40 Chapter 39
Karakuri Island, a Winter Island in Paradise, where Baldimore, the Future Country, existed.
It was a very special Island, and perhaps the most famous thing about it was that it was the birthplace of the genius scientist, Dr Vegapunk.
This was also where Vegapunk's first laboratory was situated.
After continuously sailing for five days, the Black Pearl reached the waters of Karakuri Island, and Sin stood on the Forecastle Deck, staring at the Island with a thoughtful look.
"Why are we here, Sin?"
The young lady, who was standing by his side finally asked the question that had been looming on her mind for some time now.
Hancock was one of the only two people in the world who knew something about Sin's past, and she knew that he would not decide to come to this place for nothing.
Yes, creating Chaos here would add to their infamy, but now that the position of a Warlord was already in Sin's grasp, it was not wise to do such a thing.
After all, this place was very important to the World Government. Or that was what they showed to the World.
"You are after something specific in his lab?" She seriously asked.
"Not really." Sin shook his head, and Hancock was relieved with his answer.
"Then?"
"We will see if we can find anything useful to us in his lab." He said and planted a kiss on her cheek. "And don't worry. I plan to be discrete about it for now."
She believed him and nodded her head and then curiously asked a question.
"Where did you drop off Cancer and Yukimaru?"
Sin had disappeared yesterday evening with the two prisoners after their Bounties and Images had been updated as he had requested, and he had not returned until dawn.
"Nanimonai Island." He grinned, and Hancock could not help her giggles.
It was an uninhabited Island. An Island that was in truth the faeces of a Giant Goldfish after it ate a whole island over a hundred years ago.
Needless to say, it was not a place people willingly visited.
"And you waited for the Marines to pick them up?" She guessed.
"Yes. And looted the ship that came to pick them up." He grinned again.
"Good!"
They both laughed and then turned to look at the rest of the crew who had come out from inside and looked ready to visit the new country.
Sin looked in surprise when he saw the young ladies standing behind Bonney, and it was the same for everyone else too.
"All of you look beautiful," Hancock commented when she looked at the aged-up versions of Kuina, Nami and Nojiko, who were now in their twenties.
The two sisters had been pestering Bonney to show them what they would look like when they would become older, and it seemed like the pinkette had finally given in.
"Thank you!" Nami gleefully replied, and Nojiko too seemed happy to be called beautiful by Hancock and the rest. And they expressed their happiness by happily grinning at each other.
Yes, they had been aged up, but they were still little girls in mind.
Only Kuina was a little shy when she found Sin's eyes scanning her body.
"What's the plan?" Sin curiously smiled and finally turned to look at Bonney, who had aged herself up into a middle-aged lady.
"We want to see Baldimore!" She informed him. "Can we mess with the Marines later?"
"It is fine. I only plan to take Robin and Hancock with me to Vegapunk's lab. You guys can have fun in one of the cities."
"What?" The pinkette frowned at his words, but after she saw him nod his head, she pouted and accepted his arrangement.
Yes, she wanted to come with him, but since Sin had already decided, she could only accept his arrangement.
"Take Augur and the doctors with you." He told her, and the tall man stepped forward to follow his command.
"What about us, Captain?" Hachi curiously asked.
"You and Bepo are responsible for hunting our food."
Hachi seemed happy with the arrangement and nodded his head before walking to the helm where Bepo was and informing him about Sin's order.
After the Black Pearl was anchored on a remote side of the Island, thanks to Sin scouting the Island, the crew was ready for day.
Sin had spent a good hour assembling a lightning storm over Karakuri Island, just so that his lighting flash would not catch the attention of people as he moved around to drop his crew off at different places.
"Let's go." Sin dropped off Bonney, Augur, and the girls outside the biggest city on the Island, and then sent Hachi and Bepo to a forest.
Finally, he took Robin and Hancock with him to the place they were here to check.
It was so easy to find the Lab on the Island, after all, there were two distinctive bolts atop the tallest mountain where the lab was situated.
The guards who were statioed at one of the entrances of the lab did not even know what hit them, and they just lost consciousness, dropping like sacks on the ground.
It was then that three hooded individuals appeared at the scene, and then they calmly walked into the tunnel, which was the entrance.
There was a steel door in front of them when they descended the stairs, and without being asked, Hancock stepped forward and used her powers by placing her hand on it.
The door, which was nearly a foot thick, melted so easily under the Hellfire that if there was anyone to witness it, they would have been utterly scared of these beautiful purple flames.
All three of them kept their hoods on since there was a possibility that there were cameras inside the lab, but their caution proved unnecessary since they discovered no such cameras or even more guards inside the lab.
