Punk Hazard

Punk Hazard Island is an island located in the New World and was the first island the Straw Hat Pirates disembarked on (after receiving a distress call from someone on the island) after arriving in New World. According to Trafalgar Law, it is an island that it is not possible to "Log". It is where Akainu and Aokiji battled for the position of fleet admiral for ten days.

Layout
The island is surrounded by a sea of fire on one side and icebergs on the other. In the center, there is a hole where with seawater flowing into it, which separates both halves of the island and sharks live within. This hole has fierce wind and currents running across it. As touched upon by Robin, the extreme temperature differences between the ice and magma lead to an equally extreme difference in air pressure, forming massive gale-force winds. The lake was originally a crater formed at the epicenter of Akainu and Aokiji's fight and then later filled with seawater. The entrance is bolted with a danger sign, hazard stripes, and the logos of the Marines and World Government. The external border is heavily fenced in and inside lies a military base.

Burning Lands


The Burning Lands (炎の土地) is the eastern half which was most affected by Akainu's Devil Fruit power. Before the poison gas incident occured, it was once a military base of the World Government where the island's main entrance was located, now the base is abandoned and the entrance bolted shut with hazard warning signs. The aftermath of the duel even set the surrounding sea on fire, making it impossible for ships to dock at the main entrance. Due to the area's intense heat, all of the buildings are now melted and deformed. A large partially melted skull is located near the melted base. The artificial dragon created by Dr. Vegapunk was roaming in the melted base before it was slain by the Straw Hats. Caesar Clown keeps his pet, Smiley confined on this half of the island.

Ice Lands


The Ice Lands (氷の土地) is the western half which was transformed by Aokiji's Devil Fruit power. Four years ago, this half was the area where the poison gas incident originated from, causing the original inhabitants to flee the island. Since the duel, this half has become a frozen region with gigantic ice mountains and freezing winds, surrounded by numerous drifting icebergs. The Yeti Cool Brothers operate as assassins in the mountains, taking orders from Caesar.

The Ice Lands also contains a harbor full of captured ships. This area is not fenced in like the Burning Lands since the water around the Ice Lands are less dangerous than the burning waters, making the Ice Lands a reasonable area for ships to dock, provided they avoid the icebergs.

The Ice Lands also houses numerous laboratories and underground facilities including a prison section where Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Franky were held captive along with Kinemon's living head, and a nursery room full of giant-sized children called Biscuits Room (ビスケットルーム). There is also a massive ice covered hall full of the frozen corpses of prisoners previously brought to the island, which also serves as an entrance hall to Caesar's Research Institute.

Caesar's Research Institute (Third Research Institute)
In a different area on the frozen side of the island, there is a building marked PH-006. Caesar's Research Institute is built into the base of a mountain and has a natural harbor in front connecting to the river. The building was originally the lab in which Vegapunk carried out his chemical weaponry experiments, but now it is used by Caesar as a hideout and for his research. There are many different levels in the building, and each building is surrounded by balconies with chemical chimneys on the roofs. There is also a gaping hole on the right side of the building. Due to being on the cold side of the island, most of the facility is covered in snow and ice. Behind the mountain where the institute is built on, there are ruined facilities that had been destroyed in an explosion. They were Facility One and Facility Two and these were the Labs where Caesar built his secret poison gas bomb that ravaged the island four years ago.

Inhabitants
While there is no longer any civilization on the island, it is home to a variety of strange creatures. One of the bizarre creatures, an artificial dragon, was left behind by Vegapunk during the disaster where it adapted and lived on the island. Most of the creatures are human hybrids who were originally prisoners brought to the island to be used as experimental subjects. When the disaster occurred, they were left behind to die in the poisonous gas. Those that did not die were paralyzed from the waist down. When Caesar arrived on the island, he created various balloon powered contraptions for the prisoners to allow them to regain some semblance of their former abilities and convinced them to serve him. When Law arrived on the island, he used his Devil Fruit ability to join the prisoners' top halves with the lower halves of various animals, transforming them into centaurs and satyrs. Smiley, a massive blob-like pet of Caesar Clown was created by him from the poison gas released from the incident and was locked away in a hidden compound in the Burning Lands.

