CHAPTER 278: [278] : THE MEETING WITH VEGAPUNK! SATURN’S APPROACH! SURPRISE ATTACK!

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"Before entering the lab, please change into these lab coats first,"

Lilith instructed, pointing to the separate male and female changing rooms on either side of the laboratory entrance.

"Lab coats?" The crew blinked, then Luffy and the others’ eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

Franky and Usopp had always been the inventors of the Straw Hat Pirates, both possessing Traits geared towards invention.

Franky had already completed the General Franky, and with the resources provided by Rowen and the help of the Munch-Munch Fruit ability, it was far more powerful than its original story counterpart.

The submarines, special vessels, and various other medium and large combat tools on the Merry all came from Franky’s research.

Franky’s research direction was based on his own shipbuilding techniques, creating tools that could fight in various terrains and situations.

After studying at Vegapunk’s hometown research institute, combined with the knowledge obtained from Judge, and exchanging ideas with Rowen’s other two top scientists, Caesar and Queen, Franky’s research ability was even more outstanding than in the original story.

Usopp’s inventions, on the other hand, leaned more towards quirky little gadgets that could produce unexpected effects in battle.

But regardless, Franky and Usopp were not professional researchers—in Earth terms, they were self-taught enthusiasts, not formally trained.

And in the One Piece world, all who considered themselves researchers were fans of Vegapunk.

The World’s Greatest Mind, knowledge 500 years ahead of the world.

These titles naturally attracted all researchers.

To put on a lab coat, to meet the legendary Vegapunk as if they were researchers themselves, was incredibly exciting for Franky and Usopp.

As for Luffy and Chopper, whose excitement was no less than Franky’s and Usopp’s, it was purely their instinct for novel things kicking in.

"HEY! ARE YOU GUYS COMPLETELY LETTING YOUR GUARD DOWN?? THIS IS A WORLD GOVERNMENT ISLAND! AND VEGAPUNK IS A SCIENTIST EMPLOYED BY THEM!"

Zoro warned, veins throbbing on his forehead as he watched Luffy and the others rush towards the changing rooms.

"This is gonna be great! Let’s hurry!" Luffy paid Zoro’s words no mind, charging towards the changing room.

"HEY!" Zoro’s face contorted into its sharp-toothed angry form, ready to slice the idiots on the spot.

"Relax, relax! With Rowen here, even Vegapunk’s inventions can’t harm us," Usopp said with absolute confidence.

Just as in the original story, Zoro’s vigilance never diminished, even after becoming stronger.

"You’re too timid, Moss-head," Sanji chimed in. Although he was also cautious and served as one of the crew’s strategists, he would never pass up a chance to take a shot at Zoro.

Besides, even without Rowen, the combat power gathered here was already outrageous.

Sanji was not far behind Zoro at all.

After awakening his Conqueror’s Haki, Zoro could channel a portion of its power through his special Asura Aura. Before the great war against the Big Mom Pirates, the Beast Pirates, and Marine HQ, he had even achieved initial mastery of Haōshoku Coating, his attack power firmly entering the Admiral class.

This had pushed Sanji to train much harder than in the original story. While managing the crew’s nutrition, Sanji poured every spare moment and ounce of energy into training.

With his own Lineage Factor awakened, Sanji’s body’s recovery ability had also reached a monstrous level—no matter how he trained, he wouldn’t have any physical problems.

With Rowen’s help and his insane training regimen, Sanji had also recently achieved initial mastery of Haōshoku Coating. He could now wreath his Ifrit Jambe in Conqueror’s Haki, his attack power breaking through to the Admiral-tier.

Sanji was different from Zoro—Sanji had the Modified Exoskeleton Trait. While he couldn’t use Haōshoku Coating for defense or speed boosts—the Modified Exoskeleton Trait itself provided astonishing defense, speed, strength, and recovery.

This pushed all of Sanji’s comprehensive abilities past the Admiral-level threshold.

In short, having mastered Haōshoku Coating and shored up his previous lack of attack power, the current Sanji was a true Admiral-level powerhouse, not a bit weaker than the ever-improving Zoro.

Plus Luffy, Ace, Hancock, and Nami—whose special elemental Homie, Hera, gave her attack power that ranked high even among the Emperor/Admiral class.

Even without their strongest member, Rowen, the number of Emperor/Admiral-level fighters they had right now surpassed that of Marine Headquarters during the Summit War.

For Vegapunk to have any ideas about them would be like David trying to take on Goliath.

"HUH? I’M TELLING YOU TO ALWAYS BE ON GUARD, YOU IDIOT CURLY-BROWS!" Zoro roared.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY??" Sanji also glared at Zoro. To be called an idiot by the moss-head—Sanji couldn’t accept it.

BOINK! BOINK!

"YOU TWO! GET CHANGED! AND STOP CAUSING TROUBLE FOR ROWEN!" Nami roared at Zoro and Sanji, who were now squatting, holding the lumps on their heads.

"Aye—" Zoro and Sanji nodded obediently.

"Nami’s still the scariest,"

Vivi smiled. Back in Dressrosa, she’d learned how to handle Luffy and Zoro by watching Nami. But when it came to keeping those guys in line, even with her own Conqueror’s Haki, she was no match for Nami.

"So exciting! I wonder what kind of clothes they are?"

After disciplining Zoro and Sanji, Nami smiled happily. Girls always had a natural love for clothes, whether on Earth or in the One Piece world.

"I wonder if there are any Alabastan-style clothes," Vivi blinked her beautiful eyes.

"Are there clothes in styles from all over the world?" Kaya’s beautiful eyes also sparkled.

