"Ara ara, what a hassle. I knew the one guarding this place might be Borsalino. That really complicates things."
It wasn't that Kuzan didn't want to stop Kizaru. He simply couldn't keep Kizaru here when the latter was determined to retreat. The Glint-Glint Fruit gave a huge advantage in both flight and speed.
Based on Kuzan's understanding of the Marines, since Sakazuki had become Fleet Admiral, he wouldn't be stationed here personally.
Before Kuzan left the Marines, Borsalino had also been reassigned elsewhere due to a mission. In Kuzan's view, if someone were guarding Egghead, it would be one of three possible individuals.
Although he didn't know what abilities Fujitora and Ryokugyu possessed, as long as it wasn't Kizaru, he could complete his current mission. But, reality told him he had drawn the worst card.
Watching Kizaru leave, Kuzan had no choice but to give chase.
Kuzan couldn't sustain long-term flight, but short bursts of sprint weren't a problem.
At the same time, while Kizaru couldn't get through on the phone, Lilith was facing the same issue. Neither Kuzan nor Borsalino had much interest in her, but she also wanted to inform the main body of what was happening here.
However, even the communications on her robot had been entirely cut off. In a place neither Lilith nor Borsalino could see, a large amount of electromagnetic waves had already severed all external communication signals. Right now, she was inside a special magnetic field.
This magnetic field didn't form randomly. Its source was Zeraora.
"Done. I've cut off the signals on this island, and the surrounding sea area as well. Den Den Mushi transmissions won't get out."
"This range… can your electricity keep up with the consumption?"
"Don't underestimate me. I can keep this up for three days and nights without issue. Besides, it's just electromagnetic waves. The consumption is very low. Did the radar pick up anything?"
"Right ahead. Acier's invention succeeded. Lord Sacred Beast will be very pleased."
On the streets of Egghead, Shayna and Zeraora moved unhindered. The robots on the streets continued transporting goods according to their programming, while the few remaining researchers had already gone into hiding.
"This island is pretty interesting. It is much more advanced than Queen's tech."
A projection passed right through their bodies. It was a hologram generated by the holographic projector created by Vegapunk. Using this device, he had built a fairytale world on Egghead that existed only in storybooks.
But Shayna had no interest in it whatsoever.
"They are all birds of a feather, none of them are any good. He better pray he doesn't fall into my hands."
Back then, Queen wasn't the only one in the lab. The one in charge was Vegapunk. Shayna and King's anger had never fully calmed down, even after beating up Queen for years, let alone Vegapunk, who had nothing to do with them directly.
Genius scientist, world's best; none of that mattered to them. For the remnants of the Lunarians, their relationship with Vegapunk was extremely poor.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom!
Two sharp sounds of something breaking through the air rang out. Deadly lasers narrowly missed the two of them, hitting the buildings behind them.
"Kizaru? They're both Marine Admirals, but Kuzan, this former Admiral sure isn't up to the mark….. Alright, I wronged him."
Through the smoke, two robots that looked very similar to Bartholomew Kuma emerged, except these two were dressed like police.
Their hands were now aimed directly at Zeraora and Shayna.
These were Vegapunk's version of the Pacifista. As the developer of the Pacifista, it was only natural that Egghead had similar units. Their intelligence was even higher than the Marine versions.
This was the island's defense mechanism. Once intruders were confirmed, the Pacifista on the island would spring into action.
But this level of defense ultimately meant very little.
The Pacifista's attacks were based on research into Kizaru's Lineage Factor, but their attack frequency was countless times slower than Kizaru's. While the Pacifista were recalibrating their aim, Zeraora had already appeared beside them.
Electricity gathered around his arms, and with two slashes of his claws, the raised arms of the Pacifista, which were made with a special gold outer shell, were severed and fell to the ground.
Before the Pacifista could react, Zeraora stepped into the air, and with a rumbling sound of lightning, delivered a series of kicks to the heads of the Pacifista.
Haki shattered the Pacifista's outer shell, and terrifying lightning surged through their circuitry and flooded their bodies.
Boom!
The Pacifista couldn't respond in any way. They weren't living beings, and the head wasn't a fatal weakness, but as electricity flooded in, their bodies began emitting black smoke. Eventually, they overloaded and exploded.
Their massive bodies turned into enormous bombs, and the fragments from the explosion were flung outward, eventually embedding themselves into the surrounding buildings.
Nearby holographic projectors also seemed affected. After flickering a few times, the projections disconnected.
"Guard 01 and Guard 02 are both destroyed. They lasted less than a minute. No need to continue testing. Notify Sentomaru, it's time to try out the new models."
Inside a laboratory, Vegapunk No. 03, Edison, representing thinking, had been monitoring the battle footage the entire time. For now, he was not satisfied with the island's defenses.
"Pythagoras, has communication been restored yet?"
Edison looked toward Pythagoras, who was busy with machinery nearby, and asked.
"Internal communication is mostly back to normal. But there's an invisible barrier surrounding this place, probably some kind of magnetic field. Signals can't get out, and external ones can't get in."
Pythagoras examined the instruments in front of him and gave his assessment.
"What's the situation with Lilith?"
"She's inside the magnetic field zone. If she goes out, she should be able to communicate, but that robot's equipment can't detect the magnetic field, and she doesn't know the range, so it's all up to luck."
"Alright, leave it at that. Oh, and this is a good time to test the island's escape system. It's too dangerous to stay here.
Get them ready, I just had a new idea, and I need to write it down."
Edison seemed to have thought of something, and handed everything over to Pythagoras.
"Alright, just remember to direct the battle later. You're better at that."
"I'll be quick."
Elsewhere, having received the order, Sentomaru also grabbed his axe and stepped out of the room.
"Let's go, S-Snake, S-Hawk."
Behind Sentomaru, two childlike figures followed him out of the room.
Their appearances were almost exact replicas of the younger versions of Hawk Eyes and Boa Hancock, the only major difference being their dark skin, the black wings on their backs, and the flames burning behind them; everything was identical to the Lunarians.
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