After eating and drinking their fill in the square, the group rested for a while longer. It was already close to midnight.
A crescent moon hung in the black night sky, accompanied by sparse, flickering stars. In the square, a crackling bonfire cast long, swaying shadows across the ground.
"We should be leaving soon. We need to get back to Egghead before dawn. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? It probably won't be easy."
Reiner slowly stood up, turned to Nami, patted her shoulder, and said softly,
"Go wake Hancock. We're leaving."
"Okay."
Nami nodded lightly, picked up the shirt beside her and draped it over her shoulders, then turned and headed toward the house behind them.
The others also dusted off their clothes and got to their feet.
"Say, are we really going to save Vegapunk?"
Usopp blinked, looking somewhat confused.
"Even though it doesn't seem like he was lying to us, how should I put this..."
"He's the greatest scientist in the world. He works for the World Government too, and he's invented so many incredible things."
Usopp scratched his head, still unable to make sense of it.
"Does the World Government really need to go that far? Just because he learned a little more about history, they want to erase him? Couldn't they just make him stop researching it?"
Putting aside all his contributions, someone with a mind like Vegapunk's was far too valuable to lose.
The World Government should have had plenty of ways to restrain an old man. Yet they had still chosen the most extreme option, preferring to kill Vegapunk and erase every trace of his historical research.
At that moment, Robin and Aokiji exchanged a glance as if by instinct.
Without experiencing it firsthand, one probably could not understand how ruthless and resolute