Law was stumped by the question.
Was he afraid?
Truthfully, yes.
Although they were allies, at the end of the day, they were all pirates.
And in the world of pirates, betrayal was often part of the game!
If the guy with the sunglasses took his heart and refused to return it, he might be headed straight for another kind of hell.
But... he had no choice!
What else could he do besides cooperating with the Straw Hat Crew?
Thinking this, Law sighed silently in his heart.
Then, he spoke up, "It's impossible to say I'm not afraid, but... compared to the enemy, you as allies are clearly more trustworthy."
Just as he said, although having his heart in the other's hands was dangerous, it was still better than having it in Vergo's grasp!
After all... the other side was the enemy!
"You're quite honest," Meiser said with a laugh.
He understood Law's meaning now—simply put, this guy was truly out of options, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to let him tag along.
"We're allies, so honesty is only natural," Law replied expressionlessly.
"Alright, since you're honest enough, I'll help you get your heart back," Meiser said, hands in his pockets. "Let's go, let's meet this 'Gor' or whatever you called him."
"Vergo."
Law corrected him instinctively, then looked at Meiser in surprise. "I didn't expect you to help me for such a reason."
He thought he'd have to waste a lot more words.
"Not entirely," Meiser said. "It's mainly because Luffy formed an alliance with you and thinks you're trustworthy. Otherwise, I might not have helped you either."
"Because of the alliance..."
"That's right."
Meiser glanced at Law. "In Luffy's eyes, an alliance is pretty much the same as being friends, so helping you out isn't a problem."
"However..."
At this point, Meiser paused, his gaze gradually sharpening.
"I hope you haven't lied to us either, or you'll definitely regret it."
He didn't mind helping a "friend" handle some matters, but only if the other party hadn't deceived them.
Otherwise...
He'd get angry too!
With that, Meiser ignored Law, who was still standing in place, and walked ahead on his own.
Law silently watched Meiser's retreating figure. In that brief moment, he had sensed a deadly threat emanating from the man before him!
Was it an illusion? Law wondered to himself.
But the feeling was all too real!
"Hey, what are you still spacing out for?"
Meiser glanced back at Law, who was still rooted to the spot. "Are we getting your heart back or not?"
"Don't wait until the enemy gets a sudden urge to crush your heart."
That would be a real mess.
Law understood the seriousness of the situation, so he temporarily suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and quickly caught up to Meiser.
"Let's go then, Mr. Sunglasses," Law said.
"Do you know where to find Vergo?"
"No."
Meiser: ???
Meiser, who had stopped in his tracks, looked at Law with a bewildered expression, as if to say: Are you kidding me?
I was all ready to go on a rampage with you, and now you're telling me you don't know?
"You're joking, right?"
"No."
Law said expressionlessly, "I really don't know where that guy is."
Meiser: ...
"Law, do you think I won't hit you?" Meiser said with a blank face. "Actually, I'd really like to."
He still remembered how this guy had harmed his crew!
If he got too cheeky, Meiser wouldn't mind giving him a beating.
Hearing this, Law's mouth twitched slightly. Where was this sudden hostility coming from?
"Although I don't know where he is, I have a way to lure him out," Law said. "As long as we enter the S·A·D Laboratory, we can draw him over."
He knew all too well what the S·A·D Laboratory meant to Doflamingo.
So... Vergo would definitely come!
"Then let's go," Meiser lowered his fist and said. "Hurry up and find that place."
With that, Meiser turned and walked deeper into the tunnel.
Seeing this, Law breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he wasn't afraid of the man before him, internal conflict wouldn't do them any good right now, so it was best to avoid a clash if possible.
"Lead the way!"
"Coming."
"What's that strange sound up ahead?"
Nami frowned as she looked toward the area ahead. "It's been going off since just now..."
For some reason, she had a bad feeling about it.
"It's the alarm for the emergency door closure," Brownbeard said. "I've seen it once before."
Hearing this, the others' expressions immediately changed.
"The alarm for the emergency door closure?"
Perona widened her eyes and said, "Doesn't that mean we'll be locked out?"
"If we're too slow, that's exactly what will happen," Brownbeard nodded.
Although he didn't know why that bastard Caesar was closing the doors now, it was better to hurry inside.
Otherwise, something dangerous might happen.
Perona, as if suddenly realizing something, changed her expression and said, "Hey, do you think that bastard Caesar might be planning to release poison gas in here!"
If that were the case, staying here would be dangerous!
"That's possible," Brook said.
"How would he release it?" Usopp asked, puzzled. "By opening the doors?"
"Probably not," Brownbeard shook his head. "The main doors of the research facility need to be opened manually from the entrance. There's no remote switch."
"Then how does that bastard Caesar plan to release the poison gas?"
"It might not necessarily be poison gas," Nami thought for a moment and said. "Maybe he's just trying to trap us here."
Hearing this, Zoro and Kin'emon both laughed.
Trying to stop them with steel doors?
Wasn't that a bit too far-fetched?
After all, they had two Sword Masters who could easily cut through steel doors!
"Never mind, let's just get through the door ahead first," Nami looked up toward the distant area and said. "Brownbeard, run faster!"
Brownbeard: ??
Brownbeard turned his head with a face full of confusion to look at Nami sitting on top of him. How could this woman have the nerve to say something like that?
"If you think it's too slow, run by yourself!"
"That won't do~"
Nami stuck out her tongue and said, "I need to conserve my energy to search for the children~"
Brownbeard:
What kind of ridiculous reason is that, you jerk!
Isn't his energy also energy?
Though extremely annoyed, Brownbeard obediently picked up his pace, quickly running toward the distant area.
After all... he didn't want to be locked outside either.
"Everyone, I'm back."
"Robin?!"
