All fifty Pacifistas deployed at once.
Dense targeting lights appeared around Cain from every direction, yellow points merging into a blazing web.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
"You've got to be kidding me! You're opening with lasers?!"
Cain immediately scooped little Uta into his arms and held her securely against his chest before kicking off the ground. He twisted and rolled through the narrow gaps between dozens of laser beams, moving fast enough that the air screamed around him.
"Whoa—this way I can stay even closer to you!"
Uta curled comfortably into his arms, one small hand resting against his chest as she looked up at him without the slightest hint of fear.
Cain made another sharp turn and narrowly avoided a rapid volley.
"Hold on tight. Don't let go."
"I already am."
Uta pressed her cheek against his chest, amusement in her voice.
"Cain, your heart is beating really loudly."
"…That's because I'm exercising."
Cain answered without changing expression.
Absolutely not because he had little Uta clinging to him.
"Liar."
Uta muttered softly and settled more comfortably into his arms.
Still, playful teasing aside, she hadn't forgotten what mattered.
One arm remained around Cain's neck while she raised the other and touched the headset over her ear, directly connecting herself to Egghead's island-wide broadcasting system.
She inhaled.
Then she began to sing.
♪ What is right?! What is foolish?! I'll show you the difference! ♪
Her voice flooded every corridor and hangar across the island.
Marines who had been scrambling through the facility instinctively looked up.
"What's going on?"
"Where's that singing coming from?"
♪ I was always the model student, and before I knew it I'd grown into an adult, my thoughts sharpened like blades… ♪
Sentomaru.
Bonney.
Vegapunk.
The Satellites.
Even York, currently reduced to nothing but a head inside a shopping bag—
all of them tilted sideways and fell into a deep sleep.
The Pacifistas, however, remained completely unaffected.
They wore Kuma's appearance, but inside they were fully mechanized weapons without genuine consciousness.
Uta's song couldn't reach anything behind those empty shells.
And the laser barrage didn't slow down at all.
Pewpewpewpewpew!!
"Did someone actually invade the island?"
Once Uta finished singing, Cain immediately asked.
Uta poked half her head out from his arms, looking slightly awkward.
"Cain…"
"I think we're the invaders."
"What?!"
Cain kicked an oncoming Pacifista hard enough to blow it apart, metal fragments scattering everywhere.
Then he threw his head back and shouted,
"VEGAPUNK! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
He was angry.
But more than that—
he was financially terrified.
Last time, simply tearing apart a few changing-room arms had earned him a fifty-million-Berry bill.
Now he was destroying entire Pacifistas with every kick.
If this had been a real battle against the Marines, Cain wouldn't have cared in the slightest.
But this was different.
When the World Government inevitably demanded an explanation for all the destroyed machines, Vegapunk would get blamed.
And once Vegapunk got blamed—
who was that old bastard going to hand the bill to?
Cain.
It would all come right back to him.
He adjusted Uta in his arms so she could rest more comfortably, then kicked several more Pacifistas out of his path.
"Wake Vegapunk up first! Have him stop these metal idiots!"
"I really don't want to destroy all of them!"
His expression tightened.
"They're all money!"
Before Uta could answer, she tugged on his collar.
"Cain, there's another problem."
"What?"
"The Going Merry is getting a call."
"From Kizaru."
In reality, Kizaru's body was still aboard the Merry.
His consciousness, however, remained inside Uta World, enjoying what might have been the most peaceful vacation of his life.
And in the real world—
his Den Den Mushi simply would not stop ringing.
…
"Egghead has been attacked?!"
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn frowned deeply when the report reached him in Mary Geoise.
"Kizaru is already there. Has he still not stabilized the situation?"
Egghead was territory directly under Saturn's supervision.
If something serious happened there and Imu placed responsibility on him, the consequences would be severe.
The messenger swallowed nervously.
"R-Reporting, Saint Saturn… they said Admiral Kizaru fell into the sea."
Saturn's eyes narrowed.
"With his strength, he somehow fell into the sea?"
"And where is he now?"
"Has he come back out?"
"Apparently not."
"We tried contacting him, but he hasn't answered."
Saturn slammed his cane against the floor.
With Kizaru's abilities, there was no need to guess.
That bastard was slacking off again.
The Marines clearly needed reminding who they worked for.
Saturn wasted no time and contacted Sakazuki.
A short while later—
after receiving a vicious lecture from Saturn—
Sakazuki redirected every ounce of his anger toward Kizaru and began calling him repeatedly.
That happened to be when Uta noticed the Den Den Mushi ringing.
She quickly used her ability to control Kizaru's body and answered.
The moment the connection opened—
Sakazuki exploded.
"You're still alive?!"
"I thought you fell into the ocean and got eaten by a damn fish!"
"What the hell is happening on Egghead?!"
