Chapter 309: The Traitor Within the Marines, The Ruthless Black Rod

Just as Luffy's casual "on the way" remark faded, a chaotic and heavy sound of footsteps suddenly emerged from the wind, snow, and dense fog outside the main entrance of the research facility.

Smoker and Tashigi led the Marines of the G-5 Branch, supporting each other and gasping for breath as they rushed out from the desperate situation filled with poison gas.

Smoker's iconic coat of justice was now damaged beyond repair.

He panted heavily, his lungs feeling as if they were burning.

When he looked up, his sharp, hawk-like eyes locked onto the open space ahead, and his expression instantly darkened to freezing point.

He saw clearly that Trafalgar Law, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea who should have been at odds with them, was now standing unharmed with the entire Straw Hat crew.

There was absolutely no sign of hostility between the two sides.

"As I thought..." Smoker bit through the remaining half of the cigar in his mouth, veins bulging on his forehead, his voice suppressing endless rage.

"Trafalgar, you bastard, you actually teamed up with the Straw Hat!"

"What do you take your position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea for!"

Facing Smoker's murderous gaze, Law just expressionlessly adjusted his spotted hat, offering no defense.

But Luffy didn't feel the tension and hostility at all.

He pointed forward with his finger, his clear, large eyes suddenly lighting up: "Ah! It's Smoke Guy! You actually ran here too!"

With the arrival of the main Marine force, the members of the Straw Hat Pirates instantly dropped their relaxed demeanor.

Zoro's thumb gently pushed his sword guard, Sanji ground his toe against the ground, and everyone gripped their respective weapons, ready to fight at any moment.

However, before the hostility between the two sides could erupt into an armed conflict, a pungent stench suddenly rolled in from behind them like a tsunami.

Although Tatsuya's earth-shattering sword strike earlier had forcibly severed the island's terrain, forcing most of the Slime's main body and venom into the abyss.

But the dense poison gas remaining in the air, fueled by the strong sea breeze, was rapidly spreading toward this last safe zone in front of the research facility's gate.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!" A hair-raising sound rang out as the edge of the purple poison mist touched the rocks and debris on the ground.

Those hard objects were instantly completely petrified, then turned into a pile of gray-white powder and dissipated with the wind.

Facing this indiscriminate, terrifying, deadly poison gas, everyone standing here, whether they were unruly pirates or Marines representing justice, deeply felt the approach of death.

"Now is not the time for spacing out or reminiscing! Everyone, get inside first!" Tatsuya said helplessly.

"Franky! Do it!" Sanji roared, his legs instantly igniting with scorching high-temperature flames.

"SUPER—Watch this!" Franky brought his arms together, his palms lighting up with a dazzling glow.

"Diable Jambe: Collier Strike!" "Franky Radical Beam!"

The violent attacks from the two main powerhouses slammed simultaneously into a spare heavy alloy door on the side of the research facility.

Accompanied by a deafening, earth-shaking blast, that alloy door, which was strong enough to withstand bombardment, was forcibly blown open, creating a huge gap.

"Quick! Get inside!" In this life-or-death moment, no one hesitated.

The Marines, the Straw Hat crew, and those huge children carried by the Centaurs scrambled into the dim passageways inside the research facility.

Just as the last Marine soldier thrillingly dove through the gate, "Clang—Boom!"

The research facility's heavy, thick alloy door slammed shut behind everyone.

The heavy mechanical locking sound echoed in the empty corridor, completely cutting off the deadly purple poison mist from the outside.

Everyone had just survived, and before they could even catch their breath, a crackling sound of electricity suddenly came from the broadcast speakers overhead.

Immediately after, Caesar's incredibly smug, ear-piercing laughter exploded in everyone's ears: "Shurorororo! Welcome to my underground death maze!"

"I was originally having a headache about how to wipe you all out in one go, but I didn't expect you to crawl into my cage like a bunch of stupid mice!"

Caesar's voice was filled with undisguised cruelty and madness: "Since you've come in, no one is leaving alive!"

"All of you, just stay here obediently and be the perfect lab rats for my latest poison gas experiment! Shurorororo!"

As Caesar violently pressed the red start button in the control room, the originally spacious corridors inside the research facility suddenly shook violently.

Accompanied by deafening mechanical roaring, heavy steel partition walls on the ceiling and both sides began to move crazily.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Like a massive steel maze quickly folding, the partition walls ruthlessly forced the crowd, who had been crowded together, to separate.

Pirates, Marines, and children were scattered into countless bottomless, intricate, dim corridors amidst gasps and chaos.

…After a burst of ear-piercing metal friction, the surroundings finally returned to silence.

