Blizzard with a Chance of Slime

Outside Caesar's research facility, the Marines spot the sudden arrival of Luffy's group and shout, "IT'S THE STRAW HAT PIRATES!!" and "TAKE 'EM DOWN!!!" Brownbeard charges through the confusion with Luffy and Robin nearby, roaring as the enemies pile in. Luffy grins and says, "IT'S GREAT THAT WE'VE MADE IT HERE AND ALL... ...BUT WHERE'S THIS 'MASTER' GUY?" Robin keeps the operation practical: "I DOUBT WE'LL FIND HIM OUT HERE. LET'S MAKE OUR WAY INSIDE THE FACILITY."

Luffy sees Smoker's body and calls, "OH! SMOKEY!!" The Marine in that body immediately shouts, "STRAW HAT LUFFY!! WHAT ARE YOU PLOTTING TO ACHIEVE ON THIS ISLAND?!!" Luffy, relieved, says, "YOU'RE ALL RIGHT!! I WAS PRETTY WORRIED AFTER YOU GOT BEATEN UP BACK THERE!!" One of the Marines barks, "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR JOKES!!" Luffy attacks anyway, asking, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, SMOKEY?! YOU'RE WEAKER THAN USUAL!!" But the body shouts back in panic, "Y-YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!! I'M NOT...!!" Luffy realizes something is wrong only after the hit lands and someone says, "AH! IT WORKED!!"

Smoker, in Tashigi's body, cuts in too late: "NOW HOLD IT RIGHT THERE... WHILE YOU'RE IN MY BODY, YOU CAN'T JUST GO LOSING... ...TO THIS PIRATE!!!" He tries to stop Luffy himself and says, "SO, YOU CAME BACK, STRAW HAT." Luffy starts to answer, "BACK TO THE SEAS!!" but Smoker swings Tashigi's sword. Luffy notices the weapon: "HUH?! THAT WEAPON..." Smoker refuses to let Luffy pass, declaring, "BUT I WON'T LET YOU HAVE YOUR WAY!!!" The clash makes clear that Law's body switch has left both Marines fighting at a disadvantage.

Luffy finally understands the mismatch. Tashigi in Smoker's body pants, "UGH... SHE REALLY GOT ME THERE... *PANT*... THAT WEAPON'S GOT KAIROUSEKI ON IT...!!" Luffy stares and asks, "WHEN DID YOU GET SO STRONG, GLASSES-GIRL?! WHAT WAS YOUR NAME AGAIN...? UHHH..." The Marine answers, "IT'S SMOKER!!" and Luffy reels: "EHH HHHH?!!" Robin explains, "LUFFY! THIS MUST BE LAW'S DOING." Luffy pieces it together: "HUH?! OH, RIGHT, THEY'VE SWITCHED PLACES?!" Zoro and the others realize that this explains why Smoker is so weak in the wrong body.

Luffy laughs at the absurdity of the body swap. Tashigi in Smoker's body shouts, "YOU'RE... YOU'RE REALLY SMOKEY...?!" and then snaps, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY, PIRATE?!!" Luffy starts to power up, calling "GEAR SECOND!!!" but changes his mind. "IN THAT CASE... WE'LL HAVE TO SAVE THIS BATTLE FOR ANOTHER TIME!! THERE'S NO POINT FIGHTING YOU... WHEN YOU'RE NOT AT FULL STRENGTH!!!" He refuses to settle anything while Smoker is trapped in the wrong body.

Luffy dodges away from the Marines and says, "DON'T GET COCKY WITH ME!!" A blast suddenly tears through the facility door. Someone shouts, "HE BLEW A HOLE IN THE DOOR!!!" and Brownbeard laughs, "GAHAHAHAHAHAH!! LUFFY, ROBIN!! I BROKE THROUGH THE DOOR! LET'S HEAD INSIDE!!!" Luffy is delighted: "NICE!! YOU SURE WORK QUICK, FRANKY!!" The Marines notice something strange with the stolen ship: "SMOKE-YAN!! THE SHIP!!" and "SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH IT!" The battlefield is shifting from the gate to the facility interior.

The ship is hit by dripping black sludge. A Marine stares and asks, "WHAT...IS THAT?!!" while Robin calls, "LUFFY!! FRANKY!! HOLD ON!!" The poison mass is falling from above: "IT SUDDENLY STARTED FALLING FROM THE SKY!!" and "WHAT IS THIS STUFF?! IT'S MOVING ON ITS OWN!!" The order spreads fast: "PUT YOUR GAS MASKS ON!!" and "ATTACKING IT WITH SWORDS OR GUNS MAKES IT SPEW POISON GAS!!" The black drops ooze over the ship with "BLOB" sounds, turning the escape route into a source of danger.

Everyone tries to identify the black matter. Luffy shouts, "HUHHH?! WHAT IS ALL THAT?!" Brownbeard admits, "I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA... WHAT IN THE WORLD...?" Robin says, "OI! WHAT IS THIS STUFF!" and one of Brownbeard's men says, "I DON'T KNOW! I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE!!" The blobs move independently. "IT CAME FALLING FROM THE SKY?!" someone says; another asks, "ARE THEY SOME KIND OF LIVING CREATURE...?" The small pieces crawl together, and the watchers realize, "THEY'RE COMBINING TOGETHER!!!" and "GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER!!"

