The magnetic field changes in the New World are much more intense. For the sake of safe navigation, the Log Pose in the New World has three needles, each pointing to one of three islands ahead, allowing people to choose their route based on circumstances.
A few months ago, after leaving Dressrosa, the Log Pose wouldn't point to Egghead at all, as Egghead is in a very special area and ordinary Log Poses can't detect it.
But that was a few months ago. Now, the magnetic field here has changed.
Kuzan and Zeraora altered the climate in this area, and when Shayna used the Sky Plate to pursue enemies, the aura she released permanently changed the magnetic field here, causing Egghead to reappear on the New World sea routes and shifting the nearby courses as well.
"Egghead? What's that place?"
As everyone knows, what exactly Rayleigh taught during those two years remains a mystery, as Luffy barely knows anything about the New World geography.
He hadn't even heard of most of the well-known country names, let alone Egghead which was quite secretive a few years ago.
"Egghead used to be a research base for the World Government, and the world's greatest scientist, Vegapunk, once lived here.
He spent a long time conducting research here, but not long ago, the Beasts Pirates destroyed the place."
Law resumed his educational lecture. Over this time, he was surprised to discover that the one on this ship who knew the most about the New World was that beetle.
Even though Hercules doesn't understand navigation, when it comes to local conditions and customs, it was much more familiar than Nami.
Law didn't find it strange that Luffy and the others hadn't heard of Egghead. In fact, if they did know about it, he'd start to suspect they'd been replaced.
"The greatest in the world? So, that means he's way better than Caesar?"
Chopper was intrigued by this assessment and immediately started making comparisons.
"Caesar? He's not even qualified to be a stepping stone for Vegapunk. In fact, he's not even as good as Queen from the Beasts Pirates."
Looking at Caesar, still tied up on the ship, Law was a bit conflicted. With Doflamingo taken away by the Beasts Pirates, Caesar's value was dropping, but letting him go wouldn't benefit Law either.
So, for now, Caesar remained tied up like a dumpling on the Straw Hats' ship. As for Law's own ship, the Polar Tang, they had already agreed to go separate ways for now and would reunite at the next stop.
"Hey, hey, hey! Law, you b*stard, what are you talking about? Leaving aside Vegapunk for the moment, what makes you say I'm not as good as that fat pig Queen?!
My skills are hundreds of times better than his! Hundreds of times!!"
Having once worked together in MADS and then for many years in SSG, Caesar did know what Vegapunk was capable of.
He always claimed he was better than Vegapunk in certain areas, but when it came to arguing in front of outsiders, he didn't really have much confidence.
But Queen was another matter. For Caesar, his bottom line was that he couldn't be outdone by Queen.
"Heh, putting everything else aside, you don't seem to have even a clue about the technology to bring the Devil Fruits to life, do you?"
"That can't be his technology! There's no way that dumb pig Queen could do that. He must have stolen it from someone else. You have to believe me! I swear I'm telling the truth!"
Some people spend their whole lives lying, yet everyone believes them; at least for now, Caesar could still fool Big Mom.
At this moment, Caesar's rant was actually one of his rare honest statements, but nobody believed him.
"Oh, that Queen? Yeah, he's got some real skills."
Chopper dug out a bag of candy from his backpack. In Chopper's opinion, this candy invention was way better than Caesar's weird weapons.
Caesar really wanted to prove himself, but nobody cared about him. In the end, all he could do was rage powerlessly.
"But Vegapunk is already dead now, isn't he?"
"That's right. According to rumors from the Underworld, he offended two of the top officers of the Beasts Pirates. Hatred where you fight to the death."
At this, Law glanced over at Caesar, a playful smile appearing on his face.
"I heard that Vegapunk was obsessed with experiments above all else. People like that usually don't have many opportunities to make enemies. Caesar, you should watch your back too."
"Huh? What's that got to do with me?"
"Weren't you serving in the Marines' Science Unit with Vegapunk back then? Maybe you two did something together. Who knows when... Well, you get what I mean."
Law traced his finger across his neck, making his meaning perfectly clear.
"No, no way, it shouldn't be... haha..."
Caesar seemed to think of something truly terrifying and started trembling by himself in a corner of the deck.
"Actually... Vegapunk might not be dead. During those two years, I met someone who claimed to be the real Vegapunk. I learned quite a lot from her."
"Really? Did you learn how to build any super powerful mechas?"
"Can they whoosh…fly up into the sky? I want to see! Show us!"
Franky's words caught the attention of Usopp and Chopper, who started pestering Franky to show off the awesome tech he'd learned.
Meanwhile, Nami, who was charting their course, seemed to sense something unusual. She stared at the clouds ahead for a long while, then closed her eyes and spread her arms, feeling the special air currents in this sea area.
It was her own talent; she was extremely sensitive to sea winds and could even predict New World's sudden weather changes with precision just by sensing shifts in the air.
