Chapter 218: Secret Underground Base

Flying through the air with axe in hand, I ignored all the attacks sent my way, whether it be cannon balls, trees, small mountains, or even Bege's fist itself; they couldn't so much as leave a scratch on my body. The only way for them to touch me was if I wanted to be, so this was an utter one-sided battle; though, given Bege's devil fruit, he had an incredible level of endurance, and since I wasn't going all out, considering Grand was still inside of him causing mayhem, I slowly whittled him down, which took much longer than I would've liked thanks to his massive size.

'I might as well be fighting a sea king on land; his endurance is something to be respected, though I'm curious how it compares to Captains. I've seen him injured on multiple occasions but never truly exhausted; even when he finishes his training sessions, he looks fine.' Mused Mael with a thoughtful expression as he danced through the air, dodging numerous cannon balls, which wasn't required, though he was using this as practice.

Lunging toward Bege, I flew around his outstretched arm, which had just tried to punch me, and left behind a burning, spiral slash across his arm, causing him to grunt in pain before opening his mouth, causing a large cannon to emerge from his throat. With a loud explosion, a massive cannonball came flying right toward me; raising my axe, I bathed it in my plasma before powerfully slicing down, cutting right through the enormous cannonball while a wave of plasma was launched towards Bege, which landed on his body, leaving behind a deep cut burning cut across his torso.

For the next several minutes, I continued to whittle down Bege, making slow but constant progress, well, that was until I saw a large man get flung out from Bege's gate, followed by Grand leaping out of and landing in the lake, causing me to slightly grin as I no longer needed to hold back.

"Finally, I can get this stupid fight over with." Remarked Mael with a slight grin as he raised his axe above him, manifesting another cruel sun, though compared to previously, it was slightly bigger but was several times denser.

Clenching my hilt, I flexed my muscles and hurled the cruel sun at Bege, who, having learned from last time, attempted to dodge it instead of block it, but it was pointless; after all, I could control where it went, and before he had enough time to dodge again, it collided against his chest, only for it to rapidly expand and engulf him in an explosion.

Lowering my axe, I descended to the ground beside the lake just as Grand emerged from it, though he was covered in numerous leeches, which he promptly ripped off before tossing them back into the lake.

"Tch, took you long enough, Grand; what were you doing, having a tea party?" Asked Mael with a click of his tongue as he looked at Grand while holstering his axe on his back, his words causing him to scoff in annoyance while tossing the last leech into the lake.

"Sorry, but even if I'm stronger than everyone inside Castle Bege, it was still a castle; half the time, I ran around aimlessly, searching for enemies to beat up. I still don't know if I got everyone." Replied Grand in annoyance as he removed his shirt and eyed Mael while twisting it, squeezing all the water out of it before doing the same with his pants.

"Hmph, whatever, the fight is over, so we can continue with the bet; I'll only be satisfied if I lose to Sebas. Freyja's a slut, and Captain is a battle junkie; I find it quite humiliating to lose to those two." Stated Mael with a snort as he folded his arms and started walking the way they originally intended to walk while Grand closely followed.

"What about Bege? Is he dead?" Questioned Grand curiously as he gestured to the smoking crater, causing Mael to stop and furrow his brows before heading toward it.

Arriving at the crater, I spread my wings and flapped them a few times, dispersing the smoke and dust, only to see a massive crater with an unconscious and wounded Bege at the bottom of it; raising my eyebrow, I glided down towards the bottom and inspected him closely.

"He looks alive to me; do you intend to kill him?" Asked Grand loudly from atop the crater as he looked down, only for Mael to dismissively wave his hand, confusing him.

Reaching down, I grabbed Bege by his leg and tossed him over my shoulder, carrying him like a sack as I flew out of the crater and landed beside Grand, who was looking at me weirdly.

"We'll take him for now; he's got a unique devil fruit, and Captain may have some use for him. Having a portable castle would be a nice thing to have." Said Mael lightly as he glanced at Grand before walking in the previous direction, leaving the battlefield behind, which was littered with numerous bodies, most alive, though some were dead.

"So, um, are we going in the right direction?" Asked Grand awkwardly as he rubbed his head while observing his surroundings before glancing at Mael, who grunted and shook his head.

"Is there even a right direction to begin with?" Asked Mael lightly, his words causing Grand to frown before nodding in agreement.

"No, I suppose not." Muttered Grand as he nodded before closing his mouth, the two walking silently as they headed deeper into the forest.

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"Hoho, what a peaceful walk through the forest! This is the life I wish to enjoy when I retire. I just wish I had a lovely woman to join me." Said Sebas softly with a smile as he walked through the forest, only to nearly trip over something.

Catching myself using my telekinesis, I fixed my leg pants and looked at what I had tripped over, only to notice it was a poorly hidden hatch; squatting down, I brushed aside the leaves, sticks, and dirt before trying to open the hatch, only to frown.

'Hmm, maybe I should turn it first.' Mused Sebas lightly as he turned the wheel counterclockwise, causing the hatch to unlock, allowing him to open it successfully without trouble.

"Hoho, Captain would never." Muttered Sebas with a chuckle as he looked down the hatch, only to notice a small passageway with a ladder that went for seemingly forever.

'Sometimes a leap of faith is needed.' Thought Sebas lightly as he stepped over the hatch, floating in the air before rapidly descending down the passageway.

For roughly a full minute, I descended until the bottom finally came into view, prompting me to lower my speed as I gently landed on the ground; there was nothing unique down here other than there being only one way to go, which was being blocked by a vault door. Approaching the door, I grabbed the handle and tried to twist it, which, surprisingly, worked as I opened the vault door before closing it behind me, only to be met with a big room full of numerous advanced technological machines, though, what really caught my eye was the large test tubes filled with green liquids that various creatures occupied, including humans.

"Oh dear, what is this? Which mad scientist did we happen to stumble across today?" Muttered Sebas with raised eyebrows as he looked at the numerous tubes of various animals, which ranged from full bodies to mere pieces such as limbs or even teeth.

While walking through the room, I looked around, searching for who was in charge of this place; however, despite having spread my psionic energy in search of any active minds, I found none, but I did find something that interfered with my psionic energy, which I promptly headed towards even though it might not have been the smartest decision since I was by myself.

However, when I arrived near whatever was interfering with my psionic energy, I heard a quiet voice in the distance, causing me to stop as I hid behind something, only to peek around it and glance at an old man wearing a lab coat and an aluminum foil hat sitting at a desk, fiddling around with what seemed to be body parts, only for him to through them in the distance a few moments later while mumbling to himself.

"No, no, it won't work… C'mon… dammit." Muttered the old man quietly as he grabbed several other body pieces and began smashing them together.

Frowning, I attempted to enter the man's mind, but I couldn't, as the aluminum foil hat was interfering with my psionic energy. So, I simply created a strong gust of wind that knocked his hat off, and just as he reached down to grab it, I entered his mind and took control of him, though while searching through his memories, I saw some things better left unseen.

"Oh dear, this is one weird Man." Muttered Sebas as he approached the old man, who was standing still with a hazy look in his eyes.