"Get ready, intruder." The huge centaur advised. "I, Brownbeard, will slaughter you to the last."

However, instead of being afraid of him, Luffy looked at him in wonder.

"Did you see?" The pirate wanted to know, pointing to his legs. "He has alligator legs."

"So centaurs even have reptile legs?" Erza wondered. " Definitely, nothing better than traveling to expand your general knowledge. "

"That's not the point." Lucy retorted.

"Zoro, what did you do to those guys to make them mad at you?" Usopp asked.

"Idiot! That big jerk must think I'm the samurai who slaughtered his guys, because of my swords! And since they're where it's cold, I'm willing to bet the guy who called us to the aide was one of his men."

"In that case, we have to clear things up before they have the bad idea to sink our boat." The sniper remarked.

Standing up, he gestured to Brownbeard before declaring.

"Hey! We're not here with bad intentions! We're here to help you."

"Help us?" Brownbeard repeated. "Don't talk nonsense! You are friends with the samurai! So you are also an enemy."

"Zoro's not a samurai! He's just an idiot who fights with swords." Usopp asserted, taking advantage of the fact that Zoro couldn't catch him.

"Who's 'the idiot'?" The swordsman fumed.

"What a ridiculous ploy." snapped Brownbeard. "Guys, do me the favor to sink these boats and kill this black cat."

"Understood." Assured his men, immediately firing several bazooka shots.

Seeing the projectiles coming towards them, Usopp and Lucy barely had time to scream, before the cannonballs hit the boats head-on.

Running, knocking out several guards, Chopper allowed the children to advance without the slightest worry.

" LET'S GO ! RUN ! "

"You seem motivated." Nami remarked.

"Sanji gave me a mission and I intend to succeed with flying colors."

However, being too excited, he didn't see one of the guards, targeting him, as he was too far away for the medic to knock him out.

"I'll calm you down, damned creature."

However, a foot slammed into his head and knocked him backwards, while a white-haired girl appeared out of nowhere.

"Damn it, be careful, tanuki." She cried, looking at Chopper.

"What? Who are you?" Nami questioned her.

Turning to look at Wendy, Chopper noticed that one person was missing while the newcomer smelled exactly the same as her.

"Carla?" He wondered.

"Huh?" Nami said, looking at the new girl. "She is the white cat?"

To prove it, the girl changed her appearance to become the cat she was.

"Carla is an Exceed who can take humanoid form." Wendy explained.

"Wow, amazing." Chopper said. "Hey, can you teach me how you do?"

"You're amazing." A child chimes, in approaching Carla.

"Can you do it again?"

"It's not a game." Retorted the exceed. "We have other things to do! First, we have to find a way out of here."

Instantly, everyone turned to Nami, so she could say what they should do.

"Don't look at me like that." She retorted. "I don't know this place any better than you do! To find the exit, we have to move forward at random! So be careful and don't separate yourself from the rest of the group."

" Okay. "

But as they set off again, Chopper wanted to know.

"By the way, what kind of disease do you suffer from?"

"You said you were sick! But you look healthy to me." Wendy remarked.

"We don't know what we're sick of." Admitted a child. "We were just told that we will suffer if we are not treated in time."

"And how long have you been here?" Wendy wanted to know.

"For the oldest, about a year! Me, I've been here since the person who runs this island came to see my parents to tell them that I was sick."

"How did that go?" Nami asked.

"Men in coveralls came to my village and said that toxic particles had been identified here! When they examined all of us, they said that I and two other children had been contaminated and that it was imperative to leave the village if we didn't want to contaminate the rest of the villagers! They told us that we could go back to our homes, once we were cured."

"Strangely, this story seems strange to me." Carla affirmed. "And there are no adults who have been brought here for treatment as well?"

"No, there are always them only children."

"Children are easier to handle than adults." Nami muttered. "So these are prime targets."

"Yes! Either they're very sick…" Chopper began.

