One Piece: The user of the Nen-Nen Fruit, who overturned the sea.

Upon realizing who it was, Kizaru's first reaction was not to fight, but to turn around and transform into a golden light, shooting towards the central laboratory.

The speed of the Glint-Glint Fruit exploded to its limit, and it crossed half the island in a few seconds.

The golden light reformed into human form at the laboratory entrance, and Kizaru's fist slammed into the protective shield, creating ripples.

"Dr. Vegapunk! Open the door!"

Kizaru's voice was less lazy than usual and more urgent.

Inside the laboratory, Vegapunk stood in front of the monitoring screen.

The screen clearly showed Kizaru's anxious face, and behind him, Warhead Island was being engulfed in flames.

Kaido's heat breath had already burned a charred trench in the plaza.

Barrett's White Tiger Gundam crushed the last building in the military camp, and Hawkeye's slash had destroyed all the warships.

Vegapunk took a deep breath and pressed the communicator:

"Borsalino, you can leave. I'm not going back with you."

Kizaru's hand froze in mid-air.

"What did you say?"

Inside the protective shield, Vegapunk sat at the monitoring console, his fingers pausing briefly on the keyboard.

Looking at the face he had known for twenty years on the screen, he finally spoke the words that had been weighing on his heart for so many years:

"I don't want to build weapons for the world government anymore."

"PhD--"

Kizaru's voice carried an emotion he had never shown before.

"Now is not the time to talk about this!"

There are too many enemies; I can't hold them off by myself!

We must get you out of here immediately!

I'll explain to the Five Elders; you just need to open the protective shield first—”

Borsalino.

Vegapunk interrupted him, his voice tired but calm.

Do you know why I joined the World Government in the first place?

Kizaru remained silent.

His fist was still pressed against the protective shield, but the force was noticeably lighter.

"Because I want to use technology to change the world."

I want ordinary people to have access to affordable energy, so that children won't starve, and so that disease won't take away innocent lives.

I once believed that a world government was the place where this ideal could be realized—

It has resources, technology, and a global network of control.

I believed that with its power, I could make the world a better place.

Vegapunk took off his glasses and wiped the fog off the lenses with the corner of his shirt.

His eyes were deeply sunken from years of staying up late, but at this moment they held a clarity that Kizaru had never seen before.

"But what have the world governments made me do all these years?"

Seraphim – Humanoid weapons created using cloning technology.

Weapons of mass destruction – used to suppress disobedient nations.

They were all war machines, all tools of killing.

Everything I spent thirty years creating ended up being used to kill people.

Kizaru remained silent for a long time. A rare hint of pain appeared on his perpetually lazy face.

"Doctor, do you know what this means? You will become an enemy of the World Government."

"I know."

Vegapunk put his glasses back on and looked at his old friend of twenty years through the protective shield.

"But it's better than continuing to deceive yourself."

I am old, Borsalino.

My hair has turned white, and my back is bent. I don't know how many more years I have left to live.

If I have to spend the rest of my life building weapons and deceiving myself into believing it's for justice—then I've truly wasted my life.

Kizaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he reopened his eyes, a complex light flashed in those eyes that were usually squinted.

"Roy from Beehive Island, he's not a good person."

Kizaru's voice was hoarse and deep.

"He killed Satan Saint, seized the New World, and is now recruiting soldiers—he is preparing for all-out war."

"I know."

Vegapunk said,

"But he promised me at least one thing: to let me do the research I really want to do."

No need to build weapons, no need to kill people, just pure scientific research.

The world government will never give me that promise.

Kizaru's lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

He turned around, no longer looking at Vegapunk, and transformed into a golden light, shooting towards the square.

At the very least, he had to protect his subordinates who were still alive.

When Kizaru flew back to the plaza from the direction of the laboratory, what he saw was a hellish scene.

The bodies of CP members lay scattered haphazardly across the north plaza, and Kaido's heat breath had burned a charred trench several meters wide and seemingly bottomless in the center of the plaza.

Black smoke was still rising from the ruins of buildings on both sides of the ravine.

The eastern military camp had been completely destroyed—Barrett's White Tiger Gundam had turned that area into a pile of rubble and steel-reinforced ruins.

Occasionally, you can see the arms of men in black suits sticking out from the rubble.

To the west of the port, all six warships had been reduced to floating debris.

Hawkeye's slash sliced ​​them so badly that not even a single intact piece of deck could be found.

Of the more than one hundred elite CP members, fewer than ten are still standing.

When the survivors saw Kizaru appear, a glimmer of hope instantly ignited in their eyes:

"Admiral Kizaru—!"

No sooner had he uttered the words than Jhin's flaming blade slashed down from mid-air.

The CP member who shouted was immediately engulfed by flames, and his screams lasted for less than a second before abruptly stopping.

The remaining few were also hit from behind by Tesoro's golden electric net, collapsing while covered in black smoke.

Kizaru's hands clenched unconsciously.

"Kizaru!"

Kaido's booming voice erupted from the other end of the plaza.

"Take care of yourself first!"

The Eight Precepts, accompanied by flames and Conqueror's Haki lightning, crashed down.

Kizaru's body reacted automatically, transforming into a golden light and flashing to the side.

The Eight Precepts crashed into the spot where he had just been standing, creating a huge crater more than ten meters in diameter. The shockwave sent all the surrounding debris flying.

Before Kizaru could even regain his footing, Barrett's tiger claws were already waiting in the direction he was trying to dodge.

The giant white tiger's claws were wrapped in black and red lightning, and when it slapped down, the air was torn apart with a piercing explosion.

Kizaru narrowly escaped transforming into his elemental form again. The tiger's claws grazed his shoulder, and the wind pressure they generated tore a gash in his shoulder.

"Three against one."

Kizaru clutched his shoulder and stumbled back several steps, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"That's so unruly!"

"rule?"

Kaido grinned, and the Eight Precepts came hurtling down again.

"What rules do pirates have to follow!"

This time, the Eight Precepts were not only shrouded in Conqueror's Haki, but also enveloped in the high-temperature flames of dragon's breath.

Kizaru barely managed to transform into a golden ray to avoid the head-on attack, but Kaido's attack range was too vast.

He had just reassembled himself a dozen meters away when the aftershock of the shockwave forced him to take several steps back.

Barrett seized the opportunity and threw a punch.

Kizaru crossed his arms to block, but was blasted away, crashing through several walls before finally stopping.

Bricks and stones rained down on him, raising a cloud of dust.

When he crawled out of the rubble, a trickle of blood had already seeped from the corner of his mouth—Barrett's punch had injured his internal organs.

No matter how fast the Glint-Glint Fruit is, it can't withstand the attack range of two people, which is so large that it leaves you no room to dodge.

Before the dust had even settled, Hawkeye's slash had already arrived.

A pale green slicing wave flew close to the ground, silently cutting the rubble in its path in half.

Kizaru's body transformed into golden light once more, but this time his elemental transformation was a beat too slow—

The slash grazed his side, leaving a shallow bloodstain on his body.

Kizaru clutched the wound on his side and looked around.

Kaido blocked him head-on, Barrett sealed off his right retreat route, and Hawkeye slowly approached from the left, leaving a thin, long gash on the ground with his black sword, Yoru.

Tesoro stood in mid-air, his head covered by a golden electric net, blocking any escape route through the air.

Ember hovered in the air, its flaming blade poised to strike at any moment.