Crack!
A bolt of lightning streaked across the ominous sky, and torrential rain poured down, causing the sea to lose its usual calm under the impact of fierce winds.
Waves occasionally crashed onto the deck, and after the ordeal, they often left some gifts from the ocean.
"Be careful next time, don't get swept up again."
Tiger picked up an unfortunate sea bream on the deck and tossed it back into the ocean. Although he's a fishman, he's one of the few within the Fishman Race who can communicate with fish.
The impact of the seawater made the deck sway seriously, but the crew was long accustomed to such waves; mere stormy weather was just an appetizer for the New World.
However, not everyone could survive in such weather, as evidenced by the shards of ships appearing on the deck.
"Nun, are you sure this is the destination? This place doesn't seem like it has any signs of life."
Before long, a glimmer of light appeared on the dim sea, not from a lighthouse on the coast, but a sea of fire.
Everything visible was engulfed in raging fire, casting a bizarre reddish hue on the sea.
Boom!
Volcanoes on the island sporadically spewed lava, clearly all active.
The volcanic ash was battered down by the rain, but the pungent smell of sulfur still drifted over with the sea breeze, causing Tiger, accustomed to the ocean air, to frown.
"Such heavy rain, yet the flames haven't extinguished. This island definitely has issues..."
"It should be correct. According to the intel I got from Queen, the person I'm looking for is here."
The person Misu was searching for was indeed Law. However, Misu only knew Law had become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and didn't know his location.
To locate Law, Misu had to resort to other means.
According to the six degrees of separation theory, the number of people separating one from any stranger is no more than six.
That means one can meet any stranger through a maximum of six intermediaries.
But that's merely theory, and even those involved might not be clear on the relationships involved. Even knowing this theory, practical implementation is riddled with difficulties.
However, for Misu, the issue wasn't complex—Misu submitted her request to Queen, and Queen quickly found Doflamingo.
By rights, due to the link with the Op-Op Fruit, Doflamingo himself is very concerned about Law's safety.
After all, this matter is closely tied to the Anti-Aging Surgery, yet he truthfully provided Law's whereabouts.
Law's position was relatively hidden, yet not entirely secret—the World Government, the Navy, some people within knew where Law was. Even if Doflamingo didn't say, some investigation at Tesoro's place could reveal some clues.
Moreover, Doflamingo was aware that the Hundred Beasts had some intersection with the historical Freyvans incident. Considering Law's origins, Doflamingo had some guesses as to what the Hundred Beasts intended, which is precisely why Doflamingo willingly divulged Law's location.
Law went to Punk Hazard to investigate some of the World Government's research materials, which indirectly connected him with Caesar, who was conducting experiments there, thus establishing a new link with Doflamingo.
In a sense, this was also part of Law's plan.
Doflamingo had certain business dealings with Hundred Beasts, something Law was aware of. Indeed, the entire New World's underworld was aware.
Law's aim to deal with Doflamingo first required handling these matters—he wanted to disrupt Doflamingo's transactions, depriving him of value to Kaidou.
In Law's view, someone like Doflamingo couldn't establish a solid friendship with Kaidou; interests maintained everything. As long as this interest chain was disrupted, an unable-to-deliver Doflamingo could directly face backfire.
"That's what they say, but this island doesn't seem like it's inhabited."
"Mr. Tiger, this island was once a World Government experimental site, but after an experimental accident, it later became the battlefield for Aokiji and Akainu's duel."
"Then I take back what I said earlier. This island probably can't sustain any life, but in this world... there are always exceptions. Fishman Karate: Kuko!"
Tiger didn't believe there was life on the island, but he still came to the bow of the ship and punched forward, aiming to clear the path for the ship.
For some reason, the flames on the island even extended to the sea. Their ship's main material was still wood, so sailing directly into the sea of fire wasn't a wise choice.
Once the wind from the punch split the sea of fire, their ship continued to advance.
...
"You all stay here, we'll be back soon."
"Nun, shouldn't we go together? This island seems to have quite a bit of trouble."
"No need, just guard the ship well. Sir Tiger and I won't be long."
After docking, Misu didn't bring many personnel, only Tiger accompanied her as they moved further into the island.
Though abandoned now, one could still see the barbed wire left by the World Government on the perimeter, seemingly signaling danger to those who arrived here.