"Either there's another reason behind this." Wendy finished. "Have you been mistreated here?"

"No, not at all! Actually, the master has always been very kind to us."

"The master?" Carla repeated.

"He's the person who heals us! That's also how his men call him."

" WEAPONS LEFT ! "

" ICE MAKE : LANCE ! "

" WATER SLICER ! "

Charging at the men in the suits, the three combined attacks knocked most of them backwards. Unable to retaliate, they could only flee, until they were overtaken by the attacks, which exploded. Seeing them then crash and remain lying on the ground, Franky joined his arms together before shouting.

" SUPER ! "

"Hey, can you stop getting excited?" Grey questioned, grimacing. "Your screaming must have caused me to lose half my hearing."

"Huh? I'm a cyborg." Franky huffed. " And then, … "

Pointing to a pile of clothes on the floor, he wanted to know.

"Why did you get undressed?"

"I feel more comfortable without my clothes."

"That's no excuse, pervert."

"Hey! I don't want a man like you to criticize me like that! Have you seen the outfit you're wearing?"

"Damn it, are these guys really serious?" One of their enemies asked, getting to his feet.

"Let's take advantage and attack them with gas bombs! Now that the children are gone, nothing prevents us from gassing them."

Wanting to take their revenge on the three people, the shooters quickly forgot their fourth enemy. Thus, moving with lightning speed, Sanji found himself in front of one of them and gave him a splendid kick on the chin. The blow was so powerful that it made his opponent's mask fly, while the man's body collapsed on his back.

"If you want to gas this room, I'll be happy to make sure you can breathe the same polluting air as us."

"Baka! " Someone insulted him, finding themselves behind him. "You're surrounded now."

Indeed, being now surrounded by the shooters, Sanji apparently had no way out.

" PULL ! "

" SKYWALK ! "

Rising a few meters in the air, Sanji fell back towards the guards and punched one of them so as to knock off his mask before hitting his oxygen canister which he had on his back. Continuing like this, he smashed each of the canisters, so that the soldiers wouldn't dare launch any gas-related attacks.

Smiling at this, Gray prepared to attack them.

"With their heads exposed, it's going to be even easier to deal with them."

However, he stopped, seeing the horns each of the guards had on their heads.

" Horns ? "

"HIYAAAA!" Kin'emon's head suddenly shouted.

Jumping in fear, Juvia screamed.

"Hey, is it okay to shout like that?"

" What a formidable adversary. " He declared, without anyone being able to understand him. "Being unable to use my second sword, I'm going to have a hard time defeating him."

"What are you talking about?" Franky asked.

"From the opponent my chest is fighting." Kin'emon assured, remaining serious.

"Your bust?"

"Master! " Shouted a man, entering Caesar's lab. "We have bad news."

"What is going on ?" Ceasar questioned, as he appeared to be experimenting with Doctor Fronk.

"It's the G-5." The man asserted. "They managed to find the river despite the block of ice we had placed in front of it! Right now they are coming here and destroying all the obstacles with their cannonballs."

"Grrr!" Caesar growled. "Why do they insist so much on entering this island?"

"Maybe the G-5 was looking for Mugiwara." Doctor Fronk suggested. "If Smoker knows this pirate is here, he'll do whatever he can to get a foothold on this island. "

"Geez, this guy is the most annoying of them all."

At that moment, a sinister laugh, coming from the ceiling, was heard. Crouched in the shadows as his feet and hands seemed to be glued together like suction cups, a man asserted.

"If you want, we can get rid of it, Master."

Half-opening his mouth, he then unrolled a very long tongue, similar to that of a chameleon. Finding herself in a dark corner of the room, a woman affirmed.

"I'd be happy to break their bones, master."

" Bad idea." Caesar retorted. "Beating the G-5 will only tempt the Navy to send more boats here! No, order our freighters camouflaged and keep a low profile! We'll make him think this island is still deserted."

