Chapter 669

Zoro, Sanji, and Brook come to from the KYP gas and argue over who chose the doomed shortcut. A flashback fills the gap: drawn by giant footprints they hoped belonged to a legendary yeti, they were ambushed at a cliff edge, shot with knockout bullets, and dropped with the blasted cliff top, only for Zoro to slice the icicle plateau and save them all. When a collection squad finds them, Sanji wakes and single-handedly wrecks the soldiers, careful not to strain Nami's fragile body.

The trio stumbles upon Kin'emon frozen solid in the snow, his torso lost in the salt lake leaving him paralyzed. Sanji shatters the ice and realizes the sharks have not yet eaten the missing piece, so time is short. Inside the lab, Caesar discloses that Slime is the very gas from the four-year-old explosion, never purified but condensed and compressed into the creature, a tragedy he kept literally in his hand. At the front, the G-5 marines fail to force the sealed door, and Tashigi panics when she accidentally turns to smoke and cannot control Smoker's Logia power.

Behind the facility, Law warps in with Chopper and sends the doctor to study the drugs while he works to lure Caesar and Monet outside, citing a private obstacle that stops him from seizing them himself. The plan is for the Straw Hats to grab Caesar fast. Overhead, Luffy, Robin, and Franky come hurtling down, Robin gliding clear with Wing while the others smash into the wrecked marine ship. Luffy bellows for the master to step out so they can beat and kidnap him, ruining the operation's secrecy as Law and the marines look on.