Lightning and flashes, two streaks of yellow light collided fiercely in mid-air. Their speed had surpassed the limit of what the naked eye could track; even Kuzan could only use Observation Haki to sense their positions.
"What an intense fight… But if it keeps going like this, doesn't that mean the entire mission falls on me?"
In this three-person team operation, Shayna was the one in charge. The mission had now shifted from searching for the plate to eliminating the Seraphim.
But Zeraora was currently locked in combat with Kizaru.
There was no way around it. Kuzan couldn't stop Kizaru, who was determined to leave. To Kizaru, the Seraphim were outside his protection scope. If left alone, Kizaru definitely wouldn't stick around here.
Though Kizaru, who believes in unclear justice, usually acts nonchalant and carefree, he too has his own attachments.
Sentomaru's death couldn't just be brushed aside with a few words. He wasn't some distant colleague, but was his direct subordinate.
The thunderstorm continued to spread. Fueled by the lightning in the sky, Zeraora entered berserk mode. Empowered by Outrage, Zeraora's attacks became more ferocious and powerful.
Even if he didn't land a direct hit, the lightning surrounding his claws caused parts of Kizaru's body that hadn't yet fully turned into light to feel numb.
The two of them wouldn't be finishing their fight any time soon, so Kuzan had no choice but to take on the so-called Seraphim himself.
"When the flames go out, their defense drops... Let's give it a try."
During the earlier battles, Kuzan had already noticed that S-Hawk and S-Snake had incredibly high physical defense. Whether it was Ice Saber or Haki-coated fists and kicks, they hardly left a mark.
But their resistance to elemental attacks was much weaker. If he could successfully freeze them, there was still a good chance of victory.
"Ice Age!"
Frost covered Kuzan's body. At this point, Egghead's ground had already been ravaged by lightning and lasers, exposing the soil and rock below.
With Kuzan's feet as the center, frost began to spread over the rocks. The moisture in the soil froze, and the already compacted foundation turned into solid frozen earth.
S-Snake felt a chill on her face. She raised her hand to wipe it off and saw hexagonal snowflakes in her palm.
The snowflakes quickly melted from her body heat. It was the first time she had seen snow since leaving her development tank, and her still-developing mind grew even more curious about the world.
The previous thunderclouds still lingered, but Zeraora's thunderstorm had not triggered rain, it only unleashed lightning bolts. Now, under Kuzan's influence, Egghead experienced an unprecedented thundersnow weather.
And with no Akainu-like power to counter him, Kuzan's ability quickly spread across the island, turning it into a land of ice and snow.
"Now, this is my home turf."
Kuzan's body merged into the snowstorm. Accompanied by the extremely cold air currents, the Seraphim felt a powerful sense of impending danger.
While the battle on Egghead grew ever more intense, Shayna's pursuit continued. Meanwhile Vegapunk, having escaped with S-Bear, was conducting a brand-new experiment.
A woman with a relatively large physique and two-toned hair was moving some heavy objects. This was Vegapunk's No. 05 satellite, representing violence: Atlas.
"Where exactly are we going? Has S-Bear's ability developed to this extent?"
"Not sure. S-Bear isn't Kuma after all. Besides, he sent the entire Punk Records flying. I can only guarantee that we'll land safely, not where we land."
Vegapunk's main body replied with his tongue sticking out, answering his satellite's question.
"Can't we end the flight early? We could land on our own, right? This part of the Punk Records was built to fly, wasn't it?"
"This is S-Bear's first test run of his ability. We don't have enough reference data. I'm not sure how long this power will last."
"Forget that for now! Something unidentified is rapidly approaching! It's accelerating, at most, we have one minute before it catches up!"
Edison, monitoring the equipment, suddenly noticed something highly unusual. The system was originally just meant to monitor the general direction of the flight and take manual control once S-Bear's ability wore off, but something unidentified chasing after them exceeded their expectations.
"Is it Borsalino? At this speed, only he should be able to catch up, right?"
"It's not him. We still can't get through to Borsalino's Den Den Mushi. Hold on tight!"
Suddenly, Edison's body swayed and fell to the ground. It wasn't just him, Vegapunk and Atlas also lost their balance. And the question from earlier was answered: Shayna's figure once again appeared on the surveillance screen.
The bubble created by S-Bear was destroyed by her, and the external metal shell was also broken through. By the time Vegapunk and the others got back on their feet, Shayna was already standing before them.
During the evacuation, Vegapunk didn't take the same route as the regular researchers and workers. This part, which was sent flying, only contained Vegapunk and his satellites.
"Vegapunk, I've come to collect a debt."
