Vegapunk Is Making His Move!

Ian and his two companions returned to Onigashima almost simultaneously with Pluton.

They had just disembarked at the port when the Fish-Man Unit brought the ship back.

Under bright light, the large ship appears completely different.

Or rather, it's only now that I've truly seen its appearance clearly.

It has an overall dull black color, and even under the bright sunlight, it does not reflect any light.

Even so, the massive hull and the thick cannons on the deck still give it a majestic and powerful feel.

But overall, Ian's first impression was that it was an enhanced version of the Sun God.

"Ian! Is this it?"

Teacher Kai arrived at the port immediately. He walked to Ian's side, looking at the enormous creature in front of him, his voice trembling.

Ian nodded slightly. "You've been looking forward to this for a long time, haven't you, Teacher Kai?"

"Hehehehe! Luckily, you didn't disappoint me!"

Teacher Kai laughed heartily.

The reason he conquered Wano Country was for this very thing!

Now, we've finally succeeded!

Even though he didn't find it himself, isn't it no different if his disciple found it?

"Now all that's left is the energy issue, right?"

Teacher Kai said.

"That's right."

Ian nodded slightly. "The original energy was almost completely depleted in the battle with the World Government eight hundred years ago."

"Joy Boy and his team, who were already in a state of decline, were unable to build a second energy plant."

That war back then was a battle between Birka, a single nation, and an alliance of twenty nations.

After the destruction of Birka's homeland, Joy Boy and his group lost their base and were unable to produce more energy.

The depletion of Pluton's energy was also a major reason for Joy Boy and his team's defeat.

The reason they risked engaging Im in a decisive battle was not only because Im was pressuring them, but also because Joy Boy knew they could no longer delay.

Otherwise, once Pluton ' energy is completely exhausted, then there will truly be no way to help.

What Joy Boy didn't know was that the weapon in the World Government's possession also wouldn't last long.

If this continues, no one really knows how the battle will turn out.

But it's too late to say anything now.

Next, it's my turn.

Ian chuckled. "Now we just need to wait a little longer."

Teacher Kai nodded gently.

He knew about Ian's plan.

After Teacher Kai arrived, the other classmates followed suit.

Ordinary pirates had no idea of the ship's true identity, assuming it was a new type of vessel like the Sun God.

While I was also amazed, I wasn't overly shocked.

However, for the cadres who truly knew the inside story, seeing the ship with their own eyes filled them with undisguised excitement and exhilaration!

Ancient Weapon!

I finally got it!

Possessing control of this ship means having the power to directly confront the World Government!

We all possess Ancient Weapon, so what is there to be afraid of?

Among the crowd, Queen Otohime, accompanied by her youngest daughter, had also come to watch the spectacle.

Neither the mother nor the daughter knew anything about the ship, but Princess Shirahoshi's expression changed slightly the moment she saw it.

The little princess suddenly clutched her chest with her right hand, her face turning pale.

"Shirahoshi?"

Her mother immediately turned to her with a worried look, grabbed her hand, and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The little princess shook her head, a hint of confusion in her eyes. "I just feel like this ship looks familiar."

"Familiar?"

Queen Otohime was taken aback. "Did you see this ship before?"

"I have no idea..."

The little princess shook her head blankly.

I should have never seen this before, but it feels so familiar.

"Ian!!"

Aunt Linlin and Ryde squeezed out of the crowd, both of them with intense shock in their eyes.

"Could this ship be...?"

Aunt Linlin's voice was like a machine that hadn't been oiled in a long time, creaking and rattling with noise, and extremely dry.

"How about it,"

Ian made no attempt to hide anything, instead turning around and asking with a smile, "Spectacular, isn't it?"

"Really?!"

Aunt Linlin's breathing almost stopped, to the point that her voice became extremely weak.

Both she and Ryde stared intently at the enormous vessel before them, as if everything around them had faded away and only the ship remained in the world.

Pluton!

Did Ian really manage to get his hands on the legendary Ancient Weapon?

Aunt Linlin suddenly realized something, and she looked at Ian in astonishment, "You brought this ship back so quickly, could it have been buried in Wano Country along?"

"Hehehehe!"

Teacher Kai's laughter was filled with pure smugness. "Otherwise, why do you think I chose this country as my base, Linlin?"