Everything here was something Kaya had never even heard of in books and newspapers before, but now she could experience it personally. For Kaya, every new experience, especially one shared with Rowen, was a precious memory.

"Horohorohoro! I wonder if they have any spooky styles?" Perona floated in behind Nami and the others.

"Rowen~ what style do you like?" Hancock came to Rowen’s side, cupping her blushing cheeks and asking nervously.

Love made one cautious...

Her extreme affection, combined with the unique Love-Sickness of the Kuja Empress, left Hancock completely defenseless against Rowen. Even now, as his woman, she was still as nervous as a young girl with her first crush.

"Your style is my favorite," Rowen said, smiling at the blushing Hancock.

"GASP! IS THAT... A PROPOSAL??"

Hearing this, Hancock’s mind already pictured the scene of walking down the aisle with Rowen.

How many children should she have for Rowen? Lost in these happy thoughts, Hancock fainted from happiness, collapsing to the ground...

"I’ll take her in to change, Rowen," Robin said, using her Flower-Flower Fruit ability to lift Hancock. To recover from this state, Hancock needed some distance from Rowen.

"Mm," Rowen smiled and nodded. Robin always made him feel at ease.

"Just press the button?? SUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

As soon as they entered the changing room, Rowen heard Luffy and the others exclaiming.

"There really are a lot of types," Rowen noted with interest, looking at the array of buttons. He then made his own selections.

K-CHUNK! K-CHUNK!

As everyone finished their selections, the clothes they chose immediately began to rotate automatically.

Then, some mechanical claws reached towards Rowen and the others.

"WHAT’S THIS??" Luffy and the others yelled.

Zoro was about to draw his sword and cut, but seeing Rowen showed no reaction, he relaxed. Zoro was cautious, yes, but he trusted Rowen more.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Soon, Rowen and the others were all changed into new clothes.

"I thought it would be hot, but it’s so cool," Luffy said excitedly, looking at the clothes he chose.

The lab coat Luffy chose looked very thick, but wearing it, he didn’t feel hot, in fact, it was incredibly comfortable.

"It has built-in temperature regulation?" Rowen looked with interest at the lab coat he had chosen.

"It fits so perfectly, it doesn’t restrict movement at all," Nami and the others had also changed, happily experiencing these futuristic clothes.

But unlike in the original story, the styles Nami and the others chose were relatively conservative. Nowadays, they only showed their full beauty to Rowen.

"This also means it can easily strangle the wearer," Robin habitually said some scary things.

"Don’t say such scary things," black lines appeared on Nami’s forehead.

"HOW DO I LOOK??" Franky struck a robotic pose.

"You look like a pervert no matter what you wear," Sanji’s eye twitched.

"YOU’RE OVER-PRAISING ME~" Franky laughed loudly.

"PERVERT! HAHAHAHAHA!" Chopper, Luffy, and the others cheered.

"What are these shoes? So light!" Usopp jumped up and down.

"Those are DOM shoes. They can adapt to any foot size and have multiple functions," Lilith briefly explained.

"Let’s go. We’re all waiting for you," Lilith went up the escalator first.

"We?"

Except for Rowen, everyone was curious about the ’we’ Lilith mentioned.

Bonney also followed closely. She was also very curious why the young woman before her would call herself Vegapunk.

Vegapunk didn’t look like this—what had happened to him since she went to sea?

Rowen, of course, knew Bonney’s thoughts.

Vegapunk creating his six satellites and separating his ever-growing brain—which, thanks to the Brain-Brain Fruit, could store infinite knowledge but had become too large to carry—into the Punk Records, had all happened after Bonney left.

After entering the laboratory, Rowen was very interested in everything.

Everything in this laboratory was like a laboratory in a sci-fi movie on Earth, making Rowen feel very familiar.

"We’re here," Lilith led everyone to a large door.

CLICK!

As the futuristic door slowly opened, five figures were waiting inside.

The most eye-catching was an old man with an apple tree-like branch sticking out of the top of his head, a blush on his cheeks, white hair, and a large tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"VEGAPUNK! IT’S THE REAL HIM!" Franky recognized Vegapunk at a glance and shouted excitedly.

Rowen smiled as well.

Because Vegapunk’s appearance was too familiar to him.

He looked exactly the same as the appearance of Einstein he had seen in textbooks during his school days on Earth.

"WELCOME TO MY LABORATORY. I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET YOU, SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN," Vegapunk smiled.

Meanwhile—

"Saint Saturn! We will be arriving at Egghead shortly!" A Marine HQ Vice Admiral saluted Saturn in the darkness.

"Mm. Prepare to surface," Saturn replied, his eyes now like those of a true demon.

SWISH! SWISH!

At this moment, the warship Saturn was on was actually traveling in the deep sea.

Around it, there were a large number of warships.

All of them... WERE COATED.

Because of Sky Sovereign Rowen’s Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability—a surprise attack on Egghead from the sea was impossible. Though it was not yet certain if Sky Sovereign Rowen was on Egghead, they had to be fully prepared.

THERE COULD BE NO MISTAKES IN THIS OPERATION.

Otherwise, Imu’s wrath was something even he, one of the Five Elders, could not bear.

So Saturn had also adopted the same strategy as the Whitebeard Pirates during the Summit War.

DIRECTLY COATING THE ENTIRE FLEET, AND HEADING TOWARDS EGGHEAD FROM UNDER THE SEA!

"Sky Sovereign..." On the deck of the warship, Akainu bit down hard on his cigar.

This man had made him—the Fleet Admiral of the Navy—look like a complete joke...

This time, he had no intention of returning alive.

If not successful, then die trying!

This was Akainu’s resolve.

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