"Sherwin, Klee thinks this button is very suspicious meow!"
(=`ω=)σ
After quickly circling the laboratory, the little ragdoll cat led Sherwin and the others to a wall with black and yellow stripes. She pointed at a massive black button emblazoned with a skull symbol and a large red "DANGER" label, speaking with a look of utmost seriousness.
Sherwin: "..."
Haibara Meow: "..."
Purah Meow: "..."
Link Meow: (=°ω°=)
There is no way in hell that looks like something you should just press!
Sherwin lip twitched as he scooped Klee Meow up into his arms.
(=ω=)
"..."
Well, Klee Meow eyes are so innocent and cute—the little angel definitely isn't lying to me!
After a few seconds of eye contact with the little ragdoll, Sherwin immediately ruled out the possibility of the little one playing a prank.
This wasn't Sherwin being impulsive while his kittens could be a bit mischievous at times, they knew how to distinguish between play and serious matters.
More importantly, looking at that button, Sherwin finally managed to vaguely recall a detail from the original story—when Franky was on Future Island, he really did end up getting his entire face blown off for some reason...
It couldn't be helped the manga had so little coverage of the Straw Hat crew two-year hiatus that Sherwin struggled to remember many details, and there were precious few triggers left to spark his memory.
But with this bit of memory, Sherwin was more or less able to deduce the situation.
Perhaps Vegapunk didn't want certain research falling into the hands of the World Government, or maybe as a precaution, he had established two separate laboratories early on.
Some non-combat technologies were placed on the outside to serve as a cover, while technologies capable of causing destruction were hidden in a second laboratory. A self-destruct button was specifically created to further prevent others from discovering the existence of the second lab even if someone refused to believe the warning and pressed it, they would be blown to bits along with it.
Under normal circumstances, no one would ever press that button. It took someone with a bizarre mental frequency like Franky to press it without hesitation and then, relying on the defensive power and vitality of a cyborg, manage to survive the explosion.
Obviously, however, it was impossible for Vegapunk himself to enter the second laboratory by blowing up the first one, so there had to be another entrance.
As for why Klee Meow had found her way here, it was actually quite easy to understand...
Because this place was related to explosions, it naturally held the greatest attraction for our Spark Knight.
After sorting through his memories and the available clues, Sherwin quickly thought of a solution.
Simply tearing down the wall definitely wouldn't work. Vegapunk was, after all, the "smartest person in the world," and he would certainly have defenses in place against a brute-force breach.
So, Sherwin stroked the little ragdoll fluffy head and said, "This looks like it should be a self-destruct button. That means whatever is connected behind it is likely a bomb of immense power, and in all probability, it was made by Vegapunk..."
"Ohhhhhhh!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the little ragdoll cat squirmed out of Sherwin arms and scrambled away on all fours.
"Klee Meow is going to find where those bombs are planted meow!"
Vegapunk technology was formidable, and the bomb locations were well-hidden, but they were nothing in the face of Klee Meow luck.
Very quickly, the little ragdoll found several floor tiles within the research center that looked completely ordinary, which had originally been used to store miscellaneous items and materials.
"Brother Sherwin, this is the last place Klee Meow can feel something is wrong meow!"
The little ragdoll spoke while hopping up and down on top of a floor tile.
What followed was simple: Sherwin pried up the tiles and carefully dug out the explosives buried beneath them. Then, Purah Meow and Klee Meow worked together to easily disable the triggering mechanisms. Finally, Klee Meow stuffed all the dismantled explosives into her little backpack.
After solving the bomb problem, Sherwin and the others returned to the wall with the self-destruct button and forcibly tore it down...
And found absolutely nothing.
Sherwin: "???"
Right, the entrance wasn't necessarily behind the self-destruct button.
Coming to his senses, Sherwin picked up Klee Meow once more.
"Klee, try to feel it again. Is there treasure anywhere else? Or, is there anywhere you specifically want to go?"
However, after twitching her ears, the little ragdoll shook her head and replied, "No more, there no scent of any other treasure in here meow."
"Well, that going to be a problem..."
