"No need to panic, Borsalino."
Even while silently criticizing the situation, Vegapunk didn't forget what he was supposed to be doing. He quickly pulled out a syringe and moved to inject its contents into Kizaru's IV line.
"You suffered a serious injury earlier and lost some of your recent memories. This is just a mild sedative to help you settle down!"
Kizaru's thoughts practically exploded.
'I was settled down! Then you shoved Seastone into my teeth the second I opened my eyes! Of course I'm struggling! And there is absolutely no way that syringe contains anything normal!'
Unfortunately, with the Seastone rod jammed into his mouth, all that came out was a series of muffled groans.
His newly awakened body was still weak, and with Cain pinning him down, he had no chance of breaking free.
Vegapunk was just about to push the mysterious liquid into the IV line when—
"Wait, Dr. Vegapunk."
A calm voice interrupted them.
On the operating table nearby, Kuma had slowly sat up while holding one hand to his forehead.
"Dad!!!"
Bonney rubbed her eyes hard.
The instant she realized who was awake, she immediately reverted to her true child form and stumbled toward him.
"Dad! I missed you so much!"
"It's been a long time, Bonney."
Kuma gently patted the small figure in his arms, his voice as warm as if he had never been asleep at all.
"I'm sorry I made you wait so long."
From the corner of his eye, Kizaru saw his old friend awake and well.
Tears immediately filled his eyes.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
'Save me! Save me!'
Cain and Vegapunk exchanged a glance.
Then both nodded.
They understood each other perfectly.
They needed to knock Kizaru back out immediately.
Afterward, they could use Vegapunk's equipment to erase this entire section of his memory.
The two increased the pressure at the same time.
Fortunately, Kuma reacted before the injection could go through. He reached out and caught both their wrists, stopping the liquid just before it entered the line.
"That's enough, Dr. Vegapunk."
"Even if Borsalino knows I'm here, it no longer matters."
Kuma's recovery had been nearly perfect.
Not only had all of his original memories returned, but even everything that happened after he lost consciousness had been preserved—the Summit War, protecting Luffy's ship, his journey through the Revolutionary Army, all of it remained clear.
Naturally, he understood at a glance what Cain and Vegapunk were trying to do.
But just as Kuma said, the situation was different now.
He had recovered.
Bonney was beside him.
Her Sapphire Scales had long since been cured.
The World Government no longer possessed any meaningful leverage over Bartholomew Kuma.
More importantly, Kuma still officially held the title of Warlord.
The Marines had no reason to attack him, and if the World Government wanted to strip him of that title, they would first need a legitimate justification.
Unfortunately for them—
they didn't have one.
The only real agreement Kuma had violated was the private deal he made with Saturn.
And that was something the World Government could never openly admit existed.
Even if they decided to abandon all pretense and pursue Kuma directly, they would still need to find him and Bonney first.
With the Paw-Paw Fruit—
that was much easier said than done.
…
"Ohhh—so that's how it was."
Kizaru rubbed his chin as he looked at Kuma, who was now sitting beside Bonney.
He gave his old friend a couple of cheerful pats before turning toward Cain and Vegapunk.
"So that's why I woke up with the two of you doing all that to me."
"And why I spent that night lying under the moon feeling like my entire body was on fire."
Kizaru narrowed his eyes knowingly.
"You were trying to hide Kuma's recovery from me, weren't you?"
He really was an Admiral.
A large portion of that lazy, absentminded persona was probably an act.
Someone without a sharp mind could never survive the mountain of complicated responsibilities that came with his position.
Kizaru had pieced together Cain and Vegapunk's intentions almost instantly.
Unfortunately for him—
when it came to shameless improvisation, Cain and Vegapunk working together were in an entirely different league.
Both of them immediately shook their heads.
"No, no, no. Listen, you really did lose your memory."
Cain had barely started before Vegapunk instantly understood what he was doing and picked up the lie seamlessly.
"You suffered a severe blow to the head during your battle with Bullet, and afterward—"
Vegapunk proceeded to explain the entire fabricated story with a perfectly straight face.
He even pulled up the fake surveillance footage they had already sent to the Marines, making the timeline look completely airtight.
"So, in short, Kuma was only brought here after your battle."
Kizaru stroked his chin.
Had he really lost his memory?
Well.
Sure.
He could accept that.
From his perspective, this entire trip had amounted to taking an extremely long nap, only to wake up and discover that he had somehow earned credit for defending Egghead and driving away Douglas Bullet.
Getting rewarded for doing absolutely nothing?
That was exactly the kind of assignment Kizaru could happily live with.
What he didn't know was that this supposed accomplishment was actually an ever-growing mountain of trouble.
Bullet had been blamed for attacking Egghead despite never being there.
Sakazuki had been so furious that his rage practically traveled through the Den Den Mushi.
And Kizaru, the supposed eyewitness, had lost his salary while also suffering through Seastone restraint, drugging, and all kinds of other nonsense.
