Dr. STONE (Dr.STONE)

Whenever Stanley's crew attacks...

Let's do 3,000 meters in one second!

...we go ahead and petrify friend and foe alike.

Meanwhile, one of us stays out of range of the petrification beam.

They'll revive the Kingdom of Science, and then victory is ours.

Our sole survivor has to stay the hell away.

The whole plan hinges on their success.

The head of our special squad will be...

Suika!

All that practice hiding means I get to be useful now!

That's definitely safer than being here on the front lines, but it's still dangerous.

No problem.

We'll send Francois, too.

I promise that no harm will befall her.

Are we going to set up a camp down by the river?

Yes.

We can rely on the others for regular food drops, but we cannot survive without consistent access to water.

In addition, it's all but certain that Stanley's team will be traveling upriver.

If we're vigilant, it's possible that we can discreetly spot them coming, so...

What's wrong, Suika?

See something?

I think I've already spotted them.

Clear!

Clear.

Move out!

I'll go ahead and handle Recon.

That way I can secure a path.

We've just gotta keep our eyes peeled for smoke, yeah?

Right, the fledgling science team is somewhere here in Araxa.

They're mining for minerals, which means they'll need a lot of smoke and fire.

Pick up the pace, hostages!

Kinro and Matsukaze are with them too.

Excellent scouting, Suika.

Nicely done.

This is bad.

We've got to hurry up and call the others so they know that Stanley is already here.

We can't.

Our comms equipment is a last resort.

If we use it now, we'll be discovered.

We are critical to this mission, so we mustn't take any risks.

We're using the scent to harness the power of the dreaded army and to scare everything else away!

Let's go.

We'll temporarily return to warn them.

Oh no!

Something venomous must have gotten her!

She may be bad, but she needs our help!

Keep this stuff handy, just in case.

It's your best friend if one of you ends up getting poisoned.

All these pads are soaked in that nitroglycerin we use to make dynamite.

Rub it on your skin and it'll expand your coronary arteries.

And that'll jolt your heart back into action.

She's right.

But our role is far too pivotal to compromise ourselves.

Senku, you realize Stanley will kill all of you without hesitation.

He'll do whatever's necessary to rescue his leader.

It isn't a matter of ethics.

He'll simply be fulfilling his job as a military man.

Yeah, I'm well aware.

You clearly believe the beautiful platitudes you spout to your followers.

Sadly, that is your biggest weakness.

The crack that will ultimately split your diamond.

I don't get it.

We're enemies, why help?

Everything's gonna be alright now.

Thank you.

FREEZE!

FREEZE!

What's freeze?

What are they saying?

I fear I don't know for certain, but I vaguely recall it having something to do with turning water to ice.

I don't know what they're yelling about, but I do know that everything will be ruined if I let them catch me!

After her!

We can't let the little runt go back and tell the rest of them that we're on the way!

We're in grave danger.

Suika lacks 21st century knowledge.

She has no way of knowing freeze means stop moving.

The only thing I have that even remotely resembles a weapon is this small paring knife.

I have no combat skills to speak of.

Even if I were to risk charging them with this kitchen tool, Suika and I would still be gunned down.

It's do or die!

We've got you now!

Use this.

Matsukaze.

And Ginro.

I've risked my life honing my response to ranged weapons.

I know precisely what to do.

FIRE!

I retrieved the weapon, but I cannot use it while my hands are bound.

Instead...

Master Ginro!

It's up to you!

He cut the rope!

I'll hold him down!

Stupid Matsukaze!

How am I supposed to fight against guns?

Unless... maybe at this range?

No, I can't do that!

They'll kill me if I react!

Why do I have to be the one to die a hero?

Damn it, Matsukaze!

I'm just gonna let them tie me up!

My master... he had a powerful spirit up to the very end.

You leave her alone!

I mean it!

No matter what, I won't let you hurt Suika!

That's right!

I was so scared I almost forgot I was one of the village guards!

So I've always been really strong!

Of course it's all thanks to my intense training!

It hurts!

Why would an expert marksman hesitate to shoot?

Stanley could have easily shot him dead before he had a chance to fight back.

That certainly would have made things simpler to handle.

There's only one possible explanation.

He needs him as a hostage.

So he refrained from firing until Ginro said an assault necessitated it.

Neither Ginro nor Matsukaze show any signs of injury or mistreatment.

They were merely restrained.

As prisoners of war, it seems they're being treated with a modicum of respect.

These people... they're not ruthless murderers.

They're soldiers, which means...

We are both civilians!

Please don't shoot!

We're non-combatants!

Listen, that's Suika, a civilian doctor.

She has unflinchingly upheld her duty, even saving one of yours from death by a venomous spider bite.

She and I have been living apart from Senku and the others to protect her from potential warfare.

I implore you to thoroughly inspect her belongings if you cannot take me at my word.

In a weird way, everything she said is true.

We are unaffiliated with the Combat Unit.

We harbor no hostile intent and will follow your orders.

Will you kill us regardless?

We won't.

You can relax.

That is, assuming you're telling the truth.

Got me a walking melon.

We're in real big trouble, and it's all my fault.

And to make it even worse, now we have no way of warning everyone that Stanley's already here.

That isn't necessarily true, Suika.

You may have performed a distinguished service.

Hey, what are you grumbling about, Leonard?

Francois over there was hiding a little secret.

Their comms device sent out a radio signal before we caught them.

Correct.

You're more than welcome to analyze the content of my Morse Code message if you're concerned.

It was simply an update.

For safety, I was informing the U.S. base that we had split into two teams.

What's going on?

They're not in trouble, are they?

They made contact with Stanley's crew.

Why would Francois send that weird message knowing it would give away their position?

You've got it backwards.

Francois sent it to tell us their position, not Stanley.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

It's super basic.

You check the direction the signal came from and how long ago they left.

Yep.

And just like that, we found them first.

We've got them.

We know the enemy's exact location.

Our final battle against Stanley is about to begin.

We possess information that could turn the tide in our favor.

We know where they are, but they still don't know where we are.

Wait a sec!

Back it up!

Do you hear yourselves?

There's something we should really ip-nay in the ud-bay.

Sweet little Suika and Francois have been caught, and we know where the enemy is.

Can that genius brain of yours think of a certain badass who won't hesitate to act on that?