One Piece Chapter 673: Vergo and Joker

In the New World, on a certain island, desperate adults plead with the Marines for the children who vanished years ago. They beg, "PLEASE, IF YOU COULD JUST TRY ONE MORE TIME...!!" and "YOU HAVE TO SEARCH FOR THE CHILDREN!!" A Marine officer snaps back, "POINTLESS! FAR TOO POINTLESS!!" The citizens ask if G-5 can send out another search party and if they can be put in touch with Captain Tashigi, because they have heard "that she is always willing to lend an ear to citizens in need." The G-5 Marines take the request as an insult. Their commander shouts, "HOW PREPOSTEROUS!! DO YOU MEAN TO INSULT ME!!!" and reminds them, "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT WE TOO ARE MARINE OFFICERS FROM G-5!!!" Another Marine laughs as the commander keeps going too far.

The officer is introduced as "G-5 Unit 06 Commodore Yarisugi," with a note that "Yarisugi" means "going too far." He screams, "WHEN WILL YOU PEOPLE LEARN?! THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR!!" and insists, "THOSE CHILDREN DIED IN AN ACCIDENT!!!" The case, he says, has already been confirmed with "VICE-ADMIRAL VERGO, HEAD OF G-5" far too many times. He claims, absurdly, "WE HAVE SENT OUT TEN THOUSAND SEARCH PARTIES!!!" Even his own men admit, "THAT'S WAY TOO MUCH!!" Yarisugi threatens that if the citizens disturb them any further, he will "MURDER YOU ALL FOR THE OBSTRUCTION OF AN OFFICER IN THE ACT OF DUTY, AND SET THE TOWN ALIGHT!!" His subordinates laugh, "GYAHHAH! THAT'S GOING TOO FAR, COMMODORE!"

Yarisugi mocks the parents for wanting Tashigi. "HMPH... YOU SAY YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO TASHIGI-CHAN?! THAT'S FAR TOO IMPUDENT BY HALF!!!" he shouts, then explains that she serves directly under "VICE-ADMIRAL SMOKER HIMSELF!!" He calls it "FAR TOO WONDERFUL" to imagine having her under his own command, but says she has "FAR TOO LITTLE TIME" for people who cannot forget an accident from three years ago. The parents are shaken because Vergo himself has apparently confirmed the story. They remember him protecting the island from pirates and call him an upstanding officer, but they still cannot accept that children playing happily in the neighborhood simply died at sea. One parent refuses the official lie: "THEY'RE STILL ALIVE, I KNOW IT...!!"

The parents' conviction carries across the scene: "OUR CHILDREN ARE STILL ALIVE...!! SOMEHOW... SOMEWHERE...!!" On Punk Hazard's ice side, that truth is brutal. The children with Nami and Usopp are still alive, but Caesar's candy has made them suffer terribly. Nami shouts, "USOPP!! HURRY UP AND PUT THEM TO SLEEP!!" One child begs through the pain, "UNDA... THESE CHAINS...!! PLEASE...!!" Usopp fires his sleep attack again, but he admits, "I'M TRYING, BUT... IT DOESN'T WORK SO WELL IF YOU USE IT OVER AND OVER!!!" The withdrawal is too strong. The children strain against their restraints while Nami asks, "TH... THEN WHAT SHOULD WE DO?!!"

The situation with the children worsens. Someone says they will have to restrain the children by force and calls, "GO ON, SANJI!!" but the person in Sanji's body snaps, "I'M NAMI, REMEMBER?!!" Usopp starts to say that the body looks more useful just by appearance, and Nami answers, "Well, excuse me for being useless!!" The children are not monsters by choice; they are shaking, crying, and desperate for Caesar's candy. They scream, "CANDY... WE NEED CANDY...!!" and "MY HEAD HURTS SO BAAAD..." Another pleads, "IT HURTS SO MUCH...!! JUST GIVE US CANDY... THEN IT'LL ALL BE BETTER..." Then the demand becomes violence: "GIVE US THE CANDY!!!" Someone asks if attacking them is allowed, but the answer is immediate: "OF COURSE IT'S NOT OKAY!!! THEY'RE ONLY CHILDREN!!"

Back outside the research facility, the fallen Slime masses burst around the battlefield, and Caesar Clown finally appears before the creatures that worship him. The subordinates recognize him at once: "IT'S THE MASTER!!" and "MASTER!!" Caesar rises in his flowing gas body and asks with false affection, "ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, MY CHILDREN...? SHURORORO..." He tells them, "COME ALONG WITH ME, BACK TO THE FACILITY, IT'S DANGEROUS OUT HERE." He tempts them with their addiction: "I'M SURE YOU WANT TO EAT YOUR FAVOURITE CANDY, NOW, DON'T YOU...?" Usopp and Sanji watch in horror, one stammering "M..." and the other shouting, "MASTER?!!"

