Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Sorry, Luffy!" Namie smiled helplessly and turned to look at Luffy.

The others also stopped and looked at the girl named Namie with inscrutable expressions.

"Namie...you...how did you become like this!?" Luffy stared wide-eyed at the girl and asked.

“Virtual projection?” Reina frowned and said softly.

"Don't worry, Luffy, listen to me!" Namie smiled slightly and said, "After we separated, I thought I was really going to die, but Dr. Vegapunk saved me when he happened to be passing by!"

"Then why can't I touch you now?" Luffy asked loudly.

Like Princess Vivi of Alabasta, Namie was not on the ship, but she could be considered their companion. However, after they sailed together to the Sabaody Archipelago, they parted ways.

Later, Namie encountered pirates in the New World and was seriously injured. She was rescued by Dr. Vegapunk, but her injuries were too severe and her body could not recover. The doctor's research was at a critical moment, so after discussing with Namie, he preserved her consciousness in a virtual way. So now she can only meet everyone as a virtual character.

“Vegapunk… has he already managed to combine human consciousness with a virtual network?” Reina frowned and said softly.

"What? So you guys know Namie!" At that moment, another large woman walked out of the dome, grabbed Namie, and said to Luffy and the others.

"Wow...so tall, almost as tall as Kaido!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the woman who had come out.

"No, why can you touch Namie? Is it because you're also a virtual character?" Nami's attention was focused on the other person and Namie.

"What? So it was fake too!" Luffy waved his hand, looking like he understood.

"Who told you... I'm fake?" The tall woman punched Luffy, sending him flying.

"How is this possible!" Everyone looked at the other party in astonishment. The tall woman could not only touch Namie, who was a virtual character, but also hit Luffy.

"Who are you? How dare you ambush me?" Luffy roared, clearly annoyed, as he stood up again.

"Me? I am Vegapunk!" The tall woman with half black and half white hair replied with a loud laugh.

"Huh? Another Vegapunk?" Luffy looked at her in surprise, then at Lilith who had brought them in, and asked, "How many Vegapunks are there?"

"Idiot, didn't you listen to anything I said before?" Nami punched Luffy on the head as he returned and said.

“That’s right, we are all Vegapunk’s clones, not the original. I am number two, codename Evil! She is number six Desire, and the reason she can touch the virtual characters is because she is wearing a light-gathering glove! With that, you can touch light and shadow, so you can naturally touch the virtual characters as well!” Lilith quickly stepped forward to explain when she saw Reina frowning.

After hearing Vegapunk Lilith's explanation, everyone understood a bit more. However, the Straw Hat crew and Namie were all quite happy to be reunited with their old friends.

“Let’s go. Since he’s from here, we should be able to go in together, right?” Reina asked Lilith.

He is now very eager to meet Vegapunk; he is filled with curiosity about the world's number one scientist.

“Of course!” Lilith nodded and replied, “However, if you’re going to enter the research institute, you’d better change into our institute’s uniforms!”

"Oh? You mean these futuristic outfits? They look really cool!" Chopper asked with a delighted expression.

"The changing room is right next door. You can go there and change into whatever clothes you like!" Lilith pointed to a small room outside the giant dome, where there seemed to be some kind of machine.

Reina walked over and saw some buttons on it, each with an introduction to the function and style of the clothing. However, Reina had no intention of changing his clothes. The combat suit he was currently wearing was produced by the system and had many functions, so there was no need for him to change into the clothes here.

However, Luffy and his crew were quite impatient and changed into their favorite styles of clothing.

"Wow~ These clothes feel so light! And these shoes look really cool, they're weightless and so cool!" Luffy immediately commented after changing his clothes.

"Yu~ Why are you in the research lab? Shouldn't you be working in the factory down below?" Lilith asked Vegapunk, the sixth member of the crew, while Luffy and the others were changing clothes.

“I heard Cao Mao and his gang came, so I came up here to see for myself! They are indeed an interesting bunch! By the way, Eh… why didn’t you do anything to them? With your personality… you didn’t already rob them, did you?” Vegapunk looked at Lilith and asked with great interest.

"Don't you know that man? The vice-captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, Robin's father, that great pirate Akame Reina!" Lilith glanced at Reina, who hadn't changed his clothes at all, and said softly.

