章 267: A Minor Change In Plans

We immediately took off soon after.

We needed to get near the Red Line if we wanted to get on Mariejois.

Since Ken was a rumble-rumble fruit user, it wasn't difficult for him to turn into lightning and fly at the same speed that I had been flying.

I wasn't bringing the crew with me, so there was no need to bring the ship with me to begin with.

I wanted to rest before the day of the attack. So, I decided to rest on an island that wasn't too far from the Red Line. We landed on a decently populated island; thankfully, the island had an inn where I could sleep for a while.

"We'll rest here for a while before we raid the place tomorrow. So rest up," I commented before closing the door to my room.

I assumed Ken had already accepted what I told him and was going to his room. I was about to sleep on the bed, but my eyes widened as my transponder snail started ringing.

I slowly picked it up and waited for the person on the other end of the line to start talking.

"Boris, this is Dr. Vegapunk," The voice promptly introduced itself, "I'm in a bit of a situation with the World Government."

"Aren't you allies with the World Government?" I asked him curiously.

"Well, I am, but they're not too happy with the fact that I was harboring a fugitive," Vegapunk remarked.

"Are you talking about Bartholomew? I heard that Dragon is on his way to get him out," I replied.

"Well, he couldn't get here fast enough. They're already here," Dr. Vegapunk replied.

"Can't you buy time until he gets there? If he's on his way there, I think you should make it incredibly inconvenient for them. At least until he gets there," I remarked.

"Then you call him and ask! If Dragon doesn't make it here in time, Kuma might have to undergo some surgery," Dr. Vegapunk replied.

"Fine, I will; just don't be so quick about it," I remarked before hanging up.

I immediately dialed Dragon's number and waited for him to pick up the call. When he picked up the call. I didn't hesitate to ask him a question.

"Dragon, when are you going to raid Egghead Island?" I asked.

"We're currently in Paradise...it's going to take a while until..." Dragon was about to explain the situation further. When an idea popped up in my mind.

"Dragon," I interrupted, "What is the probability of success for infiltrating Mariejois?"

"It's possible; I wanted to go to Mariejois first and get her out. However, she didn't want me to save her before Kuma and her child were saved," Dragon remarked.

"Hmm....I have a proposal for you," I replied.

Dragon hummed skeptically as he waited for me to give my opinion of things.

"I'll help you raid Egghead Island, and then you'll help me raid Mariejois," I replied, "Raiding Mariejois by myself is going to be troublesome, but it'll be less of a headache if I had a little more help."

"That's fine, but what do you gain from this? I see no reason as to why you would go through the trouble of raiding Mariejois again," Dragon asked suspiciously.

"I saved those children a long time ago from God Valley.....this is no different," I remarked.

Dragon didn't seem to believe my words, but he relented and accepted my offer. Asking me to give him an hour or two until he arrived by himself. He left the crew he was carrying with him near Sabaody so that it wouldn't have been so hard for him to rejoin the crew in raiding the Holy Land.

"It's troubling that we'll have to delay saving Ginny, but we don't have much of a choice, now do we?" I commented.

"Hmm...although I don't like the symbolism behind having a pirate helping me in Army affairs. I'm afraid that I don't have much of a choice," Dragon commented.

"Don't worry too much about it; it's not like they'll drop the news," I replied.

Dragon hummed as he followed me towards where Ken had been staying. I could literally hear the man's snores from outside of the hallway.

Banging the door immediately interrupted his snores as he raced to open the door.

"Hm? Commander?! Are we finally going to do it?" Ken asked.

"Not yet. We're going to have to go to Egghead first and help them out," I replied, "get yourself ready. We're leaving immediately."

Ken didn't say anything else and closed the door promptly before emerging fully clothed.

"Alright, we're on the clock, so we're not stopping till Egghead," I remarked.

Dragon and Ken nodded as we all stepped outside and promptly vanished into the sky.

We all raced deeper into the New World at break-neck speed. Ken and I had lightning-like attributes, so attaining speed like that wasn't too difficult for us. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find Dragon being able to keep up with us.

By rough estimation, it would take a little bit over three hours to get to Egghead Island. We could only hope that Vegapunk would be able to hold them off until then, but I wasn't too optimistic about that being a success.

My skepticism came to fruition when we finally arrived on the island and landed. It was completely surrounded by World Government ships, and judging by how scarce the occupants of the ships were, I could easily conclude that they were inside Vegapunk's lab.

"It seems that we're late," Dragon remarked.

"Let's find out exactly how late we are," I replied as I immediately used Soru to disappear.

I reappeared inside the lab and quietly made my way to the room, where I sensed the largest number of presences within.

Entering the room, I was slightly disheartened to find Kuma lying on the surgery table. I was literally the tallest person in the room, so it wasn't too hard to see where Vegapunk and Kuma were under the tiny sea of World Government Agents.

Speaking of which, they had seemed to notice me the minute I walked in.

"The Storm Dragon?! Someone call Headquarters for Reinforcement!!" One World Government Agent immediately remarked.

However, before anyone could move a muscle, I let out my Conqurer's Haki. Knocking everyone within the room except for Vegapunk and Kuma.

"It seems that I was too late," I remarked.

"Well, not completely," Vegapunk remarked as he took a step back.

It was then that Kuma rose from the surgery table in an almost inhuman manner. His face was expressionless as he slowly turned his gaze to us.

"What did you do to him?" I asked with my eyes slightly narrowed.

"He's very sedated right now. It's going to take a while until he's back to 100% operating capacity, but he's going to be alright," Dr. Vegapunk remarked.

"Almost thought that you had already turned him into a robot," I remarked.

"Unfortunately, no. Right before you barged in and knocked everyone out. Saturn was on the line trying to make me hand him over while Kuma was unconscious," Dr. Vegapunk replied, "I kept on trying to convince him to give me a bit of time with him."

"Well, I'm just happy to see that Kuma is alive and well. Ginny will be relived to hear the good news," Dragon remarked as he walked in with Ken, "By the way, where's the child?"

"I have her hidden somewhere safe away from prying eyes, follow me," Dr. Vegapunk remarked. Together, we all walked deeper into his laboratory.