Aunt Linlin fell silent immediately.

Therefore, from the very beginning, there was no possibility of competing with this master and disciple for Pluton.

Ryde also looked at Ian.

Seriously, we were completely underestimated.

Ian just openly laid Pluton out in front of them, making it clear that he didn't think they had any chance of taking Pluton.

Isn't this enough of looking down on people?

Eight hundred years ago, the mighty Birka was defeated because its ultimate weapon was stolen by Im.

Isn't Ian afraid of repeating the same mistake?

That makes sense.

Ryde shook his head dejectedly.

Im was able to obtain that ultimate weapon because he turned the Lunarian tribe against him.

But now, who among Ian's men could they possibly turn against him?

Moreover, the most crucial question is: will obtaining this Ancient Weapon be enough to defeat Ian?

Logically speaking, there should be no doubt about this. How could anyone compare to Ancient Weapon? Not even Joy Boy from eight hundred years ago.

But is Ian really incapable of it either?

Ryde found it very difficult to answer this question.

He had never personally witnessed how strong Joy Boy, nor had he ever actually seen what Pluton looked like when he fired.

But he truly knew how strong Ian was.

Where is Uncle Queen?

Ian had no idea what Ryde was thinking; he just turned around and called out.

"Hahahaha! I'm right here!"

Uncle Queen immediately squeezed in front of Ian, beaming with pride, and said, "How about it? Want to try out my specially made energy right away?"

He knew that Pluton lacked energy, but he didn't know that Ian was preparing to destroy Vegapunk and the energy source he was creating.

"No."

Ian shook his head.

"Ah?"

Uncle Queen was stunned, and said incredulously, "What are you talking about? Ian, wasn't this what you've been making me research?"

"Because there are more important things for you to do now, Uncle Queen."

Ian's expression and voice were both quite solemn.

Uncle Queen genuinely felt respected, so he patted his chest and confidently declared, "Just leave everything to me. Don't you trust me to handle things?"

Ian nodded with relief. "That's great. I'll leave it to you to inspect the ship, Uncle Queen."

"Although I've done a rough check, I can't guarantee that all the critical modules will function correctly."

It still requires a real professional to carefully and thoroughly check it according to the blueprints.

"Ah?"

The chief scientist of the Beasts Pirates was slightly taken aback.

"Then,"

Ian looked at the remaining traces of history on the ship's surface and said, "Take some time to clean the surface of this ship properly."

"You bastard, what do you take me for!"

Uncle Queen was instantly enraged!

He was a great scientist!

He's neither a quality inspector nor a cleaner.

"Uncle Queen,"

Ian's smile remained unchanged. "This is the captain's order."

Queen's angry expression froze instantly.

I almost forgot, Ian is now in charge of the Beasts Pirates.

This kid is no longer the brat he used to be, whom he could easily bully. Now he's even stronger than Kaido, a true monster in every sense of the word!

"I see!"

Uncle Queen nodded quickly.

"Very good."

Ian nodded in satisfaction.

"Ian!"

At that moment, Bullet excitedly approached, "I'll take control of this ship!"

"Oh?"

Ian's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but praise, "That's a great idea, Bullet."

Although Pluton possesses formidable firepower, it is, after all, just a ship, and is rather inadequate when facing Sky King, the World Government's soaring steed.

However, if Bullet were to control Pluton, things would be different.

The power of the Combine-Combine Fruit allows him to control the ship with almost perfect ease.

Is the Sky King a floating city?

Then Pluton could transform into a Gundam!

Is there a more suitable pilot for Pluton Bullet?

"Hahaha!"

Bullet's excitement was palpable. "Then leave it to me!!"

Ian smiled.

As for whether Bullet would have any bad intentions after obtaining Pluton, Ian didn't care.

Regardless of whether Bullet ever truly considered him a comrade over the years, what difference does it make even if he obtained Pluton?

Are Ancient Weapon always able to defeat oneself?

Not necessarily.

Do you even understand the power of the Divine Phoenix ignores attacks, combined with the Destruction Flame destroys everything?

And so, Pluton, the legendary and extremely evil warship, was able to dock openly on the shore of Onigashima.

The pirates, led by Queen, began the final inspection of it.