At Punk Hazard's central lake, the enormous Slime mass rears up with a roaring "BADOOOOOHHHH!!" Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Brook stare at it as the creature suddenly seems enraged. Brook cries, "THE SLIME...GOT ANGRY?!!" Sanji wonders, "WHAT'S GOING ON ALL OF A SUDDEN?!!" Zoro suspects it is because they made all the little Slimes explode earlier, while Kin'emon compares it to "a mother and her children" and says they had no other choice. The lake turns from scattered danger into a concentrated, living threat.

The slime's body changes into a monstrous animal shape. Someone cries, "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS...?" as the mass reshapes itself. The narration identifies it as "Smiley, the master's pet," a gelatinous mass of poisonous gas that has eaten the Sala Sala no Mi, Model Axolotl. Luffy and Zoro try to make sense of the form. One says, "WHAT IS THAT SHAPE?! A FROG?!" and the other guesses, "MAYBE SOME KIND OF LIZARD?" Smiley is not just poison drifting over the island anymore; it is Caesar's living weapon, a Devil Fruit creature made from the deadly gas of the old accident.

Smiley grows heavier and more grotesque, roaring "BADOOOOHHHHHH!!" as pieces of itself swell and split away. Brook panics, "OH, DEAR ME!! IT'S SO BIIIIIGG!!!" The poisonous body begins launching globules around the lake, and the group has to scatter. Smiley's slime-clones hit the ground like living bombs while Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Brook, and Kin'emon dodge. The page turns Smiley's transformation into a tactical problem: every piece thrown from the main body can become another dangerous fragment, and the lake is no longer a place they can calmly cross.

Nami, in Sanji's body, yells, "RUN FOR IT!!!" as Smiley's fragments rain down. Sanji is struck and screams, "AAARGHHHHH!!!" while a slime mass sticks to him with a sickening "NGUHHH!!" Brook realizes the danger: "CAN IT JUST CREATE AS MANY COPIES OF ITSELF AS IT PLEASES...?!" Sanji feels the main slime getting smaller each time it throws more of itself, and Nami understands the implication: "THEN EVENTUALLY THERE WON'T BE ANYTHING LEFT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE...?!" The escape route is closing because Smiley is literally crossing the lake bit by bit.

The group realizes Caesar has planned the lake crossing through Smiley. Zoro says, "IF A THING THAT SIZE MAKES IT OVER HERE, WE REALLY WILL BE DONE FOR!!" Sanji adds, "TRUE ENOUGH... CUT IT AND IT SPEWS GAS, BURN IT AND IT EXPLODES... AND WE'RE TALKING A WAY BIGGER EXPLOSION THAN THE ONE JUST NOW...!! THE RESEARCH FACILITY COULD BE IN BIG TROUBLE TOO!!" Nami screams for "MOMONOSUKEEEE!!!" and says that is "ALL THE MORE REASON FOR US TO HURRY!!!" Luffy tells the others he is going to the facility and asks what they will do. Brook says he wants to see Kin'emon's swordsmanship, and the group charges toward the research facility while the shout "LET US HURRY!!" carries them forward.

Outside Caesar Clown's research facility, the G-5 Marines are trapped between Smiley's spreading poison and the sealed building. They shout, "GIVE US BACK SMOKE-YAN!! CAESAAAR!!" and "GIVE US BACK TASHIGI-CHAN!!" They pound the shutter and fire on it, yelling, "OPEN UP ALREADY, DAMMIT!!!" but it will not move. One Marine curses, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS DAMN SHUTTER?!! IT WON'T BUDGE AN INCH!!!" Another says, "EVEN BAZOOKAS DON'T SCRATCH IT!!" After searching the perimeter, they find no escape: "IT'S NO GOOD!! WE'VE LOOKED EVERYWHERE, ALL THE ENTRANCES ARE SHUTTERED UP!!" Someone suggests a back door, while another gasps, "UGHHHHH DAMN THAT GASSY FREAK!!"

The G-5 Marines watch the falling jelly-like pieces and realize they are not decreasing. One says, "THESE DISGUSTING JELLY THINGS DON'T SEEM TO BE RAINING DOWN ANY MORE FOR SOME REASON..." but another warns, "BUT DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!! THEY'RE GATHERING UP AND GETTING BIGGER!!" Panic spreads because there is "NO SHIP LEFT TO STEAL!!" and "NO WAY TO ESCAPE...!!" They cannot even send word off the island because they are "STRANDED IN THESE FREEZING MOUNTAINS!!" Inside Caesar's laboratory, Law watches the events and asks, "WHAT IS CAESAR TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH WITH ALL THIS...?!" Monet tells him to search his memory, suggesting that if Caesar has awakened Smiley, then "he might have a big experiment in mind."

