Chapter 17:Attack on Punk Hazard!

The Kraken, the ship of the Angel Pirates, soared through the sky as Punk Hazard came into view below. The desolate island was a scarred wasteland. Poisonous green gas floated above the surface like a sinister fog, and Yami's sharp observation haki picked up on every single living presence on the island.

Yami's eyes narrowed as he sensed a strong aura. His smirk widened. 'Didn't expect to meet Joker here... but that just makes things more interesting. Might as well capture him now. My new base at Dressrosa will be ready once I'm done with him.'

"Yahahahahaha!"

Yami threw his head back and unleashed his self-created signature laugh. His deep voice echoed across the deck of the ship.

Makino, Tashigi, Nami, and Nojiko all sweatdropped in sync.

'This again...', they all thought.

It wasn't the first time Yami had used that ridiculous laugh. According to their tall, Chuunibyou captain, every strong figure in the world had a signature laugh. So Yami had crafted his own—Yahahahahaha!

In Yami's mind, he nodded to himself approvingly. 'Yes... this is perfect. Enel's laugh is lost to history since he is dead, so now "Yahahahahaha" belongs to me!'

Finally stopping his dramatic laughter, Yami turned to his crewmates with a sharp grin.

"Below us is Punk Hazard," Yami said, his eyes glinting. "The air down there is filled with poisonous gas—but don't worry, I've already prepared a solution for that."

The girls all focused as Yami's grin widened.

"And down there… is none other than one of the Warlords of the Sea, Donquixote Doflamingo."

Instantly, the atmosphere shifted. Makino, Tashigi, Nami, and Nojiko all tensed up in shock.

"Doflamingo?!" Tashigi repeated, her eyes widening.

Yami's smirk grew sharper. "I'll take care of Doflamingo myself."

Then his gaze turned toward Nami. "There's also a freaky scientist working in that laboratory—Caesar Clown. He's scum. No... worse than scum. He experiments on children."

Nami's face darkened at the mention of Caesar's experiments. Her hands curled into fists as lightning sparked in them.

Yami's eyes flashed. "He's also the holder of the Gas-Gas Fruit—a Logia. But you've got the Lightning Logia, Nami. You should have no trouble dealing with him alongside the netherite-seastone coated baton I gave you. Just don't hold back."

Nami's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "I'll castrate him."

Yami chuckled darkly. "That's the spirit."

Then he turned toward Makino, Tashigi, and Nojiko. "Your job will be to loot everything in the laboratory. There's a lot of valuable stuff down there—particularly Devil Fruits and smile fruits."

He crossed his arms. "There's one specific room you need to find. Inside will be a single fruit. Bring it to me."

"Another Devil Fruit?" Makino raised an eyebrow.

Yami's grin widened. "Yes, something like that… and I already know who's going to eat it."

Tashigi sighed, shaking her head. "This is hopeless… I've really become part of a pirate crew, haven't I?"

"You're only realizing that now?" Nojiko teased, smirking.

Yami's eyes flashed with excitement as his black Lunarian wings unfurled behind him. His wings ignited with a faint red glow as flames flickered along their edges.

"Alright…" Yami grinned. "Let's make a grand entrance!"

With a powerful flap of his wings, Yami launched himself into the air, his towering figure soaring toward Punk Hazard like a demon descending from the heavens.

Doflamingo had just set down his cup of tea when the ground beneath him trembled violently. A deafening explosion followed, shaking the entire Punk Hazard island.

What the hell…?

He stood up in shock as his Observation Haki flared, immediately locking onto an immensely powerful presence in the sky. His face darkened.

Caesar stumbled into the room, his face pale. "D-Doffy! What's going on?!"

Without answering, Doflamingo walked toward the entrance of the laboratory, Caesar trailing nervously behind him. They stepped outside—and their eyes widened in disbelief.

Hovering high above Punk Hazard was a massive ship—an enormous black vessel with sharp edges and strange blocky shapes. A pirate flag flapped violently in the wind—a white skull engulfed in flames, crossed by two blocky netherite swords.

From the ship's deck, loud laughter echoed down.

"Yahahahahaha!"

Suddenly, the ship's side opened, and dozens of red cubes with the letters TNT etched into their surfaces shot downward like cannonballs. They exploded upon contact with the ground, each one detonating with devastating force.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The series of explosions shook the island to its core. The two massive giants stationed outside the laboratory—half-frozen and guarding the facility—stood no chance. Over two hundred explosions rained down on them, consuming their massive bodies in flames and smoke. Their charred forms collapsed with an earth-shattering crash.

Doflamingo's eyes narrowed dangerously as he gritted his teeth. "What the fuck is happening?!"

Then his gaze lifted upward—and his expression darkened even further.

A figure hovered in the air above the wreckage. His white hair billowed wildly in the wind, his crimson eyes glowing with predatory intensity. Two black wings unfurled from his back, trailing fire along their edges. He held a massive netherite sword crackling with dark flames in one hand.