The Beasts Pirates were completely unaware of the ship's true identity; they simply assumed it was another large warship in the crew, and since they'd already built quite a few over the years, one more wouldn't make a difference.

Those who truly knew the ship's identity were filled with anticipation, eager to discover just how powerful this legendary Ancient Weapon truly was.

While Uncle Queen began inspecting Pluton, Ian had also found the information about Pluton's energy source, made a copy, and sent it to Stussy.

That woman has a secret way of contacting Vegapunk, which hasn't been discovered for so many years. She should be able to secretly send the information over.

Somewhere in the first half of the Grand Line, a new base for the Marine Science Unit.

The well-disguised base gates slowly closed, and a warship from the Marine Headquarters docked in the inner harbor.

A man in a yellow striped suit disembarked from the ship, and people at the harbor immediately came to greet him.

"Hey! Uncle Ape! Long time no see!"

A man of varying build, wearing a red bellyband and floral shorts, greeted Kizaru with a smile.

"Oh, Sentomaru,"

Seeing the man he had watched grow up, Kizaru couldn't help but smile genuinely, his usually unpredictable face breaking into a warm smile. "How have you been lately?"

"Nothing has changed at all."

Sentomaru complained, "Life here is so boring! Every day is the same. If it weren't for protecting the Doctor, I'd really like to join the Marines with you, Uncle Sarutobi!"

"Ha ha,"

Kizaru said with a smile, "Once the doctor finishes his research, you can do whatever you want."

"So, how is the doctoral student's research progressing?"

"It shouldn't take too long."

Sentomaru led Kizaru deeper into the base, turning back to say, "But what exactly is the purpose of this research that the government ordered?"

"The doctor himself is indeed very happy about this. His biggest dream in life is to develop a sufficiently cheap energy source so that people all over the world can use it with peace of mind."

"I just don't know what the government intends to do with this energy."

"Let those at the top handle the matters at the top."

Kizaru smiled and imparted his wisdom to Sentomaru, "Just do your job well. There's no point in thinking too much, and it won't get us a raise anyway."

"Uncle Ape, you're still as pessimistic as ever."

Sentomaru laughed heartily.

Before long, they had arrived deep within the base.

Coincidentally, this was also when the door to Vegapunk's laboratory was forcefully pushed open.

A man whose body seemed to be made of gas, floating in the air like a ghost, stormed out of there, turning back to shout insults.

"Vegapunk, you bastard, you're clearly just jealous of my brilliant idea! You dare to reject my plan because of your own pathetic jealousy! You just wait! You'll regret this one day!"

He was cursing and yelling, and as he passed by Sentomaru and his companion, he glared at them fiercely before drifting away.

Kizaru couldn't help but sigh, "Caesar and the Doctor are still at odds as always."

Sentomaru said irritably, "Always coming up with weird and nonsensical ideas, which do nothing but delay the progress."

"If it weren't for the fact that he and the doctor were old friends, the doctor would have kicked him out long ago."

Old friend?

Kizaru chuckled, "I couldn't tell at all."

The two entered Vegapunk's laboratory.

The man with the enormous head was currently working with great difficulty at his desk.

"Doctor, I've been sent here again to inquire about the progress."

Kizaru raised his voice to make sure he could get the man's attention.

After all, he knew very well just how focused this doctor could be when he was completely absorbed in the experiment.

"Um?"

Vegapunk looked up, somewhat bewildered, his gaze lingering on Kizaru's face for several seconds before he finally realized, "Oh! Is that Borsalino?"

"Who else could it be but me?"

Kizaru smiled.

He was a direct supervisor of the Marine Science Unit.

You've come at the perfect time!

Vegapunk finally snapped out of his daze and shouted excitedly, "I need more funds, more materials!"

Kizaru's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this. "So, there's been another breakthrough in the research?"

"I wouldn't call it progress, but we've definitely come up with a new hypothesis!"

Vegapunk said with a hint of fanaticism, "If the guess is correct, then in four or five months at most, we should see results!"

"Very good!"

Kizaru's face lit up instantly. "I'll report to my superiors right away!"

Although it was just a routine inquiry, he should still be considered to have done some work, right?

Maybe I'll get a raise!

Vegapunk smiled broadly, but his gaze inadvertently swept over a stack of documents on the table beside him.

Four or five months?

Why would it take that long?