The heavy steel doors hissed shut behind them, sealing off the hallway.
The group of scientists stood on the edge of the underground pool, looking up at their salvation.
Everyone looked at the massive steel submarine floating in the dark water and let out a long breath.
The tense mood finally broke.
"We're saved," Queen laughed, wiping the sweat and grime from his face. "This time, we actually made it."
Queen relaxed instantly. He nudged a nearby researcher with his elbow, cracking a joke.
"I told you I was fast, didn't I?"
Beside him, Vinsmoke Judge wasn't laughing. His eyes were gleaming with a sharp, greedy light as he stared at the vessel.
Judge immediately recognized the strategic value of this submarine.
It was sleek, shaped like a cigar, and clearly designed for stealth and speed.
"This design..." Judge muttered to himself. "If I had this technology..."
Judge had joined the MADS organization for a specific reason. He didn't just want to be a scientist; he harbored a deep-seated dream.
He wanted to recreate the glory of the Germa Kingdom.
He wanted to rule the North Blue with an iron fist!
For this goal, he had left his royal family to seek opportunities.
Fortunately, he had met Vegapunk.
If Vegapunk hadn't refused to return to the Vinsmoke family with him, Judge's dream would have been realized long ago.
Now, seeing a submarine he had never seen before, Judge's inner longing resurfaced.
If they weren't about to leave this place immediately to save their lives, he would have insisted on taking it apart to see how it worked.
"Focus, Judge," Vegapunk said, walking past him.
Vegapunk stepped onto the metal walkway.
He approached the submarine's control panel, typed in a complex password, and opened the hidden switch cover.
His hand rested on the massive red launch button. His finger hovered over it, ready to press.
"Goodbye, island," Vegapunk whispered.
At that exact moment, a lazy, calm voice echoed from the shadows at the back of the group.
"Dr. Vegapunk, you'd better not press that button."
The voice was casual, like someone ordering coffee, not someone interrupting an escape.
The scientists froze.
Slowly, they turned around.
A tall Marine officer with black hair and pale skin stepped out of the shadows.
The white "Justice" cloak draped over his shoulders fluttered slightly, even though there was no wind.
He wore a lazy, relaxed smile.
"You..." Vegapunk gasped.
Though Raleigh seemed completely non-threatening, standing there with his hands in his pockets, no one present here was a fool.
They all knew exactly who this monster was. He was the man who had just torn apart an army of steel wolves with his bare hands.
"How?" Vegapunk asked, utterly baffled. "How did you find us so quickly?"
Vegapunk was a genius.
He calculated everything. He had put considerable effort into building this base.
The secret passages were complex. He believed that even someone familiar with the layout would take twenty minutes to reach this dock.
But Raleigh had arrived in five.
"Unless..." Vegapunk's eyes narrowed. "Unless there was a guide."
A traitor!
BAM!
Before anyone could react, Vinsmoke Judge moved.
His fist, hardened by years of combat training, slammed violently into Queen's abdomen.
"Gah!"
The heavy blow made Queen groan in agony.
His eyes bulged, and he dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach.
He gasped for breath, unable to speak.
Click.
Judge didn't stop. He drew a black pistol and pressed the cold barrel hard against Queen's temple.
"Was it you?" Judge snarled, his voice dripping with murderous rage. "Was it you who betrayed us, Queen? Did you lead him here to save your own fat skin?"
Queen looked up, tears of pain in his eyes. He was completely bewildered.
"It wasn't me! I didn't!" Queen choked out. "I swear!"
Queen had no idea how Raleigh had found them.
Ever since escaping the forest via the hollow tree, he had assumed he was safe. He thought he had outsmarted the Marine.
Being ambushed by his own partner was the last thing he expected.
Raleigh watched the drama unfold with a smirk.
"Relax, Judge," Raleigh said. "He isn't a traitor. Well, not a willing one, at least."
"What do you mean?" Judge asked, not lowering the gun.
"It is thanks to him that I could find this place, but he didn't know he was helping me."
Raleigh opened his palm.
Hovering there was a small, torn piece of gray paper. It was wiggling slightly, pulling itself toward Queen like a magnet.
Seeing the corner of the paper in Raleigh's hand, Queen was stunned.
"A Vivre Card?" Queen whispered.
Judge understood instantly.
He reached into the back of Queen's collar. With a rough yank, he pulled out a larger piece of Vivre Card that had been stuck there.
It was missing a corner.
Judge's face darkened. "You idiot. He planted it on you."
Vegapunk sighed, his shoulders slumping.
He realized what had happened.
This Marine officer didn't know the location of the secret base.
He wasn't sure if Queen would actually lead him there or try to trick him. So, he had secretly hidden a piece of a Vivre Card on Queen during their encounter on the ship.
When Queen ran away, he became a living beacon.
Raleigh just followed the paper straight to the hidden entrance.
"We surrender," Vegapunk said, stepping away from the control panel.
