The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

"of course not."

Saint Satan raised his cane and gently tapped the ground beneath his feet.

"I am... avoiding war for us."

"Avoid war?!" Blackbeard was even more bewildered, his brows furrowing into a knot.

Hiding from whom? Straw Hat Boy?

Does he need to "avoid" things right now? Or those insignificant crew members in the straw hats? Just kidding!

"Nonsense!" Satan Saint seemed impatient with Blackbeard's "stupidity," his voice growing even colder.

"Didn't I tell you? 'Tianzhen' has already landed on the island!"

“That man… he’s been looking for you ever since, Marshall D. Teach.”

Blackbeard's pupils suddenly contracted!

Gern...is looking for him?!

Saint Satan seemed quite pleased with Blackbeard's sudden change in expression, and continued in his calm tone:

"When this Egherd was built, I, as the God of Scientific Defense, was one of the main supporters and supervisors."

Although Vegapunk later made numerous modifications and encryptions, I still know some of the basic surveillance network architecture and privilege backdoors.

He pointed to the inconspicuous surveillance cameras overhead, some of which were already broken, and others that were still flickering faintly:

"The route I took you on before was not chosen randomly."

They were all avoiding the main monitoring areas, or taking paths that I knew were temporarily disabled or had been secretly interfered with.

At the same time, through limited and not completely destroyed monitoring nodes, it is also possible to roughly grasp Gern's movements.

"He is very strong, and his Observation Haki is also very sharp. It would be too risky to directly track his Haki."

However, it is still possible to avoid his main search route through indirect observation of the monitoring network and path prediction.

Saint Satan watched as Blackbeard's confusion gradually turned into shock, and then tapped his cane a few more times.

"So, Blackbeard... if you think you can beat 'Skyquake' Gern..."

He turned to the side and pointed with his cane to the end of the corridor, which the two had just passed and which was now deserted.

"Then you can stay here now and don't need to follow me anymore."

"Based on my calculations and his previous movements..."

He will be searching this area in about twenty minutes, passing through here.

“You can stay here and wait for him properly…”

Having said that, Saint Satan didn't look at Blackbeard again, turned around without hesitation, and leaned on his cane.

They continued walking into the deeper, seemingly more secluded passage ahead.

The footsteps thumped loudly, echoing clearly in the empty corridor.

Blackbeard, however, remained frozen in place.

Gern... is looking for him.

We'll be passing by here in twenty minutes.

Can we win?

The answer to this question requires almost no thought.

Blackbeard's mind was uncontrollably flashing back to the scenes of the Marineford War from many years ago.

That was Edward Newgate, the "world's strongest man" who had briefly returned to his peak condition.

The man who launched that earth-shattering, head-on duel that nearly tore Marineford apart once again!

A terrifying clash of domineering auras, a bizarre battle of Devil Fruit abilities, showing no sign of backing down even when facing "Old Man," and displaying a frenzied and powerful strength that grows stronger with each battle...

At that time, Gern was already so powerful that it was terrifying.

Now, having survived the War of Independence and captured both emperors...

Just how terrifying must his strength have reached?

Blackbeard had no doubt that if he were to face Gern one-on-one now, his fate would be...

It's definitely not much better than when he was almost cut in half by Shiki the Golden Lion back then!

It could even be worse!

Without any hesitation.

Blackbeard strode forward, much faster than before, and without uttering a word, followed closely behind.

Now, preserving one's own life and sticking close to the Five Elders, who seem to have a way to avoid Gern, is the wisest, yet also the most helpless, choice.

Saint Satan didn't turn around, but seemed to sense Blackbeard following him, a smile playing on his lips, while inwardly thinking...

"The Five-Star Array must have been set up in that location back then..."

Chapter 680 Blackbeard, we have a long history together!

Saint Satan led Blackbeard on a journey, taking increasingly remote and in-depth routes.

Until the early stages of Egherd's development, it was an ancient area that had long been forgotten or sealed off.

The surrounding walls were no longer smooth alloy; the indicator lights on them had dimmed.

Finally, they stopped in the center of an extremely spacious, domed circular hall.

The hall floor was not flat, and a huge ancient robot lay sprawled there.

In front of the robot was a geometric pattern pieced together.

This formed a giant pentagram array covering the entire hall floor.

