Mark III

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In the Fabriostratum of Egghead, CP agents find a huge figure blocking their path and complain, "Why the hell is a government weapon getting in our way?" They assume it is meant to be with the Marines and warn that the attacker will pay for hurting their men. The giant weapon knocks an agent aside with a powerful bubble-like blow. The caption identifies it as a Navy Science Group weapon, Pacifista. The agents realize it must be a Mark III Pacifista, far more advanced than the prototypes used in the Summit War, and that the bubble shield it uses is the ultimate defense invented by Vegapunk.

The Mark III Pacifista begins capture operations while CP agents panic and ask who is controlling it, because Pacifista do not act on their own like that. At the factory, wounded people are told not to move because it would aggravate their injuries. Someone asks whether the Pacifista are doing their job, and another says something is definitely up. Sentomaru sits injured, unable to contact "Grandpa Punk," and says the Frontier Dome is sealed. He hears that the Pacifista are active and realizes he can no longer get hold of Vegapunk directly.

Sentomaru decides he can act freely now that the Navy is still trying to reach him and does not realize he has already become a rebel. Over transponder snail, he tells Luffy, "You got it!! I'll get him off this island, no matter what!!" Sentomaru replies that the Navy might have something up their sleeve, then orders all 50 Mark III units to stand ready to deploy. The Pacifista line up in formation, and Sentomaru prepares to use Vegapunk's weapons against the Government to protect the escape.

Sentomaru gives the Mark III Pacifista their mission: Straw Hat Luffy will be taking Dr. Vegapunk with him on his ship, and the Pacifista must see that they set sail safely. They answer, "Understood." Sentomaru orders them to stand guard at the coast and warns that no matter what happens, they must ensure their creator escapes. The Pacifista march out in heavy formation, while CP agents trapped nearby shout for someone to stop moving and let them out. Sentomaru believes something will go down on the island soon.

In the Egghead Labostratum, Luffy and Chopper are exhausted from running everywhere. Luffy asks what it means that Vegapunk is not there, insisting he has to be in the lab somewhere. Chopper asks whether Luffy broke his hover boots from all that running, but Luffy says not to snitch because he cannot pay them back. Luffy reports that he ran all over the place looking and could not find Bonney either, but Shaka says Bonney is over there. Everything in the lab is transmitted to a monitor, yet Vegapunk's main body does not appear anywhere.

Shaka tells everyone to stay calm because they have a couple of issues. First, the Stella has disappeared; second, they have lost control of the Frontier Dome, so they are basically trapped on the Labostratum. If they try to leave, the lasers will likely fry them. The crew panics at the idea that they cannot leave the island with Vegapunk missing. Shaka says the dome is really a secondary concern when the main passenger is gone, and they should prioritize finding the Stella first. He will try to repair the dome in the meantime.

The Straw Hats and Vegapunks regroup amid the wrecked lab. Lilith calls Egghead marvelous and says the future is now, while Zoro asks where Stella's body went and whether something happened. Shaka says that if Stella is not showing up on any monitor, they need to find him another way. Pythagoras explains that the displays usually show the entire lab, but the Seraphim rampage may have incapacitated some Baby Monitor Snails or knocked them out of position. Robin suggests he might have passed through a blind spot. The others begin organizing a search, and Luffy shouts that they found some spare parts.

The group starts dividing search duties. Pythagoras contacts Shaka and reports that the third floor of C Tower seems empty, then says he will try the next area. Robin says the sooner they find Stella, the sooner they can set sail, and Brook joins the search while mentioning treasure too. Stussy remains nearby, and Sanji swoons, asking Stussy to take him with her. The Straw Hats and Vegapunks spread through the Labostratum to locate Vegapunk's main body while the Frontier Dome remains a separate problem.

Zoro offers to lend a hand with the search, but Sanji angrily tells him to hold up because they are looking for a geezer with a sawed-off head. Nami says Zoro should stay because nobody will find him when he is done getting lost. Brook asks Zoro to be a dear and wait, and Zoro reluctantly stays behind. Luffy lies exhausted beside the tied-up Lucci and Kaku, saying he always goes all out for everything and cannot believe he bumped into those guys again. Chopper worries because the others are only forming a search party of six, while Luffy wonders how Ice-Boss is doing. In the Paw Room, Bonney is warned not to touch the memory paw but screams to get out.

Inside Kuma's memory, Bonney sees a young Kuma suffering and sobbing. She asks what is wrong and watches as men shout, "C'mere!! We've got you now!!" and threaten that if Kuma escapes they will kill the rest of them. Young Kuma cries that he does not want to go back, but the men demand that he get his ass back now. Bonney, shocked, says, "Daddy...?" The memory makes clear that Kuma suffered brutal abuse even as a child, and Bonney is forced to witness it firsthand.

Young Kuma cries that he never wants to go there again and that if he goes back he will die anyway, so the men should just kill him instead. They call him a crying damn brat and beat him while he says he cannot get any closer. Someone hits him with a club and orders him to stop, while Kuma apologizes, saying it hurts and begging to be saved. Bonney watches in horror as young Kuma pleads, "Please... stop it..." The memory shows a helpless child enduring violence and begging for mercy.

Bonney is thrown back from the memory paw, clutching only a small fragment while the huge glowing paw remains in the chamber. She pants on the floor, overwhelmed by what she saw, and remembers Vegapunk's warning that Kuma's memories contain pain. At Red Port, Bartholomew Kuma is still climbing the Red Line while Marines shout to shoot him down. The parallel scenes connect Bonney's discovery of Kuma's suffering with Kuma's present unstoppable attempt to reach Mary Geoise.

Bonney reflects that she could not take it all in and that her resolve was not strong enough, but if she stays ignorant she will never be able to understand her father. The memory paw remains in the chamber. Elsewhere in the damaged Labostratum, Pythagoras sees the devastation and comments that they really totaled the place even though they were born there. A sudden explosion rocks the lab with "Ka-boom!!" and Pythagoras is caught in the blast. As debris falls, he looks around and asks, "Stella... where the blazes did ya get to?"

Aboard the World Economy News ship, Morgans receives an insane scoop and cackles, "Get a load of this!" He declares that the World Government intends to assassinate the beloved Dr. Vegapunk, the world's greatest genius, but that they have miscalculated because the doctor is far too popular. Morgans says it is like Ohara all over again and spins the story into his preferred headline: "Emperor Straw Hat Luffy takes Vegapunk hostage!!" He plans to call it a Navy skirmish at Egghead and says the Government will appreciate that angle, even while his staff reacts that the headline is outrageous.

Princess Nefertari Vivi and Wapol are hiding aboard Morgans's ship. Vivi says Luffy would never do something like Morgans's headline, while Wapol panics and tells her to keep her voice down in case there is a wiretap snail around because the Government will erase them. He adds that Morgans took them in and they should not be rude. Morgans snaps that his words can shake the world and that news is not about fact or fiction, it is about entertainment. Vivi calls the Economic Journal a rag, and Morgans mocks her for speaking boldly after she was bawling her eyes out the previous day. The chapter ends with the revelation that Vivi and Wapol are with Morgans.

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