A Sudden Accident

At the very heart of Dream Star was a metallic chamber seemingly over a hundred meters in diameter. At its center floated a massive Light Orb, flashing continuously as though it were breathing.

Countless streams of light connected the Light Orb to the floor, while the metal flooring flickered with lines resembling integrated circuits. This was where Dream Star's most important brain was located.

The glowing Light Orb was Vegapunk's brain from back then, and also the first device Vegapunk had ever quantumized.

A brain that already possessed immense computational power became unimaginably powerful after being fully quantumized. It could even perfectly predict every factor across Pirate Planet, including ocean currents, Magnetic Fields, weather, and tectonic plate movements.

Through calculations alone, Dream Star could exploit the butterfly effect to casually unleash all manner of natural disasters across Pirate Planet. Even flooding the entire world would require only one or two years of preparation.

As for destroying a particular island, it would not even take a full day—though that was only because the chain reaction caused through the butterfly effect needed sufficient time to develop.

And now, this world-destroying weapon was devoting all its computational power to ensuring the success of Vegapunk's soul transfer experiment.

Vegapunk and the newly created physical body stood on either side of the Light Orb. A fantastical pillar of light descended from above, enveloping them both. Nico Robin stood before the Light Orb as a projected light screen extended from the air, and she watched the data displayed upon it.

Although Nico Robin could be considered a genius, and had the scientific advantage of a biological Chip, she was still barely qualified to serve as Vegapunk's assistant.

Fortunately, Vegapunk had conducted the soul transfer experiment many times before with various test subjects, so she was fairly familiar with its data. At the very least, she could understand some of what she was looking at.

Vegapunk had never expected her to truly lead the experiment. He only wanted her to halt it in an emergency if she noticed something was wrong.

Meanwhile, Boa Hancock paced back and forth nervously. Though she had no role whatsoever in this experiment, she had kept acting cute until Vegapunk, for the sake of his bones, finally allowed her into the Laboratory.

"Soul integrity normal!"

"Frequency bands completely synchronized!"

"Memory modules activating!"

"Mental energy fully connected!"

"Beginning soul extraction!"

Nico Robin let out a long breath. Once the soul extraction began, the experiment would become completely irreversible. In other words, there was no longer any point in watching over it.

Yet as more and more of Vegapunk's soul was transferred into the new body, a faint glow within his soul gradually brightened. At the very moment Vegapunk's soul was completely transferred into the new body, intense silver light suddenly erupted.

A blanket of white snow covered the earth. Amid the biting cold wind, several figures were locked in a relentless chase and battle.

At the very front ran a white-haired boy who looked fourteen or fifteen. His face was cold and stern, and his Headband sat crookedly over one eye. He carried a girl of eight or nine on his back as he raced across the snow at unimaginable speed.

Behind him were several equally vicious-looking figures clad in strange armor. They relentlessly pursued the white-haired boy, occasionally hurling concealed weapons such as Kunai, but the boy blocked every one of them.

"Hmm... there are people ahead?"

The boy racing at high speed looked forward. Amid the howling wind, three figures gradually emerged.

What the hell? They were dressed like that in a snowstorm?

Kakashi looked at the three people ahead. Two were tall, curvaceous women around twenty, clearly breathtaking beauties, but their clothes...

One wore a thin Cheongsam that exposed a pair of ivory-white legs. She looked utterly relaxed, as if the freezing wind did not exist. The other simply wore tropical leather clothing and shorts, looking as though she had mistaken this frozen wasteland for a tropical island—though she was shivering a little.

As for the last one, he was a boy who looked only twelve or thirteen, though he was slightly taller than Kakashi. With his golden hair and handsome features, he still gave off the elegant air of a prince amid the snow and ice.

However, this prince was also dressed in thin clothing. Unlike the first woman, he clearly was not immune to heat and cold, hopping about while rubbing his arms.

Just then, the woman with long hime-cut hair and a Cheongsam looked up and spotted Kakashi, her face lighting up with surprise.

At the same time, Kakashi got his first clear look at her face, and he froze.

As a Ninja, Kakashi had begun going to war and cutting people down when children on Blue Star were graduating kindergarten—or perhaps even before they graduated. He had seen plenty of hardships and storms over the years. Though he was only fourteen or fifteen now, he considered himself sufficiently composed.

At the very least, he had never imagined that he would stare blankly because a woman was simply too beautiful!

Yet the instant he saw the Cheongsam Beauty's somewhat arrogant face, he truly froze for a moment. He felt that the woman's beauty had surpassed the limits of human imagination, possessing an almost demonic, invasive force.

After that brief pause, Kakashi reacted as though facing a great enemy. He pushed his Headband up onto his forehead, revealing his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. A moment later, after confirming that he had not fallen under any Genjutsu, his face flushed slightly.

"What a terrifying woman... Her appearance alone is comparable to Genjutsu..."

Even in such a freezing climate, sweat trickled down Kakashi's forehead, showing just how shaken he was.

But in the next instant, Kakashi saw the peerless beauty vanish in a flash before reappearing in front of him. With her chin raised, she asked:

"Hey, white-haired one, tell me at once where this place is!"

Arrogant, rude, looking down on everyone, completely unconcerned with others... Those impressions flashed through Kakashi's mind. But she was simply too beautiful!

Kakashi bit his lower lip before finally coming back to his senses, though he did not answer immediately.

However, the young girl on his back could not resist the Cheongsam Beauty's charm even in her grief-stricken state.

Her eyes turned into hearts as she blurted out, "Big sister, this is Snow Country! The Snow Ninja chasing us are rebel forces from Snow Country. They're no good people, so you should run away quickly!"