"The situation…"
Uta hesitated while controlling Kizaru.
"…is already under control."
"It was only a few minor pirates who got onto the island. They've been dealt with."
"A few minor pirates?"
Sakazuki's voice dropped dangerously.
Then it detonated again.
"A FEW MINOR PIRATES managed to put the entire island under emergency alert?!"
"They also somehow knocked you into the ocean?!"
Uta had absolutely no answer for that.
Cain dodged several more attacks while holding her, then leaned closer and whispered something into her ear.
Uta's eyes immediately brightened.
"It was Bullet."
She repeated Cain's suggestion.
"His Clank-Clank Fruit is extremely troublesome in a place filled with machinery like Egghead."
Silence.
Two seconds passed.
"…Bullet."
Sakazuki finally answered.
"I didn't expect that bastard."
"Did you capture him?"
"…No."
The single word fell into the conversation like a spark into gunpowder.
"You didn't catch him."
"You let this blow all the way up to the Five Elders."
"And then you ignored your Den Den Mushi."
Sakazuki's voice became colder.
"You didn't deliberately let him go, did you?"
"I…"
Uta tried to answer through Kizaru.
Sakazuki didn't let her.
"Listen carefully."
"Stop slacking off at critical moments!"
"I got chewed out because of this mess too, and you didn't even catch the bastard responsible."
"Wonderful work."
He paused.
"Your salary for this month is gone."
Click.
The call ended.
Whether Kizaru lost a month's pay meant absolutely nothing to Cain or Uta.
Still—
they were the reason it happened.
Uta turned helplessly toward Cain.
Cain could only offer a moment of sincere silence in Kizaru's memory.
"Well…"
"Let him enjoy himself properly inside Uta World."
"That's about all we can do for him now."
…
Inside Uta World—
Kizaru was lying on a beach chair beneath the sun with one leg crossed over the other.
A bunch of bananas rested beside him.
An iced fruit drink sat on a small table.
Soft music drifted through the air while waves rolled gently onto the shore.
The whole thing was absurdly comfortable.
Kizaru had no idea what had happened.
He didn't know where he was.
He didn't even know why Cain had suddenly disappeared.
But then he looked down at a document that had mysteriously appeared on the table beside him.
WORLD GOVERNMENT APPROVAL — SEVEN-DAY PAID LEAVE FOR MARINE ADMIRAL
Official seals.
Proper formatting.
Everything looked completely legitimate.
Kizaru considered it for roughly half a second.
Then he leaned back again without a shred of guilt.
He peeled a banana, took a sip of his cold drink, and closed his eyes to the sound of the waves.
Then—
for no apparent reason—
a chill ran down his spine.
He suddenly had the strange feeling that something important had just been taken away from him.
…
Cain kept fighting while heading toward the scrapyard.
"Uta, is it done yet?"
"What's going on with Vegapunk?"
By now, Cain had destroyed more than half the Pacifistas.
Vegapunk should already have been pulled out of Uta World.
Even if the old man didn't appear personally, he should at least have canceled the pursuit orders.
Uta didn't know what was happening either.
She was about to answer when Cain saw several enormous shapes come thundering around the corner ahead.
His expression immediately changed.
"You have GOT to be kidding me!"
"They even brought out the Sea Beast Weapons?!"
These were the modified sea creatures Vegapunk normally deployed around Egghead's surrounding waters.
And now—
every single one had somehow made it onto land.
Cain slammed on the brakes, twisted aside with Uta still in his arms, dodged one Sea Beast's charge, then kicked another hard enough to send it staggering backward.
Meanwhile, inside one of the laboratory rooms—
the child-sized Vegapunk was crouched in front of a surveillance screen, slapping his thigh in frustration.
"Damn it!"
"I gave Uta that headset too early!"
"I didn't collect any useful data!"
He stared at the monitors showing Cain weaving between the Sea Beast Weapons.
Then his expression became thoughtful.
"Still…"
"It looks like Egghead's defenses have some serious weaknesses."
The Sea Beast Weapons retained some animal instinct, but Vegapunk was directly controlling them remotely.
That meant Uta's song couldn't influence them.
Their movements could be commanded—
but not with much precision.
Vegapunk rested his chin in one hand and watched Cain dart across the battlefield.
After a long while, he sighed softly.
"So…"
"He still hasn't awakened."
Soon afterward, Vegapunk issued the shutdown order.
Instantly—
every remaining Pacifista laser went dark.
The Sea Beast Weapons froze as though someone had pressed pause, then obediently retreated toward their designated standby zones.
Vegapunk also uploaded a brief explanation into Punk Records.
Once the Satellites woke from Uta's song and saw it, they would understand that the entire crisis had been a misunderstanding.
Cain and Uta were informed that everything had been resolved as well.
…
Not long afterward, Cain entered the laboratory carrying Uta.
