At that moment, the entire island began to tremble.
Outside Egghead Island, the Sumeru Gourd Ren had placed in the sky changed its operating method.
Countless bolts of thunder gathered and transformed into blades, severing the connection between the island and the sea's foundation.
Kuma made his move at that very moment. With a violent pressure bubble, he tore open the cut, completely separating Egghead Island from the sea.
Then, he pressed his hand against the ground, activated his ability, and released an enormous paw-shaped bubble.
When the bubble shattered, unparalleled repulsive force erupted, launching Egghead Island into the sky and sending it away from its original sea area at terrifying speed.
No matter how the discussion inside went, this island was going to be moved.
Egghead Island's final destination was beside Punk Hazard. Ten thousand meters in the sky was a realm the World Government could not reach for the time being.
What terrifying power. To think he can actually move an entire island away.
Shaka, who had walked out of the Control Room, stared at the rapidly shifting scenery, somewhat astonished by Kuma's strength.
After Ren and Vegapunk began their discussion, the six of them had been released.
Of course—
Whether it was him or the others, they could all feel a certain force locking onto them from afar.
If they showed even the slightest sign of doing something wrong, perhaps a Conqueror's Haki strike would smash down on them.
No… it should be said that was exactly the case.
Lilith activated her futuristic Air Boots, and a large volume of air sprayed out, sending her straight into the sky.
If she kept flying like that, she could leave Egghead Island directly.
And so—
Boom—!
Lightning tore through the roof of the Control Room, then locked onto the dodging Lilith at astonishing speed.
After the thunderous explosion, a charred object fell straight to the ground.
Lilith spat out a mouthful of black smoke, rolled her eyes back, and passed out.
"That's really exaggerated."
York shrank her neck back. As the outlet for eating, drinking, excretion, and desire, she disliked pain the most.
"If she didn't die, then that already counts as a warning."
Shaka shook his head, then turned his gaze back toward the Control Room. "What do you think will happen?"
"I don't know. Probability of successful resistance: 0. Probability of escape: 0. No matter how I analyze it, I cannot find even a 1% possibility."
Pythagoras gave his answer through data analysis.
"Let's see what the main body says. Please, just don't keep fighting."
York spoke with a dejected little face.
Inside the Control Room, Ren and Vegapunk's discussion was still continuing.
What they were talking about was the Mechanical Giant.
It was one of the trump cards of the Great Kingdom, roughly created nine hundred years ago. Two hundred years ago, it once attacked Mary Geoise.
The reason it did not cause much destruction was because something went wrong with the Mechanical Giant's power system.
From Vegapunk's perspective, it had failed because it lacked sufficient energy.
But what was subtle was that the technology known as the Mother Flame had been built on the Mechanical Giant's power system.
That thing, in essence, was a flame that should never go out.
Only, the flame that should not have been extinguished had gone out, and so the Mechanical Giant failed.
In Ren's eyes, it had most likely been defeated by the Five Elders. Its power core was destroyed, rendering it unable to move.
But in a certain sense, being able to preserve a mostly intact structure before the Five Elders could also be considered quite impressive.
The reason the Mechanical Giant had not been destroyed back then was because scientists believed it possessed great research value.
And in truth, Vegapunk had indeed managed to research something from it. That was also why he did not want to hand the Mechanical Giant over.
"What I need is not the Mechanical Giant itself, but the technology it represents. This is also related to the deal between you and me. What I hope to obtain is… the complete Mother Flame."
Ren chose to lay his cards on the table, revealing his demand openly.
"The Mother Flame… how do you know about that?"
Vegapunk frowned. "Did Dragon tell you?"
"I am a prophet."
Ren said, "You can verify it with Dragon or Kuma."
Vegapunk pondered for a moment, then actually took out a Den Den Mushi and began calling them one by one with great seriousness.
When the second call was made, Kuma himself appeared and spoke with Vegapunk.
"So that's how it is. No wonder everyone, even the records, forgot about you, and only I still remember you."
After Kuma personally explained the situation, Vegapunk very straightforwardly believed Ren's claim that he was a prophet.
Clearly, Kuma had a very good impression in his mind, to the point that he trusted the person Kuma trusted.
However, after learning that Ren was a prophet, Vegapunk suddenly changed the topic. "Can you see the world fifty years from now? What is it like?"
"If you mean the kind of world you envision, then unfortunately, I don't think it develops in that direction."
Ren thought for a moment, then simply revealed part of the original story. "After the Mother Flame is completed, the first thing it will be used for is as a weapon for Uranus.
"York, one of your satellites, betrays you. She steals a portion of the Mother Flame and hands it to the World Government in exchange for the benefit of becoming a Celestial Dragon.
