The silence that followed Dorry's collapse was almost unnatural.
Luffy knelt beside the giant's massive frame, fists shaking as he stared at the blood seeping between the armor plates. The earth beneath them still trembled faintly from the impact, a reminder of the sheer scale of the warrior who now lay weakened.
Zoro crouched low, his expression hard and guarded. "This isn't from Brogy's hit. Something else… something sneaky."
"I… don't understand…" Dorry groaned, his voice thick with pain and confusion. "That blow shouldn't have… done this…"
Luffy's eyes scanned the surroundings, his brain retracing the events. Then it hit him. "The drink… The barrel you gave us!"
Dorry blinked, realization dawning. "That sake…"
Luffy stood slowly, his shadow stretching across Dorry's wounded chest. "Someone messed with it. Someone wanted you to fall."
Zoro turned toward the trees. "Which means they're watching."
Brogy, still holding his sword, had not moved. His features were tense, not with anger—but betrayal. "Elbaf warriors… fight with honor. Poison… trickery… is cowardice."
The tension in the air crackled like dry wood ready to spark.
Luffy turned his back to Dorry, his voice calm but firm. "I'll find who did this."
Back at the Going Merry, the mood had shifted.
Nami's eyes were locked on the Log Pose, but it wasn't moving. "The needle still points here, but the atmosphere feels wrong…"
Vivi leaned against the railing, wind brushing strands of hair from her face. "Like something is watching us."
Usopp paced the deck. "I'm telling you, I saw something move. And I had this dream—giant candles with teeth!"
"Giant candles?" Sanji emerged from the forest path, his shirt slightly torn and his expression grim. "Funny. I just found something worse."
Nami looked up. "What do you mean?"
"There's a box," Sanji said. "Metal. Hidden in the ground like it was planted. But it's not just that—when I reached for it… I felt like someone was watching me."
Usopp gasped. "The candle monster is real!"
"No." Sanji's tone dropped. "Baroque Works. They're close."
Deep in the jungle, something unnatural had taken root.
A circular platform of glossy, bone-white wax had formed in a clearing surrounded by thick trees. It shone under the sunlight, its smooth surface reflecting light like frozen milk. Wax pillars stood like unfinished sculptures—thick, twisted, half-formed limbs of some abstract nightmare.
Mr. 3 stood at the center, arms behind his back, surrounded by a quiet rhythm of dripping wax.
Miss Goldenweek painted lazily on her wooden boards nearby, each stroke unnervingly precise. Her latest color: a soft pink dot in the middle of green swirls.
"They're starting to fracture," Mr. 3 said. "Emotion will scatter them. We just need to keep nudging."
His candle device pulsed, the flames around it flickering in agreement.
Luffy tore through the jungle, leaping from root to rock, ducking under low branches. His shadow shifted unnaturally behind him, and faint red text blinked faintly in his mind's eye.
[Tracking hostile: 92% proximity to enemy source]
He pushed harder, following a scent he couldn't name but instinctively trusted—burnt wax, metallic earth, something artificial and out of place.
Finally, he reached the clearing.
He froze.
A cathedral of white wax stood ahead.
And at its heart—Mr. 3.
"You're earlier than expected," Mr. 3 said, adjusting his round glasses with a gloved hand.
"You…" Luffy growled, fists clenched. "You poisoned Dorry."
Mr. 3 smiled thinly. "Hardly. I merely… added an enhancement to your gift. A little sabotage to balance the scales."
Luffy didn't waste time arguing.
His body tensed.
His system flared to life behind his eyes.
[ENEMY IDENTIFIED: BAROQUE WORKS – MR. 3]
[CAUTION: WAX-TYPE PARAMECIA – ENVIRONMENT CONTROLLED]
"You're gonna pay."
Mr. 3 raised a single finger.
"You can try."
With a snap, wax shot from the nearby columns like spikes.
Luffy jumped, twisting mid-air.
One wax spear grazed his arm, tearing the cloth and leaving a shallow burn across his skin.
He landed on all fours, sliding back, eyes locked on his enemy.
The wax structures shifted—like the battlefield itself was alive.
Back at the ship, fog rolled in unnaturally thick, wrapping around the Going Merry like a living thing.
"Luffy's not back," Nami said, panic rising.
"They're splitting us up!" Vivi shouted.
Sanji clenched his fists. "I knew it. They're herding us into traps."
From the mist, laughter echoed—thin, haunting, and amused.
Usopp dropped his slingshot. "That's not a dinosaur…"
Zoro remained beside Dorry, sword drawn.
The ground around them began to harden—small wax tendrils creeping out from the earth like roots seeking prey.
Zoro's grip tightened. "We're surrounded."
Dorry grunted. "Don't… let them defile this duel…"
"I won't."
Zoro took a step forward, blade gleaming.
Luffy straightened, blood trickling down his arm.
"I don't need tricks," he said, voice low.
"I'll crush you head-on."
Mr. 3's hands moved in circles.
A towering figure rose behind him—arms thick, head molded into a grotesque mask with a frozen smile.
"Then face my Candle Champion."
The monster moved, joints cracking like ice splitting stone.
[End of Chapter 113]
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