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With the help of ‘B.I.B.’, the marines patrolling the hallways were practically invisible, unable to hinder Liam’s reckless actions in the slightest.
“Liam, look at this.” Robin handed over a document.
Liam glanced at it and saw that it was a blueprint—specifically, the blueprint for that unfinished “ground heating project.”
“Here.” Robin pointed to a specific spot amidst the dense text.
Liam suddenly understood, “So it’s related to magnetism after all! Vegapunk was trying to completely transform the magnetic field of this winter island into that of a spring island… Unfortunately, the technology at the time couldn’t meet the requirements of his advanced design!”
If Vegapunk had possessed a magnetism-based Devil Fruit, this island would have been transformed into a spring-like paradise long ago.
“What was that noise?!”
“Could it be that someone’s broken in again?!”
“How is that possible?!”
The door to the room where Liam and Robin were was suddenly thrown open.
**Swish, swish, swish!** A bunch of gun barrels were immediately pointed at the two inside.
“Wow, easy, easy!” Liam raised his hands, “If I say I got lost, would you believe me?”
Robin: “…”
“They’re just two brats?!” The marines were equally shocked, shouting, “Don’t you know this is a restricted area? Hurry up and—”
Liam pointed outside and shouted, “Oh my god! Whitebeard!!”
“What?! Whitebeard?!!!!”
The marines, startled, instinctively turned to look outside. Of course, there was nothing outside except more marines rushing in.
By the time they realized they’d been tricked and turned back, the room was already empty.
“Damn it! How is this possible?!”
“Where did those two brats go?!”
The marines turned the research facility upside down, but they couldn’t find any trace of the two intruders.
Meanwhile, Liam was already yawning in boredom inside the ‘B.I.B.’ fortress as it flew back to the town, casually asking Robin what she wanted for dinner…
—
**Karakuri Island, Marine Base.**
“What?! The intruders were just two brats?!”
Not only was the senior marine officer furious, but the island’s residents were also astounded when they heard the news.
Two kids managed to break into Dr. Vegapunk’s heavily guarded research facility?
Were those kids just freakishly talented, or were the marines utterly incompetent…
The island’s people whispered among themselves.
—
Inside the research facility, patrols and security were tightened even further, with every marine seething with anger.
These past few days, the looks they’d been getting from the island’s residents were becoming increasingly unbearable!
Damn it, they had to catch those two audacious brats!
“They’ve broken in again!”
“Damn it, how are they getting in?! We’ve already got the entire facility under tight surveillance!”
“No signs of any disturbances at all?!”
In the research facility, the sound of rushing footsteps filled the air as marines quickly converged on the target lab.
Once again cornered inside a room, the boy faced the rows of guns aimed at him without the slightest hint of fear. Instead, he cleared his throat and pointed behind the marines, shouting, “Oh my god! Red-Haired Shanks!!”
“…?” Even in such a tense atmosphere, the marines were left puzzled, their heads full of question marks. Red Hair? What’s Red Hair?
“Oh my god! Big Mom!!” Liam, as if he hadn’t just mentioned Red Hair, shouted in the exact same tone while pointing outside. Robin beside him: “…”
A marine yelled angrily, “Stop trying to fool us! Who’s going to fall for that again?!”
He turned to see that his fellow marines were indeed startled by the mention of Big Mom and had turned to look outside. “You guys actually fell for it again!!”
By the time they realized they’d been tricked again and turned back, the room was, of course, empty.
“Damn it! Damn it!!”
Not only were these marines beating their chests in frustration, but the senior officer at the base was so enraged upon receiving the news that he nearly smashed the Den Den Mushi.
Meanwhile, in the room that the marines thought was empty, a pair of glowing white eyes from a dark armor suit stared at the wall where a large skull-marked self-destruct button was located.
“Are you really going to press it?” Robin asked.
Liam definitely intended to. He had already “copied” most of the surface-level documents from this supposed Vegapunk research facility. As for the hidden laboratory… In the manga, it was only after Frieza accidentally triggered the detonation of this lab that the entrance was revealed. If Liam didn’t press the button and blow up the lab, where would he find that hidden research facility?
That research lab contained Vegapunk’s true technology!
Franky’s upgraded weapon systems two years later were largely thanks to the data from Vegapunk’s hidden lab.
According to Franky’s brief mentions in the manga…
This hidden lab of Vegapunk’s even contained research on the Lineage Factor!
Sanji’s father, Judge, took pride in his research achievements, claiming that the Germa 66 clone army was a result of Lineage Factor technology. But Vegapunk had already mastered that when he was a kid… Such an amazing hidden research facility— Liam was too curious to leave the island without taking a look.
Robin still found the idea of intentionally pressing a self-destruct button hard to believe.
“Right now? Here?”
“What are you thinking?” Liam glanced at the marines outside, pondering, “Even though I threaten, steal, rob, kill, and trespass into Marine restricted areas… I’m still a good person!”
Robin: “…”
Liam piloted the ‘B.I.B.’ like a ghost, flying outside the research facility.
Except for one hand covered in flame-like patterns, quietly hovering in front of the giant skull-marked button on the lab wall…
—
Sentomaru walked up to the research facility, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow.
“Why aren’t there any marines standing guard outside?” As he reached the entrance, puzzled, he suddenly saw two familiar figures pop out of thin air.
The boy casually glanced at him, “Oh, it’s you! Little chubby.”
“…” Sentomaru hadn’t even thought of a comeback before he saw the boy find a slightly elevated stone, jump onto it, and stand there. He rolled up a thick sheet of paper into a tube, placed it in front of his mouth, put his other hand on his hip, cleared his throat, and then shouted loudly at the research facility’s entrance, “Hey! Hey! Is anyone in there? You’re surrounded! If you don’t want to die— come out quickly!!!”
—
Back at the Karakuri Island Marine base, the senior officer was wracking his brain on how to report to headquarters that two kids had repeatedly broken into Dr. Vegapunk’s research facility…
It was humiliating! Absolutely humiliating!
Two mere kids treating the marines at this base as if they were nothing…
**BOOM!!!**
Suddenly, the entire base shook, the floors and walls trembling. The senior officer heard a massive explosion… He turned his head to look out the window, stunned by the sight of a mushroom cloud slowly rising into the sky.
“Could it be…” The senior officer felt his mouth go dry, his breathing difficult, and his legs give way as he collapsed into his chair in shock. “Oh my god…”
……
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