"In other words, not only has the World Government repaired 'Uranu, but they will also have a Vegapunk fully supporting them?"
Dragon usually calm and unperturbed face couldn't help but show a grimace, as if he had a toothache...
Having already gained quite a few benefits from Sherwin, Dragon was naturally all too aware of Vegapunk capabilities.
He simply dared not imagine what kind of heaven-defying things a Vegapunk, who channeled all his energy into weapon development after receiving the World Government backing, could create!
He might even be able to replicate a few copies of "Uranus".
"Yeah, and besides, Imu might have already figured out that the information about him was leaked from my end."
Sherwin also showed a grimacing expression, as if having a toothache.
Although York wasn't around when he previously spoke to Vegapunk about Imu, and Vegapunk shouldn't be foolish enough to upload memories regarding this to "Punk Records", there was no guarantee that he and his clones wouldn't talk about it in private.
It wasn't that Sherwin was afraid of exposing himself if he were really afraid of exposure, he wouldn't have spread the word about Imu in the first place.
However, given Imu personality—where merely being glanced at by an outsider warrants blowing up an entire island—he would likely mobilize the full might of the World Government to cause trouble for him. After that, wandering around the world peacefully with the cats would probably become impossible.
Furthermore, factions that had good relations with Sherwin, such as the World Economic Journal and Fish-Man Island, would most likely be targeted by association and liquidated...
In addition, the fact that Klee Meow had fused with Mother Flame might also be exposed. If the World Government became guarded, Sherwin idea of using the little ragdoll to play another trick on "Uranus" would highly likely fall through.
It seemed that the plan to unite the Beasts Pirates and BIG MOM had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.
Sherwin rubbed Klee Meow cat head, silently praying in his heart that Kaido and Charlotte Linlin wouldn't be so stubborn and could escape from Egghead Island.
Well, with Katakuri around, and Kaido Observation Haki being just as good, they should still be able to escape, right?
"Actually, you don't need to worry so much, meow~"
Just as Whitebeard was also being drawn into showing a worried expression, Purah Meow suddenly interjected from the side, analyzing:
"Setting aside how long it would take for the World Government to build another Egghead Island, Vegapunk high research efficiency relies heavily on his brain from eating the Brain-Brain Fruit, in addition to his six clones and the resources tilted toward him by the World Government, meow."
The little curl-tailed one tossed her head and continued,
"If the Five Elders wanted to preserve 'Punk Record, Vegapunk should be able to notice it in time and respond.
If 'Punk Record is destroyed, with only one or two clones left, they shouldn't be able to make anything particularly powerful in a short time, meow! So we still have plenty of time to launch a counterattack, meow! Check-it!"
Dragon and Whitebeard breathed a small sigh of relief upon hearing this, but Sherwin was not as optimistic...
If Vegapunk really had a habit of preparing back-up plans or could do something through Punk Records, his own clones wouldn't have mutinied against him in two different timelines.
However, Purah Meow was right about one thing: it wouldn't be that easy for the Five Elders to protect Punk Records under the indiscriminate strike of Uranus.
After all, that thing was massive and conspicuous. If they tried to move it, Kaido and BIG MOM would notice immediately.
Even if Vegapunk lacked the ability to stop them, the Alliance wouldn't just stupidly watch them transfer Punk Records.
Unless the Beast Pirates and the BIG MOM Pirates hadn't attacked Egghead Island, but if that were the case, there would be no need to activate Uranus at all the Five Elders could have just gone and dealt with Vegapunk directly.
Sherwin pondered it carefully and realized there was a high probability that Punk Records wouldn't survive. Only then did he follow suit and let out a sigh of relief, though he felt a bit of regret in his heart...
He had originally been thinking that after the World Government was overthrown, he would let Uta try to use Punk Records as a server to build a Devil Fruit version of the Metaverse.
Right at that moment, the Transponder Snail that Sherwin had deliberately placed close at hand rang.
"Purupuru..."
"What happened to Egghead Island and Vegapunk?!"
Picking up the receiver as quickly as possible, Sherwin urgently questioned Shanks about the situation over there.
"Egghead Island is gone. Now there only a massive crater left here... I used to hear Captain Roger mention the existence of Ancient Weapons, but I just didn't expect it to be even more terrifying than I imagined."
Shanks answered in a heavy tone, "As for Vegapunk... I'd better switch to someone else to talk to you."
Then, Edison crying voice rang out from the Den Den Mushi: "Sherwin! You were right! One of the clones betrayed us! It York! She wants to become a Celestial Dragon! The Stella body and Shaka have both been killed by her! The others also died at the hands of the Five Elders... Only I managed to escape!"
It really was York who betrayed them after all...
Sherwin sighed the inertia of the plot was truly powerful.
But thinking about it carefully, this also seemed like something that was bound to happen. Handing over all desires to a single clone to process—it would be a miracle if nothing went wrong.
After comforting Edison with a few words, the receiver went back to Shanks: "We found him inside a missile-shaped device, and right now, he only has a head left. If you hadn't mentioned Vegapunk clones to me before, I probably would have mistaken him for the wreckage of some blown-away robot."
"Help take care of him first, we'll go find you right away... Right, is 'Punk Record still there? And Kaido and BIG MOM, they didn't happen to die on Egghead Island, did they?"
" 'Punk Record is gone..." Edison words were filled with sorrow, "If 'Punk Record were still there, the Stella body and Shaka wouldn't actually be considered completely dead. Our consciousnesses actually had backups inside, but now, they are truly gone."
Edison words did not surprise Sherwin too much. After all, "Punk Records" was basically an early version of the metaverse, so the occurrence of things like "cyber ghosts" and "consciousness uploading" was perfectly natural.
Though saying so was a bit unfair to Vegapunk, after confirming that "Punk Records" had not fallen into the hands of the World Government, the deeply worried Sherwin and the others felt quite a bit of relief.
As for Kaido and BIG MOM...
"I don't know much about their situation. After my body was destroyed by York, Lilith and Pythagoras realized something was wrong, so they stuffed my head into a small emergency escape pod and launched it ahead of time. None of us expected the World Government to be crazy enough to use 'Uranu on Egghead Island... I should have persuaded them to escape with me back then!"
Edison answered with deep regret.
"At least it somewhat good news..."
After hanging up the phone, Sherwin said, trying to look on the bright side, "I'll go to Shanks first to pick up Edison. Once we learn more details from him, we can discuss what to do next."
Dragon and Whitebeard naturally had no objections.
As the two returned to the Moby Dick, the Dodo Advance immediately switched to its Valstrax mode, and Klee Meow also dove into the engine room straight away, flying toward Elegia at the fastest speed possible.