Chapter 262: An Explosive Assault on Cake Island

Because of this, all kinds of unpleasant odors tend to linger on them. But thanks to Raksha Perfume, even Morgans—who ate the Zoan-type Devil Fruit—couldn’t detect a thing. This shows just how potent Raksha Perfume truly is. That’s the secret behind its popularity across the entire sea.

“Looks like it’s not just anyone who can form a marriage alliance with the Rocks Family. Their choice of partner must be carefully considered.”

There was more to Morgans’ words than met the eye. On one hand, he affirmed the Rocks Family’s sharp judgment in picking such a powerful family for an alliance, one that had nothing to do with the World Government.

On the other hand, his words subtly revealed that the family backing him wasn’t the Rocks Family.

Naturally, this didn’t fully clear him of suspicion. But at least with such words, some basic trades could still go on between them.

Boom!

Just as the group was starting to get a better feel for each other, a tremendous explosion ripped through the right rear of the venue. A giant mushroom cloud rose from the edge of the island.

Thick smoke billowed into the sky. Even the ground trembled from the force of it.

Meanwhile, at the lab…

The World Government agents hiding out on Cake Island, now hunted relentlessly by Katakuri, were down to just a twenty-person squad led by Oliver.

That was only because they discovered that Katakuri was slaughtering World Government members left and right. No matter how they tried to stay out of sight, as long as they stepped beyond the designated observation zones on Cake Island—

Katakuri would always hunt them down. This forced the survivors to suspect that there was some kind of surveillance system on the island, one capable of monitoring everything.

They immediately gave up their current actions and went into hiding, waiting for the Tea Party to begin.

Sure enough, after they stopped moving, the rest survived. Together, they hatched a wicked plan.

When the Tea Party started, under Oliver’s lead, they snuck into a residential building near the lab and planted a stockpile of explosives and incendiary materials.

They’d planned to strike when the Tea Party started and the lab was left without guards, stirring up chaos to create an opening for their plan. And, as luck would have it, it worked.

Before the explosion, both Karl and Charlotte Linlin had already turned their attention to the alliance, so they were caught off guard and failed to notice any suspicious activity.

Thankfully, almost all the residents had already left for the Tea Party or to help out before the events began. Even though over a hundred buildings were destroyed, raging fires spread everywhere.

“Hurry! Quick, put out the fire!”

“Everyone, follow me—we need all hands on deck to fight this blaze.”

From the Fishmen’s barracks in the rear, thousands upon thousands of Fishmen saw the smoke rising from the far side of the island and rushed to help. After all, nobody knew if the fire would reach their own homes, or if their loved ones were in danger. That was what truly mattered to them.

“So the rats in the sewers finally showed themselves.” Sitting atop the lab, Notty opened his eyes and unleashed Observation Haki.

Ever since he returned from Wano and heard what had happened on the island—and saw the state Halil was left in—he’d been itching for revenge. He hadn’t expected the opportunity to come so soon.

“Halil, brother… today I’m avenging you, no matter what.”

His cold eyes locked onto the darkness not far away. “None of you are getting out alive today. I swear it, not even God could save you now.”

He pulled out a pair of blue Seastone gauntlets from his coat, slipped them over his hands, then leaped down from the top of the lab. A few steps forward, arms crossed, he waited silently at the entrance for the slaughter to begin.

Fields wasn’t nearly as fired up. Leaning casually against the lab’s front door, he tapped his nails lightly. “Relax, it’s still early. Well? How do you want to play this?”

“Big fish are mine—the rest are yours.”

“As long as they don’t get through the lab doors…”

“How it happens, I don’t care.”

“…”

Thud, thud, thud!

Before long, the sound of footsteps crept from the darkness.

Oliver eyed the looming lab entrance, raised his right hand, and gestured to the squad waiting in the trees. “Hold up. There’s someone ahead. Stay sharp.”

The closer he got, the stronger a sense of deadly danger pressed down on him. He was sure somebody was waiting for them by the entrance—and whoever could make him feel this much killing intent had to be seriously powerful.

“No need to hide now—you made it all this way. The two of us have been waiting here for you.”

Twin beams from the lab doors cut through the darkness like giant eyes, illuminating the group. Notty stood front and center on the open ground. Fields stayed near the lights, his form still hidden in their shadow.

“Looks like we’ve been found. No matter, we’ll force our way in! Go!”

With a swing of his arm, Oliver charged at Notty with his blade. The rest split up, each racing at the lab from a different angle. Their mission was to kidnap Vegapunk. If that proved impossible, they’d kill him—either outcome, their job would be done.

“One Sword Style—Wave Slash!”

A translucent wave of sword energy, several meters long, shot toward Notty.

Notty hadn’t expected this CP0 member to be a top-tier swordsman. That attack wasn’t ordinary either—the condensed energy might look small, but its force was anything but.

“Eight-Level Fist—Collapse!”

His right hand wrapped in Armament Haki, Notty let fly a simple punch, smashing the Wave Slash to pieces.

While Notty wasn’t quite admiral-level, he easily ranked as the strongest below that. Born with colossal strength and a body honed by martial arts, his dominance here was no surprise.

Oliver watched, stunned, as his Wave Slash was shattered by the blow of a four-meter-tall giant of a man. Instantly, he started rifling through all relevant information in his mind.

His thoughts raced and, in a flash, he recalled Notty’s file: “Notty of the Human Race, born with monstrous strength, near-admiral-level, a core member of Karl’s pirate crew, and notorious martial arts fanatic.”

Damn it! Shouldn’t they all be somewhere deep in the New World right now?

According to intel, Davis and the others have always been active in the very heart of the New World.

So why are they here now?

Is today’s plan going to fail again?

Of course, Oliver couldn’t know that Notty and company were only back on a temporary basis. They hadn’t come for the Tea Party, but to hunt for Thunder Island instead. It was pure coincidence that they arrived just as preparations for the Tea Party were underway.

“One Sword Style—Blossom Slash!”

Seeing his last attack fail, Oliver didn’t hesitate. He surged forward, blade flashing as he aimed an upward slash meant to chop Notty in two. If he couldn’t kill the man, at least he’d hold him off long enough for his team to finish their mission.

But Notty just grinned, using Observation Haki to seize a brief opening. His blue-gloved fist crashed brutally against the flat of the blade.

Clang!

Oliver’s face changed as the colossal force reverberated up his sword. He tumbled back dozens of meters, barely managing to hold on to his blade.

His hand tingled with numbness. Gritting his teeth, he realized he couldn’t afford a head-on clash with strength like this.