In battles between top-tier fighters, any carelessness can be fatal. The Seraphim's combat experience was still not enough; every test was a learning process, but this time, they were caught in a fight between three extremely powerful individuals.
Zeraora's lightning and Kizaru's lasers were both extremely fast elemental attacks. In the heat of battle, neither of them could spare the effort to care where their stray attacks landed, so it was inevitable that the Seraphim would be caught in the crossfire.
Without switching modes, the lightning and lasers caused their bodies to stiffen, giving Kuzan the chance to strike. To avoid both the lightning and light element, they had no choice but to switch modes, and when their defenses dropped, it also created openings for Kuzan.
Without a commander, having just been deployed not long ago and without much fine-tuning, the Seraphim still revealed certain shortcomings.
Crack.
The bodies of S-Snake and S-Hawk were shattered by Kuzan, yet from the frozen expressions on their faces, no trace of fear could be seen. As biological weapons, the Seraphim currently have no awareness of the meaning of their own existence.
Receive orders, execute orders is all that Seraphim understands. To them, death simply signifies mission failure.
Crack.
Another sound rang out as Kuzan crushed the chunks of ice that had fallen to the ground. Even for the Seraphim, once completely frozen, their bodies' toughness was not much different from ice chunks.
Once smashed into ice fragments, even thawing could not restore them.
"Borsalino, it's time to end this. I have no interest in fighting you anymore."
"You say you don't want to fight, but your actions tell a different story, Kuzan."
"Can't be helped. If you still want to fight, I'll have to go along with it.
Those weapons have been destroyed, our mission is over, and the person you wanted to protect isn't here. Dragging this out will do you no good."
Kizaru didn't answer Kuzan, instead analyzing the situation. The signal was blocked by Zeraora, preventing any messages from getting out. Given Egghead's location, reinforcements weren't going to just show up on their own.
With two Seraphim defeated, Kuzan was now free. If Zeraora's speed was enough to match him, he would be in serious trouble if Kuzan actually moved to attack.
Likewise, if he chose to retreat, Zeraora could keep up and engage him in a prolonged fight. But Kuzan couldn't. The difference in their Devil Fruit abilities meant Kuzan couldn't sustain long-term aerial combat.
Kizaru couldn't hold back Zeraora if he was intent on leaving, and likewise, Zeraora couldn't hold back Kizaru if he was intent on retreating.
"Kuzan, you're still the same as ever."
Kizaru's gaze shifted to where Sentomaru lay. It was one of the rare intact areas on Egghead, now turned into an icy mausoleum by Kuzan's powers, with Sentomaru's body completely preserved inside.
"But with what you've done now, it's certain we're enemies."
"Who can say for sure about that?"
Egghead fell silent once again, with only the snowstorm and thunderstorm telling of what had happened before. In the end, Kizaru left Egghead with Sentomaru's body. There was no point in him staying any longer.
Zeraora didn't waste time on Kizaru either. After locating Wailord, he and Kuzan returned together to Wano Country.
Lilith, in the nearby waters, did not return to Egghead. During the battle, she had already been controlling a robot to head toward another base. Cut off from communications, she didn't know that both her main body and the other satellites had run into trouble, leaving only the scheming York behind.
Wailord's speed was far slower than Shayna's, who had obtained the power of the Sky Plate. On the return journey, they didn't remain inside Wailord's stomach but instead sat on its back, making their way leisurely back to Wano Country like on a picnic.
Compared to them, Shayna actually arrived back at Onigashima first.
On the roof of Onigashima, there was a landing deck specially prepared for officers who can fly, and even a runway for takeoff, intended for certain special personnel who required a running start to take off smoothly.
As Shayna landed, the Sky Plate that had been residing within her body responded to Arceus's summons and separated from her.
Drawn by this aura, nearby Pokémon revealed themselves. Beautifly circled the Sky Plate curiously, their desire mingled with a hint of reverence, and in the end, they merely flew nearby.
It was now late in the morning, a time when Dustox would normally be asleep, yet they too were guided by this aura, waking from slumber and forming two clearly distinct groups with the Beautifly.
Some small blue birds landed directly on Shayna's shoulder. Her body still carried traces of the Sky Plate's aura, which was extremely attractive to Flying-type Pokémon.
Several Swablu peeked curiously at Shayna from the clouds above, while the birds on her shoulder were much bolder.
Tiny Bird Pokémon — Rookidee.