Chapter 977 Seraph - Strait

"Namie, do you know? We've had so many interesting adventures since we parted ways! If you had stayed, you would have been able to create even more great music. I still remember how amazing your collaboration with Brook was!" Luffy chatted with Namie as they made their way to the dome.

Meanwhile, Reina kept looking around.

"There's even an elevator here!?" Reina was astonished as he looked at the automatically ascending stairs.

"That's a great design, but what kind of energy do you use for power? Such a large island must consume a lot of energy every day, right?" Franky asked curiously. "Won't the excessive energy consumption cause insufficient power?"

There are many things in this world that can be used as energy, but no matter what kind of energy source it is, it requires a corresponding design. For example, the small sky island of the Whitebeard Pirates uses electricity as its energy source, but producing electricity requires a lot of resources, so in addition to the laboratory, even the defense system on the small sky island has been dismantled.

Moreover, since the small sky island usually stays on Crescent Moon Island, it saves energy needed for levitation and propulsion.

“We use fire as our energy source! As long as there is fire, we can produce all kinds of energy we need! It’s a pity that there is no fire that never goes out, otherwise we could even create the sun!” Lilith replied with a light laugh.

Reina was quite surprised. He naturally knew that fire could be used as energy, and a very useful one at that. He also knew that not only fire could be used, but water could too, but the energy conversion involved was not simple.

Without the corresponding transformation capabilities and design, everything is just wishful thinking.

So he thought Lilith wouldn't answer Franky's question, but he didn't expect her to be so open about it.

They had tried using water and fire as new energy sources on their little sky island, and even made use of the lake on the island. However, their efficiency in converting water energy was too low to support the island's continuous consumption. Especially after the island took off, the efficiency of water energy conversion became the biggest problem.

Later, the doctor also gave up on further energy research and directly used the water and fire energy proposed by Reina as the energy source for daily life on the small sky island, while the energy required for the laboratory and flight was still electricity.

Since the small sky island already had an energy conversion array, there was no need for the professor to bother researching it again.

Just as Reina was about to continue questioning them about the conversion of fire energy, Lilith suddenly walked through a tightly closed door and disappeared before their eyes.

"What... what's going on? How could she walk through the door?" Everyone was shocked, staring in astonishment at the vanished Lilith.

“It’s alright, Luffy, everyone! This door is easy to pass through; it’s just a projection! As long as it’s not materialized, anyone can pass through it. Since you were invited by Dr. Vegapunk, just go in!” Nami explained with a smile, standing next to Nami.

"How did you know we were invited!?" Reina looked at Namie, who was indistinguishable from a real person, his eyes narrowing as he asked.

"The professor told me! He said he invited Robin over, but I didn't expect everyone to come along!" Namie looked at Reina with a half-smile and replied.

"Hehe, since that's the case, let's go in! I hope the doctor won't disappoint me, otherwise it would be too boring!" Reina smiled slightly and went in first.

Seeing this, the Straw Hat crew followed Reina and walked through the seemingly very sturdy gate.

However, after entering the gate, they did not find any trace of Lilith. Instead, a strange voice rang out.

"Please continue forward, everyone! There's a gift I've prepared for you at the end of the corridor!"

"Who is it?" Usopp began to look around, trying to find the person who had spoken.

“That voice… it’s Vegapunk the Third!” Namie said after thinking for a moment.

“That’s right, my name is Edison, I am Vegapunk!” the unfamiliar voice rang out again.

“Hehe…that’s interesting. Let’s go see what this so-called gift is!” Reina replied with a slight smile.

The group followed the corridor forward and soon arrived at the end, where a person was sitting.

"Jinbe?" Everyone looked at the guy sitting there, who looked very much like Jinbe, with surprise.

"That's not me!" Jinbe looked at the guy sitting there, who looked exactly like him when he was a child, with a surprised expression.

“Indeed, he looks like Jinbe’s child, but although he has the same face as Jinbe, he is the same size as Jinbe, so he shouldn’t be his child!” Franky nodded and said seriously.

Usopp, looking exasperated, replied, "Of course not, he's definitely not Jinbe's child! Look at the pair of black wings on his back!"

