Previously, Fishman Island had no sense of vigilance against outsiders, which was one of the reasons for the massive abductions of its population.
Earlier, Tiger had proposed updating Fishman Island’s household registration system to better manage the Fish-Man District, and after this attack, he had Jinbe assign people to monitor all newly arriving humans on the island.
This was not something the old Tiger would have been able to do.
And all of this was ultimately thanks to Queen.
Persecution paranoia can sometimes be contagious, but Tiger wasn’t like Queen, who constantly felt that someone was out to stab him in the back. This time, he just wanted to be prepared.
“Boss Tiger, Boss Jinbe, the banquet is ready. Everyone is waiting.”
At this moment, Aladine approached on behalf of the other members of the Sun Pirates.
As pirates, they had also inherited the tradition of throwing banquets. Neptune and Otohime were still arguing with those people, but neither Tiger nor Jinbe had any intention of getting involved.
This banquet was to celebrate Tiger’s rapid rise in strength, but the opening of the banquet was a bit unusual. Instead of giving a grand speech like an ordinary pirate, Tiger simply held the doctrine and rambled on the familiar subject to them.
…
Sanjuan Wolf was eventually thrown back into the Level 6 of Impel Down, returning to his days of endless darkness, and the fact that the test subject was returned meant that the experiments on him had concluded.
The one who conducted these experiments was not Vegapunk, but the experiment’s methodology was based on some of Vegapunk’s previous research.
Due to the failure of this experiment, and with some intelligence collected by the World Government, a special envoy was sent to meet Vegapunk.
“Dr. Vegapunk, I am an envoy representing the Five Elders. Please answer these questions truthfully.”
“I’m quite busy. Don’t you already know all of this? Why are you asking again?”
“This is an order from above. I’m just a humble worker. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”
His attitude was very respectful, not only because Vegapunk’s status within the World Government was still very high at the time, but also because he hadn’t yet reached the point where he had to be eliminated.
The real source of his nervousness was the man sharpening an axe nearby and Borsalino, who was filing his nails.
“Hurry up, then.”
“Alright, I’ll get started.”
As he spoke, the man activated the Visual Den Den Mushi to begin recording and pulled out several people’s information.
“Doctor, you are familiar with these people, right? Vinsmoke Judge, Caesar Clown, Queen, and Buckingham Stussy.
They were all members of the MADS research group and your former colleagues.”
“Don’t you all already know this? Do I need to tell you my gender and name again?”
Hearing the agent’s questions, Vegapunk didn’t respond directly. Faced with such pointless questions, he didn’t want to waste his time. So, he picked up a device resembling a laptop and began calculating new data.
“This is just a procedure… But you probably don’t know much about them now, so I’ll go over it again. Let’s start with Buckingham Stussy first.
This is her so-called son, Edward Weevil. I won’t waste time detailing what he’s done or what his abilities are. Also, she’s the most ordinary among the four.”
He then placed the other files one by one in front of Vegapunk.
“This is Queen. You should’ve heard his name frequently in recent years. To be precise, he’s been quite active these past few years.
Aside from this bounty, matters related to him include but are not limited to further research into Lineage Factor, various officers capable of using Kaido’s ability, war robots, bringing Devil Fruit to life, and war behemoths.
There’s quite a lot, so I won’t list everything in detail.”
“And here’s your former colleague who escaped from prison not long ago, Caesar Clown. Do you have anything to say about the Devil Fruits he’s created?”
When the Artificial Devil Fruits were mentioned, Vegapunk showed a bit of interest.
“Oh, you mean those defective products? If you want more of those half-baked things, I can make a batch for you anytime. Why? Are you suddenly interested in them again?”
“Doctor, please don’t play dumb. Among them, there were also perfected versions, and you should’ve seen those.”
“Perfected versions? They’re still somewhat flawed, but those so-called perfected ones do have some merit. It’s like someone glued a bunch of broken pieces back together. So, what’s your point?”
“Don’t rush, Doctor. There’s one last thing. First, according to the records you left behind, our experiment failed.”
“Oh, that? I told you a long time ago, those things are all failed, dangerous products, I told you to be careful!”
“Yes, but please take another look at this. This is the latest combat footage of Germa.”
After his defeat in a clash with Queen, Judge fled in fear and began new research. Germa continued its usual work, but this time, the footage showed significant changes in his children.
During battle, each of them carried a large box on their backs, and during the combat, those boxes transformed into mechas, appearing to mimic Zoan Users.
“Vinsmoke Judge has been researching these so-called mechas for quite a while, and most of his funds have been spent acquiring the Divine Metal. Recently, he developed this test model. After analyzing the information, their construction cost rivals that of two warships.
Doctor, the Five Elders have a question: why is it that these members of MADS, after leaving the group, have all achieved such remarkable success?
And yet, someone like you, with technology said to be 500 years ahead of the world, hasn’t managed to accomplish anything comparable?
Aside from those imitation dragons, you haven’t produced anything the government truly needs. Some people are running out of patience.”
Vegapunk’s research consumes enormous amounts of funding daily. With Vegapunk lacking significant results while his former colleagues thrived, the envoy was sent to investigate him.
At this point, Vegapunk realized that some things couldn’t be concealed any longer and brought the envoy to another laboratory, revealing a skeletal-looking machine.
“The Pacifista you wanted. Its head is equipped with a personnel identification system, capable of distinguishing pirates from allies. A laser cannon based on researching Admiral Kizaru’s Lineage Factor has also been installed.
Its design is modeled after the Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma. The cost is equivalent to just one warship, and it’s already ready for mass production.
As for the other things, they’ll need more time. If you’re not satisfied with this, then I can’t do anything about it.”
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