Chapter 113: Vegapunk Gets Spoiled!
Chapter 113: Vegapunk Gets Spoiled!
While the world was in an uproar over ONE PIECE and the Pirate King, there was one place that remained calm.
In the New World sea area, in the New World, on Punk Hazard.
At this time, there had been no poison gas incident here, nor had there been the battle between Akainu and Aokiji for the position of Admiral. There were no volcanoes, Magma, Iceberg, or blizzards on the island, and no large lake in the center.
Looking around, instead, there were dense green jungles everywhere, and traces of prehistoric Creatures and modern Animals could be seen. It was like the 'Little Garden' in the First Half of the Grand Line, but the area was much larger than the former, and the species were much richer.
The Research Institute base of the former Marine Science Unit, now the Academy of Science, stood tall in this vast jungle. Because its Height was far above the trees, a tower-like Building could be seen at a glance.
At the same time, to prevent wild Creatures from entering, a partition wall and Gate made of Steel were built around the Research Institute, covered with electric fences and pipes.
Soldiers wearing Army Uniforms stood guard and patrolled everywhere, holding Firearms.
The atmosphere of the entire Research Institute was extremely solemn, serious, and earnest amidst the occasional roars of beasts.
"The fusion of Zoan-type Devil Fruits with objects..."
In a Research Room filled with Monitors, a middle-aged man, less than two meters tall but with an unusually thick and long head like a large Radish, was wearing a loose White Coat. His Glasses-clad eyes scanned the contents of the Document in his hand, line by line.
He was the current Dean of the Academy of Science and the Director of the Devil Fruit Research Institute, Vegapunk.
"Interesting."
This Data/Files was escorted three hours ago by Members of CP6 in a Password box. He had originally thought it was a professional Report from other Researchers.
But as he read on, he found the content was rather disorganized and not rigorous at all. There was no experimental Data, only various conjectures.
Yet, these seemingly messy conjectures firmly held his eyes.
The content at the very beginning was about embedding Seastone in the Ship Bottom of a Warship, using the Aura of the Great Sea it emits to deceive the senses of Sea Kings, allowing the Warship to avoid Sea King attacks to the greatest extent possible and Voyage smoothly through the Calm Belt.
In the original Timeline, this was a Technology he would only conceive of nearly twenty years later. Seeing it in advance naturally piqued his interest.
However, this alone was not enough to make Vegapunk take it seriously.
The key was the later content about the origin, essence, and cycle mechanism of Devil Fruits, their relationship with Lineage Factors, the Vortex Language similar to Ability encoding, and the idea of making Substance 'eat' Devil Fruits. These were the reasons he had been immersed for so long.
These were also things he would Research in the future, and now it was essentially spoiling his 'past' self.
"Zoan-type Devil Fruits inherently contain Lineage Factors. This is a Matter I only recently noticed. As for the Will similar to Beast Soul within them, I hadn't thought of that..."
"But where did the World Government get these?" Vegapunk frowned, deep in thought.
He didn't believe there were Researchers who had delved deeper into the fields of Lineage Factors and Devil Fruits than himself. Lineage Factors were something he had discovered first.
Vegapunk continued to turn the page, finding that the content afterward had nothing to do with Devil Fruits again.
Things like Paddlewheels installed on both sides of Warships, power plants utilizing Sunlight, wind power, and geothermal energy, and various conjectures about Long-Range Missiles, Satellites, and the Internet.
"Hmm?"
Looking at the last page, it turned out to be a drawing. On it was a relatively large humanoid Robot, spitting out bright yellow Laser beams. Various explanations and a rough manufacturing process were attached next to it.
This 'rough' process was a bit too rough, but Vegapunk still keenly noticed the keywords.
"Shape Memory Alloy with inherent Lineage Factors, the Human Heart!"
To be honest, for a moment, even he, who was said to possess Wisdom five hundred years beyond that of Humans, was somewhat confused.
"Let me think, Zoan-type Devil Fruits inherently contain Lineage Factors, so making metal 'eat' them means the metal gains Lineage Factors, and this is Shape Memory Alloy?"
Vegapunk felt something wasn't quite right. He felt that this Shape Memory Alloy shouldn't be so easy to manufacture, but there was one point he agreed with.
That is, making objects 'eat' Zoan-type Devil Fruits might really be possible!
He was preparing to start experiments to see. For a Scientist, no matter how outlandish an idea, experimentation can reveal whether it is feasible or not.
"Although this entire Document is filled with various conjectures lacking rigor, it does point me in a relatively clear Research direction..."
This also made Vegapunk's mood more complex. He was now a little worried whether the World Government had found a Researcher who could replace him.
It wasn't that he had a great fondness for the World Government; after all, he was essentially kidnapped and brought here by force. However, he had to admit that Research here was completely uninhibited. Whether it was money, equipment, or Research materials, he could basically get as much as he wanted.
Devil Fruits, treasures worth at least one hundred million Berry outside, could be transferred to him five or six at any time if he needed them!
"Huh, there's more?"
Just as he was about to put away the Documents, Vegapunk was surprised to find there was another File Bag in the Password box. He casually opened it and took it out, and his Pupil immediately trembled.
"The Climate Improvement Plan for Future Country Baldimore!"
After reading the contents of the Plan, his hands trembled slightly. The World Government was actually preparing to help him solve the extreme cold Climate of his hometown.
According to the Plan, if needed, they could even dispatch the current Admiral Candidate Vice Admiral Akainu and Vice Admiral Kizaru, using their Logia System Awakening to forcibly change the Island Climate of Future Kingdom.
But if they did that, the ice and snow on the island would melt rapidly due to the sudden warming, leading to widespread flooding. Therefore, they could consider relocating the Residents beforehand and, after Baldimore Island's Environment stabilizes, dispatch the Construction Department to build the necessary Building facilities.
Vegapunk understood the World Government's meaning.
They were willing to use their greatest financial resources, Manpower, Technology, and even high-level Combat Power for his hometown, but how exactly to do it still required his personal planning. After all, he was the top expert in this area.
Of course, if he needed help from Scholars in related fields, that was also fine. He just needed to make a list of the Talent he wanted!
"..."
Silence, a long Silence. Vegapunk sat in his chair looking at the Document in his hand. He was very touched, but his rationality was also telling him that this was the World Government 'buying his loyalty'.
So the question was, could the happy future of his hometown buy his loyalty?
"Dr. Vegapunk, the CP6 Ship has entered the Port. They brought Buggy, the Trainee from the former Roger Pirates."
This was a Report from the Monitoring room.
"Buggy, is that the kid who is said to have a lot of Talent in Explosives? First, lead him to the guest room to rest, give him a day to Familiarize himself with the Environment here, and arrange a Teacher for him the day after tomorrow."
To be honest, Vegapunk wasn't really interested in Explosives, nor did he have time to personally teach Buggy. He just wanted to continue immersing himself in his Research on Devil Fruits.
"Yes."
"Also, transfer two Zoan-type Devil Fruits and two renowned swords to me. I need them for experiments."
"Yes!"
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(End of Chapter)