Nami: " Luffy! Is this the new form shown on your bounty poster?"
Brook: "Wow, it's huge!!"
Upon seeing Luffy's enormous, pure white body, Nami and Brook gasped in surprise, while Chopper and Usopp's eyes practically lit up with stars!
Although Luffy Awakening his Nika Form in Wano Country, none of his crewmates had seen it before. This is the first time he has transformed into this form in front of his crewmates!
He had transformed before when fighting the invading Lucci, but only Zoro, who fought Kaku, had seen it then. The others had only seen it on the monitors. This time, he has finally seen it in person.
Borsalino! Go!
Vic only said this one sentence, and Luffy grabbed Kizaru and took him away!
Luffy only knew that Kizaru was there to harm Vegapunk, so he swung his arm like a fan and flung Kizaru away, hoping to cause Kizaru some trouble and prevent him from coming back to cause trouble so quickly!
But Kizaru is Logia Glint-Glint Fruit; how could he possibly be defeated by such a childish trick?
This move only throws Kizaru a little further away; it doesn't do any real damage. Expecting him to fall into the sea and drown is ridiculous. Logia Fruit users have far too many tricks up their sleeves. Kizaru quickly flew back, beams shooting from his feet.
Actually, Luffy just wanted to throw Kizaru away. Otherwise, since he had already caught him, he could have simply wrapped himself in Armament Haki and slammed him to the ground, which would have at least caused Kizaru some minor injury. Luffy didn't use any other more powerful attacks.
"Are you here to kill Apple Old Man?"
" Apple Old Man? You mean Vegapunk, right? That's exactly what my mission is!"
"Then I can't let you pass any further. I won't hand Apple Old Man over to you. Come on! Let me see the Admiral's strength!"
The battle between Luffy and Kizaru caused quite a stir, but the control room remained calm. The excitement had subsided, and with Vic as their pillar of support, who would worry about the enemies outside?
A short while later, Franky, Lilith, and Robin arrived at the control room.
Franky and Robin were so excited to see Vic that they forgot what they were supposed to do, until Lilith interrupted their chatter.
Their mission was to transport the Thousand Sunny to the beach to escape, but Lilith's No. 1 colossal robot was blown up by Kizaru's Laser Beam, and the Thousand Sunny was thrown onto Island Cloud. Now, none of them can move the Thousand Sunny, so they came to the control room for help!
"That's easy. Have you all forgotten Rebecca's Devil Fruit ability? She's a user of the Float-Float Fruit. She can make the Thousand Sunny float just by touching it; no one needs to control it at all."
Vic could easily do that too; now that he possesses the ability to teleport, he could easily teleport the Thousand Sunny to the beach.
However, the coast is now full of warships, and sending it there would mean it would be subject to shelling. Also, he didn't want to expose this capability casually.
If it were just his own teleportation, it could easily be attributed to the elemental transformation of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. However, a pirate ship several tens of meters long would be too much. Rebecca's ability is better; the outside world already knew about it, and she could leave directly from the air, making it the safest method at the moment.
"I'll go ask Sister Rebecca for help!"
Robin spoke first, because she had learned from Vic that her mother had also come to the island and was with Rebecca. Now that Vic had suggested a good idea, she was naturally the first to respond. Robin hadn't seen her mother in a long time!
It's so good to have someone to care about!
"Doctor! What are your plans for the future? Even if you escape this time, the World Government won't let this go easily. You know too much, and you have no ability to protect yourself. Are you going to stay on the run forever?"
After Robin left the control room, Vic got down to business. Vegapunk was indeed a genius scientist, capable of creating even a fighting machine like Seraphim!
If Seraphim mass-produced, Vegapunk could become a force on his own. The strength of the Seraphim might not be as good as that of the Yonko's first mate, but it's not far off; they are still at the level of the captains of the All-Stars Sweet Commander!
One or two might not be a big threat, but what about a group? Even the Four Emperors would have a headache. Plus, Vegapunk has the technology to copy Devil Fruit. How many God Level Devil Fruit could he create? How many people could become strong? This isn't some half-baked Zoan Devil Fruit that Caesar created!
Therefore, Vegapunk, relying on his intellect, also has the potential to become a powerful ruler. This is the power of a genius mind and technology. It all depends on the cost of Seraphim and Devil Fruit!
Therefore, Vic really wanted to invite Vegapunk over, because he was afraid that Vegapunk valued peace and would stop creating Seraphim, which would be a real loss!
"This..."
In truth, Vegapunk hadn't thought about the future. He was facing a catastrophe, and all he could think about was taking it one step at a time. He was smart, but not in this area. Vegapunk obviously couldn't answer Vic's question.
" Nami! Do you need a scientist on your ship? You saw the power of the Seraphim, right? If you have enough money, Vegapunk can create countless strongmen of this level, and your pirate crew can become the strongest force on the sea!"
You'll never have to fear the Navy again; they'll be afraid of you instead! Obtaining the One Piece and helping Luffy become the Pirate King will be a piece of cake. The opportunity is right here, so hurry up and act!
Seeing that Vegapunk remained silent, Vic said to Nami beside him, " The Straw Hat Pirates are great in every way, except for their lack of money. No matter how much money they have, it will be spent very quickly."
So, the idea that Nami would invest in Vegapunk's research to mass-produce Seraphim is a pipe dream!
The Straw Hat Pirates can at most help Vegapunk avoid trouble, but how could Vegapunk, with his genius brain and the power of the Brain-Brain Fruit, possibly stay idle?
It's fine for a while, but it'll definitely cause problems if it goes on for too long. Vic is trying to thwart Vegapunk's other ideas. What's wrong with making weapons? As long as you use weapons to do the right thing, that's enough!
"Ah! That's good, but our pirate crew has never had much money. I'm afraid we'll have to kidnap Luffy and Zoro and take them to the World Government to exchange them for money. Only those two are worth anything!"
Nami was a smart girl and quickly understood what Vic meant, realizing that Vic wanted to recruit Vegapunk!
In fact, Nami was indifferent to Vegapunk joining the crew, because Franky was already on board, and they could manufacture enough basic weapons for their needs. They didn't really need any more high-tech weapons!
To be honest, Vegapunk and Franky's roles overlap somewhat. If Luffy really wanted to invite them, Nami wouldn't refuse. So what if their roles overlap? It'll be more fun with more people.
But the problem is that Vegapunk might not be able to stay idle. His research is too expensive, and only a behemoth like the World Government can afford it. The Straw Hat Pirates are notoriously poor and simply cannot afford to supply him!
Now that Vic wants to invite Vegapunk, that would be perfect. It would guarantee Vegapunk's safety and provide research funding, making it probably the best place for him!