HST: Chapter 158/159

Chapter 158: Clean Up the Navy

Monet looked at Caelan and the others, a cold light flashing in her eyes.

Caesar was destined to become Caelan's prisoner, and the production of artificial Devil Fruits was essentially over.

And this God Slayer seemed to have his sights set on her young master as well.

Although she didn't want to admit it, her young master truly wasn't a match for Caelan.

In that case, should she clear the way for the young master here?

"Should I use that move…?"

Monet's heart wavered as she muttered to herself.

As the user of the Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit, she still had one final trump card left.

Unleashing her full elemental power in a massive explosion.

But could such an attack really kill Caelan?

She had no confidence at all.

This was a monstrous warrior on par with the Four Emperors. His true strength was unknown and immeasurable.

If Caelan wasn't killed, he would definitely retaliate against the Donquixote Family with even greater force.

At that moment, Caelan's calm voice cut through her thoughts: "There are a few people in the Donquixote Family that I rather like. I don't want to kill too many of them."

"But if they're all like you, then wiping them out wouldn't be a loss."

Cold sweat broke out on Monet's back. All her reckless thoughts instantly vanished.

She had no doubt that Caelan meant what he said.

If he wanted to, wiping out the Donquixote Family would be easy.

That was the confidence of someone standing at the top of the world.

"That's better."

Caelan pinched Monet's pale cheek with a smile.

Monet turned her face away in humiliation and fell silent.

"Caelan, are we going to deal with Doflamingo next? Like we did with Moria?"

Vivi asked curiously.

If they could bring Doflamingo over, they would have three Warlords of the Sea under their command.

"No, I just want to take over his territory."

Caelan shook his head and replied casually.

Doflamingo was extremely ambitious. Unlike Moria, who had been crushed by Kaido and fallen into despair, Doflamingo wouldn't be so easy to subdue.

It wasn't like Caelan could just stand in front of him and make him bow.

That wasn't going to happen.

Gion was furious and full of complaints toward Doflamingo.

She blamed him for losing her bet.

Even as a Warlord of the Sea, that guy still refused to behave. He collaborated with Caesar to develop artificial Devil Fruits and even made a deal with Kaido.

There was no way Dressrosa, under his rule, was as glamorous as it appeared.

She wanted to see for herself what kind of darkness was hiding behind that seemingly beautiful country of love, passion, and toys.

Monet listened silently to their discussion, but she was so angry she could explode.

These people didn't take her young master seriously at all.

If it weren't for Caelan's presence, she would've chosen to self-destruct by now.

Just then, Tashigi and Nami rushed back, visibly upset.

"Caelan, this guy locked up a bunch of children in the base and used them in some kind of twisted gigantification experiment!"

"We questioned them. They all said they were kidnapped or tricked into coming here!"

Nami pointed at Caesar, furious.

"Those kids are only five or six years old. We don't know what he fed them, but they suddenly went berserk and started fighting!"

"If we don't intervene, they'll probably kill each other!"

Tashigi added urgently.

They didn't want to hurt the children, so they simply locked them up for now.

After hearing the two women's report, Caelan understood.

Those children had been abducted from nearby islands by Caesar to be used as test subjects in human gigantification experiments.

The same experiment Caesar used to scam Big Mom out of research funds—one with zero chance of success.

The children would die before reaching adulthood.

Worse still, Caesar had fed them addictive, harmful drugs that made them mentally unstable.

This kind of man would be on death row in the modern world. The fact that some still tried to defend him was baffling.

Though Caelan wasn't a saint, he had no tolerance for someone like this. There was no way he'd accept Caesar as a subordinate.

A good ending for Caesar would be to cripple him, sell him off, then have his buyer tear him to shreds in anger.

Caesar felt Caelan's killing intent and panicked, terrified he would be executed on the spot.

He collapsed to his knees and began kowtowing frantically.

Being auctioned off by Caelan would be painful, but it was still better than death.

"Let's go check on the kids first."

Caelan gave Caesar an indifferent glance. Now wasn't the time to kill him.

Everyone escorted Caesar and Monet as they followed Nami and Tashigi.

Before long, they arrived at a room.

As the door opened, a group of giant children, each more than ten meters tall, charged toward them like zombies.

They were only five or six years old, but their bodies were massive.

As they ran together like tanks, the ground began to tremble.

Boom!

A surge of powerful Conqueror's Haki erupted from Caelan and swept over the frenzied children.

In an instant, the rampaging children stopped in their tracks and collapsed, falling into a deep sleep.

"Caesar, can you make an antidote?"

