"Hey, hey, hey! What about all this poison gas?"
Looking at the poison gas still filling the hall, Franky's face changed color.
If they didn't handle it properly, they'd all be poisoned to death!
"Leave this to me!" Usopp's voice came from the speakers above, saying, "I'll turn on the exhaust fans and suck all the poison gas out of here!"
With that, Usopp didn't hesitate to switch the exhaust fans to one-way mode, drawing all the poison gas out of the room.
Only after all the poison gas in the R Building hall had disappeared did Usopp let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, it's safe now."
"So amazing!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise.
He could actually suck all that poison gas away?
That's incredible!
"If it can draw poison gas in, it can draw it out," Meiser said.
"Oh, so that's how it works!"
Meiser nodded, then glanced at Caesar, who had been brought back by Law's ability, and said, "We finally caught this guy."
Gotta say, Law's Devil Fruit ability is really useful.
Even if the opponent gets knocked away by Luffy, he can use his ability to bring them back!
Tsk, abilities involving space are just so convenient!
Thinking this, a smile appeared on Meiser's face, and he continued, "Now you can tell us your plan, right?"
"After things here are settled."
Law looked up at the ceiling, where rubble kept falling, and said, "This place is about to collapse."
Following his gaze, Meiser twitched the corner of his mouth. "And whose fault do you think that is..."
If it weren't for that bastard Law's Devil Fruit ability, the research institute wouldn't have been wrecked like this.
Law didn't respond to this, still maintaining his cool, aloof act.
Meiser didn't mind either; after all, that's just how this guy is, and he was used to it by now.
"Torao." Franky, dragging Brownbeard back, laughed and said, "Well done!"
"It's nothing."
Law said calmly, "I just caught him and brought him back. Straw Hat-ya did most of the work."
By the time he made his move, Caesar had already been knocked unconscious by Straw Hat Boy, so he hadn't really done much.
This time, Franky just smiled and didn't say anything more.
"Hey, Usopp!"
Meiser looked up at the surveillance cameras above and said, "You should come down quickly too."
"We're leaving this place."
"I know."
Usopp, staring at the surveillance feed, said, "But I need to make sure everyone can get here safely."
"And the doors need to be shut!"
At the very least, he had to close all the doors behind them once his companions safely entered the R Building, to ensure they wouldn't be killed by the poison gas!
"The doors, huh..."
Understanding what Usopp intended to do, Meiser nodded and didn't say anything more.
Then, Meiser turned his gaze to the doors behind them, planning to see when his companions would arrive.
At that very moment, Nami and the others appeared in his field of vision with the children.
"Finally here~" Meiser grinned.
From his perspective, Nami was currently manipulating clouds, swiftly bringing the children and the other companions toward them.
Soon, under Nami's control, the cloud successfully exited the tunnel and entered the temporarily safe R Building!
"Successfully arrived at R Building!" Nami announced.
The others also visibly relaxed—they were finally safe.
Looking at the clouds beneath everyone, Law remarked, "This is what you mentioned earlier, right?"
"Yes," Meiser nodded.
With the power of the clouds, they could quickly move everyone outside!
"It is indeed convenient," Law said.
It had to be said, the ability of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, a Devil Fruit, was truly convenient!!
With this, they could definitely take everyone and leave this place!
"What are you all talking about?"
Nami, who had approached the group, looked at Meiser with confusion. "What's convenient?"
"Talking about your ability."
Meiser pointed toward the tunnel behind them and said, "We'll need to rely on your ability later to help everyone escape."
Following Meiser's gesture, Nami brushed her hair back and replied, "No problem."
With her current ability, creating a cloud large enough to carry everyone wouldn't be an issue.
Then, Nami noticed Brownbeard lying on the ground.
"Hey, Brownbeard, what happened to you?" Nami exclaimed in surprise.
Why was this guy lying on the ground with tears streaming down his face? Was he severely injured and unconscious?
"We're not sure what happened to him either," Franky shook his head. "He was like this when we arrived."
Perhaps Caesar had done something to him.
