That voice was very familiar,
so familiar that Kuma had already swung his hand halfway before he barely managed to stop.
He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, and Dr. Vegapunk was no different.
With his brilliant mind, he had thought it sounded familiar from the start. Now that he heard that familiar voice again, his mouth fell open.
"Oh!!! It's Austin!!!"
"Mr. Austin?!!!"
Austin raised his head and smiled. Then he looked at the paw that had stopped beside his head, seemingly curious.
Before Kuma could react, Austin poked it with his finger.
"Don't!!!"
Kuma hurriedly tried to stop him, but it was too late. Austin had already touched it.
This was the power of Kuma's paw, enough to send someone flying into the depths of the sea. An ordinary person simply could not withstand it. It was a bug-level ability, after all.
Kuma closed his eyes in pain. Gentle as he was, he could not bear to watch Austin vanish.
But...
A miraculous scene unfolded. Austin rapped Kuma's fleshy paw with his knuckles, then walked past as if nothing had happened.
"Huh???"
Only after Austin had walked past did Kuma look at his paw pads in disbelief.
He had clearly touched it just now...
"You're back, Austin. How did it feel?"
Dr. Vegapunk was not surprised. He had always believed Austin's return was only a matter of time. Austin was his greatest research sponsor, after all, and he was very happy to see him back.
"What, you want to know about what happened eight hundred years ago? You probably already learned the general details from Ohara's books."
Austin answered with a smile, then turned his gaze toward the enormous cultivation tank before him. A giant embryo floated within the Nutrient Solution.
"Well... that's true..."
Dr. Vegapunk did not press further.