Chapter 434: Hundred Beasts Kaido?

"So that’s how it is. That makes sense now," Shakky nodded.

No wonder those two monsters could fight for ten days and ten nights in a place like that—it turned out the poison gas on the island had long been cleared away.

Then, as if remembering something, Shakky said, "Wait... you said who purified the poison gas on the island?"

"Caesar," Meiser replied. "At least, that’s what his subordinates called him."

"Caesar... Caesar Clown?!"

"I don’t know his full name. I only know he’s called Caesar."

Hearing this, Shakky frowned and thought for a moment before asking, "Did you happen to see anything like ’CC’ written anywhere on the island?"

"Yes."

Recalling the Den Den Mushi he had seen on that Centaur earlier, Meiser said, "The Den Den Mushi carried by his subordinates had the letters ’CC’ on them."

"Then it’s almost certainly him," Shakky said.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this guy named Caesar was none other than the mad scientist wanted by the World Government—Caesar Clown!

Listening to Shakky’s words, Meiser asked curiously, "What, do you know this person?"

"Of course."

Shakky said, "This guy is a mad scientist wanted by the World Government, with a bounty of 300 million Berries."

"That’s quite a price."

Brook was surprised. He hadn’t expected this guy named Caesar to be worth so much.

"Yes, he’s worth that much," Shakky said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Although his personal strength isn’t much, what’s in his head is what makes him so valuable."

"What’s in his head..."

Pondering Shakky’s words, Meiser considered the information he had gathered earlier, along with Shakky’s description of Caesar.

This person must be an evil scientist who has mastered some powerful Techniques!

That’s probably why he’s worth so much.

"Well, he once conducted research alongside Vegapunk," Shakky said. "Although I don’t have much accurate information, the fact that this person collaborated with Vegapunk suggests his skills are quite remarkable."

Otherwise, the man said to possess wisdom 500 years ahead of the current world wouldn’t have worked with him.

Geniuses only collaborate with other geniuses!

"No wonder Vegapunk did something like that," Zoro said with a look of disdain. "Seems like neither of them are any good."

One released poison gas, the other experimented on human bodies.

Neither are good people!

"You’re referring to the incident where poison gas was released on Punk Hazard, right?" Shakky narrowed her eyes. "There might be more to that story."

"More to the story?"

Hearing Shakky’s words, Zoro and the others exchanged glances. Could it be that Vegapunk wasn’t the one who did it?

"Using certain events to draw attention and cover up the truth... isn’t that something the World Government often does?" Shakky said calmly.

You can’t always trust everything you read in the newspapers.

Meiser furrowed his brow, recalling some things Ivankov had once told him.

If Vegapunk truly was a villain through and through... would the Revolutionaries still consider seeking him out to treat Kuma?

There might really be some hidden circumstances behind this.

"That does sound like something the World Government would do," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. "Just like when we went to Enies Lobby—didn’t the World Government pin all the blame on us too?"

The headlines all said the Straw Hat Pirates attacked Enies Lobby, never mentioning a word about them capturing Robin.

So Sanji felt that what Ms. Shakky said was absolutely right.

"That’s true," Meiser nodded, then added, "We’ll deal with Vegapunk’s matter another time."

"The priority now is to handle the troubles at hand."

After speaking, Meiser paused, pondering some questions.

Then he asked, "Shakky, do you have any information on this Caesar?"

"I only know his name is Caesar Clown, a mad scientist who ate the Logia Gas-Gas Fruit and once worked with Vegapunk," Shakky replied. "As for anything else, I don’t know."

She had learned this information through special channels after he was captured.

Anything else?

She really wasn’t sure.

"This guy is a Logia type?" Brook exclaimed in surprise.

If that was the case, then to deal with him, one would need to know Armament Haki.

Fortunately, many on their side could use Haki, or else handling this guy would be truly difficult.

"Yes, he’s a Logia type."

"The Gas-Gas Fruit..." Meiser frowned. "If that’s the case, then the Sleep Gas you inhaled earlier was likely created by this guy."

"Most likely," Sanji nodded.

What a convenient ability, easily creating such terrifying things.

No wonder his bounty was 300 million Berries.

"Then it seems that guy called Brownbeard wasn’t lying," Zoro spoke up. "He might really have used his ability to purify the poison gas on this island."

"Poison gas..."

Hearing Zoro’s words, Meiser’s eyes immediately flickered, and a few conjectures arose in his mind.

Shakky said, "That’s possible."

Devil Fruits themselves were incredibly mysterious, so using gas to purify poison gas wasn’t impossible.

At that moment, Meiser spoke up, "What do you think... is it possible that the poison gas was released by this Caesar?"

His words left everyone present momentarily stunned.

Then Shakky said, "Are you suggesting that Caesar can only purify gas-based poison gas?"

She roughly understood what Meiser meant.

"It’s possible," Meiser said. "I suspect the poison gas leak incident a few years ago was his doing."

"An interesting conjecture," Shakky said with a chuckle.

Brook looked at Meiser curiously and asked, "Why are you so sure?"

"I’m not sure," Meiser shook his head. "It’s just a conjecture of mine."

"After all... this guy is a Gas-Gas Fruit user. Under normal circumstances, the only poison gas he should be able to purify is gas."

After saying this, Meiser paused briefly before continuing, "Of course, it’s also possible he used some scientific method to purify the island’s air."

For example, creating a special antidote using certain substances, which could similarly turn the island’s environment into a habitable place.

It’s just uncertain whether this guy has that capability.

"I agree with Meiser," Sanji said gravely. "That mad scientist not only abducts children but also conducts human experimentation, so..."

Although Sanji didn’t finish his sentence, everyone understood his implication.

