Kael stood in the upper control annex, a silent observer in the bowels of the island's decaying underbelly. Rows of antique monitors blinked to life, casting dim light across his pale face. He watched as the Straw Hat Pirates navigated the forgotten sectors of the underground lab—separated, yet still moving forward with surprising tenacity.
Franky's accidental activation of the dispersal system had worked in Kael's favor. Now each crewmember was alone, unknowingly probing the sealed legacy of Marine experiments.
Kael's eyes scanned the screens. Nami was in the old archive wing, poring over dusty reports and faded maps. Zoro crept through rusted corridors, his hand never far from his blade. Robin analyzed ancient symbols in what looked like a ritual chamber. Chopper was trembling in a medical bay filled with dissection tables and stasis tubes. Even Luffy—carefree, bouncing off walls—seemed enthralled by the glowing runes.
They weren't panicking. They were exploring. Driven. Curious.
Kael clenched his fist.
"They're not what I expected," he muttered.
The cloaked figure beside him remained motionless. "What did you expect?"
"Spoiled pirates. Arrogant. Dangerous only because of numbers." Kael's voice was tight. "But this crew... they're different. They adapt. They trust each other without hesitation."
He turned away from the monitors and walked toward a steel-framed window overlooking the core chamber of the lab. Beyond it, dim emergency lights flickered over old control panels and shattered glass.
His thoughts drifted. To Noel.
He had been a fool to let her return to that outpost. She believed in justice. In serving the Marines with honor. When rumors surfaced about the World Government using civilians for experiments, she was the one who reported it. And for that—
The Buster Call wasn't for pirates. It was for silence.
Kael's breath caught in his throat. He saw the image again—Noel standing with other officers, proud and defiant. Then the fire raining from the sky. The sea boiling beneath metal shells.
He hadn't reached her in time.
Now here he was, standing in one of those buried secrets.
"They don't even know," he said quietly. "What kind of world they're sailing through."
The cloaked figure finally stirred. "Then let them learn."
Kael hesitated. "They're still pirates."
"And you're still human. If you cannot act, someone else will."
The screen showing Usopp flashed. He had found a cache of old weapon prototypes. Another showed Brook facing shifting reflections in a mirror-lined hall. Luffy... Luffy just kept moving forward, humming to himself.
Kael walked back to the console and entered a new series of commands. Doors creaked open across the facility. The next layer had been unlocked.
"We'll see how they deal with the truth," he said.
Robin activated a projection—a recording of a Marine scientist bragging about cellular splicing from unwilling test subjects. Her face hardened.
Chopper was reading patient records. His small hands trembled.
Nami found a report signed with Noel's name.
Kael's breath hitched.
He reached toward the monitor but stopped short.
"You still haven't told them," the figure said.
"No. And I won't. They're not here because of Noel. They're just... here."
"Then why not let them leave?"
Kael stared into the screens. "Because they remind me that someone has to pay. And they're the only ones close enough."
The figure tilted its head. "So you cling to a convenient enemy."
Kael didn't reply.
He activated the lift system to the lower depths—the chamber that contained the final logs. The place where Noel had hidden her last report.
"Let them reach it if they can," he whispered. "Then we'll see what they do with the truth."
He watched Luffy's screen once more. The captain tilted his head at a wall drawing of a Marine base burning.
"Weird picture," Luffy muttered. "Looks kinda sad."
Kael's face didn't move.
But for the first time, something cracked.
Not anger. Not vengeance.
Doubt.