is the monster.

Caesar tries to return to business as if nothing matters. He orders, "NNNN!!! GET BACK TO THE SECOND FLOOR, MEN!!!" and says, "THE REST OF HIS CREW AND THE MARINES WILL START APPEARING ONE AFTER THE OTHER ANY MINUTE NOW. PREPARE FOR THE EXPERIMENT TO COMMENCE!! AND CONNECT THE BROAD-CASTER TO EVERY REGION POSSIBLE!!" Luffy stands nearby with Momonosuke, and someone calls, "LUFFY." Momonosuke listens as Caesar speaks of the children: "SO YOU'RE MOMONOSUKE-KUN, HUH. YOU HAVE TO EAT, YOU KNOW... TO SUCH KIND-HEARTED YOUNGSTERS, HE WOULD...!!" Caesar then laughs about the future: "FIVE YEARS FROM NOW NOT ONE WILL BE LEFT ALIVE!! SHURORORORO." Luffy says only, "I KNOW..." The page connects what Luffy heard from Momonosuke with Caesar's own mouth. The children's deaths are not rumor anymore; Caesar is confirming them in front of Luffy.

Luffy says that everyone on Punk Hazard has been deceived: "...EVERYONE HERE HAS BEEN TRICKED IN SOME WAY." Caesar answers, "SHURORORORO... THAT'S RIGHT. HAA... HAA..." Luffy looks around and asks, "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF ISLAND IS THIS!!" Caesar explains with pride rather than shame: "...IT'S REALLY A LOT LIKE 'GAS.' AN ISLAND THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO EXIST!!" He reveals why Punk Hazard is useful to him: "AND IT'S FOR THAT REASON THAT I CAN BUILD SUCH STRONG CONNECTIONS WITH THE UNDERWORLD!! THIS PLACE IS A PERFECT BASE FOR SCIENCE DONE IN THE SHADOWS!! UNFORGIVABLE EXPERIMENTS. AND THE ESSENTIAL SUPPLY OF BODIES FOR TESTING!!! I'VE GOT EVERYTHING I COULD POSSIBLY WANT!!" The page defines Punk Hazard as a hidden criminal laboratory: invisible to the world, perfect for illegal experiments, and full of people Caesar can use.

Caesar says that in the end, everything is covered up: "AND IN THE END, IT'S ALL COVERED-UP THANKS TO A POWERFUL ALLY WHO'S GOT MY BACK!! IT'S LIKE NONE OF IT EVER HAPPENED!!" The image behind him points to Vergo and Donquixote Doflamingo, making clear the protection behind Caesar's operation. Caesar taunts Luffy: "YOU CAN CRY... YOU CAN SCREAM...!! BUT NO ONE WILL COME TO SAVE YOU!!" He continues, "WHAT A SHAME THAT YOU HAVE TO DIE NOW, FOR HALF-ASSEDLY STICKING YOUR NOSE WHERE IT DIDN'T BELONG!!" Brownbeard lies broken nearby while Caesar tells Luffy, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ISLAND!! STRAWHAT!!" He adds that Law is trying to steal the S.A.D.: "LAW IS TRYING TO GET HIS HANDS ON THE S.A.D.!! I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN PRODUCE IT!! SO HE'S PLOTTING TO KIDNAP ME AS WELL!!" and says, "SAME GOES FOR THAT 'ALLIANCE'!!" The page lays out Caesar's confidence: secrecy, Doflamingo's backing, S.A.D., and the belief that Luffy has stepped into a world too large for him.

Caesar reveals the greater underworld structure behind S.A.D. He says, "THAT SHICHIBUKAI... HE, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN OUT THERE...!! DONQUIXOTE DOFLAMINGO HAS A FACTORY THAT TURNS S.A.D. INTO FRUITS CALLED 'SMILE'...!!" He explains that "SMILES" are, in fact, "MANMADE DEVIL FRUITS HOLDING ZOAN POWERS WITHIN...!!" and calls them "FRUITS SOUGHT AFTER BY ANYONE CRAVING POWER...!!" Using SMILE, Doflamingo "DOES BUSINESS WITH THE BIG NAMES OF THE NEW WORLD." The imagery shows an artificial fruit surrounded by beastly fighters, emphasizing the scale of what Caesar is enabling. This page is a major world-building reveal: Caesar's S.A.D. is the raw material for artificial Zoan Devil Fruits, and Doflamingo sells those powers into the New World.

Caesar explains the threat that SMILE has already created. He says, "I'VE HEARD THAT, THANKS TO SMILE, ONE OF THE YONKOU HAS ALREADY AMASSED AN 'ABILITY USER CORPS' OF SEVERAL HUNDRED MEMBERS...!! IT CHILLS MY BLOOD TO IMAGINE...!!" Then he warns Luffy to understand the scale: "CAN YOU GRASP THE SCOPE OF WHAT I'M SPEAKING OF!? INTERFERE WITH DOFLAMINGO'S BUSINESS DEALINGS AND YOU'LL INCUR THE UNIMAGINABLE WRATH OF THE BIGGEST PLAYERS OUT THERE!!" Caesar mocks the idea of challenging them: "WHEN THOSE BIG NAMES START TO MOVE... THE WHOLE WORLD WILL RESPOND IN TURN!! LAW IS AIMING FOR JUST THAT. WHAT AN IDIOT!! YOU FOOLS ARE YET A COUPLE OF PITIFUL FLEDGLINGS!!" He laughs, "SHURORORO JUST TRY AND CATCH ME...!! I'M WELL-PROTECTED...!! 'DOFLAMINGO'!! A 'YONKOU'!! DO YOU REALLY HAVE THE STONES TO PICK A FIGHT WITH SUCH PLAYERS!?" Luffy listens silently, but the page makes clear that striking Caesar means stepping into a conflict with Doflamingo and an Emperor.

Caesar's speech ends when Luffy answers with his fist. Luffy, furious, launches himself forward and slams into Caesar with a huge impact. Caesar had asked whether Luffy had the nerve to pick such fights, and Luffy replies through the attack: "I'VE BEEN PICKING THOSE SORTS OF FIGHTS THE WHOLE DAMN WAY!!" The strike crashes across the double spread, catching Caesar mid-boast and hurling him back. Brownbeard and the soldiers watch in shock as Luffy's punch cuts through Caesar's entire argument about Doflamingo, the Yonko, and the underworld. The page closes the chapter with a decisive rejection of intimidation. Caesar believes alliances and hidden power make him untouchable; Luffy treats those threats as exactly the kind of fight he has always chosen.

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