"Cut it out, all of you! Shut up! Zoro! Hard to port!
Franky, Usopp! Put away the sails! A storm's coming!"
During their voyage, they'd already come to know the terror of the New World.
When sailing, Nami was the boss of the ship. At times like these, her word was law.
No one questioned her; they just executed her orders at the fastest speed possible.
Just as they finished preparing, a fierce gale swept in from the side, and a massive tornado appeared on the sea not far away.
"What the heck! Even for the New World, this is way too abnormal!"
The sea to the side was nearly sliced apart by the wind, leaving a deep trench on the water's surface. Rather than calling it a wind, it was more like a pressure cannon.
"Sorry, I wasn't finished speaking. This is Egghead's most notable climate now: unpredictable gales."
Law grabbed a rope with one hand and added some info for Nami.
It was obvious he was gradually being influenced by Luffy, slowly losing his rationality and calm.
The New World's climate was enough to drive any meteorologist mad. The stormy weather caused by the Sky Plate, together with the thunder-snow climate left by Zeraora and Kuzan, made Egghead's environment incredibly dangerous.
Thanks to Nami's skills, they'd avoided some dangers, but in the face of nature, they still felt terribly small.
Fighting against the sea currents, pressure on the ship's rudder steadily increased, the wooden handle groaning under the strain, and the Sunny began to fall into crisis.
"Franky! Now! Straight ahead!"
"Got it, Coup de Burst!"
Just as they were about to be swept up into the sky, Nami spotted a way out. Using up all of the cola energy, the Sunny successfully burst through.
But during the flight, the gales caused the Sunny to spin uncontrollably in midair.
Nami, who had been observing the weather from the top of the weather deck, Caesar in the corner, Usopp, who got hit by a barrel, and the lightweight Brook were all thrown from the deck.
In an instant, they were blown far away, even beyond the range of Law's Op-Op Fruit powers.
Although Luffy managed to grab Nami and Usopp in time with his extended arms, Caesar and Brook slipped right past him.
Heracross weren't good at flying. In these powerful sea winds, it was impossible to control direction.
"Meet up on that island ahead! See you in a bit!"
Seeing traces of the island ahead, Sanji called this out and chased after them.
"This island is really wrecked… Just what kind of battle happened here?"
Brook poked at the nearby ruins with his cane sword, unable to help but wonder what had taken place here.
Punk Hazard had changed because of a battle between two Marine Admirals, but looking at Egghead up close, what happened here seemed even worse than Punk Hazard.
At this point, they had already landed safely. Sanji, still in the sky, struggled a bit, but ultimately managed to catch Caesar and Brook before they fell into the sea, using the remaining wind force to bring them to the island.
Just like Punk Hazard's ice region, Egghead had also entered a state of eternal permafrost, and the ground was covered with pits and craters.
The cold preserved the traces here, and even under the snow, you could still see the traces of that brutal battle.
After several attempts, Sanji still couldn't light the cigarette in his mouth. In the end, he had to use Caesar's body as a barrier before he finally managed to light it.
"Whatever, reuniting with Luffy and the others comes first. They should be on the other side of the island."
Just as he was saying this, Sanji suddenly picked up some strange noises in the wind. The sound of clanging metal entered his ears.
Following the direction of the sound, Sanji discovered a group of burly men digging into the permafrost with pickaxes, as if they were searching for something.
Scattered around were several hundred people, but their appearances were almost identical, roughly divided into five types.
"That's strange. Didn't Law say this place had become a no-man's land? Why are there so many people?"
Brook, who had followed Sanji here, was puzzled. He couldn't figure out what could be so important in this frozen wasteland.
Noticing the uniform clothing, Sanji frowned and signaled Brook to keep quiet. He then began to slowly retreat, intending to leave before being noticed.
Unfortunately, it was already too late. Before Sanji could get away, a voice—both unfamiliar and familiar—rang out by his ear.
"Well, well, look who it is. Isn't this Sanji? I was planning to look for you in a while, but you've delivered yourself right to me."
One blue and one green, two cloaked figures appeared around Sanji. Seeing that Sanji didn't respond, the green-cloaked one seemed particularly annoyed.
"What's wrong? After all these years, you're not even going to say hello? My useless big brother!"
As he spoke, he was already beside Sanji, launching a kick at him.
Bang!
The snow was blasted aside as their legs collided. Sanji stood perfectly straight, steadily blocking the attack.
"You're still as annoying as ever, Yonji."
"Tch."
Seeing his attack blocked, Yonji's expression grew uglier as he launched a furious assault on Sanji. But though the attacks were fierce, they had no effect at all.
The names and titles already made it clear who the opponent was: Vinsmoke Yonji—technically Sanji's younger brother.
And as for those similar-looking burly men from before, there was no need to say more. They were the Vinsmoke family's clone soldiers, currently excavating possible remnants left on the island.
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