Caelan stared coldly at Caesar, murderous intent in his gaze.

If Caesar dared to say no, he'd lose a hand.

To auction this guy off, only his brain needed to be intact.

"N-no problem! I can do it! The lab is right next door. It won't take long to make!"

Caesar nodded repeatedly in fear and didn't dare delay.

"Do it now!"

Caelan snapped.

"Yes, yes, right away!"

Caesar scrambled into the nearby lab and started working under close watch.

Soon, the antidote was ready.

Caesar tested it on himself to prove it wasn't poisonous, then Caelan administered it to the children.

"What a scumbag!"

The women kicked Caesar a few times in fury to vent their anger.

Caesar curled up on the ground and didn't dare fight back.

He knew Caelan was watching, and if he made even one wrong move, he could be killed instantly.

The children who had been knocked unconscious by Caelan's Haki soon woke up. After thanking everyone, they stood quietly in place.

"What are we going to do with these kids?"

Nami frowned at the sight of the group before her.

They clearly couldn't care for so many children themselves.

There wasn't enough space on their ship, nor did they have the resources.

"Let the Marines handle it. This mess is partly their responsibility."

Caelan said calmly.

In the original events, the giant children were rescued by the G-5 Marines. Letting them handle it now made sense.

As for the undercover Marine, Vergo, he definitely wouldn't be able to sit still once he received this news. It was the perfect chance to deal with him.

"Gion, can you contact the nearest Marine branch?"

Caelan turned to Gion and asked.

"I'll try. If the Navy hasn't changed their communication frequencies, I should be able to reach them."

Gion nodded and pulled out a tunable Den Den Mushi.

After adjusting it to the G-5 frequency, she dialed in.

Fortunately, the Navy hadn't changed their frequency since she left.

Once the call connected, Gion sent out a distress report.

…

G-5 Marine Branch.

"What? Someone's conducting human experiments on Punk Hazard and has kidnapped a bunch of kids?!"

"Hold on—we're on our way immediately!"

The comms officer was stunned when he received the report.

Nearby, Smoker and Hina, who had been waiting for their next assignment, were alarmed by the news and immediately grew serious.

All three of them understood how grave the situation was and rushed to report it to G-5 Base Commander Vergo…

(To be continued.)

Chapter 159: Doffy’s Plan

Navy, G-5 Branch.

As one of the few Marine branches stationed in the New World, the G-5 branch alone possessed greater naval strength than all of the Four Seas combined.

Its overall performance had also lived up to the trust placed in it by Marine Headquarters.

In particular, base commander Vergo had an outstanding record. He produced results on every mission and was highly regarded by Marine HQ.

He treated his subordinates with warmth and politeness, never acting arrogantly. Because of this, the entire G-5 unit respected and admired him.

Who would have guessed that such a person was actually a spy?

At that moment, inside Vergo's office—

He was comfortably sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

> "A major arms deal occurred several days ago. The Marines arrived late and achieved nothing!"

"Tch, what a pity. They didn't even catch a glimpse of the culprit. If this continues, the Marines will lose all credibility."

"What a shame I was busy. If I'd been there, I definitely would've captured the criminal."

Vergo smacked his lips in mock regret.

But inwardly, he was proud.

That arms deal had been foiled thanks to his tip-off, allowing the Donquixote Family to avoid a major loss. He had played a key role behind the scenes.

Just then, Smoker and Hina entered the office in a hurry, accompanied by the communications officer.

"Tch, it's those two again."

Vergo frowned slightly, annoyed.

He glanced at Smoker and Hina with hidden dissatisfaction.

These two were former students of ex-admiral Zephyr—one with the Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit and the other with the Paramecia-type Bind-Bind Fruit.

They had clearly come here just to polish their résumés. Fine—do it if you must. But did they have to meddle in everything?

They were constantly busy. Any time there was a call for help, they rushed off immediately.

They'd already disrupted the Donquixote Family's operations multiple times, earning him harsh scoldings from the young master.

Now they were barging in again. Could it be they were about to interfere with the Family once more?

After thinking it over, Vergo felt slightly relieved. The Family hadn't taken any action recently.

He took a sip of coffee and asked in a calm tone, "What's the matter?"

"Base Commander Vergo! We just received news that someone is conducting human experiments and has kidnapped numerous children on Punk Hazard!"

"The message was transmitted using the Den Den Mushi of former Vice Admiral Gion 'Momousagi.' She's requesting Marine support!"

The communications officer stood at attention and reported solemnly.