Inside the facility, Monet casually notices the food stuck to Vergo's face and asks, "SAY, VERGO, DID YOU HAVE A HAMBURGER THIS MORNING?" Vergo answers, "HOW DID YOU GUESS?" She tells him, "YOU'VE GOT A BIT OF HAMBURGER STUCK ON YOUR FACE..." The page then formally names him as "V.A. Vergo, Vice Admiral Vergo, Head of Marine Base G-5." Law, beaten and captive, reacts with alarm: "OI, VERGO!! I HOPE YOU REALISE, THE PEOPLE OUTSIDE ARE ALL G-5 MARINES!! YOUR OWN SUBORDINATES!!" Vergo answers without concern that they will most likely be safe inside the facility. Monet says, "I WOULD QUITE LIKE TO OBSERVE HOW THIS EXPERIMENT UNFOLDS..." and when Law asks, "DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUTSIDE WILL DIE?" she replies, "MOST LIKELY."

Vergo silently considers the risk to his own Marines, but his answer remains "TRUE... TRUE ENOUGH... STILL..." He looks toward the cage holding the prisoners and admits, "IT'S QUITE A SIGHT TO SEE... SUCH AN ASSORTMENT OF FACES RESTRAINED IN A SINGLE CAGE. I RATHER ENJOY IT." Inside are Luffy, Law, Smoker, Tashigi, Robin, and others bound and helpless. Luffy recognizes the situation and says, "THIS TAKES ME BACK A LITTLE, ACTUALLY... BEING IN A CAGE WITH ALL OF YOU... OH, YEAH, IT'S LIKE THAT TIME WHEN YOU GUYS CAPTURED ME AND SMOKEY BACK IN ALABASTA!" Zoro, still outside the cage, snaps, "BE QUIET, YOU!!!" Smoker, trapped in Tashigi's body, admits, "SMOKER-SAN, I... I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS FEELING...!!" Robin tells the group, "IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR PREDICTION CAME TRUE IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY."

Robin explains the truth behind the missing children. "IN OTHER WORDS... THE KIDNAPPING INCIDENT IN WHICH CAESAR ABDUCTED THOSE CHILDREN... WAS COVERED UP AS AN 'ACCIDENT AT SEA' BY NONE OTHER THAN THIS MAN." She says that in G-5 she expected a little corruption, but this is "AN UTTER DISGRACE FOR THE MILITARY." Law tells them not to blame themselves for missing it: "IT'S NOT AS THOUGH VERGO SIMPLY BETRAYED THE MILITARY." He reveals that Vergo was a pirate from the start, before he ever made a name for himself, and that he entered the Marines under Joker's orders. He spent fifteen years working up from the bottom, and Law states the conclusion plainly: "VERGO WAS A MEMBER OF JOKER'S CREW FROM THE VERY BEGINNING...!!!"

Luffy asks about the name he keeps hearing: "'JOKER'... I'VE HEARD OF THAT NAME. HE'S A MAJOR BROKER IN THE BLACK MARKETS..." Law is furious with himself: "I FEEL ASHAMED OF MYSELF... THIS RAT WAS RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE ALL THIS TIME... AND I FAILED TO CATCH THE STENCH...!!" Vergo tells him, "NO NEED TO BE SO NEGATIVE. I'D RATHER YOU PRAISE THIS RAT FOR HAVING THE SKILLS... TO EVADE THE NOTICE OF THE FAMED WHITE HUNTER ALL THIS TIME. RIGHT, SMOKER-KUN?" Vergo says that since he revealed his true colors, he cannot let anyone discover them. He calls it "A HUGE RELIEF" not to carry that stress anymore and tells Smoker and Tashigi that the two of them will die here, no one will know what they learned, and Caesar will do as he pleases with their subordinates outside. Finally, Vergo promises, "I'LL MAKE SURE THIS GOES IN THE BOOKS AS AN 'ACCIDENT,' THE SAME AS ALWAYS."

Luffy turns to Law and asks, "HEY, TRA-DUDE, I'VE BEEN WONDERING... WHO IS THIS 'JOKER' GUY THEY MENTIONED?" Law says he worked for that man too, and that is how he knew about Vergo. He explains, "'JOKER' IS THE NAME HE GOES BY AS A BLACK-MARKET BROKER. BUT HIS TRUE IDENTITY IS A PIRATE WHOSE NAME THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS WELL. ONE OF THE ROYAL SHICHIBUKAI..." The faces around him tense as the name lands. Law says, "DONQUIXOTE..." and Luffy completes the shock with "DOFLAMINGO!!!" The chapter ends by revealing Joker as Donquixote Doflamingo, tying Caesar's experiment, Vergo's infiltration, and Law's past to one of the Seven Warlords.

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