One Piece: Reborn as Enel

Chapter 173: Egghead Island, Conversation and Soul

_________ POV Enel_________

It's been a while since I've woken up like this...

Well, sleeping on a chair isn't unusual for me, sleeping on a bed for once would have been quite shocking, but I am not at my house...

Robin seems to still be asleep, it's my fault for keeping her up all night really...

Well, I don't regret it, getting to spend more time with her that is... I can barely wait to train her personally once more.

I guess I just find her interesting... Despite her tragic past, she is able to put it all behind her and push forward with a determination few people would have.

I will make sure that she is strong enough when she eventually rejoins the Strawhats. I will make her strong enough to offset any developmental issues that might occur due to the missing Doflamingo.

Luffy should also be training with Rayleigh and Ace currently... At least that's what Whitebeard seemed to think. It's unlikely that the two brothers would be separated during these two years.

Ace is also likely too ashamed to show his face to Whitebeard and the rest. Plenty of people died to save him after all.

Well, he'll get over it. Even then it's not any of my business... I am not exactly a friend of Ace, nor do I really know him.

For now, I need to focus on finally helping Kuma for good. Bonney is already part of our crew, but I don't like to half-ass things, I must use my whole ass...

Heh... I've always been against vulgar jokes like that. But I guess my perspective on politeness and language, in general, has changed the past few months...

Well... I better get going. I don't feel like waking up Robin for this. It might also turn out to be a rather short journey depending on how Vegapunk can actually help me...

There's also the matter with Stussy... And Buckingham Stussy. The Government Agent and former Rocks Pirate.

Whether or not they're the same person, Vegapunk of all people should be able to give me a few answers.

_________ POV Narration _________

Enel rose from his seat, slowly and silently, he looked at Robin one last time before smiling and folding up the blanket that had been shared with him and placing it on the table.

He then silently picked up his staff and walked out of the door, disappearing in a flash of lighting as soon as he stepped out the door.

His destination was clear, he first went and took a shower, and grabbed a new pair of deep blue suit pants, a black t-shirt and his white furred coat.

He tapped the tips of his black shoes on the ground one at a time, before turning and looking at the Log Pose that Stussy had given him.

With a sigh, he swept his blonde hair backwards and turned his staff into a pair of gauntlets.

'Time for a friendly visit... Huh?

Hope the World Government doesn't have that many agents there...'

Enel then vanished once more, this time following the directions of the log pose.

He flashed through the skies at inconceivable speeds, stopping occasionally and glancing over at the special compass.

It took only a few minutes for him to find the island... It wasn't exactly hard to spot.

And just by looking at it, Enel could tell that the island was FAR ahead of the rest of the world when it came to technology.

It was actually insane to even look at, everything about it felt otherworld. Even to the man that had built flying ships, gigantic island transporting methods and technically helped turn someone into a cyborg( or half cyborg).

In the first place, the world of One Piece had always given off the feeling that it was a bit behind the Earth that Enel/Alexander had originally hailed from.

It did surpass Earth in many ways, just from the things that Franky had been shown to build, as well as the pacifistas.

But Egghead Island was on a completely different level.

The island seemed to be made out of different zones, the first zone seemed to be flourishing, filled with researchers and experiments. It also appeared to be some sort of industrial zone.

There were robots all over that island, Enel was able to see 'animals' flying through the skies, each one of them being robots on the same level of complexity as Pacifistas...

Then there was the giant island that sat on what looked like an 'Island Cloud'. Something that Enel was quite familiar with.

That island seemed to be even more impressive than the industrial zone. Though its design was a bit odd, looking like a cracked egg, hovering in midair permanently.

Enel was able to read the words 'Punk Records' on the inside of the upper 'Egg shell'. The Emperor was unable to surmise what materials went into making said eggshell, but they appeared to be quite sturdy.

The most surprising part was the utter lack of Government Agents on the island.

'I guess they no longer have that many agents to spare...'

Although, it did feel a bit strange for the World Government to leave such an important place 'undefended'.

'Now then... Where would I be if I were Vegapunk?'

Unfortunately, Enel was about to find out that Vegapunk's island was far from undefended.

Gigantic tentacles rose out of the water and pointed their tips at the flying Emperor, which caused Enel to quickly take notice of them.

He had felt them previously thanks to his radar but didn't pay them much mind.

Now he could see the tentacles unfold like metallic flowers, revealing what Enel assumed were gun barrels...

In that instant, with the help of a bit of premonition, Enel turned into a flash of light and danced around a few lasers that threatened to burn holes all over his body.

Enel felt that they were similar to those of the Pacifistas, so they weren't quite as dangerous to him, but he dodged them nonetheless.

'... A rather heated greeting...'

More and more 'beings' rose out of the waters, struggling to reach the Emperor, who could now sense panic descending on the island.

