Meanwhile, in the very heart of Egghead Island...
At the former storage site of Vegapunk's Brain (Database).
This should have been the culmination of the entire island's technology and intellect, surrounded by countless precision instruments and shimmering streams of data.
But now, all that remained was wreckage and emptiness.
The enormous cylindrical container in the center stood completely empty.
Vegapunk's actual brain, once submerged in a special solution, was nowhere to be found.
Only a few severed data conduits and power cables hung limply from it.
Most of the surrounding instrument screens were black. The few still lit were covered in static and error codes.
At the center of this technological wreckage, two figures stood silently, one behind the other.
In front stood the wounded Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, wearing a fur coat and a dark expression.
Behind him stood the Warrior God of Science and Defense, Jaygarcia Saturn Saint, dressed in a dark suit and holding an unusual cane, his face shrouded in shadow.
Both men's eyes were fixed on the empty container.
"Vegapunk's data core... has already been moved." Saint Saturn spoke slowly, his tone betraying neither pleasure nor anger.
"You've been on the island for some time now, Blackbeard." He tilted his head slightly as he spoke.
"Have you really... found no trace of Vegapunk?"
"Or perhaps..." A mocking edge entered Saint Saturn's voice. "You were too busy 'catching up' with that Straw Hat Boy...
"Or... coveting his 'Nika' Devil Fruit, and forgot your real business?"
At those words, the corner of Blackbeard's mouth twitched violently. His facial muscles contorted, revealing obvious displeasure and anger.
He was already seething because he had failed to gain much of an advantage over Luffy.
And his opponent's bizarre abilities had left him battered and humiliated.
Being "called to account" by