The walls of Caesar's facility trembled with energy. Lights flickered red and orange, casting erratic shadows on the faces of the imprisoned Straw Hats.
"That quake wasn't natural," Franky muttered, tightening the bolts on a torn panel he'd managed to pry loose from the wall. "Something's screwing with the whole system."
Nami nodded, glancing at Chopper, who was tending to one of the fainting children. "Whatever it is, it's close."
Sanji kicked the door one final time, and with a loud CRACK, it broke free.
"That's more like it!" he shouted. "Let's go save the others—and put that gas freak in the dirt."
Brook phased through his wall and poked his skull through the hallway. "Clear—though I think the guards are retreating. Something's got them spooked."
Franky accessed a terminal inside a wrecked maintenance room. His eyes narrowed. "Whoa... This blueprint says there's a control center—someplace Caesar can't even enter. Labeled 'Core Isolation Wing.' And... there's something else in there."
"Do you think it's Kael?" Chopper asked nervously, ears twitching. "He was hurt pretty bad... I hope he's okay."
"It might be," Nami said. "But still... Kael helped us once. He might be caught in the middle of this too.""
Suddenly, the children nearby whimpered. "The walls are talking again... the voices... they're loud now," one mumbled.
Back on the Surface – Crater Rim
Smoker landed beside Luffy, brushing ash from his coat. "That blast came from the inside."
Luffy, huffing and scratched from the fight, glanced at Zoro. "Think he's still in there? The gas guy?"
"Probably," Zoro replied. "And more trouble too."
Robin's eyes narrowed. "I feel something... dark. Ancient."
"Everyone stop!" Usopp pointed. The dragon had landed. The disembodied legs had stopped moving.
From behind a boulder, Trafalgar Law stepped into view.
"I was wondering when you'd all notice."
Zoro readied his swords. "You again."
"Easy," Law said. "I just came from the sublabs. There's something alive down there. Something even Caesar can't control."
Robin stepped forward. "The Hellix Core. We all learned about it on that abandoned research island in the New World... the project that Vegapunk was forced to shut down."
"Then you know it was based on technology from the Void Century," Law said. "It warps reality. Rewrites energy."
Luffy blinked. "Oh yeah, that creepy core thing? I remember—it messes with the world, right?"
Law raised a brow. "No. More like a nightmare." Robin said. "We need to regroup. If Kael is involved, this could spiral out fast. Caesar was just a pawn. There's more beneath this island than any of us realized."
"Then we'll smash our way in," Zoro said, stepping forward.
"Let's be careful," Robin warned. "It's not just strength we need anymore."
Nearby, Tashigi staggered out from the wreckage, her uniform torn. "Smoker... I saw something in the lab—Kael's body was floating, and the machines were moving on their own."
Smoker narrowed his eyes. "Then it's worse than I thought."
Inside the Core Isolation Wing
The Hellix Core's pulse grew stronger. Doors opened without sound. Machines reassembled themselves, guided by invisible energy.
Kael's fingers twitched faintly. His eyes opened halfway—blank, unseeing. A strange hum echoed through the floor, so subtle at first that even the monitoring drones didn't register the change. His awakening had begun slowly, buried under layers of unconscious thought and trauma, unnoticed by Caesar and the scientists.
Nearby, a drone awakened—black metal and glowing purple. It moved toward the control systems and inserted a tendril.
"Override... priority change detected," the drone said mechanically. "Control shifting. Adapting new host signature."
Unknown to Caesar, the Hellix Core had begun quietly synchronizing with Kael's subconscious will—its actions subtly bending to his buried emotions and unresolved rage. It was no longer simply a tool or a weapon. It was becoming an extension of Kael's pain.
Images flickered in Kael's mind—Noel, the flames of Enies Lobby, Luffy's face. His body tensed, despite being unconscious.
Suddenly, subtle vibrations passed through the chamber as loose panels dislodged, responding not to will but to a growing power disturbance. Consoles rewrote themselves. Prototypes long thought scrapped surged back online.
Monet, observing from a hidden panel above, gasped as energy surged past her wings. "The Core... it's evolving."
Caesar's Lab – Main Chamber
Caesar slammed buttons on his console. "Se-re-re-re! What's going on?! That chamber was locked!"
His screens blinked. Static. Then a single message:
HOST IDENTIFIED. BEGINNING MEMORY FUSION.
Caesar backed away, trembling. "No, no, no! I didn't authorize this!" Yet even through his panic, his mind raced. He reached into his coat, pulling out a remote override. "Se-re-re-re... you're not getting away from me that easily!" He slammed the override into the console and began typing furiously.
Kael's pod hissed slightly, but it didn't open all the way. As the low hum deepened, Caesar's override began syncing with the core's interface. Slowly, red barriers over the data screens turned green. The instruments stabilized, if only slightly. The slow takeover had begun—but now Caesar was clawing back control, bit by bit.
"It's syncing... but why so slow? Why isn't it responding fully yet? This wasn't the plan!"
The lights flashed violet and red, but the emergency barriers stopped halfway. Caesar's override had bought him just enough command to delay a full lockdown.
"Monet! Stop this!" he shouted, looking to the control booth, but she had already disappeared.
Ventilation Tunnels – Escaping Crew
Sanji, Franky, Brook, and Chopper barreled through the tunnels. Sirens echoed above.
"We have to get out now!" Chopper warned. "Something big just woke up!"
"We're not leaving yet," Franky said, eyes wide with a mixture of dread and awe. "Not until I see what the hell this Core thing really is."
"We don't have time for your scientist curiosity!" Nami snapped through a vent communicator. "Focus on escape first!"
Brook skated along beside them. "I can feel the rhythm of death... even my bones are shaking."
Sanji gritted his teeth. "We need to regroup with Luffy. And fast."
Behind them, the lighting flickered faint purple, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Malfunctions caused occasional hissing from old doors, but nothing seemed intentionally active. The island wasn't alive—just breaking down under strain.
"It's like the island is coming alive," Franky muttered.
And deep below them, Kael's fingers twitched.