"The result is that Uranus obtains energy and is activated during the turbulent waves of the era, sinking an entire kingdom.
"The sea level rises by one meter, and countless islands and countries suffer calamity."
"…What!?"
Vegapunk sprang up, staring at Ren with both doubt and belief.
"Why do you think I want the Mother Flame so badly?"
Ren asked in return.
Vegapunk sat back down, his brow furrowing.
He understood Kuma and knew the other man would not deceive him, so he believed the claim that "Ren is a prophet."
He was also clear about Dragon's personality. If the man before him had nothing extraordinary about him, the leader of the Revolutionary Army would never have involved himself in such a thing.
In other words, Ren's answer had considerable reference value.
But the contents were somewhat…
No, York was indeed capable of doing something like that.
She was originally the outlet for desire. Greed, gluttony, laziness—those negative traits were all part of York's composition.
Vegapunk simply had not expected that his own satellite would betray his ideals and sell infinite energy to the World Government as a bargaining chip.
In his vision, even if she did something like that, she should at least have exchanged it for a promise from the World Government to promote infinite energy.
But…
Vegapunk suddenly asked, "Do you also know about the Great Kingdom?"
"No. I have no interest."
Ren shook his head. "My goal is very simple. To dominate this world with absolute power and make it move in the direction I want.
"What happened in past history is meaningless to the present. As long as I obtain absolute power, that will be enough."
"Dominate the world?"
This time, Vegapunk's brows twisted together.
Kuma suddenly said, "It will be a very good world. One completely different from the current World Government."
Standing in the position of a follower, he told Vegapunk about Ren's ideals and actions.
At the end, he added his own conclusion.
"I believe he can do it, so I choose to fight for him until the end."
"…"
Vegapunk did not speak, but his eyes became filled with astonishment.
Kuma was a gentle and kind man, someone who did not easily wish to hurt others. Yet such a person was willing to use his own power for the sake of one man's ideals.
From Kuma's actions against Vegapunk's side, it was clear that he was willing to give up many things to help this person to the very end.
In other words, his credibility was ninety-nine percent.
The reason it was not one hundred percent was because Vegapunk was a relatively rigorous scientist.
He could not help falling into deep thought. After a long while, he suddenly asked a question.
"Since you are a prophet, then after obtaining what, exactly, do you see a future where you succeed?"
"A heart. Or rather, a source."
For the first time, Ren revealed his ability. Very rarely, he explained the structural framework of his power system to Vegapunk.
Gradually, this foremost scientist of eight hundred years came to understand why the other party was so confident.
Others might not be able to understand that power, but as a scientist, he could.
Once Ren gathered every missing piece just as he described, and then fused them into one atop that foundation…
This world would welcome a true blazing sun.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Vegapunk seemed to have realized something and asked directly, "You're telling me your ideals and pursuits. You're telling me what fate awaits the World Government. You're even telling me the truth behind your own abilities.
"If this were merely a transaction, there would be no need to go this far, would there?"
"I want your help."
Ren gave his answer cleanly and directly. "Your pursuit can be realized in my world, while the current World Government cannot tolerate your ideals.
"Their essence is exploitation and oppression. They will never grant you the peaceful coexistence you envision."
"My ideal includes infinite energy!"
Vegapunk emphasized, "Do you understand? With it, anything can be easily produced.
"Food, clothing, fire, building materials—even human organs. My ideal includes corresponding plans for all of them."
"But you cannot grant infinity to the human heart."
Ren calmly stated the truth. "The people in Mary Geoise do not want energy or anything of the sort. What they want is to eternally have people beneath their feet.
"To watch those below them crush one another, slaughter one another, hate one another, and finally have the victors crawl beneath their feet.
"That is what it means to be a Celestial Dragon. That is the essence of this World Government. Someone as intelligent as you—can you truly not see that?"
"…"
Vegapunk fell silent.
"I am not trying to force you to join me. I only want you to do that one thing, so that I can obtain the result I want.
"After that, you do not need to do anything. You only need to witness—"
Ren raised his head, stretched his hand toward the ceiling of the Control Room, spread his five fingers, and then clenched them violently.
"—witness what the world looks like in my hand!"
Vegapunk took a deep breath. He seemed to want to say something, but forcibly restrained himself.
In the end, after thinking it over and over, he only managed to squeeze out one sentence.
"Let me consider it carefully."
"Seven days. That should be enough for you to understand me from every direction."
Ren gave the time he hoped for.
"Very well."
Vegapunk did not refuse. Seven days was very short. In scientific research, it was practically gone in the blink of an eye.
But for him, understanding a person was not difficult.
Of course—
He would not learn about the prophet from the prophet himself.
He intended to start searching for answers from the outside.
People could lie.
But the things people wished to do could not.
(End of Chapter)