That incident might very well have been caused by that guy.

"But ultimately, this matter doesn’t have much to do with us," Meiser said. "We just need to focus on our own tasks."

After all, this island isn’t theirs, so whether it’s destroyed or not doesn’t concern them.

They only need to take the children away.

The others nodded upon hearing this, essentially agreeing with Meiser.

"But that guy’s poison gas is still a problem," Sanji said with some concern. "What if he ambushes Luffy and the others at this moment..."

"Merry is here," Meiser waved his hand dismissively. "If anything seems off, Merry can use her ability to blow the poison gas away."

Gas is indeed quite troublesome, but they have Merry!

In the face of a gale, poison gas is nothing.

Sanji was momentarily taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "That’s true."

With Merry here, there really is no need to worry about that.

Meiser nodded and then asked, "Shakky, after Blackbeard became one of the Four Emperors, have Ace and the others taken any action?"

"Not really. Little Ace and the others haven’t clashed with Blackbeard."

Hearing this, Meiser frowned. Could it be that Ace and the others really don’t care about Blackbeard?

Or are they... temporarily avoiding a direct confrontation?

As if understanding Meiser’s thoughts, Shakky said, "Blackbeard isn’t someone ordinary people can deal with now."

Although she hasn’t heard that guy has mastered Conqueror’s Haki Infusion, he’s still not someone Ace can handle at present.

She was certain of that.

This time, Meiser only nodded and didn’t continue the topic further.

Then, Meiser asked, "What about other news?"

"Other news..."

Glancing down at the intelligence on the table, Shakky’s expression turned somewhat melancholic.

"I received a piece of news about one of the Four Emperors, Kaido."

"And this news... might be related to Moria."

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked grim.

One of the Four Emperors, Hundred Beasts Kaido?

Moria?

The simultaneous mention of these two names was not good news.

"Could Moria’s disappearance be related to Kaido?" Zoro spoke up.

He understood very well what Moria meant to Perona, so he wanted to help her get a clear answer.

"It’s just speculation," Shakky flicked her cigarette ash and said. "From what I’ve learned, a few days before Moria disappeared, Hundred Beasts Kaido appeared on a nearby Sky Island."

"According to eyewitnesses, he looked like he wanted to commit suicide and jumped directly from ten thousand meters high."

"Some time later, I received information that Moria had disappeared nearby."

"You suspect Moria was taken by Hundred Beasts Kaido?" Meiser said.

"Yes."

Hearing this, Meiser’s mouth twitched. Was Moria just a bit too unlucky?

But after recalling the words Moria had once spoken, Meiser fell silent.

For Moria, Kaido appearing before him might actually be something to be grateful for.

After all... he had always wanted to kill the other to get revenge.

It was just a shame the gap in strength between them was too vast...

"This really is surprising news," Brook said.

Hundred Beasts Kaido had personally defeated Moria and taken him away?

This truly was—

"So... Moria has already been taken back by Kaido?" Zoro said with a furrowed brow.

"That’s actually the optimistic view," Shakky sighed. "If we think more pessimistically... Moria might already be dead."

Although no one found Moria’s body on that island, who said a corpse had to remain on land?

Couldn’t Kaido have casually tossed him into the sea?

Couldn’t he have been knocked far away?

These were all possibilities.

"This..."

Zoro’s expression darkened. If Moria really was dead, then Perona...

"Alright, stop overthinking it," Meiser said, patting Zoro’s arm. "Sometimes, no concrete news is good news."

At least they hadn’t confirmed Moria was dead, right?

Hearing Meiser’s words, Zoro’s expression gradually eased.

Yes, since it wasn’t confirmed that guy was dead, that was good news!

As for Kaido?

Luffy was the man who would become the Pirate King. Sooner or later, he would clash with that guy Kaido, so there was no need to rush.

"Little Meiser isn’t wrong," Shakky nodded. "At least I haven’t received any concrete news that he’s dead."

"But regardless, this matter is related to Kaido," Meiser said. "So sooner or later, we’ll have to clash with that guy."

Hearing this, Shakky immediately smiled.

"Little Straw Hat is the man who will become the Pirate King," Shakky said with a chuckle. "Naturally, he must defeat Kaido."

Otherwise... how would he obtain the Road Poneglyphs?

"That’s true."

Sanji and the others also smiled. Luffy was the man who would become the Pirate King, so sooner or later, they would go take a look at Hundred Beasts Kaido’s territory!

When that time came, they would naturally learn Moria’s whereabouts.

"Thank you, Shakky," Meiser said with a smile. "This information is very useful."

Although they couldn’t confirm whether Moria was still alive, they at least knew where to look.

After returning, they would tell Perona this news.

She would probably be overjoyed.

"It’s nothing, just a small matter," Shakky smiled, then continued, "By the way, there are two more things."

"Go ahead."

"I received news that the Blackbeard Pirates are hunting Devil Fruit Ability Users," Shakky said. "They killed several powerful Ability Users on Hachinosu Island and then stole their abilities."

"So you all need to be careful."

"Stole them?"

Brook said in disbelief, "Can Devil Fruit abilities really be stolen?"

Isn’t that a bit too unbelievable?

"It sounds unbelievable, right?" Shakky said. "But the abilities of those Devil Fruit Ability Users who were killed did indeed appear among the members of the Blackbeard Pirates."

"That kind of speed simply doesn’t seem like they found the reborn Devil Fruits in the sea."

After all... no one could find several Devil Fruits in a single day, right?

Upon hearing this, Brook fell silent. So... Devil Fruit abilities really can be taken away?

If that’s the case, they really need to be careful around the Blackbeard Pirates.

After all... the Straw Hat Pirates have quite a few Ability Users!