It was obvious that Gern's relentless, unapologetically bandit-like demands had finally ignited the genius scientist's fury.
"Y–you… what else do you want?!" Vegapunk's chest heaved violently.
"Why don't I just hand over the entire Egg Ward core database while I'm at it?!"
"My life's work—every single piece of research—should I just package it all up and deliver it to you as well, Grand Commodore of the Tremor?!"
Vegapunk was so enraged he had even shouted Gern's title.
But Gern didn't care in the slightest.
Instead, he actually paused to think about it.
Then he nodded as if the suggestion were perfectly reasonable, speaking in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
"The entire Egg Ward core database and your lifetime of research won't be necessary."
"You can just give me the highest-level authority chip for the Seraphim."
"I'm actually a very easy person to deal with."
The air froze instantly.
The Authority Chip was the control chip embedded inside every Seraphim unit.
Whoever held the chip could issue commands to them.
The hierarchy of authority determined the chain of command—from highest to lowest:
The Five Elders, Vegapunk himself (along with his satellites), Sentomaru, and finally all other authority chip holders.
However, at present, Vegapunk almost certainly possessed one chip whose authority surpassed even that of the Five Elders.
After all, a man bold enough to broadcast a message to the entire world would never leave himself without a final safeguard.
"Bandit!!"
As expected, Vegapunk rejected the demand outright.
"The authority chip is the key to maintaining balance! It will never be handed over to a single individual!"
"As for you?" He scoffed coldly. "Don't even dream about it!"
"Oh?"
Gern raised an eyebrow slightly.
The playful smile on his face finally disappeared completely.
"It seems our meeting has broken down."
"In that case…"
"I'll just take it myself."
Bzzzz!
Without the slightest warning, Gern pushed off the ground.
His figure blurred instantly.
Vegapunk was not a combatant—but through his connection with the gigantic brain, he possessed extraordinary computational processing ability.
It gave him something close to predictive foresight.
And this was his territory.
So at the very same microsecond Gern moved—
Dozens of strangely shaped guns extended from the ceiling and walls of the laboratory.
"Pew! Pew! Pew!"
High-energy yellow laser beams shot forth, weaving together into a deadly net that sealed off every possible path of Gern's advance with surgical precision.
But Gern's Observation Haki had already foreseen every attack trajectory.
And his peak physical ability allowed him to turn that foresight into reality.
"Useless, Vegapunk."
Gern's voice suddenly sounded right beside him.
"Your calculations can't keep up with my speed."
Before the words even finished—
Gern had already broken through the final particle barrier.
His right fist clenched tight as pale vibration particles wrapped around it.
Without hesitation, he drove a punch straight toward the entire array of devices.
"Guardian!!" Vegapunk shouted sharply.
BOOM!!
A massive black shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.
Gern's fist slammed squarely into a giant shield that gleamed with a dull metallic luster.
KRAAASH!!!
A visible ring of pale shockwaves exploded across the shield's surface and expanded violently outward.
Several nearby laboratory benches and instruments that couldn't escape in time were instantly shattered by the impact.
Holding the enormous shield was a towering, heavily built prototype robot wearing dark sunglasses.
It resembled Bartholomew Kuma to some degree—perhaps an early model originally intended for Pacifista research before Vegapunk abandoned the design and created a different version.
The spot where Gern's fist struck had caved inward noticeably.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the shield's surface while internal circuits flickered erratically with sparks.
"The Pacifista prototype, huh?"
Gern's eyes flickered slightly as he recognized the robot.
Taking advantage of the brief opening, Vegapunk leapt backward, widening the distance between them.
His voice carried lingering shock.
"Gern! This is my laboratory!"
"It's not a battlefield where you can do whatever you please!"
"A battlefield?"
Gern sneered.
He casually shook his wrist—the recoil from that punch meant almost nothing to him.
"If I say it is, then it is."
SHING!
A crisp blade cry rang out.
The black blade Eight Desolations had already left its sheath.
The gray-white bandages wrapped around it tore apart piece by piece.
Pale vibration particles intertwined around the blade itself, emitting a chilling buzzing hum.
"Your toys can't stop my blade."
Gern gripped the sword with both hands.
His gaze locked onto the robot—and the vigilant Vegapunk standing behind it.
Then he swung.
A single horizontal slash.
A crescent-shaped pale shockwave shot forth from the blade.
The slash itself was not particularly fast.
But wherever it passed—
The solid space within the laboratory seemed to twist and warp under an invisible force.
The structure groaned under unbearable strain.
The air along its path was violently expelled, forming a brief vacuum corridor.
The prototype robot instantly raised its giant shield again.
Energy light flared brightly across the shield's surface as it attempted to withstand the strike head-on.
But the moment the slash touched the shield—
Crack… BOOM!!!
The giant shield—capable of withstanding heavy artillery—split cleanly in two.
The robot behind it was sliced apart as well.
Vegapunk's pupils—more precisely, the sensors beneath his apple dome—contracted sharply.
His computational core began screaming with warning signals.
He realized something instantly.
Against a monster like Gern—who possessed top-tier Haki, terrifying physical ability, and an awakened Logia power—
Conventional defenses were practically meaningless.
"Activate Binding Light Protocol! Restrict his movement!" Vegapunk shouted.
In an instant, countless light nodes illuminated across the laboratory walls.
Dozens of blazing white energy beams shot out like flexible tendrils, snaking toward Gern.
Gern's eyes sharpened.
His body moved again.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
He weaved and leapt through the dense web of energy beams.
Every swing of Eight Desolations precisely severed several beams closing in on him.
The cut beams twisted wildly like severed electrical cables, discharging energy in violent crackling explosions.
But there were too many beams.
And they regenerated incredibly quickly.
Gradually, they began compressing the space in which he could move.
"Annoying trick."
Gern snorted inwardly.
His tactical intention shifted instantly.
Rather than continuing to dodge, he prepared to drive Eight Desolations straight into the ground—intending to shatter the entire laboratory with a quake.
Suddenly—
A blinding golden light shot forward faster than anything else.
It intercepted Gern's blade with flawless precision.
CLANG!!!
The light faded.
And there stood Borsalino, who had appeared between the two men at some unknown moment.
His leg—moving at the speed of light—had kicked directly into the path of Eight Desolations, interrupting the sword's momentum.
"Well, well~"
Borsalino tilted his mouth in that same irritating expression as always.
"Gern-kun, Punk-uncle's brain is the most precious treasure in the entire world."
"If it gets damaged, the Science Division's budget will go completely bankrupt."
"Next year we'll all be drinking the north wind for dinner."
He slowly withdrew his leg.
"And that would make things very difficult for someone like me who can't skim a little extra on the side~"
Then he added lazily, as if delivering the final jab:
"Besides, wasn't this supposed to be a friendly meeting?"
"I had barely taken two bites of my afternoon tea strawberry cake before they dragged me here to break up a fight."
"Now the cake's probably getting cold~"