Nami almost blurted out, "No way, my ass!"
Right when S-Snake appeared, she clearly noticed that the way S-Snake looked at Ryuen wasn't normal. That flirty, lovestruck look—it was exactly the same as Hancock's.
This discovery nearly drove Nami crazy.
Should she... sell Ryuen off again?
But S-Snake seemed to just be a clone—and such a tiny one at that... Thinking about it, Nami quickly shook her head and gave up on that thought right away.
...
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill—
They got to work preparing for Saturn's arrival. Each person took on a role, and together they built a detailed plan, waiting for the moment Saturn would show up.
~~~~~~
Time passed quickly with all the work. In the blink of an eye, a whole day had gone by.
By now, the sun was high in the sky. Egghead Island looked like a total mess, as if a huge battle had just taken place. Many buildings were badly damaged.
All of it was staged.
To make it look real, Vegapunk even had the Seraphim and the Dream Team fight each other.
That's how they created this chaotic scene.
But Ryuen knew—they still had one last step before everything was ready.
Right then—
Vegapunk came to Ryuen, looking serious. In a low voice, he said, "Ryuen, I found a flaw in your plan. If we don't fix it, the World Government will lose all trust in us."
"Oh? Then tell me—what flaw are you talking about?" Ryuen asked, his eyes full of interest as he stared at Vegapunk.
"Think about it carefully. Ever since York contacted Saint Saturn two days ago, he hasn't sent anyone to reach out to me or Pythagoras—not even a single Marine here has been contacted."
"And no one from our side has reached out to the Marines or the World Government either."
"I have reason to believe Saint Saturn is starting to doubt our loyalty and the Marines' loyalty as well," Vegapunk said, his face growing more serious.
"Hmm..." Ryuen pretended to think deeply.
"That gap needs to be sealed. Otherwise, even if you manage to wipe out Saint Saturn and the Marines he brought, the World Government will never believe you weren't involved," Vegapunk stressed again.
At that moment, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the area.
"Ryuen, we've finished what you asked for. How do you plan to use this high-purity seastone prison?" Pythagoras, Sentomaru, and Hogg arrived at the scene.
They were pushing a small prison made completely out of seastone, about twenty square meters in size.
"There it is~"
"This is how we cover the gap," Ryuen said, nodding toward the prison.
"Huh?"
"This little prison is your plan?" Vegapunk looked shocked. His eyes stared at the small prison, and confusion flashed across his face.
"That's right!"
"To make sure the World Government still trusts you after everything, we'll need you all to take one for the team. You're going to be locked up in that seastone prison," Ryuen said, completely serious.
"You mean me and Pythagoras too?" Vegapunk suddenly understood.
"Yes."
"Not just you—also the Seraphim and Sentomaru. You'll all be locked inside, and you have to erase the Seraphim's memories from the past two days."
"Afterward, you'll tell the Marines you were caught off guard by us, couldn't even call for help, and were captured," Ryuen added firmly.
"That's actually a smart idea. But once it's all over, who's going to come free us? It obviously can't be any of you, right?" Vegapunk asked, clearly still unsure.
"When the time comes, Kizaru will come back and be the one to free you," Ryuen replied.
"Soka~"
"Then there's no problem," Vegapunk nodded slightly, looking a little pleased.
"No—"
"There's still one thing. There are a lot of other people on this island right now. What are you planning to do about them?" Sentomaru raised the next concern.
"Hahaha~"
"That part is actually the easiest to handle!" Before Ryuen even finished, a powerful wave of pressure burst out like a storm, sweeping across the entire island!
In an instant,
All of Egghead Island was covered in black and red lightning. The sky turned dark and heavy, like a huge black hand was gripping the whole place.
*Rumble!*
*Crack!*
Thunder rolled over the island, sounding like war drums. The black and red lightning twisted through the sky, crashing into each other and exploding with each strike.
It was like a wild, dramatic concert in the sky.
None of them expected Ryuen to suddenly unleash Conqueror's Haki—and such a powerful one at that!
Within the blast of Ryuen's Haki,
Everyone Sentomaru had just mentioned collapsed with white eyes, fainting instantly.
In just a few seconds, the entire island was filled with people knocked out cold by Ryuen's Haki. At that point, the scene looked more like a battlefield after a huge war.
After Ryuen stopped releasing his Haki, Vegapunk and Sentomaru still had stunned looks on their faces.
"Alright, now it's your turn," Ryuen said, turning to face Vegapunk and the others.
Vegapunk snapped out of it and said seriously, "Got it. But give us a few minutes—we need to delete the Seraphim's memory from the last two days first."
Ryuen gave a small nod.
Then Vegapunk and his clones quickly got to work, and soon, the Seraphim's memories had been wiped.
Next, the Dream Crew brought over some seastone chains they found on the island and used them to lock up Vegapunk, Sentomaru, and the Seraphim.
After locking them in the seastone prison, everything was finally done.
Ryuen looked around at the scene on Egghead Island and felt very satisfied. Now, as long as they could take out that old monster Saturn, the rest wouldn't be so easy to trace back.
Just then—
A black intel bird flew into Egghead Island and landed on Ryuen's shoulder. It chirped rapidly for a few seconds before flying off.
Right after, everyone saw a sharp, serious look appear on Ryuen's face.
"Well? Ryuen, are they here?" Kuina asked right away.
"They're here. Their fleet has just arrived in the waters off Egghead Island. Let's go, everyone. Time to greet one of the World Government's so-called 'highest powers'—the Five Elders!" Ryuen said casually.
He spread his wings with a loud flap and flew toward the sea. The rest of the Dream Crew quickly followed.
"Hey!"
"Vegapunk, are they really going to be okay?" Sentomaru shouted at Vegapunk.
"As long as nothing unexpected happens, their plan should work. After all, that flame of his melted half of Saint Mars' body!" Vegapunk said in a deep voice.
"Yeah, that flame really is something else!" Pythagoras had a clear look of desire on his face.
...
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