I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

“No, this isn’t just a great opportunity, it’s the only one,” a voice rang out.

Saint Musgard looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was a white-robed man among the Celestial Dragons.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the person was not a Celestial Dragon; he was simply wearing a white coat, which he had previously overlooked.

This person didn't seem to be in good spirits; his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked undeniably tired. He also kept glancing at his watch every few seconds, as if he was somewhat anxious.

“If we miss this one and only chance, history will once again head towards its end.” He looked up, his eyes bloodshot, startling Musgalud.

"Uranus is just a card the World Government is playing on the surface."

"As for the second-generation Elite Four member, Kronos, he is a trump card just like the Red Earth Serpent. If we don't act in time, Sig and the others will never be able to catch up with this high-performance interstellar migration ship."

"At that time, three volcanoes in the New World submarine earthquake zone will erupt, triggering earthquakes and massive tsunamis. A great catastrophe will engulf the Grand Line, plunging hundreds of millions of people into disaster."

"Finally, the Cronus ship will take refuge in the sky, and with the firepower of the first Uranus, they can continue to strike the disaster-stricken surface. This battle may turn into a protracted war between heaven and earth."

Musgarud was stunned for a while before he caught up with the man in the white coat's train of thought.

"Who is he? Why is he talking so mysteriously? This is nothing... He's talking like he's certain this will happen in the future."

“He’s not a Celestial Dragon.” Phoenix Palace paused for a moment before saying:

"He is Vegapunk."

Vegapunk? Saint Musgarud was speechless for a moment. Even he had heard of Vegapunk's name.

"In short, we're out of time." Vegapunk glanced at his watch, checking the time one last time.

“The 109th time…” He stood up and looked at the Celestial Dragons around him.

"There's no time to lose. We're going to race against time, so let's get started."

..................

in the sky.

Sig's expression was grave as he watched the Kronos spaceship speeding away toward the horizon.

This spaceship is a second-generation immigrant ship that exists as a replacement for Uranus... It has reached several times the speed of sound, and he can't catch up with it.

Beside him, after a brief rest, Stussy once again opened a portal from the air.

Given her level of ability development, a single teleportation portal can instantly traverse several kilometers. If she can repeatedly use the portal to travel, it is indeed faster than Sig's telekinetic flight speed and can also shorten the distance to the Kronos spaceship.

However, each time a Devil Fruit ability is used, it consumes a certain amount of stamina.

Since the fierce battle last night, Stussy's Door-Door Fruit has played a crucial role, including infiltrating the Holy Land and teleporting massive amounts of seawater...

Although she has the advantage, she is already somewhat exhausted after such a long time.

"Is it really impossible to catch up?"

As the thought crossed Sieg's mind, he noticed the distant spaceship tremble and its speed visibly slowed down.

............

There were a total of nineteen keys, but fortunately, most of the Tianlong were a bunch of good-for-nothings. With Phoenix Palace mediating, they managed to retrieve the keys from the treasuries of several families through theft, deception, and other means.

To seize control of the spaceship, a few Celestial Dragons alone are not enough. Without the participation of technical personnel, it's impossible to achieve the desired outcome.

At this moment, the piercing alarm had already been sounded.

Others in the World Government have clearly taken notice of their actions and are rushing to the scene.

Next, it's a race against time.

If Sieg's side arrives early, they can set the tone for the battle.

If these rebels are eliminated beforehand, then Im and the others can restart Kronos and make the ship accelerate again.

Not long after.

A loud bang.

The room door was blown open by the explosion, and a dense chorus of footsteps could be heard outside.

"Phoenix Palace, what are you doing?"

The bearded Five Elders had arrived, his face ashen, leading the World Government army.

Hundreds of pacifists opened their mouths simultaneously, completely surrounding the area, and red lasers locked onto the seven or eight Celestial Dragons in the hall.

The pacifists were not affected by the blue and white cat, so they did not suffer much damage in the previous battles and are still mostly intact.

Each Pacifista is a weapon of war costing as much as a naval warship, capable of independently eliminating pirates worth hundreds of millions.

When hundreds of Pacifistas form a cluster and fire lasers together, they can make up for the difference in quality with sheer numbers. Even Kizaru, the genuine user of the Glint-Glint Fruit, would be caught off guard.

At this time.

Vegapunk pushed aside several Celestial Dragons and stood at the very front of the crowd.

As soon as he appeared, he was locked onto by hundreds of pacifists. However, after seeing his face clearly, the pacifists all went offline, withdrew their cannons, and fell silent.

"Now is a great opportunity to bring peace. Pacifists, it is time for you to act."

The middle-aged man snapped his fingers lightly.

At that moment, hundreds of Pacifistas turned around in unison, using their steel bodies to protect Phoenix Palace and the Celestial Dragons behind them.

"What does this mean, Vegapunk?"

"Not just the Celestial Dragons, are you also a traitor?" The bearded Five Elders' face turned ashen.

