"Biological weapon? What are you talking about? Weren't you out helping Lord Arceus look for plate? How did it end up being about something like that?"
Queen had a bad feeling. He didn't answer Shayna's question right away, instead wanting to figure out the situation first.
"Killed that big-headed freak along the way. The latest paper hasn't been delivered yet, right? You'll know when you read it."
"Big-headed freak… Wait, you killed that Vegapunk? Didn't you guys just finish your mission?"
"The one who just finished is Zeraora. We'd already split up before that, and if you count the time, it's been a whole day now.
Lord Sacred Beast lent me some power, so I got back a bit earlier."
Shayna's answer cleared up Queen's doubts and explained why Shayna had returned to Onigashima so early. Still, the news of Vegapunk's death left him a bit stunned.
"You killed…him just like that?"
"Yeah. Is there a problem? I'll never forget what happened at Punk Hazard in my lifetime, let alone the fact that b*stard actually used our bloodline to create biological weapons.
Back then you hadn't left yet, right? Don't tell me you had no idea about this."
Shayna's words brought Queen back to decades earlier, when the MADS group was still sailing the seas on their own adventures, funded entirely by Du Feld, the loan shark king from the Underworld.
Queen didn't have any sentimental attachment to Vegapunk. MADS was just a temporary alliance formed for mutual benefit, and there were no close bonds between its members.
The members almost never got along; everyone looked down on the others and thought of themselves as the most brilliant one.
And after capturing Lunarians.
[The legendary tribe of gods that can survive in any environment. Their resistance is terrifyingly strong.]
[If their genes are integrated into modified humans, the results should be extremely powerful.]
Back then, Queen had read the order of the World Government and recalling what they discussed earlier, Queen immediately understood why Shayna killed Vegapunk without a second thought. It was already merciful that she hadn't sliced him into pieces.
Now, for Queen, whether Vegapunk was dead or not didn't matter, what mattered was how to get himself out of this mess.
Admit it?
No, absolutely not!
"Never heard of it. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know what that weapon looks like."
"The Lunarian's traits: white hair, brown skin, black wings, flames burning on their back just like ours, but the face is that of Hancock and Hawk Eyes as children, and they even inherited some Devil Fruit abilities.
To be honest, I've beaten you up for so many years, I'm not going to kill you."
In less than 0.1 seconds, Queen caught the key point in Shayna's words: "wouldn't kill" and "wouldn't attack" were two different things. She had only said she wouldn't kill, she never said she wouldn't beat.
Terrifying images flashed through Queen's mind. To stop these scenes from becoming reality, and to prevent Hawkins' black stick* from coming true, Queen resolutely denied everything. [TN: In summary, in divination, black stick means a bad omen slip—an outcome signaling misfortune or caution.]
"You just instinctively denied it twice in a row. That's not your style. You're lying."
"What the hell are you babbling about, woman? I don't get it… Forget it, I did see it mentioned in the experiment records, but I wasn't involved. Even if Vegapunk succeeded, it must have been after I left."
Seeing that even after repeated denials Shayna still hadn't dropped her suspicion, Queen realized the situation. This was clearly a case of her not venting enough by killing Vegapunk and looking for someone else to beat up.
If there was no escaping it, he still had to make it clear that he hadn't participated in this.
If Shayna got the wrong idea and thought he had taken part in the biological weapon experiment, he'd be completely done for.
Getting beaten by King in the morning, thrashed by Shayna in the afternoon, and at night Omastar would probably seize the chance to hit him with a Spike Cannon.
"You really are lying. I almost believed you."
"…"
"Evidence. How can you prove you weren't involved in this?"
"You're forcing me…"
"What, you want to make a move? I don't mind. That brief power from Lord Sacred Beast taught me a lot, you can give it a try."
Shayna assumed a battle stance, but Queen's next words were completely unexpected to her.
"I don't have that kind of skill."
"W–what did you say?"
"I said I don't have that kind of skill. Compared to Vegapunk, I'm like a piece of trash. You know my level of skill. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have the skill to create something like that. So I was never involved in it.
If I have to put it plainly, it's that I simply don't have the capability to participate.
Even if I wanted to, I couldn't, and besides, I never wanted to in the first place!"
After saying this, Queen seemed drained of energy, his plump body looking somewhat powerless.
This was something MADS members were unwilling to admit but had to face: they couldn't measure up to Vegapunk. In both knowledge and ability, they were inferior.
What Vegapunk could accomplish, they might not be able to. Even with the same line of research thinking, Vegapunk could casually create a Mythical Zoan Fruit indistinguishable from the real thing except for the color.
