One Piece Seat Void - Chapter 268
Katakuri spoke to his brothers and sisters in a low voice and boarded the battleship. Cracker, Smoothie, Moscato, Amande, and the others exchanged glances and smiled simultaneously.
“What are you saying, Katakuri? We’re family. There’s no way we’d leave you alone here!”
“Exactly. Katakuri, we won’t leave your side.”
“After our mother’s death, you’re the new head of the Charlotte family, Katakuri.”
“That’s right, Katakuri. Under your leadership, the Charlotte family will truly become a family that cares for its own. Upon hearing their siblings’ words, Katakuri’s eyes welled up with a tear at the corner, though no one noticed as he had turned away.
“Since we’ve made our decision, follow in my footsteps. I’ll be here to protect you.”
“Haha, what are you talking about, Katakuri? We don’t need your protection. We’re strong and fully capable of helping you!”
“Right, big brother Katakuri, I’ll work hard to become your right-hand man!”
“Good, let’s move forward together.” Katakuri and the others boarded the battleship, leaving the harbor behind as they set sail for the Totland Sea. After Katakuri and his group departed, Locke received a message.
“Heh, that’s the guy I admire. I’m sure his strength will only grow after this experience. Overgrow, Katakuri, and time is not on your side.” Locke chuckled and tossed the newspaper onto the table.
The headline of the newspaper was very prominent: “The Likelihood of Lox Becoming the New Pirate Overlord.”The article detailed and analyzed the profiles of every member of the Locke Pirates, including their names, abilities, Devil Fruit powers, and birthplaces.
Throughout the article, it continually emphasized the strength and threat posed by the Locke Pirates. It even ranked Locke’s threat level above the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
Reading through the article, Locke couldn’t help but notice that someone was trying to stir up trouble. “Big news, huh? Morlcones, does this guy want to put us directly against the world? He loves causing trouble.”
Locke stood up from the couch, walked to the vast French window, and looked at the beautiful garden and the bustling streets below. “Coming soon, this world will be mine.” In the New World, at Punk Hazard, Bartholomew Kuma sat coldly on a couch.
He was reviewing the losses at the research facility.
“Damn, the World Government! Those bastards made us suffer so much. Sooner or later, I’ll tear them apart!” Bartholomew Kuma roared angrily as he looked at the list of losses.
During the battle between the Locke Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates, the World Government attacked Punk Hazard. After the defeat of the members wearing smiley masks, the world government’s agents decided to launch a fierce attack.
Under the assault of dozens of top agents, the defenses at Punk Hazard were quickly overwhelmed. The mechanical guards on the island had no chance and were effortlessly destroyed.
The Pacifists, despite causing some trouble, had lost more than ten of their members, and Kuma ordered them to retreat once they recognized the formidable strength of their opponents.
When they realized they couldn’t capture Vegapunk, they decided to retreat, but only after gathering valuable research data and catching several scientists from the Lox Pirates’ research teams.
Realizing that capturing Vegapunk was impossible, they decided to make their escape with the valuable research data and several doctors from the Lox Pirates’ first-line research institute.
Once they saw Kuma return, they recognized the losses and abandoned their initial plans of secretly infiltrating and stealing data or capturing Vegapunk. Instead, they initiated an all-out attack.
Unfortunately for Kuma, he was quickly defeated by the agents of the world government under the attack of several of their members. He hadn’t expected the agents to be this powerful. Almost everyone had the strength of a Vice Admiral, and their mastery of Rokushiki techniques, particularly the Six Powers, meant they had elite combat abilities.
After defeating Kuma, the agents rapidly collected numerous valuable research data points, detained several researchers from the Lox Pirates, and were ready to proceed to capture Dr. Vegapunk. However, Kuma risked his life to delay their progress and informed Lox of the situation.
Realizing that capturing Dr. Vegapunk was futile, they escaped from Punk Hazard with the precious research data and several Ph.D. researchers from the Lox Pirates’ research institute.
Once Kuma returned, he only found a devastated and burning Punk Hazard. An infuriated Kuma pursued the agents as they retreated. But after they lost a few comrades and fled into the sea, Kuma could do nothing more than watch helplessly.
Angrily, Bartholomew Kuma could only return to Punk Hazard to oversee the situation. After a busy month, they finally assessed their total losses. Kuma was so angry that he wanted to attack Mary Geoise immediately.
The World Government agents had stolen all detailed information regarding the Humanoid Cyborg Soldiers program, as well as knowledge about Sea Prism Stone embedding technology, laser weaponry technology, and most importantly, the technology to feed Devil Fruits to inanimate objects.
Gaining access to this technology would undoubtedly result in a significant boost to the World Government’s power. Fortunately, despite a few top researchers from the first-line research institute being captured, Dr. Vegapunk remained unharmed. As long as they hadn’t caught him, the Lox Pirates would still maintain a significant advantage.
“Kuma, you’ve been a major disappointment this time!” After listening to Kuma’s story, Bartholomew Kuma could only make a helpless, wry smile. Indeed, he had been too arrogant this time. If not for Bartholomew Kuma’s swift reinforcement and the agents’ quick retreat, the research facility on Punk Hazard might have been destroyed by the World Government.
Bartholomew Kuma gave Kuma a disapproving look but decided not to press further.
He removed a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and prepared to report the losses to Locke. Shortly, the Den Den Mushi was connected, and Bartholomew Kuma reported all the losses to Locke.
After listening, Lox fell into deep thought for a while. “Kuma, bring Dr. Vegapunk and the others back. Since Punk Hazard has been exposed, it’s no longer safe. There’s no need to keep the research facility so far away.”
“Also, thoroughly investigate if there is a spy within the research facility. It shouldn’t have been possible for the government to discover Punk Hazard without insider information.”
“I understand.” Afterward, both of them hung up the Den Den Mushi.
“A spy? Haha, what a bunch of fools who don’t know their limits!”
Become a Patron to read chapters ahead of public release and support me 😉
30 chapters ahead are available on Patron!
