Chapter 202: The Raid on Cake Island: Peril in the Lab

“Boom!”

Meanwhile, at the lab entrance, the two Fishman guards had already been taken out.

Just as Bot and Gill were about to rush inside, the massive doors suddenly crashed open.

“What are you two doing here?” Angus stared at Bot and Gill in surprise.

They skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “That Fishman, Halil, just shouted about intruders. Time is tight, we need to get out now.”

“Whoosh!”

“Bang!”

Their words had barely left their lips when, right before their eyes, Henry was slammed hard against the wall.

“You really think you can snatch someone from under Halil’s nose? You underestimate me,” Halil said, rubbing his nose and rolling his neck as he slowly strode forward.

Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!

From both sides of the lab, more Fishmen arrived, quickly surrounding them.

“Locke, he’s yours.” Angus handed the unconscious Vegapunk to Locke.

“Live or die, that’s fate. Wealth is destined. Each of us breaks out on our own,” Angus declared, charging at Halil.

Mailon, Locke, Gill and the others joined the fight, taking on the surrounding Fishmen.

“Come on, show me what you’ve got.” Halil wasn’t the least bit worried. Sure, they might grab Vegapunk, but he found it impressive they’d managed to get him out of the lab in the first place.

“Great Spatial Slash!” Angus’s hands became blades as he lunged at Halil.

Halil thought he was up to something weird, but the next second, he felt a deadly threat all around. Instinctively, he dodged to the side.

Slash! Slash!

Two bottomless chasms appeared on the floor.

“A Devil Fruit user?”

“Looks like you all came prepared.”

Even though Angus was a Devil Fruit user, Halil only got more fired up.

“Fish-Man Karate—3000 Tile True Punch!”

“Bang!”

Once up close, Halil dodged Angus’s Devil Fruit attacks and forced him into hand-to-hand combat.

Angus knew he couldn’t keep this up. He was never good at close combat, and getting dragged into a brawl with this Fishman could spell disaster.

Resolving himself, he made a split-second decision. As Halil’s right hand swung at him, Angus didn’t dodge—he braced himself and clung tightly to Halil’s right arm.

“Pffft!”

He felt something burst inside him, hot blood spilling from his lips.

“Ha ha ha, got you!” His laughter turned almost eerie, blood trailing down his face.

“Huh?”

“Not good!”

Halil instantly realized what Angus was up to and tried to wrench his arm free, but Angus, willing to suffer injury for this, wasn’t letting go.

With a twisted grimace, Angus unleashed his Devil Fruit power, sliding his hand like a knife across Halil’s right arm.

“Aah!”

Clutching his wounded right arm with a death grip, Halil was shocked. This was the worst injury he’d suffered since leaving Fishman Island.

But Angus had no intention of letting Halil stop him again. To make sure there’d be no trouble later, he used his Devil Fruit power once more and sliced off Halil’s right leg.

“Splurt!”

Blood gushed everywhere. Halil couldn’t keep his balance and collapsed onto the ground.

The surrounding Fishmen, seeing Halil’s miserable state, were driven into a frenzy and charged in, heedless of their own injuries.

But ordinary Fishmen just couldn’t match up to the elite CP0 agents. Gradually, Angus’s group forced their way toward the shore.

Even with huge numbers, the Fishmen couldn’t slow them down.

Thud!

Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed from deep inside the island.

All fighting ground to a halt. Their worst fear was coming true.

“Mama-mama-mama!”

“Guests from so far away—you wrecked my Cake Island, and now you want to leave without saying a word?”

Charlotte Linlin swung Emperor’s Blade in her right hand, her eyes blazing as she surveyed the devastation, the unconscious Halil in the distance, and Vegapunk cradled by Locke.

Close behind her were Perospero, Borsalino and the others.

At first, when Borsalino heard Halil’s shout, he didn’t know what was happening so he scouted around, then joined Linlin’s group when he spotted them.

Angus and Henry broke into a cold sweat, too scared to say a word.

“They’re with the World Government,” someone shouted suddenly—it was Caesar, face covered in blood, as he burst through the door.

He’d finally managed, together with Quinn, to deal with Linton and Bryce, but their side was spent. Even though they took out two of the World Government’s people, it drained them completely.

Luckily, Caesar could transform into an element, so he escaped first. When he saw Charlotte Linlin in the distance, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Mama-mama-mama!”

“World Government?”

“Since you’re here, you’re not leaving.”

Charlotte Linlin charged in swinging Emperor’s Blade. Karl had told her plenty about the World Government’s crimes. Even the orphanage the nuns set up was secretly backed by them.

Karl even suspected that the real reason Charlotte Linlin became like this was the government’s twisted human giantification experiments.

He’d warned Charlotte Linlin she might be an escaped subject from one of those experiments, fueling her deep hatred for anyone with ties to the World Government.

“Light Sword!”

“Gravity Blade—Fierce Tiger!”

“Great Eruption!” Sakazuki’s hands turned to magma, spewing torrents of flame straight at the retreating World Government CP0 agents.

There were reasons Sakazuki had been given the Magma Fruit.

First, the Magma Fruit only reached 1,500 degrees Celsius at its limit. With Titan blood developed to a certain stage, even bathing in magma was possible. So this Devil Fruit just wasn’t that valuable to his family.

Second, compared to Logia-type Devil Fruits, he much preferred Mythical Zoans. Powers from legends strengthened his bloodline on every level—power, endurance, and even special abilities.

Third, once the Lineage Factor was fully researched, they could just replicate the Magma Fruit. After that, they could hand it out to whomever they wanted.

“Twin Spikes!” Kuzan cut off Sterka just as he was about to reach the shore.

“Six Powers—Conqueror’s Spear!” Angus unleashed the ultimate technique he’d learned from the Six Powers, launching himself straight at Charlotte Linlin.

“Sovereign Nation!” Charlotte Linlin met him head-on at full strength.

Emperor’s Blade was wreathed in potent Conqueror’s Haki, layered thick with Advanced Conqueror’s Haki—one strike and Angus was completely obliterated.

“Mama-mama-mama!”

“With strength like that, you dare set foot on Cake Island?”

“Utterly delusional.”

With Linlin’s rampage, everyone left standing was knocked flying.

Aside from the barely-alive Henry, the rest bit down on poison hidden in their teeth.

“Hurry up, treat the wounded!”

Seeing the battle was over, Perospero quickly called in soldiers to move the injured to the medical wing.

As the others cleaned up the battlefield, Borsalino and the rest left the scene. Linlin took her siblings back to the nursery, leaving Perospero and Katakuri behind.