After Cain hauled Kizaru out of the mechanical shark's mouth, he shot straight into the sky and soon landed near Punk Records.
The Going Merry had already arrived, though the scene waiting for him was considerably more chaotic than expected.
Bonney, currently in her adult form, had one foot planted squarely on Vegapunk's head while one hand gripped his enormous tongue and yanked it outward with all her strength.
"You're the one who turned my dad into this! I'll never forgive you!"
The truth behind Kuma's condition was something nobody in the Revolutionary Army had ever found the courage to tell Bonney.
Even Lilith had never dared explain everything when she was still with them.
Everyone had always thought it would be better to delay the conversation until Kuma recovered, then let him personally explain his choices to his daughter.
And so Bonney had been left to direct all her resentment toward Vegapunk, the scientist responsible for overseeing Kuma's modifications.
Lilith, being one of Vegapunk's Satellites, had effectively agreed with that approach.
Unfortunately, that decision was now coming back to torment the main body.
Uta and Bella weren't helping either.
If anything, they were happily adding fuel to the fire.
"So that's what Lilith's original body looks like?" Uta said with obvious amusement. "He really is a creepy old man."
Bonney abruptly froze.
"Wait. Lilith's original body?"
She slowly turned toward Uta.
"What do you mean? What does this old man have to do with Big Sis Lilith?"
To Bonney, Lilith wasn't just some scientist.
She had been one of Bonney's closest friends in the Revolutionary Army.
They had played together, caused trouble together, pulled pranks together, and built a genuinely close relationship.
How could she possibly be connected to Vegapunk?!
Cain happened to land nearby with Kizaru at that exact moment.
Having no idea what had led to the question, he casually answered,
"Lilith is one of the Satellites this guy created. Her memories, temperament, personality—all of that was split off from him."
Cain pointed at Vegapunk.
"So in a sense, Lilith is Vegapunk."
BOOM—!
Bonney looked as though lightning had struck her.
The Lilith she had spent so much time with in the Revolutionary Army—
the big sister who had looked after her, dragged her into endless mischief, and become someone deeply important to her—
was ultimately part of this old man.
Which meant…
Lilith was also connected to the person responsible for what had happened to her father.
Shock.
Disbelief.
And an overwhelming sense of betrayal all crashed over Bonney at once.
She immediately activated her Devil Fruit ability and turned Vegapunk into a child.
Then she started beating him.
"I'm terribly sorry, Bonney! I really wasn't trying to deceive you!"
The child-sized Vegapunk fled desperately while trying to explain himself.
"I-I've been working this whole time to figure out how to restore Kuma as quickly as possible!"
"Then hurry up and fix my dad already!"
Bonney chased him with tears in her voice.
"You have to turn me back first!" Vegapunk cried. "How am I supposed to do anything like this?!"
The chase continued until both of them were panting heavily and gradually slowed to a stop.
Only then did the chaos finally settle down.
…
After the initial introductions were finished—and after Bonney spent plenty of time mocking Vegapunk's enormous head and openly telling him that casually cutting off his own brain was disgusting—the scientist stopped wasting time and led the group onward.
Kizaru, meanwhile, was left aboard the Going Merry.
As they traveled, Vegapunk kept studying Cain with increasingly obvious fascination.
The excitement in his eyes was impossible to hide.
And once the discussion shifted toward Cain's Devil Fruit, that enthusiasm became outright obsession.
"I knew giving that fruit to you was the correct decision!"
Vegapunk leaned toward him eagerly.
"Quickly! Transform into your dragon form and let me see it properly!"
"Huh?! Wait, hold on!"
Cain stared at him helplessly.
"You've already seen my dragon form in the records, haven't you? It's pink."
He spread his hands.
"Other than the color, everything about my ability is basically identical to Kaido's. Why are you still so obsessed with that one detail?"
Vegapunk reacted as though Cain had personally insulted the entire field of science.
He dropped to his knees and slammed his enormous head against the floor.
"If I cannot even reproduce something as visually obvious as the color, then that proves there are variables within the process that I cannot fully control!"
His voice trembled with genuine anguish.
"That means my research into the Lineage Factor still contains an unforgivable flaw!"
He looked up dramatically.
"How can you possibly not understand the seriousness of that?!"
Cain could only sigh.
Of course.
Something that looked completely trivial to anyone else immediately became a catastrophic scientific failure in Vegapunk's mind.
The world's greatest scientist really did operate on a different wavelength from ordinary people.
"Fine, but do you really want me transforming here?"
Cain glanced around.
"My full dragon form is huge. If anyone outside notices it, we could end up causing trouble."
"That won't be necessary."
Vegapunk immediately waved the concern away.
"I don't need you to become large enough to cover half the sky. Just show me your hybrid form so I can examine it directly."
The instant Vegapunk said that—
Cain's face turned red.
After all, the hybrid form had seen some rather questionable use aboard the Going Merry lately.
Hearing it brought up so casually made him instinctively glance toward Uta.
Vegapunk followed his gaze.
Then, apparently remembering something, he started rummaging through his pockets.
"As for your concern about attracting attention, that isn't particularly difficult to solve either."
He pulled out a strangely designed headset and handed it to Uta.
"This can directly access Egghead's island-wide broadcasting equipment."
Vegapunk smiled confidently.
"If anything unexpected happens, I imagine someone with your abilities should have no trouble handling it, Uta."
"Of course!"
Uta accepted it with a cheerful smile.
"Leave everything to me."
Inside, however, she quietly sighed in relief.
'Good. He didn't notice anything strange.'
Cain felt much the same way.
Once the initial embarrassment passed, he relaxed and decided to give Vegapunk a brief demonstration.
After all, Vegapunk intended to explain something important about Cain's Devil Fruit.
There was no reason to hide the ability from him.
More importantly—
Vegapunk was the person who had created the fruit in the first place.
If there was anyone Cain didn't need to conceal it from, it was him.
So under Vegapunk's intensely curious gaze, Cain reluctantly transformed just enough to display his hybrid form.
Vegapunk immediately rushed closer.
He inspected every visible detail with manic enthusiasm while recording observations at incredible speed.
Once he finally finished, he nodded with obvious satisfaction and resumed leading the group onward.
They continued talking as they walked and soon stopped outside another room.
They hadn't traveled particularly far and were still close to Punk Records. The route itself had also been deliberately concealed, so there was little risk of anyone spotting them along the way.
The moment they stepped inside, however—
everyone stopped.
This was obviously a changing room.
And a remarkably private one at that.
It looked completely different from the place Cain remembered the Straw Hats using to change clothes on Egghead.
Bonney immediately planted another foot on Vegapunk.
"You damn old man. Are you screwing with us?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Vegapunk hurriedly waved his hands.
"The fabric in this room was specially designed to interfere with the electromagnetic signals used by Den Den Mushi!"
He scrambled to explain.
"That means any images or audio recorded here cannot be transmitted outside. Your faces and voices won't be properly captured either."
Vegapunk's expression turned more serious.
"We've had incidents in the past where the Five Elders secretly monitored conversations inside the laboratory. After that, I had no choice but to take precautions."
Cain immediately understood.
He knew that Saturn's surveillance of Kuma's original agreement had ultimately contributed to the Pacifista project and Kuma's complete transformation.
Vegapunk being more cautious now made perfect sense.
Besides—
what was the point of entering a brand-new area without changing into a new outfit?
And Cain had to admit…
he was rather curious what Uta would look like in Egghead fashion.
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