Sherwin frowned, murmuring in confusion. Although Klee Meow intuition was very useful, it didn't trigger one hundred percent of the time, especially when those "treasures" had nothing to do with bombs.
So this didn't mean Sherwin memory was wrong. After all, in the manga, Franky had mastered laser cannon technology after two years, and that technology could only have been learned here from Vegapunk...
Even though Vegapunk had researched lasers before being recruited by the World Government, it didn't seem to align with the fact that the Pacifista lasers were developed based on Kizaru Devil Fruit ability.
Regardless, technological laser technology in the world of One Piece was Vegapunk patent. So even if there wasn't a so-called second research center, there had to be a secret room or something similar storing that kind of technical data.
But the problem now was that Klee Meow perception had failed. Without any clues, how were they supposed to find it?
When Sherwin played games, what he hated most were these hidden elements that lacked any logic or hints.
"Are you sure there another research center meow?"
As Sherwin was nursing a headache, Haibara Meow suddenly tugged at his pant leg and asked.
"I'm certain! Even if there isn't a research center, there must be a secret room storing other research materials!"
"Is it from that special information source of yours again, meow?"
"Uh... yeah!" Sherwin nodded. "And think about it, would Vegapunk only study cultural technologies? At the very least, that animal cyborg technology should be around, right?"
The Felynes had heard about Sherwin mysterious information source more than once, and his last point made a lot of sense. After nodding understandingly, Haibara Meow asked again, "Did that information mention the specific location of another research center or secret room, meow? Can you be sure it hidden within or beneath this research center, meow?"
"...Oh, right!"
Sherwin slapped his thigh hard.
His thinking was still limited by the contents of the manga Franky had only found the second research center after blowing up this public one, but that didn't necessarily mean the second one was right here!
"Hmph~ As expected, you're still a dummy, meow~"
(=`へ=)
Haibara Meow curled her lip, looking at Sherwin with a face full of disdain.
Sherwin didn't mind at all, however, and picked up the small Felyne to pepper her with kisses.
"Our Haibara is the smartest! Mwaah!"
"Let go of me! You dummy Hunter, meow!"
(A≡A)
The tsundere Haibara Meow struggled for a few moments, not particularly intensely as usual, before settling in comfortably to enjoy Sherwin service.
Of course, even if another research center wasn't here, Sherwin and the others weren't leaving so quickly. After all, those "cultural" technologies were still somewhat useful to Purah Meow and Haibara Meow, and they didn't intend to simply strip all the materials from this place...
Since they had come to "borrow" without saying hello to Vegapunk, and these things were essentially what he had left for his hometown, looking was fine, but packing everything up and taking it away would be a bit too much.
"Meow meow meow meow meow meow..."
Just as Sherwin and the others were busy organizing, categorizing, and recording these materials one by one, the "Little Meow-Paw Phone" hanging at his waist suddenly rang.
"Huamei? Did something happen on your end?" Sherwin asked nervously as he picked up.
"No, aside from Touma accidentally spraining his arm while training, nothing happened here meow," Huamei Meow answered from the other end of the paw-phone. "Mr. Morgans has something he needs to discuss with you, Admiral meow."
Then, she placed her paw-phone in front of the Transponder Snail.
"Hahahaha... Sherwin, you should have arrived at Future Island by now, right?"
Morgan familiar voice came through, though for some reason, Sherwin felt his laughter sounded a bit hollow.
However, he soon found out why...
"Ahem, well, I'm calling because there something I need to tell you," Morgan voice sounded increasingly guilty. "Just now, Red-Haired Shanks asked me about your location... and I told him. He should be on his way to Future Island right now."
"…Huh?!"
No way, is there really one of the Four Emperors bored enough to actually come all the way here?!
And also…
"Couldn't you have notified me first, so I could arrange a different time and place to meet him?!"
"Ahem, cough… well, I figured since you asked me for Red-Hair location a while back…" Morgans answered with a sheepish laugh.
"Besides, that one of the Four Emperors. He asked me to give him some face, and I couldn't exactly refuse!"
Sherwin: "..."
He hadn't expected that in order to find him, Shanks would go so far as to activate the powers of the Face-Face Fruit.