It was only because of his own perfectionist tendencies and the circumstances he was in that he insisted it was a failure.
If the World Government knew he had truly created a Mythical Zoan Fruit, he probably wouldn't have any time for other research and would be forced to mass-produce them.
Meanwhile, in Caesar's hands, even ordinary Zoan-type Fruits turned out as those grotesque, neither-human-nor-beast monstrosities, yet he still considered them successful experiments.
At this moment, Queen was confronting his own weakness.
"You're ruthless…"
With a perfect excuse, Queen completely removed himself from the matter. It was just like when an ordinary company, suspected of food adulteration, protested its innocence on the grounds that it did not have the technical know-how to use such high-tech additives.
"Wait…where are you going?"
Seeing Shayna no longer intent on attacking, Queen instead panicked even more.
"Going on vacation. Let's say I wronged you this time."
"Come back! Shouldn't you at least find some random excuse and then beat me up? What's with just walking away like this?"
"Is there something wrong with you? If you're really itching for a beating, you can go to Machamp's gym. They'd be happy to welcome you as their new punching bag."
Without another word to Queen, she flew straight up into the sky with the wind.
Watching Shayna leave, Queen thought for a moment, then pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
"Hey, Hawkins? Get back to Onigashima immediately. Mission? Forget it, have someone else do it. You get back here as fast as possible!"
Queen had thought this whole incident was the "black stick" from Hawkins' divination, and that his explanation was just to lessen the misfortune's impact. He hadn't expected to over-explain to the point Shayna just gave up entirely.
Based on past divination, something that hasn't happened yet doesn't count as truly over. In other words, there was still something even more dangerous than this waiting for him. His destined calamity.
More terrifying than Shayna… that left only Yamato or Kaido. From experience, while Yamato talked tough, she had never really laid a hand on him, meaning the only one left was Kaido.
Ever since the Rumble Ball Q1.0 experiment, Kaido hadn't laid a hand on him. After so long, Queen couldn't even imagine what new tricks Kaido might have up his sleeve this time.
"Tch. What a shame… Sister Shayna didn't even make a move."
On the top floor of the Pokémon Center, Yamato put down the binoculars in her hands. She could swear she was only looking at the scenery of the inland sea out of boredom, while counting the number of Magikarp. Spotting Queen was purely a coincidence.
The distance was too great for her to hear what Queen and Shayna were talking about. She just instinctively felt Shayna would make a move, but the result left her a bit disappointed.
"Hey, Sister Delia, why are you here?"
"Having lunch. The patient meals here taste pretty good."
Delia was holding a meal tray in her hands, treating the place like a cafeteria for lunch.
"Didn't Dad give you that unlimited black card for living expenses?"
"Yeah, but the non-patient meals here are not free. Since I can't pay with that card, I'm not able to afford them."
"But… wasn't yesterday payday? You didn't treat anyone either."
"Oh, that? I spent everything after paying off my debts."
Speaking of her empty wallet, Delia showed no trace of resentment; in fact, she looked a bit proud. Then she pulled out a thick stack of already-scratched lottery tickets from her pocket.
To promote cash flow, lottery tickets sold outside were also available for sale within Wano Country. But here, they were just ordinary lottery tickets without any extra purpose.
Taking the tickets Delia handed over, Yamato roughly counted them and came to an unimpressive conclusion.
"Looks like you lost money."
"It's fine. Even though I spent more than I won, I still gained the joy of winning."
"But you're out of money."
"Heh heh, Young Miss, you don't get it, human brains protect their owners. It actively forgets some unpleasant things.
Money always runs out, but happiness is different.
Over time, you'll only remember the joy of winning and forget the frustration of losing. When you think about it like that, isn't it a great deal?"
Delia's economic theory never fails to baffle people. Not only does Mandrell, who deals with everyday life, fail to understand them, but even Yamato couldn't understand how she could keep it up.
"But… the brain doesn't protect your wallet. When you see an empty wallet, it'll remind you of the pain you once felt."
"That's fine. My wallet's never been full, so seeing it like that doesn't make me feel anything. That's an experience I'll never have. Young Miss, I doubt you could understand it either."
"Mm… that's a little hard to imagine."
Delia had just said something Yamato had never considered; after all, her wallet had never been empty.
It was then that sounds came from Mogura Port's direction. As the port's chains turned, the Shadow Fox Ship's silhouette reappeared at Onigashima. Olga, who had gone on vacation earlier, had returned with Nightin.
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