Three days later Roxing finally emerged from the lab.
Quin and Jack had been waiting at the door the whole time.
Before Quin could speak, Jack blurted out:
"Young master — when are we attacking Punk Hazard?"
Roxing paused, then smiled:
"Seems you already know. This time I won't be needing you two."
At that moment, heavy thudding footsteps came from inside the lab.
Quin and Jack stared in.
They knew it meant the young master had another invention ready.
Five towering silver robots, each many meters tall, stepped out.
Quin's eyes lit up. "Mechs?!"
As a cyborg and bio-engineer, Quin understood machines — and as a man, who could resist a mech?
He reached out to touch one.
Cold, hard metal; smooth lines; perfect mechanics; wings on the back — Quin was practically drooling.
"Amazing! The finest work in the world!"
"Hey — what are those on the thighs… turbines?"
Quin blinked. "Young master, why install turbines?"
Roxing smiled faintly: "So they can operate underwater."
In a world where the sea is everything, Roxing had modified the Cybertronians to function effectively even beneath the waves.
Quin was stunned. Mechs are for land — water combat? Even with turbines, underwater mobility seems impractical.
Roxing saw his confusion and explained:
"These are Cybertronians — transformable robots.
They have two forms: the current mech form, and a beast form.
Mech form is optimized for ranged firepower; beast form is more agile and powerful for close-quarters tearing.
The wings give aerial combat ability; the thigh turbines provide naval capability."
Quin and Jack were speechless, stunned as if hearing scripture.
Jack muttered: "This is like Kaido's style — sea, land, and air all in one."
Despite Jack's bluntness, he was right. Roxing's Cybertronians were true tri-domain fighters with almost no weaknesses.
When Kaido saw them, he was thunderstruck and burst into roaring laughter that made Onigashima tremble.
"To fight on sea, land, and sky — few in this world can do that," Kaido said with wonder.
Indeed, many fighters rely on Devil Fruits and lose efficiency at sea — even Kaido's power drops in water. In that regard, Roxing's invention outmatched even Kaido's natural advantages.
After a modest bow, Roxing ordered the Flame-disaster Jin:
"You'll lead the five Cybertronians to Punk Hazard. Eliminate the Marines and World Government forces there and seize control."
Jin saluted gravely. "Leave it to me, young master!"
With a hum, a giant winged dragon unfurled and shot into the sky.
The five Cybertronians transformed into beast forms and took off, heading straight for Punk Hazard.
On Punk Hazard, a rotund man in yellow stripes was leisurely clipping his nails and yawning. Beside him stood a hulking type carrying an axe.
"Kizaru old man — the Beasts Pirates haven't shown up. Should we go fetch them? How long must we wait?"
"Battle Franky, don't be so impatient. Things must be done step by step."
"But we've been on Punk Hazard almost four days with no progress!"
Borsalino Kizaru, reclining in his chair, snapped:
"What do you mean no progress? Since I arrived, the Beasts Pirates haven't appeared once. The SAD materials are intact — that's progress!"
Battle Franky shot him a look: four days of lounging counts as "progress"?
Still, Franky found no good retort — Kizaru was right on the facts.
Franky grumbled: "But if the Beasts keep avoiding us, do we just sit here forever?"
Kizaru, clipping nails, shrugged: "Yes. Exactly."
Franky stomped off in a huff.
Watching his retreating back, Kizaru sighed: "Kids these days… working 9-to-6 for a pittance. Why break your back for so little?"
Kizaru's personal creed of "ambiguous justice" was simple: do the amount of work that matches the pay. If the Navy won't pay more, why overwork? Punch the clock and go home.
He stood and yawned — another fulfilling day of idleness complete — and was about to leave when a few dark specks appeared on the horizon, rapidly closing in.
"Too fast… incredible," Kizaru murmured, hands in pockets, squinting.
As they drew near, Kizaru recognized the shapes. He cocked his head: "Whoa — that winged dragon — could it be Flame-disaster Jin of the Beasts? And those five beasts following — are those Zoan users or special weapons?"
He sighed inwardly. "I have a bad feeling about this," though he wasn't thrilled to be troubled during his off-hours.
But his subordinate Battle Franky was thrilled: "Finally! The Beasts show up. I thought they were all cowards!"
The marines on Punk Hazard gathered to prepare. Ten enormous figures, each resembling the Pacifista-style Lookalike Bears, stood guard.
Kizaru blinked and teleported in front of Franky with lazy nonchalance. "Flame-disaster Jin personally? He ate a higher-grade Monster Cell and gave Sakazuki a hard time last time. Those five beasts behind him are troubling."
"This won't be an easy fight, Franky."
Franky puffed himself up with confidence: "Old man, even if Jin's power rose, can he beat you? As for those five beasts — pfft — we have the Pacifista-style weapon: the Pacifistas, the Human Weapons!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ZoroTL442