There are also a group of children held in a nursery room in the facility who were individually kidnapped from their home islands and secretly subjected to a drug whose addictive properties prevent the children from leaving.

Past
Four years prior to the current storyline, when the island was "lush and full of life", the World Government used the island as a research station for chemical weaponry, with Dr. Vegapunk as the Head Researcher. Pirates who were sent here instead of prison were used as guinea pigs in his research. Unknown to everyone, Caesar Clown, second in command of the science team conducted a secret experiment with a poison gas bomb. The bomb was detonated "accidentally", spreading poisonous gas throughout the island, killing off plant life and hundreds of inhabitants. Many of the survivors were evacuated but the prisoners that served as test subjects were left behind. Caesar Clown also escaped but was caught and imprisoned for building an illegal mass murder weapon. It was at this time that Punk Hazard was closed off by the Marines and the World Government.

One year after imprisonment, Caesar escaped and returned to Punk Hazard, where he used his Devil Fruit ability to purify the island of poisonous gas, but in truth he collected the gas and compressed it, transforming the gas into a sentient, mountain sized creature he named Smiley. He even kept it locked up and hidden in a compound in the Burning Lands should he ever need to release it. He then recruited the surviving prisoners and gave them artificial legs since they were left paralyzed from their lower bodies due to a strong neuro-toxin in the gas. The survivors gladly accepted him as their master, not knowing that he caused their paralysis.



Another year later, when most of the poison gas had dispersed, the island was known to the Marines as a large, abandoned wasteland making it the perfect battleground for Akainu and Aokiji's battle over the position of fleet admiral, after the end of the Battle of Marineford. The duel lasted for ten days and the impact and scale of their battle caused one side of the island to permanently be embroiled in flames, including the water around it, while the other half became permanently frozen over. In the end, Akainu emerged victorious and the island was left transformed into its current state, a desolate wasteland of fire and ice.

Brownbeard eventually arrived at Punk Hazard on his own after suffering a crippling defeat at the hands of Basil Hawkins at Foodvalten, leaving his legs useless. He was rescued by the paraplegic former prisoners of Caesar Clown and in gratitude, became Caesar's subordinate.

A few months before the Straw Hats' arrival, Trafalgar Law arrived on the island and made a compact with Caesar Clown, who agreed to keep Law's presence a secret in exchange for healing his subordinates. Law, using his Devil Fruit power, turned the surviving prisoners, Monet, and Brownbeard into half-animal, half-human creatures.

Punk Hazard Arc
Kinemon arrived on the island some time later looking for his son who was kidnapped and taken to the island. While on the island he was confronted by Law and was quickly defeated and cut into three pieces, with his head taken to the facility while his torso and legs were left out in the raging elements. The torso, still retaining its arms and Kinemon's two swords, blindly attacked centaurs until one survivor managed to send a distress call which was picked up by the Straw Hats and Tashigi who intercepted the call. The Straw Hat Pirates decided to head to Punk Hazard and investigate the distress call, unaware that Smoker was following their trail.

When Smoker, Tashigi and the other G-5 Marines arrived near the island, Smoker was surprised that there was still so much poisonous gas coming from the island, when all of it was dispersed two years ago. This prompted him to investigate the island. After navigating through treacherous icebergs, the group eventually made berth and discovered the laboratory where they encountered Trafalgar Law at the entrance, who claimed it was his vacation house.

Later during the arc, after Caesar Clown captures Law, Tashigi, Smoker, Luffy, Robin, and Franky, Caesar causes poisonous gas to spread across the island, using Smiley. The poisonous gas, called Shinokuni, spreads across the island making it inhospitable everywhere except in the research facility. But Caesar, desperately trying to kill his enemies, allows the gas inside the lab's section A and B.

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