The light from the Mother Flame pulsed across the glass chamber like the heartbeat of something alive — ancient, divine, and forbidden.
Ada stood motionless before it, the glow painting her crimson eyes gold. Her crew remained behind her in tense silence, while Vegapunk observed her with a scholar's fascination — as though she herself were another relic from the Void Century.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Vegapunk murmured. "Humanity has always feared what it doesn't understand — but this… this is the pinnacle of understanding."
Ada's gaze didn't waver. "And the prelude to ruin."
He smiled faintly. "You speak as though you've seen that ruin yourself."
"Maybe I have," she said softly. "Maybe that's why I'm still standing."
The air thickened with tension, the quiet hum of machinery echoing like a distant heartbeat.
Vegapunk adjusted his glasses, curiosity sharpening in his eyes. "I invited you here yet you came here to threaten me, Empress. But now that you've seen it, I wonder… what do you truly want?"
Ada turned toward him fully, her cloak shifting like liquid shadow. "A deal."
Vegapunk raised a brow. "A deal?"
"I know the World Government is funding you to study the Mother Flame," Ada said. "They want to use it as a weapon — the same way they used it a long time ago." Her voice was low, cutting. "I'm offering you something they never can."
Vegapunk folded his arms. "And that is?"
"My knowledge of the Void Century."
Even Lilith gasped. "You—you know about that?!"
Ada's eyes gleamed faintly. "More than you think."
For the first time, Vegapunk looked genuinely rattled. His pupils contracted, his lips parting slightly. "You can't possibly— That information was erased from—"
"I was there when Roger found the truth," Ada interrupted, her voice steady. "When he laughed upon reaching the last island. I heard what the world had forgotten."
The scientist stared at her, unable to mask the flicker of awe in his expression. "Then you know what lies at the heart of the world…"
Ada nodded once. "Enough to know what happens if that flame burns too bright."
He stepped closer, the obsession in his gaze almost feverish. "Tell me, Ada. Tell me what you know."
She shook her head. "Not yet."
Vegapunk frowned. "Then what do you ask for in return?"
Ada pointed to the doorway — where Lilith stood, wide-eyed, her orange hair gleaming under the light.
"I want her."
Lilith blinked. "M-me?!"
Even Vegapunk was taken aback. "You want one of my satellites?"
"Yes," Ada said simply. "Your Lilith."
The scientist frowned, tugging at his collar. "You do realize she is not… entirely independent. She is a fragment of me — a satellite consciousness. One of six, in fact, though only two exist at the moment. Myself, and Shaka, the embodiment of logic. Lilith represents my 'evil' — my ambition and curiosity untamed."
Enel snorted. "She seems to fit right in."
Lilith shot him a glare. "Watch it, thunder boy!"
Fisher Tiger crossed his arms. "If she's part of you, how can she leave?"
Vegapunk sighed. "The satellites were designed to act autonomously, but they remain tethered to my main systems here. If one travels too far, it risks disconnection — or worse."
Ada smiled faintly. "Then consider this an experiment, Doctor. Send your 'ambition' into the world. See what it learns."
Lilith's eyes widened. "You're… serious?"
Ada's tone was calm, but there was something commanding beneath it — the kind of certainty that turned even impossible things into orders obeyed.
"I don't take back what I say. You'll come with us, Lilith."
Vegapunk rubbed his chin, torn between fascination and apprehension. "You're bold, Empress. Most would kill for the knowledge you hold — and yet you trade it for one of my creations."
Ada's voice softened slightly. "Knowledge means nothing if you don't know how to use it."
The scientist let out a small chuckle. "Fair enough."
He turned toward Lilith. "Very well. You'll go with them. Consider this an… extended field study. Bring me what the world refuses to show."
Lilith blinked in disbelief. "You're really letting me go?"
Vegapunk smiled wryly. "Think of it as a test of free will, my dear."
Lilith grinned, spinning on her heel toward Ada's crew. "Well then! Looks like I'm joining the first Emperor of the Sea! This is gonna be fun~!"