It appeared to be a round, blue bird-like creature. However, rather than resembling a bird, they looked more like a ball. The black fur on their faces and connecting their chest and abdomen formed a mask-like decoration.
Their eyes seemed very large, but that was an illusion. The white areas around their eyes were not eyes at all, but markings. Within them were patterns invisible to the human eye, capable of intimidating timid Pokémon.
These Rookidee were not creations recently made by Arceus, but hatchlings from the Corviknight population. Although their final form is incredibly powerful, their initial form is as delicate as a sparrow.
However, anyone who underestimated them for their appearance would pay the price. Rookidee used their small size for high-speed flight.
They would challenge opponents several times their size without hesitation. Even if they lost, as long as they survived, they would grow quickly and learn from the experience.
Incidentally, Rookidee had a strong sense of cleanliness and took great care of their feathers. Dirtying them would bring swift retaliation, and they also disliked Tinkaton.
The chirping of the Rookidee reached Shayna's ears, and at the same time, several larger birds flew up to her, some clutching baskets in their talons.
These were the evolved form of Rookidee — Corvisquire. With a bit more training, they could become newly-evolved Corviknight.
As their name suggested, Corvisquire resembled blue-and-black crows. They retained the white markings around their eyes from their Rookidee stage, but had grown more intelligent and had more dexterous claws. Corvisquire could even tie up goods with rope entirely on their own when transporting cargo.
The Corvisquire carrying baskets were preparing for their future taxi life. In a sense, this could even be considered child labor.
"Alright, make way, I'm going to see Lord Sacred Beast."
Shayna knew clearly that the Pokémon's friendliness was not because of her, but because of the lingering aura of Arceus's Plate.
Once she entered Onigashima smoothly, the Pokémon began circling the island, but none entered.
"Lord Sacred Beast, I have come to confess my wrongdoing."
As soon as she arrived before Arceus, Shayna made her purpose clear; not to claim credit, but to seek punishment for her wrongdoing.
"You brought back the plate. You've done well, what wrongdoing could you possibly have committed?"
"No, because of my selfishness, I destroyed the research records treasured by Vegapunk. Those studies and inventions might have held much value, but…"
"Sorry, I couldn't hold back my anger at the time. Those biological weapons made with Lunarian blood disgusted me too much."
"It doesn't matter. It's just technology, nothing more. The difference between having it and not having it isn't that great. This world is vast, and it won't stop turning because of the absence of one Vegapunk. Compared to you all, he is worthless."
"But—"
"No buts. Since you want punishment, then your punishment is to put your work aside for a while and obediently go relax. Many things are about to come to an end, just be patient a little longer."
As Arceus spoke, he also took the Sky Plate back into his own body. A strange cyclone appeared out of thin air above Onigashima, and in Shayna's perception, Arceus at this moment was like the center of a sea of stars, with the vast starry sky behind him.
A strange seasonal wind spread out from Onigashima, affecting almost half of the New World. Wherever it passed, fallen leaves and flower petals danced in the air, forming a wondrous picture in the sky.
On Dressrosa, the New Fishman Island, Whole Cake Island, Sphinx Island, and many other islands, the inhabitants all noticed this sudden, warm gale.
Meanwhile, in Baltigo, Dragon turned his gaze toward the source of the wind.
"A storm is brewing in the world."
The newspaper in his hand was set down on the table. The death of the genius scientist Vegapunk; this piece of news was already beginning to spread across the world.
It would take some time for the news to spread and gain attention. Meanwhile, Shayna wandered aimlessly through Wano Country.
Her punishment was to rest, but once idle, she had nothing to do. She had originally wanted to chat with King, but King was currently out strolling with Kaido and couldn't be found at all.
It was at this moment that someone appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time and met the wrong person.
Looking at Shayna before him, Queen froze in shock, then immediately turned to run. He never imagined Shayna had already returned.
After all, he had spoken with Zeraora on the phone earlier, and Zeraora had told him in person that they were still five days away from Onigashima.
Yet from the moment he hung up to now, less than five minutes had passed, and Shayna was already standing right in front of him.
Earlier, Queen had hung up the call in a rush, not even hearing the rest of what Zeraora said, and he had no idea that Shayna and others had already split up.
"Queen, stop right there! Why are you running when you see me? What shameful thing have you done again?"
"Don't slander me! I haven't gone anywhere these past few days, what could I possibly have done?!"
"You'd better not have done anything. But now I have a question for you. Answer me honestly: did you know about Vegapunk's biological weapons plan, and how much were you involved in it?"
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