In history, every great revolution has often been accompanied by countless sacrifices.
But for Dragon to speak up at this moment, his intent is quite clear. He's telling Nicholas that some sacrifices are necessary for the revolution's success.
Nicholas looked up at Dragon. Dragon also met Nicholas's gaze.
Their eyes met in midair, and they could see the calmness and depth in each other's expressions.
Nicholas could see that the revolutionary leader, who sought to liberate the entire world, had made the most rational decision. He also saw the struggle deep within his eyes. After all, it's hard for anyone to remain completely indifferent, especially when it means watching your own son be publicly executed by the World Government.
However, they were now just one step away from realizing their ideals.
For the many like-minded revolutionaries, all their efforts and sacrifices so far were for this very moment.
So, Dragon, who had held firm to his beliefs up to this day, would decisively cast aside his emotions, no matter how painful it was, and make the right choice in this situation.
Yes.
To seize this one and only opportunity, Dragon had decided to give up on his son, who was about to be publicly executed by the World Government.
Brrrring... Brrrring...
In the spacious hall, the only sound was the persistent ringing of the Den Den Mushi.
Dragon's gaze slowly shifted to the Den Den Mushi on the table in front of Nicholas.
Given the current situation, Dragon didn't want Nicholas to answer.
After all, no one knew what kind of conditions the Five Elders might have offered Nicholas. Although the chances were slim, there was still a possibility, right?
And Nicholas was also torn about whether to answer the Five Elders' call.
In the end, curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know what the World Government was up to.
Click.
Nicholas reached out, picked up the receiver, and connected the call.
Nicholas held the receiver but didn't speak, instead calmly watching the Den Den Mushi.
"Nicholas!"
An old voice came through from the other end, though the underlying anger in it was quite evident.
While Nicholas wasn't very familiar with the Five Elders, he could roughly identify which one was speaking based on the voice.
But that wasn't important at this moment. He just wanted to know why the World Government was reaching out to him.
"Hey, don't shout. I can hear you just fine," Nicholas said nonchalantly, holding the Den Den Mushi.
There was silence on the other end for about two or three seconds, as if they hadn't expected Nicholas to speak to them like that.
Then, another voice came through the Den Den Mushi: "Nicholas, hand over Vegapunk immediately, or else..."
"Have you all been in office so long that your brains don't work anymore? We're on opposing sides right now. Asking me to hand someone over—have you lost your minds?"
Before the voice could finish, Nicholas rudely interrupted.
Then, without giving the Five Elders a chance to respond, Nicholas hung up the phone directly.
"Vegapunk is with you!?" Kizaru and Dragon both spoke simultaneously, looking at Nicholas.
The shock in their voices was palpable, especially given what the Five Elders had just said.
"Yeah, he arrived today," Nicholas replied calmly, as if discussing a trivial matter.
...
At Udon Prison.
The once-mining area of Udon had been transformed by Kaido into the largest prison in Wano, where prisoners captured from Udon and other places were forced to mine and manufacture weapons.
After Nicholas's forces took over Udon, it was turned back into a simple mine.
"Hey... Is that red bean soup today?"
In a solitary prison once used in the Udon mines, the large figure of Queen was bound in seastone, leaning against the iron bars and drooling as he watched the guards push a food cart towards him.
During the battle on Lodestar Island, Queen, who lacked flying abilities, was captured. He was then returned to Wano and revisited Udon. But this time, he wasn't the top boss of Udon; he was just another prisoner.
"Mmm..."
The guard nodded, "Queen, enjoy this meal; it's your last."
Spurt!
The smile on Queen's face, brought on by the red bean soup, vanished instantly, replaced by a pale expression. He looked at the guard in disbelief.
"So soon?"
"Yes, the orders came down. You won't be staying here any longer."
The guard misunderstood Queen's question, shaking his head in response.
"What are you guys planning?"
Having enjoyed his delicious red bean soup, Queen was escorted by the guards. After about ten minutes, Queen couldn't take it anymore.
"If you're going to execute me, just do it already! There's no need to make me walk so far!"
The guard glanced at Queen, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Hey, isn't that Queen? A few days away, and you've let yourself go like this?"
At that moment, a teasing voice rang out. Queen then saw Judge Vinsmoke approaching with his children.
"Judge, you came to laugh at me?" Queen glared at Judge with his beady eyes.
They had never liked each other, even back when they worked together.
"Tch, you idiot. After all these years, what have you achieved that would make me look up to you? Your modifications are still as lousy as ever—flashy but impractical."
Judge retorted without mercy.
"At least I'm not a mad scientist who experiments on his own wife and kids!"
"And you'd love to experiment on your wife and kids, but do you even have any? Ugly, single, dumb dinosaur!"
"Say another word and I will make out with you right here right now!"
As the two argued fiercely, a voice suddenly rang out that made both of them freeze.
"Hey, isn't that the two fools who used to follow me around doing odd jobs? Why are you arguing?"
Both Judge and Queen turned their heads in disbelief towards the source of the voice.
Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
"Vegapunk!!"
At that moment, even though they had no idea why Vegapunk was there, they were utterly shocked.
Their instinctive reaction...
Was that it couldn't be real.
They knew very well how much the World Government valued Vegapunk, so how could he possibly slip away from under their noses?
But soon, they realized they weren't dreaming and that Vegapunk was indeed standing in front of them, especially when he started his usual taunting that brought back memories of their old days.
"Body modification technology, Queen, have you really just been adding fat to your brain? With the ideas I gave you, this is all you could come up with—useless scrap metal? Flesh is weak; mechanical ascension—you threw that idea out the window?"
"Judge, is this how you experiment with lineage factors on humans? Hmm? So many defective products, what a waste of my research. Oh, but this little guy isn't bad—he retained all his emotions and gained superhuman abilities through the lineage factor. But your technique was so poor that his potential has already been capped."
Judge and Queen were berated by Vegapunk like children being scolded, and they didn't dare talk back.
As for Niji, Yonji, and Reiju, they initially wanted to teach this arrogant person a lesson, but upon seeing Vista standing beside Vegapunk, they quickly decided to forgive him.