2.7 billion. This figure is already an incredibly intimidating number. Among the pirates still active on the seas, you could count those with a bounty higher than this on two hands.
Even within the Beasts Pirates, only Kaido at 4.677 billion and Arceus at 3.08 billion surpass this amount. For other pirate crews, only the captain typically has such a terrifying bounty, though the Red Hair Pirates are a bit of an exception, with Beckman’s bounty significantly higher than that of other officers.
Even if we rounded up all the remnants of the Rocks era, along with those retired monsters, this bounty would still rank among the highest.
The fact that the World Government has specifically marked him as “extremely dangerous” reflects just how seriously they regard him. Paired with the eternal “ONLY ALIVE” condition, he’s beginning to suspect that if Queen were to surrender, the World Government would cast him aside without hesitation, appointing Queen in his place.
The results of recent experiments make it clear.
Human gigantification experiment, Caesar failed.
Queen, however, managed to create terrifying war behemoths and even applied Lineage Factor technology, which has proven effective in battle.
Devil Fruit replication experiment, Caesar failed.
Queen, however, appears to have grasped a strange technology that can bring a Devil Fruit to life, which seems to have recently been confirmed as authentic.
In the Lineage Factor experiment, Caesar hasn’t shown much, whereas Queen has directly replicated all of Judge’s techniques, and even the previous Devil Fruit experiment is closely tied to the Lineage Factor.
Even in his area of expertise—mass destruction weapons—Caesar has now been surpassed. Or rather, Queen has never lost to him in this field.
In comparison, Caesar suddenly felt like he had become useless.
The two of them had known each other for too long. Clearly, they were evenly matched, and their fights had always ended in a draw. How could Queen suddenly become a top-tier scientist and even injure a Marine Admiral?
An Admiral-level fighter with dual-color Haki isn’t to be questioned. Against a Logia User who excels in Observation Haki, inflicting any injury is practically a hell-level difficulty, let alone causing a unique, hard-to-heal wound.
“I’m telling you, there’s definitely an issue with your Intelligence Branch! There’s no way Queen could do this—he doesn’t have that kind of capability. A human can’t achieve such an intellect boost in just a few years…unless he met a God!”
Before this incident, Caesar still had a bit of respect here and had cultivated a friendly persona. Although Queen’s frequent appearances had made him seem a little neurotic, the researchers and soldiers here still showed him a fair amount of respect.
“But…this was personally witnessed by Admiral Sakazuki. It wasn’t just a speculation from the Intelligence Branch…”
“Eyes can deceive. The main point is that Queen can’t accomplish this—got it?”
“But…that’s Admiral Sakazuki…”
“Why can’t you understand? The issue isn’t Akainu; it’s Queen!”
“I understand what you’re saying, but this information was obtained through combat by Admiral Sakazuki himself during a mission…”
Caesar felt something knocking around in his head, inexplicably causing him a headache. The three Admirals are the pillars of the Marines, and they have a profound influence on the organization.
Especially Sakazuki, known for his strict discipline, who would never joke around. There was no way he’d lie about something like this.
If Akainu said it, it must be true. No one within the Marines questioned it, so this intel received unanimous acceptance.
Vegapunk didn’t care whose technology it was; he just thinks it’s a great breakthrough. If the mysteries of Devil Fruits could be further unraveled, perhaps unlimited energy can appear in this world.
Engrossed in his research, he didn’t pay much attention to external matters, only adding a new project to his list.
Caesar alone held onto his original beliefs, thinking that everyone else was being deceived—that he was the only one still thinking clearly.
“Sooner or later, you’ll all regret this!”
Seeing that talking to these people was pointless, Caesar turned and headed back to his lab. With so many people insisting on one perspective, he started to doubt himself, but his ingrained beliefs reaffirmed his conviction.
And he made a new decision. If Queen could achieve this, then there was no reason he couldn’t. He would conduct new experiments as well.
The first step was to submit an application, to try and swindle the World Government into giving him more funding.
The expenses for food, drink, and entertainment were quite significant; without applying for some new funds, it might not be enough.
He wasn’t like Vegapunk; he was a hedonist, like Queen. Using all his funds solely for research was simply impossible for him.
Meanwhile, others also had different reactions.
“Mommy, Mommy, why did Daddy suddenly get so skinny?”
“Oh, my silly boy, that’s not your father. This is your father.”
On a pirate ship strewn with limbs, a not-too-bright-looking man was comparing bounty posters, and in front of him, a short woman held up another bounty poster belonging to Whitebeard.
“Oh! This one looks more like him. Mom, can we go look for Dad now?”
“No, no, my silly boy, it’s still a little too early for that.”
The woman stuffed the newspaper into her coat and walked into the cabin to search for treasures.
…
Elsewhere, Queen’s former colleague, Vinsmoke Judge, was also studying something new. Ever since witnessing the power of Genesect years ago, he had developed an idea for mecha.
Despite the emergence of more and more bio-weapons, he hadn’t shifted from his main direction; he was still following the development path of combining Lineage Factor, machinery and biology.
At that moment, a clone soldier was attempting to transform a heavy-looking mecha, but halfway through, the transformation failed, trapping the soldier inside.
“Father, it failed again. This metal is too rare, and standard methods can’t decompose or refine it. Our extraction efficiency is low, and it wastes a lot of material. Even when used just for some core components, it consumes an enormous amount of funds.”
Reiju looked at the failed experiment with calm indifference as she reported the specifics to Judge. The metal she mentioned was Arceus Steel. As Arceus’ power grew, it became easier to create such common things. Onigashima now had a warehouse full of Arceus Steel.
Aside from using it themselves, they melted it down and mixed it with other metals to create a degraded version, which they sold as custom military-grade products, earning a huge amount of money in return.
While it was a common sight in Onigashima—even used as some Pokémon’s snacks—this metal was extremely rare in the outside world.
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