In the midst of the chaos, to protect Tashigi from being crushed by the falling partition walls, Smoker grabbed her and pulled her into a remote, dimly lit metal corridor.

At this moment, both ends of the passage were sealed, and they were completely separated from the main Marine force.

Smoker held his Jitte, vigilantly scanning the dark surroundings, a layer of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

Just as he was about to find an exit, suddenly, his pupils shrank slightly. In the dim, crisscrossing shadows at the front of the corridor, a tall figure stood quietly.

The person was wearing the large Vice Admiral coat symbolizing Marine justice. Although he could only see the back, when Smoker saw the person turn his face, the familiar face, which was usually stern and currently comically had half an unfinished burger patty stuck to it, made his long-tense nerves relax significantly.

"Base Chief Vergo?!" Smoker walked up quickly, his tone filled with a trace of confusion and the relief of seeing a colleague.

"Why are you suddenly here? Shouldn't you be guarding the G-5 Branch?"

"But you came just in time, that insane bastard Caesar is secretly conducting inhumane human experiments, and even attempted to wipe us all out with poison gas!"

"We must now…" However, before Smoker could finish his sentence, his urgent report came to an abrupt halt.

The man in front, known as Vergo, turned around abruptly. There was no small talk about meeting after a long time on his face, nor was there any concern for his colleague who was in danger.

His eyes revealed a cold, bone-chilling intent, as if looking at a dead person. In the moment he turned, the seemingly ordinary bamboo stick in Vergo's hand was instantly covered by a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki.

Without any warning, Vergo moved like lightning. His arm muscles bulged violently, and he mercilessly smashed the pitch-black bamboo at the head of the unsuspecting Smoker!

"Bang—!!!" A dull, loud noise exploded in the cramped corridor. Vergo's strike was extremely cold and ruthless, aimed entirely at taking a life.

Although Smoker, at the final moment of facing a death threat, relied on the instinctive reactions cultivated from years of combat to barely lift his Sea Stone Jitte to block it.

But that tyrannical, unparalleled power directly shattered his defense. "Argh!" Smoker let out a miserable groan, his tall body instantly flying off the ground as if hit by a train moving at full speed.

He slammed heavily into the hard metal wall behind him, creating a huge dent in the wall, then fell hard to the ground, a mouthful of hot blood spewing out, staining the clothes on his chest red.

"Vice Admiral!!!" Tashigi, standing to the side, was so shocked by this sudden turn of events that her mind went blank. She stared in disbelief, looking at the Base Chief who was usually deeply loved and respected by all the Marine officers and soldiers of the G-5 Branch.

Her hands gripped the hilt of her sword, her voice trembling violently: "Ve… Vice Admiral Vergo? What are you doing! Stop it! We're on the same side!"

Facing Tashigi's desperate questioning, Vergo was expressionless. He slowly raised his hand, used his thumb to casually wipe off the half of the funny burger patty stuck to his face, his eyes cold without a shred of human emotion.

He walked with heavy steps, slowly to the front of Smoker who had fallen in a pool of blood. He lifted his foot, which was wearing a shiny leather shoe, and stepped heavily onto Smoker's chest.

Vergo looked down at him from above, and said slowly: "On the same side? Don't be so self-indulgent and have such ridiculous misunderstandings, Smoker."

"I have been a pirate from the very beginning." "I have been lurking in the Marine camp, painstakingly managing for so many years, climbing step by step to the position of Base Chief."

"It was just to cover up the unspeakable secrets on this island for the 'Young Master'."

Hearing these words, Smoker gritted his teeth hard, enduring the excruciating pain of his fractured chest. His eyes were bloodshot from extreme anger, staring fixedly at Vergo's hypocritical face:

"'Young Master'… Seven Warlords of the Sea, 'JOKER' Donquixote Doflamingo?!"

"So that's it… I did find it strange! The G-5 Branch has often received desperate reports of missing children in the surrounding seas these past few years, but they were all brushed off by superiors as ordinary shipwrecks and accidents, without any investigation at all!"

"So, it was all you bastard working in the dark, abusing your power to cover up their crimes!"

Listening to Smoker's accusation, Vergo's rock-hard face remained noncommittal, without a shred of remorse or guilt.

"You know too much, Smoker." "If I let you leave alive, things will become very troublesome."

"But don't worry, as long as I kill you both in this unknown corner. Then I can naturally push all the blame onto that self-righteous, brainless Caesar, and the Young Master's business can continue to run smoothly."

A hint of cold cruelty flashed in Vergo's eyes, and he raised the pitch-black bamboo in his hand high again: "Sorry, Smoker."

"If you really want to blame someone, you can only blame your own stupidity for letting you blunder into this hell that you shouldn't have come to at this time."

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