The main force was still treating the wounded; he only brought a few hundred pacifists with him this time.

His face turned ashen as the pacifists now collectively defected.

"Hacking into the Chronos spaceship and seizing control is something that a few rebellious Celestial Dragons can't accomplish with just their own efforts. Without the involvement of technical personnel, they're powerless to do it," Vegapunk said, glancing at his watch as he spoke.

"Vegapunk, the World Government has treated you well all these years, hasn't it? Is this how you repay us?" the bearded man roared.

“Over the years, we have provided you with a huge amount of research funding, and we have met all your requests.”

"Even without falling behind in research progress, you're given some freedom to do your own side work... and in return, you're given the opportunity to secretly leave a backdoor for the pacifists?"

Vegapunk is not entirely aligned with the World Government, nor is he simply a tech geek who only knows technology; he harbors many secrets.

He flirted with the Revolutionary Army infiltrator, Tyrant Kuma, who had been transformed into a cyborg, and left him a backdoor program that allowed Tyrant Kuma to protect the Sunny for two years in the original storyline.

He also held back in his experiments, calling the artificial Blue Dragon Fruit a "failure" and refusing to hand it over to the World Government.

“No, no, no…” Vegapunk shook his head:

"My relationship with you is purely transactional."

Embezzling funds, secretly engaging in private work, flirting with hostile forces... this is also Vegapunk.

Just like a gigolo kept by a rich woman, secretly using her money to pursue his "white moonlight" (ideal love), Vegapunk has quite a few ulterior motives.

"Then there's nothing more to say."

A cool, clear voice came from behind.

Im had also arrived. She quickly approached from a distance, coldly observing Vegapunk, Phoenix Palace, and the others.

At this point, she no longer cared whether Vegapunk colluded with the Celestial Dragons led by Phoenix Palace first, or whether Phoenix Palace secretly colluded with Vegapunk... The answer to this question was meaningless.

Her figure moved with lightning speed, darting through the cluster of hundreds of pacifists.

Whoosh whoosh!

Hundreds of dense golden laser beams ripped through the sky as the pacifist legion launched its attack. However, no matter how fast or dense the lasers were, they couldn't even touch the hem of Im's clothes.

Like a phantom flashing by, it easily tore through the alloy armor layers of all the pacifists in its path, causing them to explode in a burst of electric sparks.

Pacifistas are war machines costing as much as warships. Their outer armor is much harder than steel, and even pirates with bounties of over 100 million in the first half of the Grand Line cannot penetrate their protective layer.

But in front of Im, these pacifists couldn't even withstand a casual punch or kick, and were completely unable to stop Im's advance.

At best, it can only buy us some time.

This was, after all, a colossal creature with hundreds of steel bodies; even if Im could easily pierce through it, it could still delay it for a few minutes.

After a series of explosions, one pacifist after another was destroyed, and Im's figure rapidly approached.

“This…” Musgarud’s eyes showed fear; he was not yet mentally prepared to face Im.

Among the Celestial Dragons, Vegapunk glanced at his watch one last time to check the time.

At this point in time, Sieg's side was still on their way.

However, Im has lived for eight hundred years. Eight hundred years ago, she was already a powerful master of Haki. After a long period of accumulation, she had honed Haki to its personal pinnacle.

For someone as skilled in Observation Haki as her, noticing Sig's approach was not difficult.

Therefore, in the previous hundred or so time loops, no matter how much Vegapunk tried to stall for time, Im would always sense Higuma's approach and kill the rebellious Celestial Dragons before he arrived, regaining control and leaving.

This may be a historical inevitability. Vegapunk may be able to influence the process and delay the inevitable, but he ultimately cannot truly change the course of history, just like in movies about time travelers.

In fact, Vegapunk reached this conclusion many years ago and has failed countless times.

But seeing the great catastrophe that would set back the progress of civilization in the future, they ultimately chose to make this futile effort.

But this time...

“It’s time to end this.” He lowered his eyelids and walked out of the crowd.

Vegapunk's face showed undisguised fatigue, but his steps were firm.

In the 108 failed time loops of the past, he tried various delaying strategies, but all of them ultimately failed.

But there was one last method that he never tried.

In this time loop, he had already exhausted every means to stall for time to the extreme. If he were to use the final method at this point...

“Im, you’ve fallen for their trap,” Vegapunk said.

Im did not stop moving; he continued to move at high speed, tearing apart pacifists one by one.

"Aren't you curious? Why did Phoenix Palace and the others react so quickly, arriving at the control room and seizing control within ten minutes, even though the Kronos spaceship, which has never appeared before, had just started up?"

"Did you encounter a few minor spaceship malfunctions on your way here and have to take time off to deal with them, which is why you're a little late?"

"And the Five Elders just happened to arrive a little faster than you, but he happened to bring a group of pacifists with him, which could help me temporarily hold you off?"

"There aren't that many coincidences in this world; behind every coincidence lies a long-planned scheme."