Amid the purple haze of toxic gas enveloping the island, the scientists on the retreating warships looked back in horror. In the skies above Punk Hazard, they saw a colossal dragon's silhouette flashing with streaks of lightning, its presence alone shaking them to their cores.
"Caesar!!"
The furious roar that followed wasn't just sound—it was rage that split the heavens. The voice boomed across Punk Hazard and carried all the way to the navy's fleet.
At once, Caesar Clown and Dr. Vegapunk turned pale, their expressions twisting with the same dreadful realization.
That voice… Subject 88?
"He's not dead?" Caesar shouted in shock, though a flicker of manic joy sparked in his eyes. If Subject 88—their strongest experimental body—still lived, perhaps Caesar's own disgrace wasn't sealed. Perhaps he still had a path back to the science division.
Vegapunk's vast forehead creased with tension. "No… this is worse. He's not only alive—he's awakened after consuming the artificial Devil Fruit!"
"What!?" Caesar's eyes bulged. "Didn't you tell us that fruit was a failure?"
The other researchers panicked, their voices overlapping in disbelief. If that artificial Azure Dragon Fruit possessed even a fraction of Kaido's power… had they just created another Yonko-level monster?
The thought alone froze their blood.
Because Subject 88—Souta Kiryuu—wasn't just any specimen. His body carried the bloodlines of the Oni, the Lunarians, even the failed grafts of the Ancient Giants, Minks, and Fishmen. He had survived procedures that no one else had. He was their "Perfect Adaptor," the only success in a sea of corpses.
And Caesar had gone further—injecting him with toxic and transparency lineage factors. If he still breathed, if he now roared… then none of those experiments had failed.
"He tricked me!" Caesar snarled, teeth grinding. Souta Kiryuu's feigned death had led him to panic and detonate the gas bomb, causing this disaster. Now, standing on the edge of ruin, Caesar realized he had been played for a fool.
In the distance, a deafening roar split the heavens. A torrent of flame erupted through the mist, scorching a path of clarity through the choking gas—aimed straight at their ships.
"Defend!"
"Moonwalk—Sky Step!""Storm Slash!""One-Sword Style: Soaring Cut!"
Sentomaru and several Marine Vice Admirals unleashed their strongest techniques in unison, desperately intercepting the dragon's wrath. They couldn't allow the scientists—the World Government's prized assets—to be annihilated.
Vegapunk's jaw tightened as he recorded the phenomenon, eyes flicking over the shadow twisting in the fog. "He's already mastered a dragon's breath attack… astonishing."
Through the seared tunnel of dispersing gas, they saw him at last. A massive crimson dragon, body etched with glowing violet toxin-markings, thunder and fire writhing around its form. Jagged fangs, wicked horns, searing flames—the embodiment of vengeance itself.
A true monster.A dragon of hatred.
The scientists quivered as its fiery breath surged closer. Even the Admirals' techniques couldn't fully stop it. What remained of the torrent hurtled toward their vessel like judgment.
"Quick! Remove these seastone cuffs!" Caesar shrieked in terror. He no longer cared for dignity, only survival. Only by returning to his Gas-Gas fruit's elemental form could he hope to slip away from annihilation.
"The scales… they're pink?" one scientist gasped."Then the Azure Dragon form truly was a failure?" another blurted."No, wait… look at those horns, that size. Could it be the dormant Ancient Giant bloodline reawakening?""And those purple lines—that's the toxic lineage factor stabilizing within him!"
Even as death loomed, Vegapunk's pen scratched against his notes. To him, data mattered more than fear.
But then—
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
A lazy, drawling voice rippled through the chaos. A brilliant golden radiance filled the skies, scattering the toxic fog as countless beams of light tore through the dragon's breath.
"Admiral Kizaru!"
The scientists collapsed in relief, weeping with gratitude.
"Admiral, capture him! Subject 88 is the World Government's most important experiment!" they cried, desperation shifting into fervor.
To them, Souta Kiryuu wasn't a victim—he was a miracle. A creation too valuable to lose.
Kizaru floated lazily in the light, arms outstretched with mockery. "Maa… sorry, but this gas is troublesome. Even someone like me can't linger long. I'm only human, after all."
Yet without descending, he unleashed a concentrated laser down into the fog. It streaked straight for the crimson dragon.
From within the haze, another laser fired back—Souta Kiryuu's own modified eye answering the challenge. The two beams clashed midair, but Kizaru's overwhelmed it, slamming into the dragon's chest.
A roar of agony tore through the sky. Blood rained down from the clouds before the dragon's massive body dissolved into the gas. But just before vanishing, one baleful, blood-red eye locked on the ships—searing the scientists' souls with murderous hatred.
The fog rolled back in, swallowing the battlefield, but that final gaze lingered in their hearts.
"Was that… his Transparency Factor at work?" one whispered. "Or did he shed the dragon form entirely?"
"Either way," Caesar muttered, trembling, "that look… it was the look of something that won't stop until it tears us apart."
Kizaru adjusted his orange shades, unease flashing across his face. "A dragon with lasers, transparency… troublesome. If it can slip past Observation Haki…" He trailed off, voice heavy.
"My suggestion?" He exhaled slowly, his voice deceptively casual. "Call a Buster Call. Burn the island and this creature both to ash."
The scientists recoiled, horrified. "But Punk Hazard still holds priceless data, essential equipment! If we destroy it—everything is lost!"
Vegapunk closed his eyes for a moment. In truth, he shared their conflict. He had spoken with Souta once, more than once, when Subject 88 begged for the artificial Azure Dragon fruit. Deep down, Vegapunk had pitied him. Even liked him. But under the World Government's shadow, he had no freedom to choose compassion. He had forged this monster with his own hands.
At last, he sighed. "Let the Five Elders decide."
The transponder snail crackled. On the other end, Elder Saturn—the Warrior God of Science and Defense—listened in silence, then delivered his decree.
"Capture the subject alive. We will not discard such a priceless specimen."
The verdict was absolute. Vegapunk's homeland would suffer greater scrutiny. Caesar was seized, to be shipped to Impel Down. And the Navy, under Kizaru's command, was ordered to assemble a full force to hunt and restrain the Crimson Dragon.
As their warships drifted away from the poisoned island, Souta Kiryuu's wrath still hung in the sky. The scarlet eye, that dragon's roar—none of them would ever forget.
The monster they had forged now lived with only one purpose.
Vengeance.