He felt the researchers entering shelters while the metallic sea creatures below all started shooting lasers and flying disks at him.

He continued doing around, sometimes intercepting the lasers with his own Lightning Bolts. He wanted to avoid destroying the robots if possible, after all, he was no enemy of Vegapunk, at least he didn't want to be an enemy...

Dragon had already informed Enel that the mad scientist was in contact with the revolutionaries. An ally, so to speak.

But that only made the fact that the robots were attacking him even more confusing.

'It should already be well-known that I am in cahoots with the revolutionaries...

So why would Vegapunk target me? Is it to keep up appearances for the World Government?

If yes, then how exactly do I even approach this island...'

Enel was well and truly stumped.

At least until he finally felt a figure waving at him from the island... It was a masked man, dressed in rather futuristic clothing.

When seeing that, Enel decided to focus on him for a few seconds, only to receive a message said as more of a hushed whisper.

"I am Vegapunk... Run away, then come back near the Punk Records by descending from the clouds..."

Enel simply nodded, before disappearing in a flash of light. He then waited around an hour or half an hour for the situation to calm down completely.

It seemed odd that Vegapunk knew of his ability to hear over such distances...

'I don't think I even informed dragon of this application of my fruit...'

Enel sat on a cloud for a while, before doing as instructed and descending towards the 'Punk Records' as quickly as he could.

There were no closed doors in the facility, seemingly awaiting his arrival...

Electricity in the entire laboratory seemed to have gone out, including generators, which meant no cameras, and no prying eyes.

And inside the gigantic laboratory, Enel was able to feel two men awaiting him in a side office...

He strolled in confidently, looking around with a curious gaze.

There were far too many interesting things to be found on Vegapunk's island, it was truly impossible for Enel to focus on everything at once.

One of the men Enel recognized. The masked man that had advised him to flee and return.

From closer, he could tell apart a few more details though...

The man wasn't exactly wearing a mask, it was in actuality, a futuristic metal helmet bearing the number 01 over the face.

He wore a very long dark coat with light-coloured patterns; the jacket has the words "Vegapunk 01" written at the bottom and "Caution" written on the left sleeve.

He also wore a pair of very large boots that ran all the way up to where his jacket ended, leaving little to no skin exposed.

The other person inside the room however was different...

Enel was looking at a relatively tall elderly man, a bit taller than Enel, who was currently 2.7 meters. Despite his gigantic build, his limbs were relatively slender.

He also had a remarkably long tongue which seemed to hang out.

He seemed to be mostly bald on top, but with spiky white hair on the sides, as well as a thick moustache. He wore rather casual clothing, a polka-dot shirt, dark pants, and shoes.

However, he had a noticeably elongated but neatly sliced head and has a shaft driven in to support a structure resembling the top of an apple core and its leaf.

Enel blinked a few times as he realised that the man in front of him simply didn't have a brain.

'How... Well, this island is a lot more advanced than I thought... I guess everything is possible.'

The man's large eyes seemed to be studying Enel without even a hint of fear.

It was only then that Enel started seeing some resemblance between the man in front of him, and Einstein, who really needed no introduction... Though the resemblance was faint.

"Sky King Enel... One of the Five Emperors. The one that tipped the scales and ruined the balance of the world in a short few months..." The masked man was the first one to speak.

"Dr Vegapunk... A pleasure to finally meet you. I've been hearing a lot about you..." Enel narrowed his eyes and smiled at the masked man, before turning to the other man with an odd gaze.

"And you must be?"

The man then smiled widely. "I am Vegapunk!" The old man continued smiling even as Enel looked at the two of them with confusion.

"We are both Vegapunk, I am one of the 6 'Satellites'. We all share one brain... You may call me Shaka..." The masked man bowed slightly, showcasing polite mannerisms one would hardly expect out of a mad scientist...

'6 satellites? So Vegapunk is actually 6 people?'

"And you must be...?" Enel then turned his head to the Vegapunk with the missing brain.

"I am the main body, the 6 satellites call me Stella, but you can just call me Vegapunk." The old man nodded and slowly gestured for Enel to take a seat.

The Emperor nodded and finally sat down.

'So there are actually 7 people sharing one brain... The main body included.'

"So... How may we assist you? We, unfortunately, don't have a lot of time, as the Government will definitely notice the outage soon..." Shaka spoke out as he crossed his arms and looked at Enel through his helmet.

"I'll cut things short then... I'm here on two different matters. First off, and most importantly... Do you know any way to assist Bartholomew Kuma?" Enel decided to start off with that matter, as it was truly the most pressing issue.

Vegapunk's eyes immediately widened, they seemed to be filled with both regret and shame.