Since the Marine Base of Karakuri Island was only half a mile away from this place, it made sense that this place was not heavily guarded by them.
Who in his right mind would take the risk to come here?
Not to mention, there was nothing of great importance inside this place. Well, at least not to the World Government.
Sin, Robin, and Hanock rummaged through stuff and materials related to the study of cyborgs. And the two girls kept glancing at their Captain from time to time, observing his expressions.
Experimentation on living beings was something Sin was very uncomfortable with. In fact, he detested such a thing. And everything they found inside the lab was related to cyborg research.
Even as they went deeper and deeper inside the lab, observing the passages Vegapunk had built with the help of Cyborgs to provide an artificial heating mechanism for the Island, they did not come across anything valuable or useful to them.
"Sin, why are we here?" Robin grabbed his arm and stopped him from inspecting another wall inside the lab.
He had been doing it for the last two hours now, and both of them had realised that he was here for something specific.
"There should be a hidden laboratory here where Vegapunk's did some research on future weapons."
"Other than Cyborgs?" Hancock asked.
"Yes."
"And how do you know this?" Robin narrowed her eyes at him and asked.
"It was in Mors' diary." He finally told them and apologetically smiled when the two girls widened their eyes in disbelief.
They both stopped themselves from reprimanding him, and the pregnant silence reigned between them for a good minute.
"Sin," Robin calmed herself down and looked him in the eyes. "We don't need weapons."
"I know, Robin. But even if we don't need them, we would at least know what they are. It is good to be prepared." He sighed. "Mors wanted to visit this place to check on what sort of weapons his colleague had worked on before the formation of MADS. It was one of his objectives which he had marked as a top priority, so, whatever conversation he once had with Vegapunk was something that intrigued him a lot."
"He was a madman, Sin. You of all people know that better than anyone." His little sister reminded him.
"And how many years has it been since MADS was disbanded? 16? Also, Vegapunk now works for World Government." Hancock too reminded him.
Sin knew what she meant.
Vegapunk might have collected everything regarding those weapons from this place in the last few years, but there was a possibility that something valuable was still hidden here.
"Let's search for the entrance of the secret laboratory." He said to them and got back to observing the walls and the floor, looking for any trapdoor and hidden entrance.
Robin and Hancock exchanged a meaningful glance and then nodded before helping him find the entrance.
The three of them spent another twelve hours in the lab, trying to find the entrance and taking care of the batch of guards who came for their night shift.
They realised that they did not have much time left, and they were already utilising their Observation Haki to the best of their ability, trying to find even the little clues.
"Sin!"
Finally, Robin's call sounded out and both of them rushed to her place.
"This should be it." She was standing in front of an ordinary-looking wall, deep inside the Laboratory.
There were not any visible signs, but when they touched it, both of them felt a slight change in the temperature of this wall when compared to the wall adjacent to it.
Without wasting any time, Hancock immediately got to work, and to their delight, there was indeed a chamber hidden behind the wall.
It was not a big chamber, and here, they found a lot of research material, including research on advanced Cyborgs, precisely Human-Cyborgs.
However, they also found what they were looking for. Several blueprints of advanced and highly dangerous weapons, ranging from Laser Weapons to Advanced Machine Guns, Mega Robots to Miniature Robots, and Suicide Bugs.
Even though they were not scientists, the blueprints and research fascinated them a lot, and the three of them started packing up everything valuable.
This technology was beyond what could be currently weighed with money, but they did not plan on selling it. It could be well their trump card if the day ever comes.
After they turned the chamber upside down and even destroyed the walls to see if there was another extension of this lab, Hancock proceeded to burn the entire room down before they ran away.
"Set sail!" Hancock immediately ordered when Sin dropped her and Robin on the ship along with the data they had collected from the lab.
"Were we spotted?" Robin asked Bonney, who was frowning at their urgency.
"No. We kept a watch, and the ship has not been spotted by the Marines. None of us was recognised on the Island either." The Pinkette told her.
"I see."
Black Pearl slowly started sailing away from the Winter Island, and they had only managed to gain a distance of a couple of kilometres when a massive explosion occurred on the Island's tallest mountain.
They all stared at the giant plume of smoke from far away. It was middle of the night, and the sight was something to behold.
However, soon a bolt of lightning that landed on their deck caught their attention.
"That was fun!" Sin laughed as he glanced at the destruction he has caused. "Hachi. I am hungry!" He told his chef before nodding to his Vice-Captains and taking all the data to hide in a secret room inside the Captain's Quarters.