Meanwhile, the two people truly responsible were standing right in front of him—
lying with completely sincere expressions.
Once Kizaru accepted the explanation, Cain and Vegapunk finally relaxed.
Still, both of them watched his next reaction carefully.
If Kuma's presence here somehow reached the Five Elders, Vegapunk would inevitably be dragged into the consequences.
Kizaru merely waved a hand.
"I'm not completely heartless, you know."
"I'm not going to sell out a friend."
He sighed.
"Besides, the World Government never explicitly ordered me to report Kuma's whereabouts truthfully."
"So naturally, I won't mention it."
Cain and Vegapunk immediately understood.
Unless Kizaru received a formal order—
he simply wouldn't switch into work mode.
They had worried for nothing.
"However…"
Kizaru suddenly paused.
Cain and Vegapunk instantly tensed again.
"Before I leave Egghead, I'd like Dr. Vegapunk to do me a favor."
Kizaru's tone became unusually serious.
"Erase my memories of meeting Kuma this time."
Vegapunk blinked in surprise.
"You're asking me to erase your memories?"
As the Admiral responsible for overseeing the Marine science division, Kizaru naturally knew Vegapunk possessed technology capable of doing exactly that.
"Work is work."
"Life is life."
Kizaru's expression remained calm.
"I'd prefer not to let one interfere with the other."
"Of course, casually altering my own memories isn't exactly ideal."
"So when the time comes, Kuma can use his Paw-Paw Fruit to push those memories out instead."
Kizaru glanced toward Kuma.
"If I ever need them again, just give them back to me."
Cain stared at him.
'Wait.'
'Was this guy always this dependable?'
Unfortunately, Kizaru's gaze immediately shifted toward Cain.
"Ah, but Cain…"
"You hitting me earlier is still a separate matter."
Cain vanished behind the enormous block of gold almost instantly.
He slapped the five-meter-tall golden mass.
"This is my apology."
"You guys catch up. I'm leaving."
After all, a Warlord, a Marine Admiral, and the world's greatest scientist were all old acquaintances within the World Government system.
Cain was still technically a pirate.
There was no reason for him to linger around their reunion.
More importantly—
going back to Uta was far more important.
Not long after Cain left, Sentomaru heard that Kuma had awakened and rushed into the laboratory as well.
The reunion quickly turned into a small celebration.
Despite it being deep into the night and everyone already exhausted, the group laughed, ate, and even performed the Nika dance together as they celebrated Kuma's return.
Eventually, one by one, everyone fell asleep.
Only then did Kizaru quietly call Vegapunk away to a secluded corner.
There was no joking this time.
No casual tone.
Kizaru got straight to the point.
His visit to Egghead had not been merely routine.
He had come carrying an official order from the World Government.
"Dr. Vegapunk."
"The higher-ups asked me to personally deliver instructions regarding a new project."
His manner became distinctly formal.
At that moment, he was no longer speaking as Borsalino, Kuma's old friend.
He was speaking as Admiral Kizaru.
"You already know that once the intelligence from Totto Land about the Ancient Giant experiment reached them, those old men became restless."
"They want the gigantification project restarted."
Vegapunk's expression changed.
"They want to repeat those inhumane experiments?"
He stared at Kizaru in disbelief.
"Humans simply cannot withstand modifications on that scale! We still have plenty of evidence from the previous failures!"
"Yes."
Kizaru sighed.
"But this time, they're taking a different approach."
"They don't intend to start with ordinary humans."
"The new foundation will be the Seraphim."
Vegapunk fell silent.
"They want a completely new model."
Kizaru continued.
"Your cloning technology has already matured considerably, and the people above know that."
"So they've decided you're the one who will carry it out."
Kizaru paused, giving Vegapunk several seconds to process the implication.
Then he delivered the core order.
"Using the Seraphim framework…"
"Create an Ancient Giant with Lunarian blood."
"That is the project the World Government wants you to complete."
Vegapunk's eyes widened.
"They…"
"They actually intend to create something like that?!"
Kizaru nodded.
"That's the plan."
"They're busy and can't leave the Holy Land themselves."
"Since this is classified at the highest level, they also refused to discuss it over Den Den Mushi."
"So, as usual, they sent me to deliver the order in person."
His expression became grim.
"And this isn't a request you can refuse."
Kizaru paused once more.
"Someone has already been dispatched to obtain the Ancient Giants' Lineage Factor."
…
Elsewhere—
the moon hung high over Mary Geoise.
The Holy Land was eerily quiet in the middle of the night.
Figarland Shamrock had received a summons from his father, Saint Figarland Garling, and quickly made his way over.
The moment he opened the door, he asked,
"What is it, Father?"
"Why did you call me here this late?"
Garling sat quietly with his sword in hand.
When his son entered, he finally spoke.
"The order from those old men has arrived."
"This time, it's official."
Garling looked directly at Shamrock.
"Shamrock."
"Before long, you'll take a team to Elbaf."
"Your mission is to obtain the Lineage Factor of the Ancient Giants."