"A remnant of the Lunarian race, huh? If I'm not mistaken, your name should be Shayna, right? What about the boy who was with you back then?"
"Heh, you really do remember clearly. Oh, wait, of course you do. I didn't use a fake name. Maybe I should've back then."
Boom! Boom!
Two laser blasts suddenly shot out from the side. They were Pacifista-style laser cannons. Vegapunk wasn't some kind of pacifist. Back when he was still in MADS, he used to carry a gun and fight alongside others.
Shayna's murderous aura clearly showed she wasn't here for a leisurely visit. The fact that she had chased them all the way from Egghead already spoke volumes about her fury.
But the laser blasts had no effect on Shayna. After the smoke cleared, she was still standing in place, completely unscathed.
"It's useless. These weapons are made using our genes, you should be well aware of our abilities. And now, I'm even stronger than before.
Still, I see you've gathered quite a few loyal subordinates over the years."
With a flap of a single wing, the terrifying wind blades shredded Atlas, who had just been operating the weapons, and Edison, who had been reporting the situation, into pieces. Their metal bodies offered no resistance, leaving behind only a pile of metallic wreckage.
"Robots? How boring. I thought they were your subordinates, just like Sentomaru."
Back in the laboratory, Vegapunk hadn't created these satellites yet, so Shayna didn't know about them and simply mistook them for ordinary robots.
"So you're here to kill me, aren't you?"
"What else? You think I came for tea?"
"That's a shame. But I was already close to death anyway, a bit earlier isn't entirely unacceptable."
Faced with Shayna's threat of death, Vegapunk's face showed no trace of fear, only a sense of calm, as if all of this was within his expectations.
He chose to flee because there were still things he hadn't finished. But if there was truly nowhere left to run, he could accept that too.
However, this attitude deeply irritated Shayna.
She had come for revenge, yet her target didn't even take it seriously. Killing someone unafraid of death, such an act wouldn't relieve her fury at all.
"This calm look of yours… really pisses me off!"
In an instant, Shayna appeared in front of Vegapunk and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air.
Vegapunk was originally quite tall, but that was mostly due to his head. After surgically separating it, he had become a short man.
"Cought, cough, I know you're very angry, but it was just research. It was a command from the World Government.
There were no personal feelings involved in my research, it was all for the sake of science."
"Whether it's the World Government or you, you're all the same. Whether it's the one giving the order or the one carrying it out, your fate will be the same. I'll be sending them to meet you soon enough."
Shayna slammed Vegapunk to the ground. His body was not much different from that of an ordinary person, and the impact left him dazed and dizzy, even bending the antenna on his head.
As the antenna was damaged, electric sparks began to flicker across the entire Punk Records, as if it too had suffered damage.
"Come to think of it, you even took this thing while escaping… You must really value it, right? Then destroying it right in front of you should be fun, shouldn't it?"
Shayna seemed to have thought of something and immediately prepared to launch an attack on the Punk Records above.
Neither the news of Sentomaru's death nor Shayna's attempts to kill him had caused much visible reaction in Vegapunk. But her new intention clearly threw him into a panic.
"Wait! That contains all of my research data! Even for your people, that data is important. It's incredibly valuable. You could even call it the future of humanity!
Take it as a war trophy, you can gain a lot from it!"
"Oh? So it's that precious? What a pity, I don't need it."
With a flap of her wings, the wind fanned the flames, and the Punk Records was quickly engulfed in a sea of flames. Punk Records, which was storing all of Vegapunk's memories and knowledge, was instantly consumed by the flames.
Vegapunk was the user of the Brain-Brain Fruit. The Punk Records had been created from his separated brain. The abilities of a Devil Fruit user disappear once they lose consciousness, but the things created by those users do not.
According to Vegapunk's research, even if he died here, the Punk Records would not vanish. It, along with all his other data, would continue to exist indefinitely.
Even enemies shouldn't refuse such a treasure.
"Do you even know what you're doing? All that research…"
"I know exactly what I'm doing. I admit you're a brilliant scientist. But the moment you used us as test subjects to create something as vile as the Seraphim, we became mortal enemies.
What you want to accomplish is exactly what I intend to stop. We don't need you for our future. We'll create a new world, but nothing in that world will be related to Vegapunk. Your research will vanish with you into the darkness, never to see the light of day again!"
Vegapunk's ability was indeed powerful; Shayna didn't deny that. His achievements were one of a kind in the entire world, and his technology had made Egghead unique.
But he had committed the ultimate taboo. No matter how powerful his ability was, in the face of racial hatred, it all became meaningless. The moment he led the Seraphim experiment, his fate had already been sealed.
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