Hearing this, Nami frowned. In a way, Brownbeard had helped them before.
Thinking of this, Nami turned to Meiser, wanting him to check on Brownbeard's condition.
But remembering that it wasn't the right time to expose Meiser's identity, she turned to Chopper, who was with the children, and said, "Chopper, come check on Brownbeard!"
"But I can't move right now..." Chopper said hesitantly.
He could tell others what to do, but he couldn't act himself.
Nami made a troubled expression upon hearing this. What should they do?
They couldn't expose the fact that Meiser was still alive here...
As if sensing Nami's thoughts, Meiser glanced at Law and said, "Law, aren't you a doctor? Go help check on him."
Law frowned upon hearing this. Were these guys really pirates?
Why were they so kind-hearted?
After a few seconds of silence, Law sighed helplessly in his heart.
Well, he chose these partners himself. Might as well accept it...
"Understood."
With that, Law walked over to Brownbeard and used his ability to examine his condition.
Then, he said, "Muscle relaxation... He was probably injected with a muscle relaxant by that guy Caesar. But it's not particularly harmful, so there's no need to worry."
"So he's fine?" Nami asked.
"Not exactly."
Law said, "His body did endure quite a few substantial attacks, but because this guy is quite sturdy, there's no danger to his life."
After speaking, Law used the power of the Devil Fruit to extract all the bullets from Brownbeard's body.
Then, after tossing the bullets onto the ground, Law continued, "After this, he just needs to rest and recuperate properly."
With that, Law said nothing more and silently walked away from Brownbeard's side.
"That's good."
Hearing this, Nami breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that he's okay."
After all, the other party had helped them, so Nami still hoped he would survive.
Meanwhile, Meiser was somewhat impressed. This pirate called Brownbeard was really tough.
Just then, Perona, who had come in with everyone, noticed Caesar, who had been tossed aside by Law not far away.
"Isn't that that bastard Caesar?!" Perona exclaimed, her eyes wide. "We finally caught him!"
Hearing Perona's words, the others also turned their gaze to the unconscious man.
"Yeah, we caught him!" Luffy grinned, showing his teeth.
"Well done," Zoro said with a slight smile.
This time, Luffy hadn't messed things up, for once.
Hearing Zoro's praise, Luffy immediately beamed even more happily.
Then, Luffy looked at Nico Robin and said, "Robin, where are the Sea-stone Handcuffs I asked for?"
Since Caesar was a Logia-type ability user, they had to use Sea-stone Handcuffs to restrain him.
"I asked Usopp, Brook, and Kin'emon to look for them," Nico Robin replied. "I just don't know if they've found the Sea-stone Handcuffs yet."
It had been a while since they split up, and she figured those guys should have found the Sea-stone Handcuffs by now.
"Usopp?"
Luffy looked up at the Surveillance Den Den Mushi on the second floor and called out, "Hey, Usopp, did you find the Sea-stone Handcuffs?"
"Sea-stone Handcuffs..."
An awkward expression appeared on Usopp's face. Ever since he arrived here, he had been busy dealing with these people and operating the machines, with no time at all to look for that thing.
Then, as if remembering something, Usopp's eyes lit up. "Oh right, aren't there Caesar's men here?"
"Hey, you guys, stop crying!"
Usopp glanced at the soldiers who were still weeping and wailing and said, "That bastard Caesar has been defeated by our captain. You're not in danger anymore."
"All we need to do now is escape from here..."
After saying this, Usopp paused briefly before continuing, "Now tell me, are there Sea-stone Handcuffs here?"
The soldiers were momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then wiped their tears and said, "You're right. We really can't just stay here waiting to die."
With that, some of the soldiers who were carrying Sea-stone Handcuffs took them out and said, "Here, these are Sea-stone Handcuffs!"
"So many?!"
Usopp looked at them in surprise. Was that bastard Caesar really that rich?
How could he get so many Sea-stone Handcuffs?
"These were all bought by Master... I mean, that bastard Caesar, to deal with ability users," one soldier explained. "That's why there are so many."
