Chapter 268: Catching Up, Fate and Duel

Chapter 268: Catching Up, Fate and Duel

____________ POV Narration ____________

Enel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he arrived back on his throne. his awakened state already turned off.

He was already sitting down as he reformed in front of everyone at the table. He didn't really know how to break the news to everyone.

Especially since Kizaru and some of the other Marines were supposedly quite close to Vegapunk and some of the people on Egghead Island.

But then again, most of the people that were important in Egghead were with Luffy. Hell, even Sentomaru was now sailing on Luffy's ship for some god-forsaken reason.

So in the end, the best way to break the news was to just be blunt.

"Yeah, so... Egghead is somewhat in ruins."

The Emperor's serious gaze scanned the table before his lips turned into a scowl.

Kizaru snapped his head at Enel in that moment, his overall mood and the atmosphere around him changing instantly. The Light Admiral immediately started to bombard the Emperor with questions, breaking his usually lazy facade.

He calmed down and returned to normal quite quickly when he found out that Sentomaru and Vegapunk were both fine.

Sengoku was quite composed, seemingly expecting something like that to happen.

"It's only natural that the World Government tries to get rid of Vegapunk, he's always been a bit of a wild cannon, and they can't risk having him at their side in the upcoming war." The Former Fleet Admiral's reasoning was quite sound.

He also had the most knowledge regarding the dynamics between the government's deals with Vegapunk.

"But they do seem to have taken the Seraphims, and one of Vegapunk's satellites was missing. Greed, I think." Enel seemed to accept Sengoku's reasoning as well.

"... I did hear word that the Elders had a mole on Vegapunk's side, I thought they were just referring to the Agents on the island, but I guess not..." Akainu scowled as he remembered a few meetings with the elders where they had spoken briefly about the scientist.

"This doesn't bode well, especially if they can somehow control the Seraphims." Sengoku's hair seemed to be whitening more and more from the stress of the situation.

"Well, they have one of Vegapunk's satellites on their side, so it's safe to assume they 'can' control the Seraphs." Garp chewed on a cracker as he made a point that most people also thought about.

"Well, not really. I doubt the Sattelite currently with them is functional currently.

Vegapunk's satellites all need to be within a certain distance of the 'Punk Records' and I am assuming that it is currently with the straw hats..." Kizaru rubbed his chin as he remembered some details about Vegapunk's brain.

This caused Sengoku to give the light admiral a sideways glance, as he remembered no such information from Kizaru's reports regarding the mad scientist.

Among the people in the room, Borsalino was the one with the most knowledge regarding the way that the scientist worked and operated.

He always reported to Sengoku at that time, but he also kept a few things secret at the behest of Sentomaru. It took no effort to omit some details after all, not that Kizaru's reports were ever all that specific or detailed due to his laziness...

"Well, in that case, we should be able to overwrite their authority with the help of Vegapunk... Unless the World Government finds some way to alter their programming in the meantime." Dragon remembered that the Government still had plenty of scientists on its side.

The Seraphs were rather complex in nature, but they were still androids at the end of the day. Genetically modified and mechanically enhanced Lunarians.

Their minds were constantly controlled by orders, and the only thing that mattered was the order of priority that Vegapunk had set.

The Elders had obviously requested that they were to be the highest priority, but Vegapunk had likely not done such a thing... Unless York, Vegapunk's greed, had altered the Seraphs without anyone's knowledge.

"Whatever... We're still just dealing with kid Lunarians, even if they somehow inherit Xebec's skills through Linage Factor, they will still be rather simple to fight. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Garp sighed as he remembered just how vicious Xebec was during his time.

But the Xebec of back then was a fully grown adult, not a child grown out of a test tube and given cybernetic enhancements.

"Well, there's also one silver lining here... One of the Seraphs has Xebec's soul.

It should still be able to influence the body to some extent, and Xebec would sooner kill himself ten times over than take orders from the Celestial Dragons." Whitebeard laughed a bit as he thought of the former Rock Pirate Captain's reaction to being ordered around by any of the elders.

Overall, one could say that the first round had ended in a stalemate.

"I must say... I was not expecting you to be this skilled. But the true winner will only be decided in the coming bout..." Francisco smiled, his blue eyes glistening with a red tint as a wide smile spread on his lips.

"No need for words... Let's let our blades speak for us." Mihawk matched his gaze in intensity, a smile calmer smile spread on his lips as his yellow eyes glistened with a green hue.

The gazes of the swordsmen met in the middle, and in a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, the world around them slowed down, and the air crackled with energy.

The clash of their swords had sent shockwaves rippling through the air, and the ground trembled beneath their feet. But now it was time for a different type of clash.

Suddenly, the sky above them split open. a burst of green and red lightning sprouting from each fighter's eye and meeting in the middle, the colours swirling and dancing between them like ethereal ribbons.

A clash of Conquerors. A battle of wills that transcended mere physical combat. At the end of the day, willpower was the most important component of a swordsman.

In fact, a man wielding a sword would never be called a swordsman, no matter how skilful, unless they had at least some basic understanding of Haki.

So for two master swordsmen, a clash of willpower was simply natural.

As their auras collided, the very space between them was bending, the distance seemed to become meaningless.

Mihawk's eyes narrowed, his focus unyielding as he poured every ounce of his strength into the clash. Francisco met his gaze head-on, his own determination shining through the storm of concentrated Willpower that surrounded them.

For what felt like an eternity, they stood locked in a stalemate, neither willing to take a step back.

Francisco's Conqueror's Haki seemed to be sharp and threatening. Mihawk's Conqueror's Haki was steady and resilient, neither willing to lessen in intensity.

Yoru, the Black Blade immediately started glowing in Mihawk's hands, green lighting rolling off of its edge in an instant.

The Saber of Xebec also gained a metallic sheen, as red lighting started enveloping it completely.

The intentions of the swordsmen were clear. They were going to conclude their duel with one last clash.

But before each of them could take a step forward, a gigantic flash of light filled thier vision, breaking thier concentration.

A gigantic pillar of lightning hit the middle of the battlefield in that same instant, a thunderbolt resounding in the skies and cracking the ground, splintering the island that the swordsmen were on completely.

Mihawk and Francsico were both forced to stop and jump away, both of them sweating a bit.

Both of them sheathed their swords swiftly. With a tacit understanding, they nodded towards each other.

'It's better if we stop now, but we shall settle this another day.'

Enel sighed as the island he had just fractured started healing thanks to Shiki's interference. He felt the displeasure of both swordsmen, but he knew that one of them could easily have died if he had let that final clash continue.

'Why do swordsmen have to always be so stubborn?'

Enel just shook his head and set his sights on the next target... The Thousand Sunny.

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Hope you liked today's chapter! Next one will be more about Nika and the Strawhats and alldat

In the advanced chapters on Patreon, I'm already in the final war ark, and It's kinda shaping up into a total constant action fest :)) It's pretty fun to write tbh

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