Uta had already released her ability, and communications across Egghead were gradually returning to normal.
York's head remained securely inside the shopping bag, which Cain casually set beside the control panel.
Cain immediately opened his mouth, ready to demand an explanation for what the hell Vegapunk had just done.
Vegapunk waved him off.
"Wait until everyone arrives."
"I'll explain it all together."
Before Cain could protest, Vegapunk turned toward the machinery.
Several probes as thin as hairs extended from the control console and connected precisely with the memory-storage device inside York's brain.
Data flooded across the display.
Vegapunk's expression grew darker with every passing second.
There were several encrypted logs that had never been synchronized with Punk Records.
There were movement records that contradicted the official data.
Hidden actions.
Independent pathways.
False records.
Vegapunk began fitting the pieces together.
And slowly—
York's real plan emerged.
She didn't want money.
She didn't want ordinary political power.
She wanted to climb over everyone else until she reached a position above them all.
To become a Celestial Dragon.
That desire had first taken root after she visited Mary Geoise.
She had simply hidden it ever since.
Hidden it from everyone.
Vegapunk stared at the screen, his voice turning bitter.
"Desire…"
"So it really was desire that planted the seed."
At that moment, the laboratory doors burst open.
Sentomaru and Bonney rushed inside, with S-Bear following behind them.
"Uncle Punk! What was that alarm about?!"
"You damn old man! What did you do this time?!"
They spoke almost simultaneously, genuine worry written across both their faces.
The emergency had been so severe that they had genuinely believed Egghead was under attack.
Once everyone had gathered, Vegapunk finally explained what happened.
When he finished—
Cain's anger didn't disappear.
It actually rose.
Without hesitation, he kicked Vegapunk onto the floor and planted a boot on his back.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"You caused all that chaos just to test my strength?!"
"Do you have any idea how close the World Government came to sending reinforcements?!"
Bonney immediately joined in.
She planted one foot right beside the antenna on Vegapunk's head and ground it down.
"Exactly!"
"Because of you, Dad almost lost his chance to recover!"
"Cough! Wait! I didn't expect it to go that far!"
Vegapunk protested desperately from beneath them.
"But everything's calm now!"
"And the actual reason I went along with this was—"
His tone gradually became serious.
"I wanted to test Egghead's defenses under real pressure."
"If the island were attacked from multiple directions during a Buster Call, how long could the defense systems hold?"
"Would there be enough time to evacuate everyone safely?"
Vegapunk paused.
Then he unloaded everything he had been thinking.
"I didn't activate the alarm!"
"That was Shaka and the others."
"I only contacted them after the alert started and learned what they thought was happening."
"They believed Cain was kidnapping a Seraphim, so the entire thing became a misunderstanding!"
"I simply decided to use the opportunity as a live test."
"I didn't expect Uta to start singing at that exact moment, which prevented me from immediately clearing up the misunderstanding."
Vegapunk sighed.
"But it's already over."
"Everything is fine now."
"And yes, I came up with the test on the spot…"
"But think about it."
"One day, this situation is going to happen for real."
York was already proof of that.
Vegapunk's research into the Void Century could never remain hidden forever.
Sooner or later, the World Government would discover it.
And when that happened—
Egghead would face a Buster Call.
Possibly worse.
He needed a complete plan for both resistance and evacuation long before that day arrived.
"So I used the opportunity to test what we had."
Vegapunk sighed.
"And honestly…"
"The results weren't encouraging."
"We still need stronger perimeter defenses."
"More importantly, the command structure is a serious problem."
"The Five Elders hold the highest authority over our defense systems."
"Even I don't know how to bypass them."
His intentions were genuinely good.
Cain could admit that much.
His anger faded considerably.
Still—
he couldn't resist pointing out the obvious.
"Why are you making evacuation so complicated?"
"Kuma is literally here."
"And you can produce as much Green Blood as you want."
Cain gestured toward S-Bear.
"Even if S-Bear can't use the Paw-Paw Fruit right now, why not create a backup?"
"Put Green Blood into a few Pacifistas."
"If Egghead ever gets attacked, have them use the Paw-Paw Fruit to launch everyone off the island one by one."
Cain shrugged.
"By the time the World Government realizes what happened, there won't even be anyone left to capture."
"What are you panicking for?"
Vegapunk, still lying on the floor, froze.
"…That's actually a good idea."
He blinked.
"Why didn't I think of that?"
Cain stared down at him with open contempt.
"And you call yourself the world's greatest scientist?"
Vegapunk completely collapsed.
He dropped to his knees, clutched his head with both hands, and cried out in despair,
"Being smart doesn't mean I can think of every single detail myself!"
"If I could personally account for absolutely everything, why would Egghead even need other scientists?!"
"I'D JUST DO THE WHOLE ISLAND MYSELF!"