"Teacher Bunta, there's a banquet in the Flower Capital, take us there to play!"
"I heard a powerful Pirate Crew has arrived, and we want to go see them."
Kizaru's face stiffened. Why did they need to go watch the excitement when a Pirate Crew arrived? He really should let these brats see what pirates in the outside world are like.
"Fine, I'll take you out to see." Kizaru thought for a moment and still took the children out of school.
The Flower Capital at night was brightly lit and bustling with activity.
Arriving at the outskirts of the banquet, Kizaru took out some shopping vouchers and let the group of children go play on their own.
"It's very safe outside anyway. Go buy something to eat, play while you eat, and I'll come pick you up here in a while."
Although they didn't know what the teacher was going to do, the children happily agreed since they could buy things to eat.
The nearby lights suddenly brightened a bit, and Kizaru only then left with peace of mind.
Shortly after he left, a tall figure arrived nearby, standing outside Kizaru's monitoring range.
"A familiar feeling. So it's not just daytime monitoring; it can be done at night as well." Katakuri's Observation Haki had already begun to warn him.
"What should we do then, Katakuri?" Smoothie's voice came from the mirror in his arms.
"To be so cautious even with two Four Emperors Crews here, what a terrifying man. In that case, let's just go find him openly," Katakuri said.
"Have you decided?" Smoothie knew what he was going to do, but she was still a bit sad.
"Since the remnants of the Beasts Pirates can join the Buggy Pirates, what do we have to be reserved about..."
Katakuri said, "As long as Buggy can help us rescue our brothers and sisters, there's nothing wrong with working for him."
The main thing was that time was running out. If they didn't rescue them soon, with Blackbeard's personality, he might sell them to the Celestial Dragons as slaves.
Thinking of this, Katakuri ignored the feeling of being monitored and strode into the banquet venue.
At this time, Kizaru had already arrived at the outskirts of the Flower Capital, near a newly built giant building.
It was heavily guarded, but it couldn't stop Kizaru, who could turn into "light."
He easily sneaked into the building. The inside was terrifyingly empty and seemed not yet operational. Most of the NEO Marines personnel were idling about, making Kizaru incredibly envious.
He sneaked all the way to the central area before discovering Ain's trail.
At this moment, Ain was staying in a greenhouse made of glass, observing the transponder snails'... "mating"?
"Experiment 61. Although the Rewind-Rewind Fruit reset the transponder snails' bodies, their memories and spirits will not be reset. No. 1 and No. 2 have entered a state of lethargy."
Ain watched the two transponder snails with straight antennae but sluggish movements and continued recording.
"So transponder snails also have limits. Their spirits have transcended their physical instincts; they seem to have entered a... state of no desires."
Ain noticed that one transponder snail's eyes were already glazed over and thought of a suitable adjective.
"Rewinding further is no longer effective. I wonder if they can recover after resting for a few days."
Ain closed her notebook and let out a long sigh.
Why had she actually become obsessed with doing experiments? Was it a scientist's instinct?
But how was she supposed to complete Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's mission? Was she going to hand him a transponder snail mating log when the time came?
However, her ability was actually so useful... A million transponder snails sounded like a lot, but Ain knew that if she and Shinobu cooperated well, reaching this goal was only a matter of time.
Moreover, with a vast number of transponder snails, various experiments could be conducted. Perhaps a multi-functional transponder snail could really be bred.
But she really didn't want that title of [Mother of Transponder Snails]. She wondered if she could give it to Shinobu?
While Ain was lost in thought, a voice came from behind her, "Ain, what are you doing here?"
"Who's there?" Ain immediately became alert and instantly drew the long sword on her person, slashing behind her.
But the long sword slashed into a mass of "light," and Ain also saw the intruder's appearance.
"Kizaru?" she exclaimed.
"Calling your senior by his nickname like that is impolite, Junior Ain."
Since Ain's long sword wasn't imbued with her ability, Kizaru didn't dodge.
"Why are you here, Kizaru!" Ain said through gritted teeth.
"I should be the one asking you that. As a member of the NEO Marines, you've joined pirates. I wonder how sad Teacher Zephyr would be if he knew..." Kizaru made an exaggerated expression.
"You have the nerve to mention Teacher Zephyr! If it weren't for you... Teacher Zephyr wouldn't have died..." Pink flames ignited on Ain's long sword.
"If he hadn't died, it would have been the world that was destroyed." Kizaru dodged Ain's attack with a flash. "I couldn't let Teacher Zephyr fall from a hero to a demon."
"Then who was it that finally pushed Teacher Zephyr into the abyss? He originally only wanted to kill pirates, but you turned his enemies into [comrades]!"
As a rare Female Swordmaster, Ain's strength was decent. But her opponent was the fastest Marine Admiral, Kizaru; her attacks couldn't even touch the corner of Kizaru's clothes.
"I didn't want that kind of thing either, but my power is limited." Kizaru sighed.
"Light Sealing Swords."
Three light swords descended from the sky, turning into a fence that trapped Ain in the center.
"Are you sure you want to side with pirates?" Kizaru asked.
"At least Buggy will avenge us by killing Edward Weevil. While you people won't do anything," Ain said indignantly.
"Actually..." Kizaru was about to say that Garp and Sengoku had already gone out to find Edward Weevil, but he shook his head.
Even if he were killed, Teacher Zephyr couldn't be brought back to life.
"Have it your way. But even if you've defected to pirates, don't forget your bottom line. After all, you were once Marines..."
Kizaru was no moral saint and had no intention of imposing his thoughts on others.
He picked up the notebook that had fallen on the ground, wanting to see what Ain was actually doing.
After flipping through two pages, his expression froze.
Transponderr snails are so cute, how could you treat them like this..."
Just by looking at the experimental records, Kizaru knew what kind of [un-snail-like] treatment the transponder snails had endured.
He was also secretly alarmed. If the experiment succeeded, the Buggy Pirates would have a steady stream of transponder snails.
In that case, Ain's value was much greater than imagined, even more important than the meeting of the two Four Emperors Crews. Should he take her back?
But given the World Government's nature, what awaited Ain would be a fate of never seeing the light of day again.
"It's always so troublesome whenever I have to make a choice." Kizaru threw the notebook onto the ground.
"Be grateful to me, Junior. Your Senior still has some sense of justice."
"Is that so?" Ain looked skeptical.
"The Light Sealing Swords will dissipate in three minutes. It's best not to reveal the news of my appearance, or you'll be the one in trouble."
Just as Kizaru was about to leave, that glazed-eyed transponder snail suddenly crawled to his feet, tears slowly welling up in its lifeless eyes.
Kizaru suddenly felt a resonance with it; he saw his own shadow in the transponder snail.
That was shortly after he had just developed the [Light Prism], the first time he knew that Logia-type users also had limits.
"Do you want to leave this place, little guy?" Kizaru asked.
More tears welled up in the transponder snail's eyes.
"I understand." Kizaru carefully placed the transponder snail on his shoulder. "You'll follow me from now on. I'll call you little snail."
Kizaru left the Transponder Snail Research Center with a little snail. When he flew into the air, he "saw" the situation over at the Flower Capital.
"This is Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates. Why is he here?"
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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