Caesar

Chapter 132: Caesar

"Shurororo!"

An iconic laugh echoed, and Rodney turned around to see a pale-faced figure floating in mid-air.

With shoulder-length deep blue hair and horn-like decorations on his head, he wore a gaseous coat, giving him an ethereal appearance. Ignoring the ghastly pale face, underneath the coat was a yellow pinstriped suit, and he wore black gloves with "CC" imprinted on them.

"Rodney, one of the Shichibukai. I never thought you'd come back here, and you've even captured my secretary. But even if you're a Shichibukai, you won't be able to escape now. You shall become part of my collection."

The voice was familiar to Rodney, and he snapped his fingers, saying, "I remember now. Weren't you supposed to be a 1.5-meter-tall dwarf? How come you suddenly grew so tall?"

Caesar:?

"You bastard! I've always been this tall. Are you blind?" 

Caesar was over three meters tall, more than a meter taller than Rodney. Rodney might not be considered short among normal people, but in this world of monsters, he was somewhat lacking.

"You bastard! I'm the normal height!!!" 

He emphasized loudly, playing off a voice actor gag. Unexpectedly, this scoundrel turned the joke back on him. Rodney raised his middle finger in the universally recognized gesture, saying, "Your half-assed chemistry, compared to Vegapunk, is like comparing fireflies to the moon, mere gravel beneath Vegapunk!"

A precise hit!

For the conceited Caesar, being told he was inferior to Vegapunk was akin to being killed. During his time in the Marines' scientific division, Vegapunk had suppressed him at every turn. That genius wasn't someone just anyone could compare to. 

However, Caesar wanted to surpass Vegapunk, thinking he could defeat him in his field of expertise. He believed his experiments would never fail. The result? Punk Hazard turned into a death island by his hands.

"You there, take him down!"

"Understood, Master!" 

Several convicts with mechanical legs, used to replace their non-functional lower limbs, rushed out with weapons in hand. While they were under Caesar's command now, Rodney would soon render them obsolete.

"Reiju!"

"Got it!" 

Reiju smiled as she appeared next to the convicts with mechanical legs. She moved so fast they couldn't even see her, and suddenly, they were sent flying into the wall. 

They slowly fell to the ground, a purple liquid seeping into their skin around their chests. These men didn't even have a chance to struggle; they quickly lost their lives.

Reiju's poison was terrifying indeed.

"Well then, Mr.·Caesar Clown, your crimes have been exposed. You better surrender your pathetic life to me now." 

Rodney tossed aside Monet, took a step forward, and stood in front of Caesar, his fist surging with Armament Haki. He aimed a punch at Caesar's head.

"Humph, humph, humph! Just with this attack, you think you can attack this grand—"

Before the "Lord" could be spoken, Rodney's fist had already smashed into his skull, making him scream in pain. He was thrown off and crashed to the ground.

Bang!

"It feels good to use fists. No wonder Old Man Garp prefers them."

Rodney chuckled. He wiggled his bones a bit, and suddenly, Sister Slug warned, "Be careful, Lord Rodney!"

Rodney felt a sense of danger and immediately activated his Body Flicker, avoiding whatever was coming. In the next moment, Caesar suddenly looked up and compressed the gas inside his body into his lungs before spraying it all out.

"Gas Beam!"

A focused, high-temperature gas beam shot out like a laser. It hit the wall, effortlessly turning it into molten metal. If it hits a person, it could reduce bones to ashes.

"Shurororo! You're fast at dodging! But this is my battleground!" 

He spread his arms wide, balled his fists, and sucked all the air around him into a vacuum. Monet's face turned grim. Without air, even a Natural-Element user couldn't survive.

Airless World!

A steel wire flew out, coiling around Monet's arm and bringing her over. Caesar felt a violent gust of wind that made him stumble, losing control of Airless World.

The air returned to the area. Monet's face regained its color. Rodney tossed her to the side and said, "Caesar, that move is pretty good, but its range is limited."

Airless World allowed the user to drain the air in a specific area, with only the user, Caesar, being able to breathe freely. However, once at a certain distance from Caesar, the air would return to normal, making Rodney's attacks perfectly viable.

But Caesar wasn't one to back down. He was confident he could match Rodney's strength and wanted to defeat him, showcasing his genius. If Rodney knew what Caesar was thinking, he would have said, "What are you babbling about? Are you delusional?"

From start to finish, Rodney only wanted to play around with Caesar. However, now he was starting to get a bit bored.

"Caesar, I find this isn't entertaining anymore. So, can you just die now?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Have you gone mad? Or have you seen this genius and realized you want to withdraw? I understand, I understand! After all, all the dimwits, upon witnessing the brilliance of this genius, will naturally cower in defeat."

Caesar suddenly immersed himself in a self-admiring atmosphere, feeling like he was the greatest.

Rodney sighed. Quite the simpleton.

Turning into an afterimage, he swung his fist, landing a punch squarely on Caesar's ridiculous face.

"Ah-ah-ah!" 

Several bloody teeth flew through the air as Caesar was sent flying. Rodney waved his hand, saying, "I told you, just die already. Oh, Sister Slug, why don't you try using your corrosive tongue attack?"

All of Sister Slug's attacks were infused with natural energy. If she could attack, it meant Sage Art could attack too.

"Understood, Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid!" A highly corrosive attack hit Caesar's arm.

Sizzle!

Caesar's arm was immediately corroded, and the pain made him scream, "My arm! What's happening? There's no Haki! Why does it hurt so much? Aaah! My arm!"

Rodney's eyes lit up. It worked; this meant Sage Art Chakra could affect Natural-Element Devil Fruit users. Suddenly, the need for Busoshoku Haki seemed less important...

From now on, he will focus on mastering Sage Art. Combine that with Slug Sister helping him absorb natural energy, and he could maintain Sage Mode indefinitely—sensing, attacking, all in one. 

Add Sage Art Wood Release's regenerative power and the enhancement of ninjutsu through Sage Art Chakra... his strength would skyrocket quickly. Of course, Armament Haki's defensive power was still useful, not to mention the combination of the two defenses, the Defense of Thunder Armor. Who wouldn't find that appealing?

Appealing!

At this stage, however, he still needed to use Armament. The energy generated by the body itself was essential.

Speaking of which, why didn't Chakra have a similar effect? Could it be because the two systems were different?

No need to dwell on it any longer. Rodney kicked Caesar down and said, "Caesar, for the evil you've committed, there's no way I can let you go!"

"You... you can't... you can't kill me!"

"I'm... I'm working for... for "Joker". Two... of the Four Emperors... are involved in my experiments! You can't kill... kill me! If... if you don't want to... to be hunted by... by the Four Emperors! It's better to spare me!"

Caesar wore tiger skin as a coat, knowing that Doflamingo's reputation might not intimidate Rodney. So he brought up the involvement of two Four Emperors.

Unfortunately, it didn't have the desired effect. Rodney cleaned his ears and said, "Ah, I see. When I came here, nobody noticed me. I'll inform the Marines later, and no one will know I was here."

He grabbed Caesar by the hair and smiled, "After all, I'm not a devil. When I blow this place up later, it'll cover everything. No one will know what happened here, and they'll just think your experiment failed. Besides, your experiments exploding isn't a rare occurrence."