Every Den Den Mushi had a unique frequency, just like a phone number. The source could be traced with ease.

"Pffft—!"

Vergo nearly choked, spraying coffee everywhere.

Punk Hazard?

Something happened there?!

In that moment, Vergo realized how serious this was.

He quickly composed himself. Fortunately, neither Smoker nor Hina seemed to notice his slip-up.

Punk Hazard was their most critical base for the production of artificial Devil Fruits, and it was true that many children had been abducted for Caesar's experiments.

Previously, he had covered it up using fabricated causes like "disappearances," "drowning," and "pirate attacks."

But now it was exposed.

What made things worse was that the one who exposed it wasn't someone they could afford to offend.

Gion wasn't the problem. It was the person backing her.

Vergo coughed and asked, suppressing the panic in his chest, "Are you sure it was Gion?"

"There's an 80% match in voice print, and the Den Den Mushi ID confirms it—it's definitely hers."

The signalman answered confidently and respectfully.

He didn't view Gion, who had supposedly "accidentally killed a Celestial Dragon," as a criminal.

To him, Gion was a war hero and rising Marine star.

As for the Celestial Dragon incident?

That only made her more heroic.

Many Marines mourned her departure.

That was the general sentiment throughout the Navy.

"…This is bad."

Vergo's brows furrowed.

It was no secret that Gion had joined Caelan. That had already been confirmed by HQ after the events in the East Blue.

And if she was now on Punk Hazard, it meant Caelan was there as well.

Their experimental base was as good as destroyed.

That facility was key to their partnership with Kaido. If it was lost, the consequences would be devastating.

But how were they supposed to recover it?

Vergo's head ached just thinking about Caelan—the man who had killed a Celestial Dragon and left the entire Navy helpless.

Caelan was now a true Emperor of the Sea. Even Doflamingo had to tread carefully around him.

"Smoker, Hina. Ready a warship. We leave as soon as I'm prepared."

Vergo ordered with a solemn expression.

He had to go assess the situation personally.

As for how to handle it? That would require a discussion with the young master.

"Yes, Base Commander!"

Smoker and Hina saluted and left the office.

Once the room was empty, Vergo entered the office's secret chamber and called Doflamingo through a secure Den Den Mushi.

"Hello? Young Master! We have a major problem!"

"The Punk Hazard lab has been taken by the God Slayer Caelan. He's even contacted the Marines to rescue the children there!"

"What!?"

Doflamingo's voice rose sharply. This was the last thing he wanted to hear.

Ever since Caelan entered the New World, he'd been on edge, worried that this dangerous man would eventually target him.

Now that fear had become reality.

Not only had Caelan arrived, but he had struck directly at one of Doflamingo's most critical assets.

Punk Hazard was where SAD, the raw material for artificial Devil Fruits, was produced. Without it, the entire production chain collapsed.

More importantly, only Caesar knew how to manufacture SAD. Even with the right equipment, no one else could produce it.

If the artificial Devil Fruit trade stopped, he wouldn't be able to meet Kaido's demands.

Forget about continuing the partnership—he might not even survive.

"Damn it!!"

Doflamingo slammed his fist down, shattering the table in front of him.

Losing the artificial Devil Fruit line was something he couldn't afford.

No—he had to get Caesar back.

"Vergo, what do you mean by 'they contacted the Marines'?"

Doflamingo asked grimly.

"It's the children Caesar used for experiments. Caelan had the Marines called to come clean up the aftermath."

Vergo's face was twisted with mixed emotions.

This God Slayer was clearly treating the Marines like janitors.

"In that case, he must not know you're a double agent."

Doflamingo's eyes lit up. He saw a glimmer of hope.

"Vergo, take 600 million Berries with you and see if you can ransom Caesar under the guise of a Marine negotiation."

"If he refuses, don't force it. Just be careful not to expose yourself."

Caesar's bounty was 300 million. Doubling that should be a tempting offer.

Caelan had once been a famous bounty hunter and still had some rapport with the Marines.

There might actually be a chance of getting Caesar back.

And if not, as long as Vergo remained undiscovered, they could find another solution.

"Understood, Young Master!"

Vergo nodded seriously, his tone as solemn as a vow.

He was confident he wouldn't be exposed. Monet was fiercely loyal, and Caesar wouldn't be foolish enough to give away the identity of someone coming to rescue him.

After ending the call, Vergo immediately prepared the 600 million Berries and boarded the warship Smoker and Hina had readied.

The entire G-5 branch was mobilized. A total of ten warships set sail, heading straight for Punk Hazard at full speed.

(To be continued.)