"Yes, Vice Admiral Rowan!"
Vice Admiral Ethan immediately gestured. "Vice Admiral Rowan, please follow me."
Rowan nodded. He turned to instruct Vice Admiral Momonga to arrange for the soldiers' rest and recovery, then followed Ethan toward the base's dungeon under the respectful gazes of the stationed Marines.
"Vice Admiral Rowan, Caesar Clown—the mastermind behind the Punk Hazard gas explosion—is held in the deepest part of our dungeon. Given the gravity of his crimes, I've stationed heavy guards. It's absolutely impossible for that fellow to escape," Ethan said with a hint of pride as he led the way.
Rowan's expression remained unchanged, but he shook his head inwardly. If Caesar were just an ordinary mad scientist, a single branch base's strength would indeed be enough to hold him. However, Caesar's background was far more complex than Ethan imagined. In the original story, Caesar escaped custody more than once, eventually fleeing back to Punk Hazard to continue his inhumane, localized experiments.
Passing through several heavily guarded checkpoints, Rowan soon reached the cell where Caesar was supposedly held.
"Vice Admiral Rowan, the cell ahead is specifically designed for Caesar," Ethan pointed to the cell nearby, assuring him confidently. "There is only one path to this cell, and the entire structure is made of reinforced Sea Prism Stone. We've also fitted the prisoner with Sea Prism Stone handcuffs."
"Furthermore, the guards here are the elite soldiers of our base. Nothing can go wrong."
Despite Ethan's confident tone, Rowan's brow furrowed. Seeing this reaction, Ethan's heart skipped a beat, and a wave of unease washed over him.
"Vice Admiral Rowan, please follow me."
Suppressing his anxiety, Ethan quickened his pace and reached the cell. But when he saw the scene inside, he froze. A look of horror surfaced on his face as he stood paralyzed, muttering to himself, "Wait... where is Caesar? I personally locked him in this cell! Where is he?!"
The cell was empty. There was no sign of the prisoner.
Ethan stared in disbelief, his eyes searching every corner, nearly sticking his head through the bars.
"So, they've already taken him..." Rowan wasn't surprised. A figure as important as Caesar wouldn't be left alone by the interested parties. The only question was: which faction took him?
"Mr. Rowan?" Momonga, who had finished settling the troops and rushed over, looked at the calm Rowan with concern as he realized the situation.
Rowan simply shook his head and closed his eyes. He focused his mind, activating his Observation Haki. In an instant, his maxed-out Haki enveloped the entire island.
Inside the dungeon, Ethan finally noticed the broken lock on the cell door. His heart sank; he had to face the reality. Caesar had escaped under his watch! Ethan's face turned ashen. He had failed such a simple task and disappointed Mr. Rowan.
Just as a dejected Ethan turned to beg for forgiveness, he froze upon seeing Rowan's state. Rowan, with his eyes closed, seemed like a completely different person. Ethan felt an involuntary surge of awe, not daring to utter a single word to disturb him.
About half a minute later, Rowan snapped his eyes open, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "Vice Admiral Ethan, Vice Admiral Momonga, take your men immediately to the woods three kilometers northwest of the base!"
"The woods three kilometers northwest?" Ethan hadn't even processed the location when, with a swoosh, the old man standing before him vanished instantly.
"He... he's gone?" Ethan's expression was frozen.
The next moment, Momonga's voice snapped him back to reality. "Vice Admiral Ethan, don't just stand there in a daze. Let's move!"
"Oh! Right! Vice Admiral Momonga!" Ethan responded immediately and, with the fastest speed of his life, sprinted out of the dungeon.
On the other side, Rowan had already cleared the base, moving at an incredible speed toward the northwestern woods.
Deep in the forest, two figures were currently fleeing at high speed. One of them, whose lower body had completely transformed into purple gas, was Rowan's target: the mad scientist, Caesar Clown.
"Shulolololo! Dellinger, I knew Joker wouldn't abandon me. It's an honor to work with him!"
Caesar, with his dark purple hair and goat-like horns, used his Logia ability to float in the air like a hot air balloon. His flight speed was not much slower than the agile child beside him, and he even had time to laugh. His face was full of smugness, showing none of the dejection from his earlier capture.
Dellinger, who looked like a child despite being nearly thirteen, rolled his eyes and revealed a row of sharp, predatory teeth. "Yi-yah! Caesar, do you have any idea how angry the Young Master was? You knew how important you were to his business, so why did you do something so reckless?"
"It's a good thing you were only held at a branch base. If you had been taken to Impel Down, even the Young Master wouldn't have been able to save you."
Though Dellinger was only twelve and wearing ten-centimeter high heels, it would be a mistake to underestimate him. He was a human-Fighting Fish hybrid, possessing power far beyond a normal person. The horns on his head and his razor-sharp teeth proved he was a dangerous existence.
"Shulolololo! Dellinger, you look down on me too much? I am Caesar Clown! If I don't want to be held, what prison could possibly keep me?" Caesar boasted with absolute self-absorption.
As a former member of the Marine Science Division, he knew the horrors of Impel Down—the world's greatest underwater prison. In its eight-hundred-year history, only Shiki the Golden Lion had ever successfully escaped. However, Caesar was confident he could slip away from the Navy before ever reaching those gates.
"Stop bragging and let's get out of here first," Dellinger said with a grin, though there was gravity in his eyes. "I heard the person sent to escort you is the famous 'Godfather' of the Navy, Rowan."
"Godfather Rowan? That old fossil?" Caesar sneered. "He's just an old guy with average strength. A retired Vice Admiral who happens to have a lot of seniority. There's nothing to fear."
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