At this point, Roya finally confirmed that Vegapunk was still unaware of the terrifying secret Imu had hidden away. It was merely because of a similarity in their bodily circumstances that Vegapunk had been used by Imu, nothing more.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Roya placed his hand atop Kuma's head and said,
"You shouldn't have rented Kuma out just for resources.
"Even if putting him through such extreme environments was part of your experiments, no matter what, you should still hold a reverence for life, rather than filling your head with nothing but experiments and data."
A look of surprise flashed across Vegapunk's face. Then, frowning, he sank into thought.
For quite a while, he said nothing. Then, all of a sudden, he spoke:
"This body has indeed begun to influence my thinking… without realizing it, I've already stopped seeing myself as a living being."
Bowing slightly, he continued,
"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Roya. I'll return to the lab immediately to continue searching for answers!"
"Oh, right! Those cloned female researchers only possess a fraction of my scientific thinking. They're merely tools I use to care for experimental subjects and collect basic data.
"If they have offended you, Lord Roya, I ask your forgiveness!"
With that, he made to climb onto Kuma's back, intending to take away this lower-grade, experimental metal body.
But Roya's spiritual sense stirred. He drew out the long sword lodged in Kuma's back — the one controlling his movements — and tossed it aside.
Naturally, the metal needle at the cerebellum came out as well.
Then, into Kuma's cerebellum, he implanted a seed of consciousness enhanced by his spiritual sense.
Only after that did Roya lift his hand from Kuma's head and say,
"This should be of use to both you and Kuma.
"Once I've finished handling another matter, I'll come back to resolve the problem with your body."
The word "resolve" made Vegapunk's heart jolt.
He wanted to press further, but realized that Roya had already vanished without a trace.
As Vegapunk stood there somewhat at a loss, Kuma suddenly reached back with one hand, ripped the luxurious cabin from his back, and stood up.
Then, scooping Vegapunk up with one hand and setting him on his shoulder, he strode in great steps toward the entrance of the underground laboratory where they had come from.
The Gorosei finally let out a collective sigh of relief, climbing back to their feet.
The black flat-hat elder sighed,
"With an aura and pressure like that, it's no wonder even Lord Imu was defeated by him."
The bald, beardless elder added in awe,
"No wonder we always make the wrong calls. At a power level like his, even the best intelligence officers couldn't possibly make accurate assessments."
The blond elder said gravely,
"Enough talk. Let's focus on arranging the affairs of the World Conference as soon as possible — we need to prove our worth to Lord Roya."
The long-bearded elder nodded in agreement,
"I'll make sure Vegapunk gets every resource he needs for his research."
The bald, beardless elder hefted the long sword in his hand and said,
"Then I'll personally go and notify the strongest member nations."
The curly-mustached elder said,
"I'll keep an eye on those Celestial Dragons."
The blond elder let out a quiet sigh,
"Then I'll make a trip to Marine Headquarters. Kizaru will be easy enough to deal with, but Green Bull… even I can't quite read him."
The black flat-hat elder suddenly spoke up,
"Should we invite Dragon to attend? If the World Conference is being convened by Lord Roya, Dragon should be willing to come."
The blond elder nodded,
"Don't forget — there's also Wano and Dressrosa."
From the shadows of a wall corner, Lucci strolled out at an unhurried pace, smiling,
"Gentlemen, please keep up this level of efficiency. Right now, what the Master values most… is efficiency."
The Gorosei froze for a moment, finally realizing that their most central intelligence and assassin networks had long since fallen under Roya's control.
Bowing respectfully to Lucci, they each hurried off to take care of their assigned tasks.
On Sphinx Island, in a tranquil bay…
Sengoku raised a hand to catch the newspaper delivered by a seagull. He flipped through a few pages casually, then tossed it aside without interest.
Whitebeard's body had recovered considerably — now roughly the same build as Sengoku's.
Picking up the discarded paper, he flipped through it, his brows lifting with interest.
"Oi, old man, the World Conference is going to abolish the Celestial Dragons and adjust the tax system. You and Garp… shouldn't you be making a comeback?"
Sengoku snorted,
"Comeback, my ass. This is just because the Marines urgently need a highly respected commander to stabilize things — to lead the Navy through a peaceful transition into the period where Roya holds power.
"You old bastard, you're getting more and more roundabout with your words."
Whitebeard chuckled,
"Don't tell me you've forgotten — you were supposed to be swabbing the deck on Roya's ship."
Sengoku froze for a moment, then gave a wry smile,
"Who would've thought… that there'd come a day I'd fight side by side with pirates like you."
Whitebeard frowned,
"What side by side? What nonsense are you spouting?"
Sengoku tapped his temple with a finger, smiling faintly,
"Roya has absolutely no need to take over this rotten mess that is the World Government, does he?
"After all, you pirates are the free kings of the seas — the Navy can't do anything to you, and no kingdom would throw away their lives just for a bounty.
"If that's the case… given Roya's personality, why would he bother ruling over this decayed world?"
Whitebeard's expression grew unusually grim.
He answered in a low voice,
"Because… he's already foreseen an enemy we haven't even sensed — one so powerful that the entire world must unite in order to stand against it?!"
Sengoku stroked the braids of his beard, giving a bitter laugh,
"Don't kid yourself. Standing against it? Impossible. All we can do is die with a shred of dignity.
"That bastard Imu… really fooled us badly."
With that, he rose to his feet,
"I'm heading back to Marine Headquarters. You'd better get those brats of yours back into training."
Whitebeard leapt up as well, his voice ringing with fighting spirit,
"Life or death, who cares! These old bones of mine can still burn one more time for that kid Roya!"
The two men locked eyes for a moment, then burst out laughing before shooting off toward where their respective crews awaited.
At the calm end of the Grand Line, Roya was standing on a small boat, slowly approaching the coordinates from which he had sensed the earlier call.
He had come without pause, traveling from Mary Geoise across half the world to reach this point.
The closer he drew, the calmer his mind became — gone was the urgency and anxiety from when he had first received the summons.
And then, as if out of nowhere, a plain, unremarkable island appeared before his eyes.
Strange mists enshrouded it, cloaking it like an illusion.
From deep within his soul, the call suddenly became clear and distinct.
"I suppose… back then, Pirate King Roger must have come to this island under the very same summons."
With a thought, Roya increased the boat's speed sharply, shooting toward the island.
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