He raised his hands.
After witnessing Raleigh's superhuman strength on the surveillance feed, he had no thoughts of resisting.
Fighting now would just mean death for all of them.
Raleigh walked lazily from the back of the group to the front.
He looked at the terrified scientists and scratched his head.
"Why are you all so scared?" Raleigh asked, looking dazed. "Why are you running? I'm not here to arrest you guys."
"Huh???"
The sound of collective confusion echoed through the dock.
Not only was Vegapunk dumbfounded, but Judge, Queen, and every researcher present were stunned into silence.
'Oh man, bro,' Queen thought, staring at Raleigh. 'You smashed our robots. You destroyed our forest. You chased us into a bunker. And now you say you aren't here to arrest us? Are you out of your mind?!'
Vegapunk blinked, adjusting his glasses. He looked at Raleigh with a helpless expression.
"So..." Vegapunk asked cautiously. "If not to arrest us... what are you here for?"
Raleigh shrugged.
He pointed a finger at Queen, who was still kneeling on the floor and rubbing his bruised stomach.
"That guy," Raleigh said simply. "He is suspected of kidnapping civilians from the North Blue. He broke the law. I'm here to take him back for trial."
Everyone in the base stared at Raleigh.
Theoretically, there was nothing wrong with Raleigh's statement.
Queen had broken the law. It was the Marine's job to catch criminals.
But the logic didn't fit.
Raleigh hadn't rushed to arrest Queen earlier. Instead, he had toyed with him like a cat playing with a mouse.
He had let him go, used him to find the base, and cornered the entire organization... just to arrest one person?
It was clearly a lie. Or at least, an excuse.
Vegapunk forced a bitter smile. He realized Raleigh was playing a game.
"I see," Vegapunk said. "We were too tense. We assumed the worst. Since we are not under arrest... may I ask your name, sir?"
Raleigh nodded politely. "Christian Raleigh."
Vegapunk took a deep breath, adjusted his lab coat, and extended his right hand.
"My name is Vegapunk. I am the leader of the MADS organization."
The two men shook hands firmly.
"Well then," Vegapunk said, clapping his hands. "Since we are not enemies, there is no need to flee anymore."
Vegapunk gave up on boarding the submarine.
He turned to the confused scientists. "Everyone! Back to work! The evacuation is canceled."
He led Raleigh back through the corridors to the sealed laboratory.
After entering the password and fingerprint again, the heavy steel doors lifted.
While directing the researchers to put the equipment and materials back in place, Vegapunk led Raleigh into a small, private office he used for receiving guests.
The room was quiet and smelled of old books and tobacco.
"Care for a smoke, Mr. Raleigh?"
Vegapunk opened a wooden cabinet filled with boxes of premium cigars.
"Sure, I'll have one."
Raleigh didn't hesitate.
He took a cigar, snipped the end, and lit it with a lighter Vegapunk offered. He sat down on a leather sofa, crossing his legs comfortably.
Vegapunk sat opposite him, lighting his own cigar. He looked at the young Marine through the swirling smoke.
"Mr. Raleigh," Vegapunk started, his voice serious. "I've been thinking a lot on the walk back here. You definitely didn't come all this way just for Queen."
Vegapunk leaned forward. "I believe you are here for the Lineage Factor that Judge and I have been researching, right? You want the power to change life itself."
"We're both smart people," Vegapunk said, his eyes sharp. "So let's speak plainly. You want the weapon."
Raleigh took a long drag of his cigar. He nodded slowly, then shook his head.
"Dr. Vegapunk, you are a genius, but you are wrong about me."
Raleigh exhaled a ring of smoke. "In my opinion, no matter how useful the Lineage Factor is... it is just a tool. It cannot compare to your importance."
Raleigh looked Vegapunk in the eye.
"A weapon is just a weapon. But a mind? Any faction that possesses you, Dr. Vegapunk, will have technological capabilities a century ahead of the rest of the world."
Vegapunk didn't humble himself or deny it.
He knew his own value.
He was a genius.
Furthermore, he had eaten the Brain-Brain Fruit. This made him a "Brain Human." He had infinite storage capacity for knowledge.
Every book he read, every experiment he ran, was stored perfectly in his expanding brain.
His innate genius combined with this database made him a singular existence in history.
"You flatter me," Vegapunk said calmly. "But you are not the first to say this."
"I know," Raleigh replied.
"I have received offers from many factions," Vegapunk explained, looking at the ceiling. "Kings, warlords, underground brokers. They often provide funds to MADS, trying to recruit me."
Vegapunk sighed, tapping ash into a tray.
"But in my eyes, they are all the same. They offer too little funding, and their goals are too small. They only want guns. They only want bombs."
Vegapunk looked back at Raleigh with a serious expression.
"I want to unlock the secrets of the universe, Mr. Raleigh. I want to create energy systems, medicine, and new forms of life. I want to research freely. I cannot accept a master who only wants me to build swords."
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