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Kin'emon sprinted out of the room like a man possessed.
Neji didn't even bother stopping him.
He just stepped aside and let the samurai bolt into the snow.
"That idiot will get exactly where he needs to end up," Neji muttered. "And when he finds Momonosuke… he's in for a surprise."
A painful surprise.
---
As Kin'emon vanished, Law leaned against the wall with his blade resting on his shoulder. He hadn't touched the food; he simply watched everything unfold.
"Neji," he said, "what are you planning to do with those three?"
He meant Caesar, Monet, and Vergo.
Neji wasn't in a rush.
"Relax. Without Monet contacting Doflamingo, nothing leaves this island for now."
He handed Law a plate of seafood noodles.
Law reluctantly accepted.
Then Neji passed another to Izumi and helped himself to Sanji's cooking.
"These three still have uses," Neji continued. "And your goal aligns with mine anyway."
Law didn't deny it.
"Destroy Doflamingo's SMILE operation.
Cut off Kaido's supply of artificial Zoan fruits. Force Kaido into a rage."
It was his revenge cold, calculated, and precise.
Franky, mouth stuffed with food, chimed in:
"So artificial Devil Fruits… they really work?"
Having spent two years on Vegapunk's home island, Franky had seen glimpses of abandoned projects and prototypes among them, the early versions of man-made Zoans.
Sanji and the others leaned in with interest.
Luffy and Chopper kept eating as if nothing existed outside their plates.
Neji nodded once.
"They work… and they don't. The defects are massive."
He explained briefly.
Almost no one survived the process cleanly.
The ones who did were unstable.
It was exactly the kind of nightmare that science had led Vegapunk to try to walk away from, and Caesar had embraced.
Luffy suddenly spoke with a mouth full of meat.
"Traffy! Are we still gonna beat up Kaido?"
Nami froze.
Law nodded calmly. "That is the plan."
Nami's hand shot out.
S T R E T C H
She pulled Luffy's rubber face into a meter-long noodle, glaring with demonic intensity.
"Luffy… explain. NOW."
"Mmmmf—mmph—mph!"
(Complete nonsense.)
Snap.
She let go.
His face bounced back like a spring.
"So yeah!" Luffy declared proudly. "Traffy and I formed an alliance! We're gonna take down Kaido!"
Neji smirked.
For Law and Luffy, this alliance actually made sense.
For him? It was just cooperation, not loyalty.
And then Nami exploded.
"You IDIOT! We already angered Big Mom! And now you want to piss off KAIDO? When do we get a break?!"
Luffy whistled a silent whistle—pure guilt.
Robin gently patted Nami's shoulder.
"It's Luffy. You can't expect logic."
Zoro just drank.
He'd long given up caring who they angered.
If they couldn't be cut, they weren't worth fighting.
---
BANG!
The door slammed open.
A sweaty, frantic Kin'emon stumbled inside—carrying a little girl with long hair, dressed in a small kimono.
Everyone stared.
Kin'emon's eyes darted until he locked onto Chopper.
He sprinted straight at him.
Then dropped to his knees, nearly knocking Chopper off his stool.
"CHOPPER-DONO! HELP! PLEASE, HELP HER!"
Chopper froze.
"D-doctor! Where's the doctor?! Doctor, we need a doctor!"
Law pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…That would be you."
"Oh! Right!"
Chopper snapped into doctor mode instantly and pulled out his stethoscope.
Law glanced over Momonosuke's unconscious form.
"Nothing fatal," he said. "Just starvation and exhaustion. Probably fainted from emotional stress."
He didn't mention that crying this hard could drain a child's stamina.
Not exactly medical professionalism.
Kin'emon wiped his tears.
"Chopper-dono… is Law-dono correct?"
Chopper nodded.
"Yep! She needs food and rest, that's all."
Kin'emon froze, completely froze.
Like a computer hitting a fatal error.
"Chopper-dono… w-what did you just say?"
"I said," Chopper repeated, "she needs food and rest—"
"NOT THAT ONE!" Kin'emon grabbed Chopper's face and pulled him nose-to-nose. "The FIRST part!!"
Chopper blinked. "Uh… she needs food?"
"No! BEFORE THAT!"
Zoro grabbed Kin'emon's collar, yanking him back.
"Kin'emon. Breathe."
But Kin'emon was spiraling.
"Impossible… absolutely impossible…!"
He staggered toward the child and gently opened her kimono.
Everyone leaned in.
Kin'emon froze again.
Completely.
Totally.
The little boy he'd raised…
Was now a little girl.
The pillar—gone.
He collapsed to his knees.
Back straight.
Eyes blank.
Soul departed.
He had hit full crash-loop mode.
Everyone else just stared in bewilderment.
Law, arms crossed, stated it calmly:
"He said he was looking for his son. But he brought back a little girl."
Luffy snapped his fingers.
"Oh! That means Kin'emon found his daughter, but not his son!"
THWACK.
Nami punched him so hard the floor cracked.
"NO, YOU MORON!"
"THIS GIRL IS HIS SON!"
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