"Or else I can get him out of here." A new voice offered.

Arriving in the room, a new person appeared while his cap hid part of his face.

Continuing to run, Chopper's group eventually find themselves in front of a huge armored door. Wanting to operate her entry mechanism, Nami couldn't move the huge handle due to her physical weakness.

"It's…It's locked." She remarked.

"In that case, leave it to me." Chopper assured, getting into position.

"I'll help you too." Wendy offered, making a draft appear around her arms.

" KUNG-FU POINT ! "

" SKY DRAGON'S WINGS ! "

In less than a second, the huge door was thrown away, allowing the small group to continue to advance, under the cries of wonder of the children. Under the deluge of compliments, Chopper suddenly began to waddle in place as Wendy's face turned red and she began to say.

"It...It's not a big deal...really."

"They're really similar in that aspect of their personality ." Nami remarked.

Approaching, meanwhile, the entrance, Carla eventually shivered, noting that the temperature was much colder than in the hallway.

"Damn it, I feel like I'm in front of an open freezer."

Shivering, too, Nami began to grab Chopper's fur before begging him.

"Chopper, give me your fur."

"Huh? I can't, silly."

"The walls in this room are covered in ice." Wendy remarked. "What could be in there?"

"I don't know but, anyway, there's a door at the back." Nami affirmed, pointing at her.

"In that case, here we go." Chopper decided, before being followed by the two girls and Carla.

Nevertheless, the four stopped, when they saw the children standing still and having no desire to follow them.

"Hey, what are you waiting for?" Carla wanted to know.

"We… We're afraid of this place." Mocha told them, shaking slightly.

" We passed by here the day we arrived. " another girl said.

"There are men trapped in the ice." A boy informed them.

"Men?" They repeated, looking around.

Measuring for the most part more than ten meters high and all dressed in prisoners' clothes, there were, in fact, more than fifty people, prisoners in the walls of ice, whether on the sides, in high, or above their feet.

"Des… Corpses?" Nami gasped, feeling frozen in place.

"Mom, I'm scared." Wendy and Chopper cried, throwing themselves at each other.

"Wh…What is this place?" Carla wanted to know, looking around several times, as a droplet of sweat trickled from her forehead to her chin.

Suddenly, widening her eyes, she ends up having a premonition

…

"I am the master of all of you. shouted a huge man made from purple gas. "It's me and me alone who decides your every move." "

Then dropping his hand, he transformed various men into statues.

"Caesar, what are you doing?" A man questioned her, looking like Frankeinstein.

"Sorry, Doctor Fronk but none of you are of any use to me anymore!" And even if I kill you, Kaido won't do anything against me for fear of losing his only real Smile maker. »

Touching him in turn, he also transformed him into a stone statue, before turning to Natsu, Erza and Juvia, who were watching him from afar.

"And you three too, Fairy Tail Mages!" You will die in the name of science. »

…

Catching her breath, Carla dropped to one knee before whispering.

"Caesar? Doctor Fronk? Kaido? Smile? What does all this mean?"

Rubbing his hands together, Gray affirmed.

"If these guys manage to join us, it's because I would have underestimated them."

"Now we're safe." Franky stated.

Indeed, while Franky had placed a huge pile of rubble in front of the entrance door of the Biscuit Room, Gray had frozen everything, to be sure not to leave any potential opening for the guards.

Seeing it all, Juvia declared.

"You are so amazing, Grey-sama."

"Hey, I helped too." Affirmed Franky.

"Juvia didn't talk to the exhibitionist in the panties."

"I'm not an exhibitionist! I'm a perverted cyborg."

" What is the difference ? "

"Most important." Sanji stopped them, lighting another cigarette. "We have to hurry to join the others! Who knows if Nami is not in danger?"

"First of all, we'd have to figure out who these guys are." Franky retorted, grabbing one of the unconscious guards by his horns. "I see they're not false horns."

