After a bit of "friendly communication" with Laboon,
Rett walked over to the green dinosaur clutching its tail and quietly sobbing. Well… probably more of a lizard, but whatever. Let's just call it a dinosaur.
Since Rett didn't know the exact location of their target, he had been wandering across the seas, landing on every island they came across to check. After all, while this dinosaur could run through stomach acid like it was nothing, its time limit wasn't infinite.
And Rett wasn't about to treat his crew like some heartless capitalist overlord.
"Right, Enel?" he grinned.
Suddenly, three velociraptors burst out of the dense jungle, claws ripping trenches into the ground, amber eyes glowing with the ferocity of predators.
"Waaah! They're going to eat us!" Olga clung desperately to Rett's arm, her legs trembling.
Perona's negative ghosts were already restless. "We're doomed! My gothic dress is going to get drenched in dinosaur blood!"
Rett, however, didn't look bothered. Instead, he crouched down and rubbed Laboon's head. "Your turn, buddy."
Laboon slapped a fin against his chest with a determined "Moo!" (Translation: Leave it to me!)
He took a deep breath, his whole body swelling like an inflated balloon.
"Ora ora ora!!!"
In an instant, Laboon became a streak of blue lightning. His punch tore through the air with such speed it cracked like a sonic boom. Sparks of fire flickered at his knuckles purely from the velocity.
And no, he hadn't eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit. Sometimes physics just looks like fire.
This was a fighting style Rett had taught him, inspired by that later character Ideo, known as the "Destroyer Cannon."
Laboon bent his tail-fins like legs, reared his right fin back, and gathered the sea-beast's natural vortex energy into his punch.
"Moo—!!"
BOOM!
His strike landed squarely on the leader raptor's jaw. The shockwave rippled outward in a fan shape. Everyone heard the sharp crack of bone, followed by the detonation-like bang of a fist swung past its physical limit.
The raptor's eyes rolled white, its tongue flopping out half a meter. Its massive body shot backward like it had been catapulted, smashing through seven trees thicker than two men before embedding itself in a trunk. Its legs twitched helplessly in the air.
Rett sighed in admiration. The "blood-tank" durability of this world really was insane. Back in his old world, that thing would've been splattered across the forest in chunks.
But the fight wasn't over.
Laboon suddenly lowered himself, tail whipping upward.
SWOOSH!
The earth split into a half-meter trench. The other two raptors had just leapt to pounce when they realized they were already airborne, flung by sheer force.
THUD!
Both beasts, each weighing several tons, slammed onto their backs. Their tails thrashed, claws flailed like overturned turtles.
Laboon didn't intend to let up. He surged forward, tail-fins planted firm (or as firm as fins could plant, which looked both ridiculous and impressive), his body glowing faintly blue.
BAM!
Left punch to the gut. One raptor launched skyward.
BAM!
Right punch to the chest. Second raptor followed.
Everyone tilted their heads, watching two dark specks rise higher and higher into the sky.
Enel casually raised a hand. "Should we catch them?"
Rett waved him off. "Nah, let 'em fly. Laboon's really coming along. Next time we see Brook, I'll have plenty to brag about."
Five seconds later
SPLASH! One dinosaur cratered into the sea, a geyser of water exploding upward.
CRASH! The other slammed into the ground right in front of a T-Rex, landing in a perfect kneeling bow like a samurai begging forgiveness.
Rett blinked. "Wait… since when do dinosaurs know dogeza?"
Ignoring the comedy, Rett turned to Olga. "It's time we find Dr. Misquina Acier. That's his name, right?"
Olga nodded firmly.
The group continued searching the island.
"Is my dad really here?" Olga whispered, clenching her dress hem. Her voice trembled. She hadn't yet made peace with the truth: her father had sacrificed her mother for the sake of research. Rett had explained the other side of the story, that it had been for her sake, but years of resentment weren't so easily erased.
Rett ruffled her golden hair. "When you see him, no crying, alright?"
Through thick ferns, they stumbled upon a bizarre scene.
A man wearing a handmade dinosaur headpiece was crouched by the river, happily gnawing on meat alongside a pack of baby dinosaurs.
"Pink dinosaur, huh? Good taste, old man," Rett teased, eyeing the little pink dino chomping noisily beside him.
"...Dad?"
The man froze. The meat slipped from his fingers. Slowly, he turned. Behind his glasses, his eyes widened. "O… Olga?"
No sobbing reunion. No shouting, no accusations. Father and daughter simply stared at each other across three meters of silence.
Finally, the man moved first. He fumbled to yank off his ridiculous dinosaur mask, revealing a mess of hair and tear-streaked cheeks. Tears literally gushed like broken faucets anime style at its finest.
Rett swore it felt like watching some old slapstick children's show. "Forgive me. Forgive me. Sinful, sinful," he muttered under his breath.
Olga twisted her toes into the dirt. "...Mm."
Rett stepped back, giving them space.
Perona stretched with a sigh. "Ah, look at those flowers over there." She scooped Laboon up and wandered off.
Enel scoffed. "Humans are such a hassle." Still, he followed.
The doctor fidgeted, wringing his hands. "I… I thought you…"
"I thought you were dead," Olga cut him off, voice small. "Rett already told me everything."
No overdone drama. No tragic misunderstanding. They simply embraced, both sobbing quietly.
The hug lasted a long while. But eventually, they pulled apart.
No lengthy apologies. No endless explanations. Just a father's gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder, and a daughter discreetly wiping her eyes.
Some love needs no words. A hug can speak louder than a thousand speeches.
Rett chose that moment to step back in, cigarette dangling from his lips. "All caught up? Good. Let's talk business."
The doctor blinked. "Business?"
"Yeah." Rett grinned. "We need a scientist. Interested?"
He knew what he wanted: in this world, absolute status required not only strength, wealth, and influence but also brains. Rett aimed to become the ultimate master of "face" in the One Piece world, someone who controlled everything.
As the saying goes, technology is the first productive force. And a man capable of creating Pure Gold could ensure Rett's crew stayed at the peak indefinitely.
Pure Gold carried two possibilities: either it outright froze the body's condition or simply slowed its decay. Both were priceless.
To Rett, the difference didn't matter.
Lifespan was cheap in this world. After all, there was always that shadowy, dog-loving mystery figure pulling strings in the background.
It was time for Rett to start his real moves.
"Doctor, it's fine if you want to stay alone. But you wouldn't want Olga living like a wild child forever, would you?"
Social tactic: appeal to family.
"And you don't have to give up your research. Funding won't be a problem. Whatever resources you need, we'll get them."
The doctor's expression softened, clearly tempted. Rett glanced toward Tesoro with a sly smile.
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