25: “Judge hasn’t shown his face in two or three years,” Vergo said with open disdain.
“If Germa’s warships didn’t occasionally appear around the North Blue, and if their weapons weren’t still circulating through the underworld, I would have assumed the entire organization had died out.” The Donquixote Family’s main competitor in the North Blue was Germa, so Vergo had little reason to speak kindly of them.
Despite its reputation in the underworld, Germa had little presence in ordinary North Blue society.
Many people regarded it as little more than a legend.
The reason was simple.
Germa possessed no fixed territory.
Its kingdom existed aboard a mobile fleet, allowing it to remain secretive and difficult to locate.
Its history stretched back centuries.
Germa was an ancient kingdom that valued science and military power, but it had been declining for more than a hundred years.
After inheriting the throne at a young age, Vinsmoke Judge dedicated himself to restoring Germa and once again conquering the North Blue.
Judge had displayed remarkable scientific talent since childhood.
To acquire the advanced technology needed for Germa’s revival, he left the kingdom and traveled widely.
During those travels, he met Dr.
Vegapunk.
The two later helped establish an illegal civilian research organization known as MADS.
Its members were all exceptional scientists.
Among them were Queen, who would eventually become one of the Beasts Pirates’ three All-Stars; Buckingham Stussy, a former member of the Rocks Pirates; and Caesar Clown.
MADS was still active.
Judge’s unexpected call to Doflamingo was directly connected to it.
“The reason Judge has been absent from the North Blue is that he hasn’t been here at all,” Doflamingo explained.
“He has spent the past several years in the New World as part of a research group called MADS, studying technologies at the forefront of science.” “Germa is already a technological power,” Vergo said after ordering drinks.
“That doesn’t sound particularly surprising.” Gladius was studying the menu with obvious interest.
Doflamingo reached over and tapped him lightly on the head.
“You may be sitting in a tavern, but you’re ordering something without alcohol.
You’re still growing.” “But Boss, I heard you started smoking and drinking when you were six,” Gladius protested.
That was true.
Doflamingo had been born a Celestial Dragon.
His childhood in Mary Geoise had been filled with indulgence, boredom, and excess.
Combined with his naturally rebellious personality, it meant he had acquired several bad habits at an absurdly young age.
Doflamingo nodded calmly.
“Which means I’m more qualified than most to tell you not to do it.” Gladius stared at him.
That hardly seemed fair.
The bartender soon brought their drinks.
Ignoring the boy’s resentful expression, Doflamingo took a sip from his glass.
“Judge contacted me because he wants money.” “He hopes the Donquixote Family will invest in MADS.” Vergo looked genuinely surprised.
“Germa’s weapons business is extremely profitable.
That’s the entire reason we’ve considered taking part of its market.” “Judge is still short of money?” “Scientific research is a bottomless pit,” Doflamingo replied.
That was true in any era and any world.
Serious scientific progress required enormous amounts of capital.
Advanced laboratory equipment could cost hundreds of millions or even billions of Berries.
The most sophisticated devices were often unavailable at any price.
Even someone willing to spend ten billion Berries might fail to find a seller.
Such equipment was worth far more than the heads of most pirates.
MADS had gathered some of the world’s greatest scientists, and they were pursuing equally ambitious projects, particularly in biotechnology.
Vegapunk had originally left his homeland because he lacked the money to realize his ideas.
When he found a wealthy collaborator in Judge, he eagerly accepted the opportunity to work together.
Judge had initially been delighted.
Then the expenses began accumulating.
By the time he understood the scale of the problem, he had already invested too much to escape easily.
At their current rate of spending, even selling Germa ten times over would not provide enough money.
Yet Judge could not abandon the research.
Vegapunk and the others were exploring technologies far too valuable to surrender.
After investing so much, stopping halfway would mean losing everything.
So Judge began using every connection he possessed to attract outside investors.
The previous victim had been Du Feld, an underworld financier known for issuing high-interest loans.
Du Feld was already enormously wealthy and would eventually become one of the Emperors of the Underworld.
Within criminal business circles, his status would one day rival Doflamingo’s position as a broker.
Only within the underworld, of course.
Judge and Du Feld had known each other for years through their shared criminal connections.
Judge persuaded him to pour substantial funds into MADS.
Du Feld received almost nothing in return.
The organization produced no marketable results, and he eventually grew tired of financing it.
He withdrew his investment.
Worse, Judge’s behavior left him furious enough to use his influence throughout the underworld to isolate MADS.
After that, Judge found it nearly impossible to secure additional funding in the New World.
The shortage became severe enough that MADS could no longer continue operating there.
Its members eventually decided to relocate to the North Blue, where Judge’s connections and Germa’s infrastructure would make their situation easier to manage.
That was when Judge remembered the Donquixote Family.
Over the past several years, it had risen rapidly to become the North Blue’s largest smuggling organization.
It controlled mines, trafficked slaves, moved contraband, and operated numerous illegal businesses.
According to the rumors, the Family was extremely wealthy.
If Judge could persuade Doflamingo to invest, MADS might survive for another year or two.
That might not be enough to reach a finished result, but it could buy them time for circumstances to change.
So Judge contacted Doflamingo and praised MADS extravagantly, speaking as though a sufficiently large investment would immediately generate enormous returns.
“So you rejected him?” Vergo asked.
“No.” A calculating light passed through Doflamingo’s eyes.
“I told him I would consider it for two days before giving him an answer.” “In reality, I had already decided to accept before the call ended.” If Doflamingo’s memory was correct, the original Doflamingo had probably developed some connection to MADS around this period.
Perhaps he had also invested in Judge’s research.
That might explain how he later formed such a close partnership with Caesar.
But that was not the most important consideration.
Doflamingo believed MADS was approaching its collapse.
The group had not yet produced a complete commercial breakthrough, but its scientists were already close to something extraordinary.
They had successfully established the theory of the Lineage Factor and were on the verge of uncovering what could be called the blueprint of life.
At that crucial point, the World Government discovered their research.
It intervened immediately.
Vegapunk and Caesar were taken into government custody and forced to work within its scientific institutions.
Queen escaped and, after moving from place to place, eventually joined the Beasts Pirates as one of its senior officers.
Buckingham Stussy likely disappeared into hiding and began working toward the creation of Edward Weevil.
Judge returned to Germa.
Using the theoretical advances and cloning technology developed by MADS, he created Germa’s clone soldiers and later began altering the Lineage Factors of his own children to grant them superhuman abilities.
Doflamingo estimated that the collapse would occur within the next six months to a year.
So Judge’s claim that MADS was close to producing results was not entirely dishonest.
Doflamingo wanted to involve himself because he had already set his sights on Queen and Caesar.
Both were highly valuable scientists.
If he could recruit them into the Donquixote Family immediately after MADS disbanded, his weapons business would gain the technical foundation it lacked.
The Family might also acquire access to cutting-edge biotechnology.
Queen interested him most.
He was not merely a gifted researcher.
He was also an extremely powerful fighter.
That combination made him precisely the kind of person Doflamingo wanted.
Even if the investment produced no direct return, funding MADS now could create the relationship he needed to recruit its members later.
He would pay first so that when the organization collapsed, he would already be waiting to take its best people.