"I see."
Usopp nodded, then grinned. "That makes things easier."
With that, Usopp turned to the microphone and continued, "Hey, Luffy, I've found the Sea-stone Handcuffs. I'll send them down to you in a moment!"
"Alright!"
Hearing Usopp's voice, Luffy waved cheerfully toward the higher ground, then turned and smiled. "We've got them now~"
Nico Robin simply smiled at this, saying nothing more.
"But we can't just stand around doing nothing."
Meiser glanced at Caesar, who was rolling his eyes, and said, "This guy could wake up and escape at any moment."
If he turned into a transparent gas, they'd have a hard time catching him.
After a moment of thought, Meiser said, "Law, take out his heart."
"?"
"!!!"
Hearing Meiser's words, the others were so shocked their eyes nearly popped out.
Wait, what was Meiser saying?
They'd worked so hard to capture Caesar alive, and now Meiser wanted to kill him?
"Hey!"
Chopper widened his eyes and said, "What are you saying in front of the children?!"
Didn't he know that kind of talk could scare the kids?
Hearing Chopper's words, Meiser instinctively glanced at the children watching them.
Noticing the look in their eyes, Meiser fell silent.
It was indeed a look of fear...
But that wasn't what he meant, dammit!
"It's fine." Luffy grinned, showing his teeth. "If this guy tries to escape, I'll just beat him up again."
After all, this guy wasn't that strong. Fighting him again wouldn't be a problem.
Since Luffy said so, Meiser didn't press the matter further.
Then, as if remembering something, Meiser said, "By the way, why haven't I seen Merry and Sanji?"
Usopp, Brook, and Kin'emon had gone to find the Sea-stone Handcuffs, so it made sense they weren't here.
But what about Merry and Sanji?
Weren't they supposed to be with the main group?
"That's a long story," Nami said.
"Then make it short."
As he spoke, Meiser leaped up and punched away a falling boulder, then continued, "We don't have much time."
This place could collapse at any moment, so they needed to prepare for evacuation as soon as possible.
Nami: ...
Why did it always come to this?
Shaking her head helplessly, Nami said, "To put it simply, the Marines also plan to help us rescue the children, so Merry chose to act with them."
"As for Sanji..."
At this point, Nami paused briefly before continuing, "Sanji was worried something might happen to Merry, so he volunteered to stay and act with her."
As for exactly where they were now, she didn't know.
After all... she hadn't left any clouds over there.
"I see."
Meiser let out a long sigh and said, "Hmm, that sounds like something Merry would do."
Merry was probably the kindest person in their Straw Hat Pirates, so it wasn't surprising she'd do something like this.
"Your pirate crew really is strange," Law remarked.
He had a rough idea of what was going on.
That little girl named Merry probably stayed behind voluntarily because she was afraid those Marines would be killed by the poison gas or Vergo.
To actually be willing to protect Marines... I really don't know what she's thinking.
"Merry is just that kind of person," Meiser said with a light laugh. "But don't worry, nothing will happen."
Merry only protects others under the premise that they pose no threat to our Straw Hat Pirates. Otherwise, she wouldn't bother with unnecessary actions.
Since Meiser put it that way, Law couldn't really say anything more.
Fine, they're just some small fry anyway, no need to pay them too much attention, Law thought to himself.
Having figured this out, Law completely gave up on pondering the matter further and turned his gaze toward the tunnel not far away.
Given the current situation, that tunnel probably won't hold up much longer either.
So... we must make preparations as soon as possible!
Thinking this, Law looked at Nami and said, "Nami-ya, Glasses-ya said you can use the Cloud-Cloud Fruit to create a cloud that can carry all of us away from here, right?"
"Yes," Nami nodded.
"Then let's start now."
Law glanced up at the ceiling, which was already covered in large cracks, and said, "We don't have much time left."
If we delay any longer, this place might be filled with poison gas.
So... we must leave here as soon as possible!
"We really don't have much time..."
Following Law's gaze, Nami's expression immediately changed.
The ceiling... has actually cracked to that extent?!
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