"Yami!" Doflamingo spat venomously.

His mind raced. 'Why the hell is this bastard here?! He's been quiet for the past two weeks after killing a Celestial Dragon—so why is he attacking me now?!'

Yami's crimson eyes gleamed with mischief. He flicked his fingers toward the ground below.

"Fire," he whispered.

Suddenly, eggs shot from his fingertips and splattered on the ground.

The eggs hissed and sizzled. Then, with loud metallic groans, blocky iron figures began rising from the ground—iron golems—each one towering over Doflamingo. Their iron bodies gleamed in the poisonous light of Punk Hazard, red eyes glowing menacingly.

Ten… no, twenty iron golems surrounded Doflamingo and Caesar, their arms flexing as they prepared to strike.

Doflamingo's mouth curled into a dark smirk. "You're too bold to challenge me, Yami!"

Yami's grin widened. "Shove that mouth up your ass, Doflamingo. You're nothing more than a poor Celestial Dragon lapdog."

Doflamingo's eyes narrowed in rage. He flexed his fingers, and thin white threads emerged from his fingertips. With a flick of his hand, the strings shot forward, wrapping around the iron golems.

SNAP!

Doflamingo's Haki-coated threads cut through the golems like paper, slicing them apart. Their metallic limbs scattered across the ground in a heap.

Doflamingo raised his hand toward Yami. A massive string shaped like a spear formed, covered in pitch-black Haki. He shot it toward Yami with murderous intent.

Yami's eyes flashed. He swung his netherite sword, coated with his own Haki. The spear-string shattered upon contact with a sharp metallic ring.

Yami's wings ignited with flames as he lunged forward toward Doflamingo, his sword burning with dark fire.

Flames erupted between them as their clash rocked the air with explosive force.

While Yami was fighting Doflamingo, Caesar Clown, who had been trembling in terror, turned toward the laboratory.

'Shit! I need to get back inside!'

But as Caesar started to run, a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him, sending debris flying in all directions.

Caesar stumbled backward in shock. His eyes widened as he spotted a tall, orange-haired woman standing a few meters away. Her body crackled with blue lightning, and her eyes gleamed with dark rage.

Nami stood confidently, her baton crackling with electric energy. "You're not going anywhere."

Caesar's face twisted in panic. "W-Wait! What did I do to you?!"

"You experimented on children," Nami's voice dropped to a deadly tone. "That's enough of a reason to kill you."

Caesar's face darkened. "Hmph! You think you can stop me? I'm a Logia user, you fool!"

Caesar's body transformed into purple gas as he shot forward, aiming to envelop Nami in his toxic form.

Big mistake.

Nami's lips curled into a dangerous smile. Lightning flared around her body as she extended her baton.

"Thunder Discharge: One Million Volts!"

Electricity exploded outward in a blinding surge of blue light. The shockwaves of lightning crashed into Caesar's gaseous form, and his distorted face twisted in agony as the volts tore through him.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!"

Caesar screamed as bolts of lightning erupted from his form, sending arcs of energy across the ground. His body flickered violently as the gas struggled to maintain cohesion.

Nami stepped toward him with a sadistic smile. "How does it feel?" she whispered. "How does it feel to be in pain, huh? Didn't it cross your mind how much pain those poor kids you experimented on felt?"

Caesar writhed and screamed as the electricity burned through his form. Nami's smile widened.

While Yami and Nami dealt with their respective targets, Makino, Tashigi, and Nojiko slipped into the laboratory undetected.

Makino held a small square device in her hand—a strange, blocky compass. A glowing red arrow hovered in the air above it.

"Are you sure this thing works?" Tashigi whispered.

"Yami said it's a Devil fruit fused with a normal compass using some kind of 'Item Fusion Crafting Table,'" Nojiko said, shaking her head. "Honestly… I don't even understand how that works."

Makino narrowed her eyes at the compass. The arrow was pulsing violently.

"It's pointing toward… there."

They approached a reinforced metal door at the far end of the hallway.

Nojiko stepped forward and pulled out a key-like object Yami had also provided. She inserted it into the lock, and with a soft click, the door opened.

Inside was a single glass case. Sitting on a velvet pedestal within the case was a strange-looking fruit—blood-red scales spiraling around its surface with sharp black ridges cutting through the pattern.

"The Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Crimson Dragon," Makino whispered.

Tashigi's eyes widened. "A Smile Fruit… no, this is different."

"This one was made by Vegapunk, from what Yami said." Nojiko said. "Yami knew it would be here."

Tashigi sighed. "That man… he's always thinking five steps ahead."

They took the fruit and sealed the case.

Outside the laboratory, the sound of explosions and violent clashes continued to shake the walls.

And Yami's echoing laughter—"Yahahahahaha!"—filled the poisoned skies of Punk Hazard.