"A Yuki-onna!!"
"A monster~~!!"
Chopper clung to Usopp, screaming while staring at the shadows shifting rapidly through the blizzard.
"A Yuki-onna?"
Seeing their pale faces, Franky and Sanji exchanged a glance.
Observation Haki spread outward, but no unusual aura was detected.
"Is this Yuki-onna supposed to be beautiful?" Sanji's lustful soul twitched.
"Where is she?" Franky squinted into the blizzard. "It's nighttime and snowing so hard I can barely see. Are you two hallucinating?"
"It's true! She was a woman with grass-green hair!" Chopper said hurriedly.
Usopp nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes! She even smiled at us! In the middle of the night, during a blizzard, a woman walked through heavy snow without leaving footprints! She's definitely a Yuki-onna!! She was right near our ship just now!"
"A woman!?"
Sanji's eyes froze, and he unleashed Observation Haki again, this time with even greater intensity.
But the snowstorm was just too strong.
"There was a woman's aura a moment ago, but it already vanished."
Zoro, leaning against the mast with his favorite swords in hand, opened an eye at the sound of all the commotion and shouted toward the Sunny:
"Luffy, do you want me to capture her?"
"Nah, let her go."
Luffy probably knew who it was.
When their ships descended from the sky onto the island, snow covered everything — and it was still coming down hard.
"Is there really a Yuki-onna?" Uta's eyes sparkled.
"It's just a capable person, not the Yuki-onna you're imagining..."
Luffy smiled. Uta's curiosity truly had no limits.
Uta immediately released her Observation Haki and located the woman.
"She's over there, Luffy! Let's catch up and take a look!"
"Alright, alright."
Luffy maneuvered the ships to pursue her, not too fast nor too slow — simply maintaining distance behind their target.
This woman would lead him to his destination.
Soon after, Luffy's group passed beyond the snowstorm.
Under the moonlight, what caught everyone's attention was the devastated terrain.
Collapsed buildings littered the area, and some parts were still burning.
Well, not exactly — a dragon hovered in the sky, occasionally opening its mouth to spew flames.
"!!?"
Everyone looked up, stunned.
Unlike Kaido's massive azure dragon form, the dragon above them was fiery red — shaped like a Western dragon.
Plump-bodied, a silly-looking head, and two tiny wings on its back… it was doubtful whether it even should be able to fly.
"Dragons… really exist~" Robin whispered, awestruck.
"Luffy! A dragon! It's a dragon!"
Uta pointed excitedly at the sky. "Catch it! Having a dragon as a pet would be so much fun!"
But it's so ugly… Luffy cursed inwardly.
Then, the dragon above fixed its eyes on the two ships and opened its mouth, unleashing a burst of dragon fire.
A column of flames descended from above.
"Freezing Rain!"
Vivi immediately stood up, raised her right hand, and a stream of chilled water burst from her palm.
Water and fire collided midair, erupting into a thick cloud of steam.
---
Aboard the Merry.
Sanji's eyes blazed, and he leapt into the air.
"You bastard!! Are you trying to burn us alive?!"
Boom!!
He kicked the dragon squarely in the head, knocking it from the sky.
But the dragon's wings trembled and flapped open, stabilizing its body.
It snapped its jaws toward Sanji.
"Don't be so reckless, you perverted cook!"
Zoro smirked, rose to his feet, unsheathed one katana, and leaped upward.
He held the sword in a reverse grip, an aura faintly resembling a dragon forming behind him.
The blade was coated in Armament Haki, and under the night sky, the fiery dragon froze, stretching its neck to bite.
A split-second later—
The dragon's head was severed!!
"Ahhhhh~!"
Uta let out a tragic scream.
"My pet...!"
Luffy laughed. "Let's roast it and eat it. Even if we can't keep it, dragon meat must taste great."
---
A few minutes later…
As a bonfire crackled inside the Straw Hat Crew's cabin, roasting dragon meat…
The woman responsible for the blizzard arrived at the entrance of a massive research facility.
She had long, wavy grass-green hair, golden-yellow pupils, and her left eye frequently hid behind her bangs.
Opening a small door beside the institute's gate, she took out a pair of thick-bottomed glasses — the kind used for drinking milk — and slid them onto her face.
Her name was Monet.
Upon entering, she soon reached a room filled with experimental equipment.
Inside, a cloud of gas drifted, constantly shifting shape.
Sensing someone behind it, the gas turned.
"What's the matter, Monet?"
"Luffy, the Straw Hat, just docked his ships on this island."
Monet sighed. "Things have gotten complicated. I don't know what they're here for. And since they arrived from the sky, the surveillance equipment outside the island couldn't detect them. If I hadn't been nearby, they might've found this laboratory already. To prevent… or at least slow them down, I created a blizzard."
"What?!"
The gas jolted so hard its eyes nearly popped out.
A moment later, the gaseous mass rapidly condensed into a man.
Long, wild black hair, horns on his head, purple lipstick, heavy eye makeup, flat nose, thin brows—
Caesar Clown.
He called himself a genius scientist, but in truth, he was simply a madman.
He was terrified by the sudden news.
"Luffy the Straw Hat is here!?"
"Yes. No need to freak out so much, right?"
Monet adjusted her glasses. "Maybe they just got lost and ended up on this island by accident. Their ship can fly — they probably found this island without magnetic fields and decided to check it out."
"You understand absolutely nothing!"
Cold sweat poured down Caesar's forehead. His mood was unstable, and panic swallowed him whole.
"?" Monet glanced at him, confused.
Grinding his teeth, Caesar said, "I've been keeping track of that man for a long time! He rushed all the way from East Blue to the New World in no time, and I know exactly what he's done!"
He stopped pacing, his body trembling.
"That man is more Marine than the Marines themselves! If he finds out I used those children for experiments, he'll definitely kill me!"
"Just like those two idiots from East Blue!"
"Damn it, I need to think of something! Monet, contact Doflamingo right now! If I die, all his business will collapse!"
"..."
Caesar was so distraught that his voice turned shrill.
"Hehehe..."
Monet found it amusing.
Not knowing why Luffy of the Straw Hat Crew landed on this island, he assumed he would be killed purely based on his past actions.
And what does that tell us?
Answer: Caesar knows perfectly well that what he's doing is far from good.
(End of chapter)