Before Leno's words—"your turn"—had even fully faded—
Kizaru had already turned into a streak of light, shooting toward the distant horizon without looking back.
The moment K-Kaido began to show signs of defeat—
Kizaru knew the tide had turned. The thought of retreat had already formed in his mind.
Without hesitation, he abandoned the fight—without even sparing a glance at anything inside the base.
If his life was on the line, what did a clone of Garp matter?
He grabbed the still-dazed Sentomaru—
Pushing the Glint-Glint Fruit to its absolute limit—
And the two vanished into the horizon.
Stussy stared dumbfounded at the direction Kizaru had fled, blinking.
She felt like crying without tears.
"Hey! You bastard Kizaru!"
"If you're running, at least take me with you! I'm still here!!"
Leno didn't give chase.
On one hand, everyone knew just how fast the Glint-Glint Fruit was. Leno didn't have any particularly fast movement techniques.
Even if he tried, he might not catch up.
On the other hand—
Using the ultimate move "Return All Things to Void" had consumed an enormous amount of his stamina and mental energy.
Right now, his body felt weak.
If he forced a pursuit…
He might not catch anyone—and end up collapsing into the sea halfway.
Strong as it was—
The consumption was insane!
Leno cursed inwardly, though his expression remained calm.
Domino immediately rushed to his side, guarding him vigilantly.
The remaining Pacifistas were no longer a threat.
The other women quickly finished them off as well—
And gathered around, concern evident on their faces.
"Leno, are you alright?" Hancock asked with concern.
"Captain, your complexion looks pale."
Robin observed carefully—and stated the obvious.
Leno grinned and waved his hand.
"I'm fine. Just a bit drained. Used up too much energy. I'll recover after some rest."
His gaze swept over the place where K-Kaido had vanished, and he shook his head.
"What a pity. A clone is still not the original—just strength and partial traits."
"Even with Lunarian lineage added, it's still lacking."
At best—
About sixty percent of Kaido's overall strength.
If not for Kizaru's interference, he wouldn't have even needed to use Return All Things to Void.
Despite the grand name—
It couldn't compare to the real thing at all.
"Not bad. You're absolutely right."
A strange voice suddenly sounded.
It carried a faint electronic, synthesized quality.
The women immediately became alert, taking battle stances and protecting Leno at the center.
Leno, however, showed no surprise.
He looked toward the source of the voice.
A floating projection of a small old man hovered not far away.
"As expected. You didn't personally come to this base, Vegapunk," Leno said calmly.
Only then did the women realize—
This unimpressive old man with the long tongue…
Was Vegapunk!
Quite different from what they had imagined.
A hint of surprise appeared on Vegapunk's projected face.
"Oh? I didn't expect you to recognize me."
"Of course," Leno smirked.
"The man known as the 'world's greatest brain'—who wouldn't know you?"
"You're also the one who turned Kuma into a weapon."
At the mention of that name—
Bonney exploded with anger.
Her eyes burned as she glared at Vegapunk's projection.
"You bastard!!"
Vegapunk turned his gaze toward her.
A gentle smile appeared on his virtual face.
"So you're Bonney… Kuma's daughter, the one he always worried about."
"It seems staying by Leno's side is much safer than constantly running and hiding."
He didn't mind her anger.
After all, she was the daughter of an old friend.
Soon, his interest returned to Leno.
"I'm curious, Leno. After going through all this trouble to find this place—what exactly are you after?"
Leno didn't beat around the bush.
"Seraphim. That's what I came for."
"Seraphim?" Vegapunk was visibly stunned.
He clearly hadn't expected that answer.
Nor did he expect Leno to know the internal codename "Seraphim."
But instead of questioning the source—
His interest deepened, as if he had discovered a fascinating toy.
He even chuckled.
"I'm becoming more and more interested in you, Leno!"
Leno waved his hand in disgust.
"Stop. I'm not interested in you at all."
His tone shifted, his eyes turning slightly playful.
"What I'm interested in… are your six 'personalities.'"
"What?! You even know about that?!" Vegapunk was genuinely shocked this time.
To focus on research—
He had created six independent clones with their own thoughts and functions.
Very few people knew about this.
Just as he was about to ask how much Leno knew—
Leno stood up and cut him off.
"Vegapunk, I don't have time to chat."
"I want the highest authority over the Seraphim."
"From now on, they answer only to me. Even you won't be able to command them."
Vegapunk smiled faintly, with a hint of arrogance.
"Oh? And why should I give that to you? Just because you defeated a defective clone?"
Leno spread his hands, his tone matter-of-fact and domineering.
"I think you misunderstand."
"I'm informing you—not asking."
He gestured around.
"Haven't you noticed? You can no longer actively sever your remote connection to this base."
Vegapunk's expression changed drastically.
He immediately tried—
And found that he truly couldn't cut off the connection.
Even from Egghead Island, his main body was unable to do so.
"What did you do?!"
Leno didn't answer directly.
"Don't worry about what I did."
"Tell me—if I use my Munch-Munch Fruit ability to 'eat' this projection of yours…"
"Do you think I could directly obtain what I want?"
He paused, then added casually:
"Of course, maybe not. It's my first time trying this."
"But it doesn't matter."
His gaze shifted to Stussy, whose face had gone pale.
A wicked smile spread across his lips.
"At worst… I'll just kill this CP0 agent right in front of you."
"What do you think?"
"She should be quite important to you, right?"
Stussy nearly spat blood.
Her mind screamed in rage:
"What the hell does this have to do with me?! Why drag me into your negotiation?! What did I do?!"
After hearing Leno's words—
Vegapunk's first instinct, given his intelligence, was that Leno was bluffing.
The Munch-Munch Fruit could be used like that?
Affect his communications remotely?
But—
Leno's abilities clearly didn't match anything he knew.
They were full of unknown variables.
What if it was true?
And besides—
Stussy still had value. He couldn't let her die.
After weighing everything—
Vegapunk's projection fell silent for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"…Fine. You win. I can give you the highest authority level."
"But I have one condition."
"Deal," Leno nodded.
No need to push the old man too far.
As long as it wasn't too excessive, he didn't mind helping.
Vegapunk leaned closer and whispered something into Leno's ear.
Leno's eyes lit up.
There was absolutely no reason for him to refuse this.
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