"Kuma... He was resolute till the end... I failed him greatly as well..." Vegapunk shook his head as he spoke, Shaka also sighing a bit.

Enel just raised an eyebrow at that, unsure of the man's story with Kuma.

"I had promised him that I'd allow him to protect Strawhat's ship for two years as a Pacifista... But I was unable to uphold that promise."

The Scientist sighed in regret as he spoke, and Enel blinked a few times, having forgotten what had happened to the Thousand Sunny while the crew was away training.

"Alas, the World Government can no longer be reasoned with... He was immediately turned into a slave to protect the Holy Land... Though knowing the celestial dragons he was most likely just a toy to them." Vegapunk shook his head and Enel looked a bit to the side.

'Yet another thing I've influenced with my presence... It can't really be helped at this point. I'll just leave this one up to fate, I doubt Rayleigh would let anything happen to that ship anyway...'

"Unfortunately we are unable to reverse what has been done. He is the first human weapon, maybe with enough time I could attempt it, but I don't think I'd be able to do so under the World Government's watch."

Shaka spoke out this time, sharing his perspective as well, while also deciding to be the one to give Enel the 'Bad News'.

"Well, we do have a way to undo what has been done to him... In fact, we already have. He is no longer a Pacifista..." Enel crossed his gauntleted arms as he looked at both versions of Vegapunk.

Both Shaka and Vegapunk seemed to be staring at Enel with wide eyes at that time.

After all, how could such a thing be possible? It would warrant a genius just as great as Vegapunk's and a laboratory just as well equipped, which was impossible to find in the world.

"We used the powers of the 'Time Time Fruit'. Jewelry Bonney, Kuma's aunt, was able to reverse his body to a state before any cybernetic modifications were done to it..."

Enel nodded and decided to just tell them the truth, as there was no reason to lie to an ally. And Vegapunk's eyes seemed to become saucers, as the possibilities of that fruit seemed to be racing through his mind.

"Interesting... I did hear of that fruit before, but I thought the person using it had long since gone into hiding after escaping the World Government in the past... And to think they're related to Kuma..."

Vegapunk seemed to truly be overwhelmed for once, but it didn't last long, as the old man shook his head.

His mind seemed to immediately want to know more.

"So, if he's reversed to a previous position in time... How exactly can I help?"

"Well, his body has reversed. At first, he was in a sort of coma, but after waking up he was completely unresponsive... It's as if the lights are on, but there's nobody at home." Enel was quick to give a description of the situation, as detailed as he could.

Vegapunk nodded along, his long tongue bobbing up and down as he stroked his chin a bit.

It only took a few seconds in real-time for the greatest mind in the world to reach a conclusion.

"Memories..." The main body of the doctor said as Shaka also nodded.

"Before completing the transformation, I convinced Kuma to try something out. I wanted something to be left behind from him, even if he was to become a husk...

Before the final operation, he finally managed to do it... He used his devil fruit to expel his memories and life's experiences out of his body."

"... His devil fruit can do that?" Enel asked as he blinked a few times and tried to remember how the 'Paw Paw Fruit' appeared to work in the series.

It wasn't long before he remembered a rather iconic scene... When Kuma took out all of the pain and stress from Luffy's unconscious body.

He remembered Zoro being able to absorb it, having to go through a lot of pain in order to spare his captain's life.

'It's likely similar to that... But to think the Paw Paw Fruit can even extract memories... Wait... Memories are stored in the soul as well, right? Heh... I guess this does explain why Bonney wasn't able to heal him completely...'

Kuma hadn't just expelled his memories, he had inadvertently pushed out a part of his soul, the part that was most important which contained all of his memories.

Since Bonney's devil fruit wasn't able to affect souls, she was only able to heal his body, but his soul remained fragmented in a sense.

"... Things become quite straightforward from here then, I'm assuming you are keeping the memories bubble safe in this laboratory, right?" Enel asked as he slowly stood up.

"Yes... But transporting it would require a rather large container, I can provide that, but do you have any way to transport such a thing? And with extreme care, by the way..."

Vegapunk was ecstatic to hear that Kuma could have a chance at life again. He had worried that he killed him before, but now hope reignited in the old doctor.

"I can turn my gauntlets in a large flying ship, large enough to transport hundreds of people, so it should be large enough to envelop and transport any cargo with care..." Enel nodded as he crossed his arms.

"... In that case we'll quickly make preparations for the memories to be transported safely. We, unfortunately, don't have much time left, so we need to get everything done in a hurry."

Shaka quickly got to work, walking off and leaving the main body with Enel, who sighed as he now had some assurance that Kuma would get healed properly.

'Now, I hope they have enough time to talk about the other thing...'

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Hope you liked the chapter!

This one was around 3k words. Kinda long, but I didn't want to split up the Egghead interaction into 2 chapters 

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