The slime rises into a huge mass beside the ship. One of the Marines thinks of a simple solution: "...IF WE PUSH IT INTO THE RIVER... ...THAT'LL BE THE END OF THIS CREATURE!!" But another screams, "NO...!! DON'T!!" The plan backfires instantly. Someone yells, "IT'S THE POISON GAS AGAIN!!" and "TURN BACK!!" as the men are hit. A warning follows too late: "YOU IDIOT... WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!" The creature cannot be safely stabbed, shot, pushed, or touched; each attempt spreads poison.

The men touched by the slime collapse in agony. One screams, "AAAAAAA ARRGGHHH HHHH!!" and another cries, "IT HURTS...!! IT HUUUURTS!!" A victim says, "IT TOUCHED MY SKIN!! GET IT OFF!! SOMEBODY..." The order is immediate: "GET BACK, ALL OF YOU!!" and "SOMEBODY GET A PIECE OF CLOTH!! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS TO TOUCH!!" A fire user tries to exploit what seems like a weakness: "THIS THING LOOKS LIKE IT'LL BE WEAK AGAINST FIRE!! LET'S TOAST IT TO CINDERS!!" He declares, "THERE'S NO CREATURE IN THE WORLD THAT'S NOT AFRAID OF FIRE!!" The slime catches on fire, but the result is not victory. "IT DOESN'T SEEM TO LIKE IT!!" someone says, while another thinks, "IT'S CAUGHT ON FIRE!! THIS REALLY IS ITS WEAKNESS!!"

The fire triggers a huge blast. The explosion erupts across the snow with a massive roar, throwing pieces and silhouettes into the air. Smoker, Tashigi, the Marines, Brownbeard, Robin, and the others stare as the burning slime detonates violently rather than dying. The page has almost no spoken explanation, only shock marks and the visual fact that fire makes the creature explode.

The blast leaves the fighters stunned. Tashigi in Smoker's body cries, "YOU GUYS...!!!" while Smoker reacts, "EH?" A surviving blob rises again, and the men panic: "OI...!! WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED...?!! TOUCH IT AND YOU GET POISONED...!! BURN IT AND IT EXPLODES...!!" One adds, "DON'T LOOK AT ME!! I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE!! I CAN'T EVEN TELL IF IT'S REALLY ALIVE OR NOT...!!" A centaur notes with relief, "WELL, AT LEAST IT'S OVER NOW... THE THING'S DEAD." Another says, "Y...YEAH AND BETTER STILL... THOSE MARINES WHO WERE TRYING TO RUN AWAY WITH THE STOLEN SHIP... GOT TAKEN DOWN WITH IT!!"

The relief lasts only a moment. A small surviving blob rises again in front of the stunned fighters, and the scream spreads: "AAAAAARGHHHHH!!! IT'S BAAAAACK!!" The battlefield goes from thinking the creature is dead to realizing it is only multiplying. Luffy notices the new blobs falling from above: "...JUST NOW... IT CAME FROM ABOVE..." Around the facility, more black drops descend one after another through the blizzard. The first slime was not the whole monster, only a fragment joining the rest, and every falling piece makes the danger larger.

More slime fragments fall across the battlefield. A Marine shouts, "THEY'RE FALLING DOWN ONE AFTER ANOTHER!!" and another warns, "RUN FOR IT!! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING THEM!!" Tashigi says, "SMOKER-SAN!! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!! WE HAVE TO FIND SHELTER!!!" Smoker answers, "YEAH..." Caesar laughs from within the creature: "SHURORORORORO..." and praises it: "WHAT A GOOD BOY YOU ARE... I'M SORRY I KEPT YOU LOCKED UP FOR THREE LONG YEARS...!!" Outside, people begin yelling, "AHH!! MASTER!!" and "WHY ARE YOU OUTSIDE?! IT'S DANGEROUS OUT HERE!!"

Robin recognizes the voice first: "I KNEW IT...!! AM I RIGHT IN THINKING THAT YOU ...ARE CAESAR CLOWN?" Luffy understands at the same time and shouts, "SO IT'S YOU!! YOU'RE THE 'MASTER'!!" Caesar answers through the slime, "SHURORORO... INDEED I AM...!! PIRATE 'STRAW HAT LUFFY', AND THE MARINES OF G-5...!!" He explains why the fragments are raining down: "PLEASE WAIT JUST A LITTLE LONGER...!! THIS POOR BOY DOESN'T LIKE WATER VERY MUCH, YOU SEE... SO IN ORDER TO CROSS THAT LAKE, HE IS SLOWLY BUT SURELY... HURLING PIECES OF HIMSELF ACROSS TOWARDS US...!!"

The group looks at the living mound and can only wonder. One asks, "...IS THIS THING ALIVE...?" Brownbeard says, "I DON'T KNOW... I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT." The slime keeps popping and shifting with "PAP" sounds. Caesar explains the larger threat: "FROM THE LAND OF FIRE, TO THE LAND OF ICE...!! ONCE ALL THE FRAGMENTS OF THE SLIME... ...HAVE REACHED THEIR DESTINATION...!!! ALL OF YOU WILL TASTE THE FULL FORCE OF THAT DISASTER, FOUR YEARS -" Before he can finish, Luffy lunges straight at him. Caesar catches him and snarls, "CAUGHT YOU!!" Luffy is trapped in Caesar's grasp as the chapter cuts off the explanation at the worst possible moment.

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