As expected, a familiar laugh immediately sounded behind Saturn.
"Doctor, looks like I'll be troubling you here for a while as well."
Kizaru grinned as he leaned his head into view.
Vegapunk's heart sank as if plunging into the depths of the sea, sinking lower and lower.
This is bad.
If Ian were to come over at a time like this, nothing unexpected would happen… right?
Before Vegapunk could sort out his thoughts, Saturn of the Five Elders spoke again.
"Doctor, then may I take a look at the semi-finished energy source?"
Vegapunk's heart gave a violent jolt.
This man was an outstanding scientist himself—would he notice something off?
"Y-Yes."
But he couldn't refuse the request. After all, this man stood at the very top of the World Government.
Vegapunk could only nod his overly large head and turn around, guiding the Five Elder toward the semi-finished energy core.
Outside the massive metal container, Saturn stared unblinkingly at the tiny flicker of fire glowing at the center of the molten liquid within the furnace.
Unable to discern much just by looking, Saturn picked up the documents Vegapunk handed him and began reading them carefully.
Vegapunk's heart leapt into his throat.
Although these materials were fabricated, they weren't entirely fake.
They incorporated a great deal of ancient kingdom technology data that Ian had instructed Stussy to deliver to him.
However, many crucial sections were deliberately omitted, making it appear as though further research was still required.
After a long while, Saturn turned his head in silence, his heavy gaze fixed on Vegapunk.
Vegapunk felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest.
Then he saw a faint smile appear on Saturn's usually expressionless face.
"Remarkable, Dr. Vegapunk."
"A remarkable hypothesis. A remarkable design."
Praise flowed continuously from the mouth of the esteemed Saint Saturn.
Vegapunk let out a genuine sigh of relief.
He fooled him!
A trace of pride surged up in the old man's heart.
So what if they were Five Elders? So what if they were Celestial Dragon scientists?
They were nothing special after all!
"Next, I hope you will continue to accelerate your research," Saturn said seriously.
"This new form of energy is extremely important to World government."
"I understand!"
Vegapunk nodded heavily.
Precisely because he knew how important this was to them, he absolutely could not hand it over.
After successfully fooling Saturn, Vegapunk continued to put on an act, pretending to carry on with his research as usual.
Only then did the tension that had been hanging over his heart finally ease.
After all, there was no way that Saturn would personally dismantle the furnace and dig out the energy core inside for a thorough inspection.
A member of the Five Elders could never possibly know the real progress of the research.
With that being the case, what was there left to worry about?
On Ian's side, a paw-shaped bubble wrapped around him, carrying him, Kuma, and Bullet as they sped through the skies.
Because Kuma had never been to the new Marine Science Unit base, his ability couldn't send the three of them directly to that island.
However, Stussy had told them the exact location of the island, so Kuma instead sent them to the closest island he had previously visited.
Strictly speaking, this meant they still had to make a transfer.
Even at this incredible speed, Ian still felt it was too slow. He even had the urge to fly at full speed on his own, cross the seas, storm the Marine Science Unit base, and take Vegapunk and the new energy source back by force.
But that would be exhausting.
No matter how strong his stamina was, flying across entire sea regions at full power would be brutal.
So he could only endure the relatively slow pace.
Both Bullet and Kuma understood Ian's impatience perfectly.
In fact, Bullet was even more anxious than Ian himself.
Naturally, he longed even more intensely for the final battle that would decide the world's dominion.
Fortunately, the wait did not last long.
Soon, they crossed the Red Line and landed on an island near the Calm Belt.
At that moment, Ian took out Vegapunk's Vivre Card that Stussy had given him.
Strictly speaking, a Vivre Card does not directly point toward its owner.
It does move in a fixed direction, but that direction is toward other pieces of the same Vivre Card.
By instinct, it moves toward the largest piece.
However, if the owner carries the largest portion of their Vivre Card with them, then the smaller torn-off piece effectively becomes a permanent pointer directly toward its owner.
Confirmed the direction, Kuma's ability activated once more, and the three of them soared through the sky again, heading straight toward the path the Vivre Card indicated.
The new base of the Navy's Science Division lay within the Calm Belt, truly the most suitable location imaginable—almost completely free from any disturbance.
Since the distance wasn't far, taking just over half an hour, Ian and the others soon arrived above this unremarkable island.
Truly unremarkable. From above, it looked like any other deserted island scattered across the sea.
There wasn't even much vegetation—just a bare, lifeless piece of land.
Yet the Vivre Card in Ian's hand continued to tremble relentlessly.
Dropping his overwhelming Observation Haki downward, Ian soon detected a massive interior space within the island, teeming with human presence.
"Oh?"
Ian raised an eyebrow. "Familiar faces, huh."
Two familiar presences.
Tsk. Stussy never mentioned this—Kizaru and one of the Gorosei, Saturn, would be here.
Quite the surprise.
"Time to fight?"
Bullet's excitement spiked at Ian's words.
Anyone Ian considered familiar was certainly no weakling.
Within the World Government, the only ones who could feel familiar to Ian were Admirals, the Fleet Admiral, or perhaps one of the Gorosei.
"Don't rush. First, let's find Vegapunk and get what we came for."
Ian spoke as his Observation Haki swept back and forth across the island's interior space.
"Oh, found him."
A smirk tugged at Ian's lips.
Thanks to Vegapunk's conspicuously large head.
Even though Ian's Observation Haki didn't excel at sensing presence, he quickly pinpointed Vegapunk's location among the group below.
"Let's go. Time to claim our prize!"
Ian plummeted straight down. "Bullet, clear the way for me."
"Hmph!"
Bullet snorted coldly and stomped through the air, accelerating downward like a meteor.
Then, just like a meteor, he crashed onto the surface of the island.
A purple substance instantly spread across the island's surface, making the entire landmass tremble violently.
In the next moment, the center of the island began to spiral, revealing a massive crater.
Ian fell straight toward that gaping hole.
Meanwhile, inside the base…
Vegapunk, who had been busy leaning over his desk, was thrown to the ground by the violent tremor.
"What? What's happening?"
Struggling to lift his enormous head, Vegapunk's expression was one of utter bewilderment.
"W-what is that?"
How had such a huge hole appeared in the ceiling?
"Intruders!!"
Not far from them, Kizaru and Saturn rushed out from the main gate.
Before they could say anything further, a sharp rush of wind suddenly came from above.
Both of them instinctively looked up.
Then…
Saturn shuddered, cold sweat forming on his forehead. "Impossible!"
Kizaru's face was equally grim. "Am I really not dreaming?"
Because falling from the ceiling's gaping hole was a figure—an unmistakably familiar figure.
"Dr. Vegapunk, I've come to get you."
**********
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