The surroundings were littered with broken ruins, some houses even appeared melted, and magma flowed through the cracks in the ground. The intense heat of the environment made Tiger very uncomfortable.
Not long after, he took off his coat and followed Misu bare-chested.
He didn't like this scorching environment. The Fishman Race longed for sunlight, but the deep sea's temperature was more comfortable for Tiger.
"Nun, don't you feel hot?"
He was sweating profusely with his bare chest, yet the Nun, in her heavy habit, seemed unfazed.
"Mr. Tiger, what are you talking about? Can't you tolerate even this little bit?"
"Uh... if you first lift your ability before saying that, it would be more credible."
Seeing Misu whose face was partially covered by a mask, now in Ceruledge's Human-Beast Form, all of Tiger's doubts were dispelled.
"Fire Type really is willful..."
Looking at Misu whose hair had transformed into purple flames, Tiger had figured everything out. The naturally burning Misu wouldn't feel the heat from the flames.
"So Nun, where is the person you found?"
"Well... I'm not sure either, someone said they would come to pick us up, but we haven't met them yet, and the Radio Snail isn't working.
No matter, Mr. Queen gave me a map of the island, marking the location of the laboratory. We'll go there ourselves."
The misunderstanding in communication about the pickup led to an unexpected situation. Meanwhile, someone had been standing in the wind and snow for half a day.
On the other side of Punk Hazard, Monet rubbed the Radio Snail with her wings helplessly. After Law came here, he used the Op-Op Fruit's abilities to replace Monet's hands and feet, giving her wings and claws of birds.
The Radio Snail, being a biological communication tool, had quality issues, and the one in Monet's hand had fainted due to weakness.
"Caesar really is a useless fool, can't even keep the Radio Snail warm, totally wasting the young master's energy..."
Cursing Caesar's abilities, Monet gazed towards the sea.
"Why haven't they arrived yet? Didn't they say they were coming soon..."
This was a communication mishap between Monet and Misu. Punk Hazard's regular port was on the icy side with snow everywhere; compared to the magma, it was more hospitable to stay in the cold region.
Monet wasn't afraid of the cold. Misu, with the abilities of Ceruledge, is unafraid of heat, while Monet, being an ability user of the Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit, lives in cold climates like a fish in water.
She considered whether she had come to the wrong place; however, after waiting half a day, she worried that as soon as she left, they might arrive, so she continued waiting.
The guests she awaited encountered something strange.
...
"Is that... a dragon?"
In the sea of fire, a giant red dragon suddenly charged at Misu and Tiger without warning.
"Maybe, but why does it look so much like Mr. Kaidou's creature?"
Tiger grabbed the dragon's biting teeth with both hands and tossed it away. He saw clearly; the blow definitely broke its neck, but soon, the twisted neck bizarrely regenerated.
This regenerative performance was very similar to the Hundred Beasts' abilities, and this dragon was precisely Vegapunk's creation.
When Punk Hazard hadn't been abandoned, Vegapunk had created many oddities to guard the island's safety.
As the apex of fantasy creatures, dragons naturally fell under Vegapunk's purview.
At the time, the Navy delivered a blood sample from the Hundred Beasts, giving the dragon-making process a new direction.
Compared to the dragons provided to the Navy's Flying Dragon Team, this one was of noticeably superior quality, at least in terms of regeneration speed.
However, when Vegapunk moved away, this dragon was left here. Though stronger than the Navy's dragons, it's still a failed experiment compared to Vegapunk's collected materials.
Being a perfectionist with obsessive tendencies, Vegapunk didn't take it along, leading to today's events.
Looking at the dragon's appearance, Misu seemed to realize something.
"It seems someone... has stolen the master's power."
She typically didn't stir trouble with the Navy, and the Navy's dragons weren't abundantly outfitted.
After the Flying Dragon Team was wiped out by the fallout of their own weapons at the summit war, reconnaissance soldiers aboard General Level warships became standard, making this Misu's first sighting of such a creature.
Purple flames formed two massive arm blades; the newly regenerated dragon hadn't yet risen before Misu's Bitter Blade severed the neck.
The cursed flames continued to burn on the collapsed dragon's wound, and the theoretically regenerable head disappeared in the ongoing blaze...