Bullet muttered under his breath. "Just what we needed — another loudmouth."
Mihawk gave a quiet, amused glance. "At least she's lively."
Okiku smiled kindly. "Welcome aboard, Miss Lilith."
Hiyori added, "You'll fit right in."
Lilith preened. "Oh, I always do~!"
As the group prepared to leave the chamber, Vegapunk followed Ada to the threshold.
"Before you go," he said quietly, "your offer still stands, doesn't it? You'll share what you know of the Void Century?"
Ada paused, her hand resting on the steel door. The blue light of the Mother Flame danced across her face.
"Someday," she said. "When the world's ready to hear it."
"Then tell me this at least," Vegapunk said. "Why did Roger — after learning the truth — choose to start the Great Pirate Era? Why unleash chaos instead of stopping it?"
Ada turned halfway, the corner of her mouth lifting — not a smile, but something heavier.
"Because," she said, "he realized what no one else did."
Vegapunk frowned. "And what's that?"
Ada met his eyes. "The world is sinking."
The room fell utterly silent.
Even the steady hum of the machines seemed to die away.
Shaka's voice echoed faintly through a nearby speaker. "…Sinking?"
Vegapunk blinked in disbelief. "What do you mean? The world cannot simply—"
"Then tell me, genius," Ada interrupted softly. "Why do you think the sea levels rise each year? Why islands vanish without trace? Why the Calm Belt stretches wider than any map records?"
Vegapunk opened his mouth — but no answer came.
Ada's gaze was calm, but her words struck like thunder. "Roger knew. The world is sinking beneath its own forgotten sins."
Lilith stared at her, jaw slightly open. Mihawk's expression darkened. Even Enel — for all his arrogance — was silent.
Finally, Vegapunk asked in a whisper, "Then why are you telling me this?"
Ada turned toward the exit. "Because you're curious, Vegapunk. And curiosity," she said, looking back over her shoulder, "is the first step toward truth."
He stared after her, a dozen questions burning behind his eyes, but none he could yet speak.
Ada turned away, her dress swaying as she walked back toward the exit.
"Come," she said quietly to her crew. "We've seen enough."
Ada started walking, her voice fading into the hum of the lab.
"If you're curious then that's for you to find out."
Outside, the winds howled across Egghead Island's metallic cliffs as the Oro Jackson prepared to depart. The sea beasts parted quietly this time, almost reverent as they made way for the Empress's ship.
Lilith stood at the railing, her eyes wide with excitement and awe. "I can't believe he actually let me go… This is insane!"
Bullet grunted, tightening a rope. "You better pull your weight, robot girl."
Lilith smirked. "Oh, I will. You'll see."
Enel glanced at her, smirking. "If you try to 'study' me, I'll fry your circuits."
"Promises, promises~" she teased.
Fisher Tiger adjusted the sails while Mihawk looked silently toward the horizon, expression thoughtful. "The world is sinking… That woman never speaks without reason."
Ada stood at the bow again, her dress whipping in the sea wind.
Behind her, the glow of Egghead Island dimmed with distance — the pulse of the Mother Flame fading into the mist.
Hiyori approached softly. "Ada-sama… what did you tell him?"
Ada's eyes stayed forward. "Enough."
Okiku tilted her head. "Do you trust him?"
"I trust that he'll ask the right questions," Ada said. "And that's more dangerous than any weapon."
As the Oro Jackson slipped back into the New World's endless sea, thunder rolled faintly in the distance.
Lilith leaned on the rail, watching the sky darken. "Heh. So this is what it feels like to be part of history…"
Mihawk gave a faint smile. "No, Lilith. This is what it feels like to sail with the one who makes it."
Ada said nothing — her gaze fixed on the horizon where storm met sunlight.
The Empress of the Sea had left Egghead behind, but her words lingered like prophecy in Vegapunk's mind.
The world is sinking.
And somewhere deep in the bowels of Egghead, the Mother Flame pulsed again — as if answering her warning.