Seeing Robin descend from the sky, Nami quickly stood up and said, "You didn't go with Luffy and the others?"
She had thought Robin went with Luffy and the others to find that Caesar, but she didn't go?
"I didn't go with them." Robin shook her head and said, "Luffy asked me to take care of something."
This time, Nami simply nodded without saying anything more.
"By the way." Robin glanced around at the group and asked, "Where's Merry?"
Why couldn't she see any trace of that little one?
Did she run ahead?
"She's in the back."
Usopp pointed toward the rear area and said, "She's with the people from the G-5 Branch."
As soon as he said this, Robin's expression immediately changed.
"All by herself?"
This is just reckless!
Letting such a young girl run around with that group?
What were Usopp and the others thinking?
"Don't worry." Usopp said, "Sanji is with Merry."
If Merry had stayed behind alone, he wouldn't have been at ease either.
But with Sanji there, it's different.
With that man around, no one can harm Merry!
"Sanji is there too... no wonder I didn't see him here."
Earlier, she had thought Sanji had rushed ahead, but he actually stayed behind with Merry?
Then it's fine.
Afterward, Nico Robin turned her gaze to the area ahead and said, "That sound is..."
"Ah, the gate is about to close. If we don't hurry over, we'll be locked out..."
"BOOM!!"
Before Usopp could finish speaking, a massive explosion rang out, cutting his words off abruptly.
"What happened?!"
Brook looked around nervously and said, "Why is there cannon fire?!"
"It's over there!"
Usopp pointed toward the side wall and said, "That wall was blown open by a cannon!"
Now he could even see the snow outside through that hole...
Wait?
Snowflakes?
As if realizing something, Usopp's face instantly turned pale.
"That bastard plans to pump in poison gas this way!" Usopp shouted.
As if to confirm his words, the next moment, a large amount of purple gas surged in through the hole, looking extremely terrifying.
This made Usopp's expression even grimmer.
That bastard Caesar...
He really intends to kill them with poison gas!
"I didn't expect Caesar to be this ruthless." Nico Robin said with a grave expression as she watched the poison gas rushing in from afar. "He doesn't even care about the research facility just to poison us to death."
Is it because he fears we might leave here alive and expose what's happening here?
That's entirely possible.
However, the more this was the case, the more determined they were to survive and escape this place!
"Stop sighing."
Usopp said frantically, "Hurry up and run!"
"That's right, Brownbeard, run faster!" Nami also shouted urgently.
"I'm already going at full speed!" Brownbeard roared.
Did he not want to run faster?
He simply didn't have the ability!
Given his severe injuries, being able to run this fast was already quite impressive!
Hearing Brownbeard's words, Zoro's expression gradually grew serious.
Would they have to cut down the gate again?
But this time, would they have enough time to seal the gate?
Thinking of this, Zoro furrowed his brows.
"We don't even know what's ahead, and now poison gas is coming from behind..." Nami said with a grim expression. "No, this can't go on."
After a moment of thought, Nami decided to use her Devil Fruit ability.
"Let me try my ability!"
With that, Nami began to use her Cloud-Cloud Fruit ability, creating an enormous cloud mass in mid-air.
After touching the cloud with her hand, Nami said, "Hmm, it should be fine."
Given the density of this cloud, carrying Brownbeard shouldn't be a problem.
Then, Nami moved the cloud directly in front of Brownbeard and said, "Brownbeard, jump onto it!"
"What is this?"
Brownbeard stared at the cloud in front of him, utterly confused. What on earth was this thing?
"Stop talking nonsense and jump!" Nami said. "I wouldn't joke with our lives!"
Seeing Nami's insistence, Brownbeard hesitated no longer. He immediately used his lower body to leap onto the cloud.
"Everyone, hold on tight!"
"Thump!"
The moment the cloud made contact with Brownbeard, it immediately sank downward, clearly overloaded.
Seeing this, Nami increased her ability output, allowing the cloud to rise back to its previous height before swiftly speeding off into the distance.
"I didn't expect you to be this heavy," Nami said with a frown.
"Well, my body is pretty big, after all."
Brownbeard instinctively replied before asking in confusion, "What exactly is this?"
"Why can it carry me while flying?"
Watching the scenery whizzing past, Brownbeard's eyes were filled with bewilderment.
"This is a cloud," Nami explained. "I'm a Cloud Person who ate the Cloud-Cloud Fruit."
"This is a cloud I created using my ability."
"A cloud..."
After recalling some scenes he had seen earlier at the shelter, Brownbeard's expression turned to one of sudden realization.
Oh, right, this woman was an Ability User who had eaten the Logia-type Cloud-Cloud Fruit.
But being able to create a cloud capable of carrying him was indeed quite impressive.
After all... he really was very heavy!
"I didn't expect you to create a cloud so quickly this time," Perona remarked with admiration. "It seems your mastery of the Devil Fruit has improved."
"Well, I've had this fruit for several days now~" Nami laughed.
After such a long time, reaching this level of mastery was only natural.
Perona smiled at this and said, "That's true."
Meanwhile, Usopp kept his eyes fixed on the area behind them and asked, "Is Merry okay back there?"
With that cloud formation there, they no longer needed to worry about the issue of entering the gate.
But as for Merry and the others...
"Don't worry."
Nami stood up and looked toward the area ahead, saying, "Merry is the wind's favorite. When it comes to speed, she's much faster than I am."
After all... that's the wind!!
"You're right."
Usopp also understood what Nami meant, so he temporarily relaxed.
With Merry's capabilities, there shouldn't be any problem for her to rush through the closing gate with those people.
"Alright, everyone, get your spirits up!" Nami said. "We need to charge into Building B at the fastest speed possible, and then find those kids as quickly as we can!"
"Right!!"
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