This is the very place where the World Government assisted Vegapunk in building Eigerd.

The location of the secretly set-up "Five Star Array".

Its original purpose is self-evident (as everyone knows).

Blackbeard frowned and became instinctively wary when he saw Satan Saint stop and cease his advance.

"Hey, Five Elders, why did you stop walking?"

He looked around the hall and felt that it was even more unsettling than the ruins outside.

"Is this place...safe?"

"Safety?" Satan Saint's back was to Blackbeard, his voice flat and emotionless. "Of course not."

He slowly turned around, his cane lightly tapping one corner of the pentagram at his feet, producing a crisp tapping sound.

"As long as we are still on this island, we can't keep 'hiding' forever."

"Tianzhen's ability to perceive color vision far exceeds your imagination."

Simply avoiding the path won't buy you much time.

"What do you mean by this?" Blackbeard subconsciously took a few steps back, distancing himself from Satan Saint.

He suddenly had a very bad feeling.

Sure enough, at that moment...

A familiar, heavy, domineering, and terrifying aura of Conqueror's Haki that sent shivers down his spine.

Without warning, it approached from afar and, with extreme precision, instantly locked onto and enveloped the entire Five Star Array Hall!

"That domineering aura..."

Blackbeard trembled violently, his pupils shrank to pinpoints, and he cried out in shock!

"Earthquake!!!"

He abruptly turned his head, looking in the direction from which the domineering aura emanated.

In the shadow of the dome of that towering, abandoned platform on one side of the hall!

A figure slowly stood up from the edge of an exit.

The dim light of the emergency lamp outlined his tall, straight figure, his dark shirt almost blending into the shadows.

Only his eyes, glowing with the red light of Observation Haki, gleamed with a chilling light in the dimness.

Gern stood on high ground, his eyes slightly lowered, looking down at Satan and Blackbeard at the center of the five-pointed star array below.

His expression was calm and expressionless, as if he had just happened to run into two acquaintances.

“You two…” Gern began, his voice low and unreadable, carrying a hint of mockery rather than joy or anger.

"You're quite good at making things complicated."

After speaking, Gern's gaze first fell on Saint Satan.

His brow furrowed slightly, and his eyes scrutinized.

“Jaygorusia Satan Saint…” Gern’s voice was calm.

"Vegapunk's database...you didn't take it?"

Clearly, he had been tracking them all along.

The original assessment was that Satan Saint (possibly in league with Blackbeard) had already succeeded and was transferring or hiding the core data.

However, seeing Satan Saint's current reaction surprised even Gern.

Upon hearing Gern's question, Satan Saint's composed face revealed obvious surprise, and he even subconsciously asked in return, "What is your question?"

"Wasn't it... taken by the Navy?"

"..."

In an instant, the air in the hall froze completely.

Gern frowned as he looked at Satan Saint.

Satan Saint stared at Gern in astonishment.

Blackbeard, caught between the two, kept glancing back and forth between Gern and Satan.

Following the initial shock, and a brief exchange between the two...

The cerebral cortex suddenly calmed down, and in an instant, everything became clear!

Recalling that not long ago, he and Satan Saint stood before that empty Vegapunk data container.

Both of them implicitly agreed that a third party (the Navy) had taken the core data first...

Gern apparently arrived at the storage location later and discovered the data was missing.

Through some means, it was determined that it was the work of Saint Satan (possibly with Blackbeard as well), so they tracked him down here...

and so……

So, after all this time, you two both thought the other had taken Vegapunk's brain?!

So after playing hide-and-seek here for ages, only to end up blocking each other here, all for some "stolen goods" that may never even exist?!

What about me?!

I, Marshall D. Teach, have been following you around for ages, on tenterhooks, and I was terrified by the sheer power of the Skyquake, breaking out in a cold sweat.

So all this was just to play a "who stole the database" deduction game with you guys?!

If no one has access to the database, or if Vegapunk himself transferred it long ago...

Then what about all of Blackbeard's journey?!

A large, delusional, and forced-to-run-along... idiot?!

No, if that's the case, then what am I, Blackbeard?! Bastard!!

Am I the only idiot among the three of us who went on this endless hike? What a moron!!!

Absurdity, frustration, anger, and a deep sense of shame!!