The control room hissed with tension. Caesar Clown's fingers danced over the console keys, sweat dripping from his brow. Red lights blinked with every keystroke, half the systems still resisting his command.
"Come on... just a little more," he muttered. "Se-re-re-re! I'm a genius! This thing won't beat me!"
The screen flickered and finally showed: CONTAINMENT STABILIZED – PARTIAL CORE OVERRIDE ENGAGED.
Caesar chuckled, standing tall again. "See? This is my domain. That damn Core is mine!"
But behind him, Kael's chamber pulsed with low violet light. The slow heartbeat of the Core echoed through the air.
Underground Hallways – Straw Hats' Group
"We're getting close," Robin said, unfolding an old corridor map Law had given her.
"Let's hurry," Zoro growled. "I'm tired of waiting for this gas freak to show up."
"Heh, maybe Kael's hiding behind a wall somewhere," Luffy muttered casually, kicking at rubble. "We should bring him with us."
"We don't even know whose side he's on," Sanji snapped. "That guy's a walking time bomb."
"He did save us once," Chopper added, glancing at the smoke rising in the distance. "And the Core might be feeding off him."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Nami said, hand gripping her clima-tact.
Franky stopped at a junction and pulled a panel open. "Hold up! This whole sector's tied to something deeper. Looks like Caesar's trying to regain control—but barely."
"Then we need to move before it's too late," Usopp said. "I don't want to get turned into gas pudding."
Brook added, "Pudding is sweet, but not my preferred afterlife. Yohoho!"
Elsewhere – Smoker vs. Vergo
"Vergo!" Smoker snarled, slamming his jitte into the arm of the suited Vice Admiral.
Vergo blocked it with his arm, now coated in full-body Armament Haki. "Smoker. You're always too sentimental."
They clashed violently inside one of the old security vaults, debris flying around them.
"You've been covering for Caesar," Smoker barked. "How deep are you in this?"
Vergo didn't answer. Instead, he pushed back with overwhelming force, sending Smoker skidding.
"You wouldn't understand. The Hellix Project was never meant to be stopped."
Smoker's eyes widened. "You knew. Then you're part of it."
Vergo smiled coldly. "I was the failsafe."
Observation Room – Monet
Monet watched from the shadows. The temperature dropped as she glided along the wall.
She tapped into a comm-stone. "Caesar... Kael's stabilizing, but the Core is still active. Should we proceed with evacuation?"
"Se-re-re-re! No!" Caesar snapped back. "I have control. Just buy me more time."
Monet narrowed her eyes at the core's chamber. She didn't understand the full depth of the project. But she knew one thing: Kael wasn't meant to survive this.
Core Chamber
Inside the dark isolation wing, Kael's body floated weightlessly. His eyes were still closed, but his breath had returned. Faint energy strings pulsed outward from his chest into the machinery.
Though Caesar had stabilized the Core's external systems, the real danger lay within Kael's mind. Unseen, dreams twisted. Noel's voice. Flames. Gunfire. Laughing pirates. A black sea.
"Why did you let me die, Kael?"
His body spasmed slightly.
The Core reacted with a pulse. Silent, but sharp. Not domination—yet—but influence. It was no longer trying to take him. It was listening to him.
Straw Hats Nearing the Core
Robin looked up as another tremor shook the floor. "Something just surged."
Franky checked his scanner. "It's drawing energy from the sub-generators. Not enough for a full release. But close."
"Do we go in?" Usopp asked.
Luffy stepped forward, fists clenched. "Yeah. We're not leaving him behind. If Kael turns bad... I'll knock some sense into him."
Sanji lit a cigarette. "We'll back you up. Just don't go all soft on us now."
"I never go soft!" Luffy shouted, pouting.
Brook raised his sword. "Then let's finish this before someone else wakes up worse."