“Father!” Robin looked at Reina, because the guy in front of her looked like Jinbe when he was a child, which reminded her of what Reina had once told her.

“That’s right, this should be one of the Seraphim!” Reina nodded and said, “I’ve seen a Seraphim who looked like Hancock when she was a child!”

"Huh? Seraph? She looks just like Hancock when she was little?" Luffy, standing to the side, was completely bewildered.

"Is this your latest weapon? You've placed it here at this time. Are you planning to have me destroy it?" Reina raised his head and said softly.

"No, no, no... I had no such intention. Didn't I say? This is a gift!" Vegapunk No. 3's voice rang out again.

As he finished speaking, Seraphim Strait, who had been sitting there, slowly stood up and then extended his palm toward Reina and the Straw Hat crew.

"That move... is that a pacifist's laser?" Everyone had a bad feeling as soon as they saw Jinbe's move.

"Boom!"

Sure enough, a laser beam shot directly at the group, but fortunately everyone was prepared and quickly dodged it.

"Looks like a battle is about to begin!" Sanji said, dodging the explosion and puffing on a cigarette.

"So it really was a trick by the World Government?" Usopp also took out his slingshot, ready to retaliate at any moment.

Nami was somewhat conflicted. Although the Clima-Tact was already in her hand, she still said with a hint of sadness, "He's so cute. Even though I know he's not Jinbe, I still don't really want to make a move!"

“Father, it really is Kizaru’s laser. Is this an enhanced version of the Pacifista?” Robin, who was standing next to Reina and was not affected by the attack, looked at the massive Seraph of the Strait and said.

Chapter 978 Vegapunk Number One

“Pacifistas can’t be compared to him!” Reina chuckled and shook his head, saying, “Let your partner try him out first! I’m also a little curious about this guy!”

Seraphim Strait launched an attack on the Straw Hat crew, but the Straw Hat crew are now Yonko-level pirates. Not to mention Luffy's strength, the others are also not to be underestimated.

"Nami, are we going to attack?" Zeus, the thundercloud that emerged from the Weather Stick, was ready to attack, but Nami did not let it launch the attack.

"Although I know he's not Jinbe, his appearance really makes it impossible to attack!" Nami said hesitantly.

But at that moment, Seraph of the Strait seemed to have discovered a weakness on Nami's side. With a leap, she swam directly off the ground, not only avoiding Franky's attack but also closing the distance between herself and Nami.

"Wait... that ability..." Franky's eyes widened as he watched Seraph of the Strait swim rapidly toward Nami on the ground.

At the same time, Reina frowned. The opponent was using Señor Pick's Swim-Swim Fruit ability, but Señor Pick should be on Crescent Moon Island right now, and his Devil Fruit should still be with him.

"Splash!"

Seraphim Strait, which suddenly leaped out from the ground, startled Nami. She had been distracted and hadn't noticed that Seraphim Strait was already approaching her.

"Nami! Get out of the way!"

"Nami, watch out!"

The Straw Hat crew members all shouted loudly at Nami.

"Uh..." By the time Nami noticed, she had no time to escape. The other person grabbed her by the neck and she began to have difficulty breathing.

"Death penalty! Even if you are Jinbe, you absolutely cannot be spared!" Seeing Nami struggling to breathe with her neck being grabbed by the other party, Sanji was enraged. His right leg, burning with flames, kicked Seraphim Strait away.

"That's right, no matter who you are, I absolutely cannot allow you to lay a hand on my crewmates!" Luffy had also stopped smiling and looked at Seraphim Strait.

"Although you look a lot like me when I was a kid, since you've attacked my comrades, you should be prepared for the consequences!" Jinbe also adopted an offensive stance.

Zoro, on the other hand, was more direct. He raised his hand and unleashed a slash, flying straight towards Seraphim Strait.

However, Seraph is not comparable to those pacifists; he has more methods and is much stronger.

Seraph of the Strait used the wall as a swimming pool, swimming rapidly inside to evade the Straw Hat crew's attacks, and using the splashes of water to launch occasional counterattacks with Fish-Man Karate.

"He even knows Fishman Karate, that's outrageous!" Usopp thought to himself as he fired his gun, watching Seraphim Strait destroy all the "ammunition" he had fired with Fishman Sky Island.