Shaking him then, he managed to get the rest of the man's body out of his suit. Once this last part ground, he could see the legs of the man who were those of a sheep.

"A satyr?" Juvia wondered. " What does that mean ? "

"Hey, who are you?" Gray wanted to know, picking up another man. "Are you men or monsters? Where's Kaido?"

Waking up somewhat, the man could only wince, under the action of the pain.

"Answer." Gray insisted. "Who is your boss?"

"Master…Caesar…Clown." The man mouthed, before fainting again.

"Caesar…Clown?" Franky repeated. " Impossible. "

"Do you know him?" Gray wanted to know, letting go of his satyr.

"Yes! A few years ago, he was a scientist known to be a true genius! Nevertheless, for reasons unknown to me, the order was given to arrest him and he has since disappeared from the traffic! No one knows what he looks like or who he works with now."

"Juvia thinks he must be a Kaido man." Juvia affirmed.

"If so, he'll probably know where he is." Gray realized.

" We'll think about that later. " Sanji retorted, grabbing Kin'emon's head. "Right now, we have to..."

"Wait." His head ordered. "Leave me here."

" Huh ? "

"My son was not among these children! This laboratory is large enough to contain several rooms with other children! I must go there to find him! I will not leave here without him."

"Damn it, and what are you going to do, all alone?" Sanji questioned him. "You are not a samurai, you are only a head."

"As long as my will is with me, I feel like the strongest man in the world." Kin'emon retorted. "I came here to rescue my son and I would die so he could leave this island alive."

Turning then to the other three, he affirmed.

"Hey, one of you must understand me, right? Someone must have children! Don't you really understand why I'm so worried about my son? He didn't come here from his willingly! He was kidnapped."

"For that, you'd already have to find your body." Gray retorted.

"That's right! Where is he, actually?" Sanji questioned him.

"What? Maybe you think I'm going to tell you? There's no way I owe a pirate the least bit! I'd much rather die than ask you for a favor! That's the way features a samurai."

Suddenly looking away, he added however.

"Nevertheless, feel free to seek it out...if you feel like it."

" More arrogant, you die. ' thought the quartet.

"You're seriously starting to annoy me." Sanji affirmed. "If I listened to myself, I would smash your skull."

"Huh?" the samurai said. "Dare you strike a poor defenseless head? Have you no honor?"

"My honor, you'll feel it when I spray your face" Sanji shouted.

"Calm down." Franky advised him. "You're the one who took him with us! And hitting him won't make our situation any better."

However, that was when Kin'emon couldn't think of anything better to do than stick his tongue out at her.

"But are you going to stop being childish?" Sanji questioned him, throwing him to the ground.

Doing a few rebounds, Kin'emon ends up getting back ''on his feet'' before retorting.

"I tell you that I didn't ask you anything, you pirate."

Then turning to Gray and Juvia, he asked them.

"And you, why do you sympathize with them? From what I understand about you, you are part of a group ensuring the safety of civilians, are you not? "What's wrong with cooperating with these brigands? So your so-called Fairy-Tail is just a brigand den? Urk, you make me sick."

Suddenly frowning, and causing a layer of ice to appear on the ground surrounding his feet, Gray warned him.

"Be careful what you say! It doesn't take much to piss me off, especially when someone insults our guild."

"What do I care, you rot?"

A column of water suddenly hit him and threw him against a wall. Now it was Juvia's turn to get upset and, unlike the others, she thought it best to teach that face a painful lesson.

"No one insults Grey-sama."

" Damn it, I regret taking it with us. " Sanji asserted, going to retrieve the head stuck in the wall, before running with the others to leave here.

"Knock a poor innocent head, aren't you ashamed?"

"Hey, don't you want me to freeze him to shut up?" Gray wanted to know.

"I was just about to ask." Sanji informed him.

"NO! DON'T DO THAT."