The beasts in the forest seemed startled, rushing frantically toward the direction where the pillar of lightning had landed.
A massive deep crater was blasted into the ground, and flames leaped from the bottom of the pit, igniting the snow-covered trees surrounding it.
Meltwater trickled down the tree trunks, billowing thick smoke and dust.
Amidst the smoke and dust, a figure staggered to his feet.
Rector covered his face, blood staining the corner of his mouth, wincing and wailing at the same time.
“Holy crap!
Zephyr’s fists are way too hard!”
“He took lightning head-on just to punch me!
I almost got disfigured!”
He raised a hand to touch his swollen cheek.
With every step he took, his internal organs throbbed with a pulling pain.
“Why do all these old Marine bastards like hitting people in the face so much?!”
Rector jumped out of the massive crater, his hair blown out and frizzled like dried hay.
The clothes on his upper body had long been torn to shreds by the lightning and shockwave.
Yet an excited smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
“Monsters are hidden in the Marines of every era.”
“Too bad by the next era, the Marines are all Logia users, and you can’t even find a single person who has awakened Conqueror’s Haki.”
“Outsider!
Are you an outsider?”
A young man’s voice came over with excitement, as if seeing an outsider on this island was some rare occurrence.
Rector was still covering his face.
His Observation Haki had long since sensed someone approaching, but he simply hadn’t cared.
When he saw the appearance of the newcomer clearly, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly upward: “That is a really huge head.”
The smoke and dust cleared, revealing the person opposite him.
He had a head at least thirty centimeters tall, with two eyebrows standing abruptly in the middle of his forehead, and the outline of his head shaped like an elongated heart.
He was wearing thick winter clothes and carried a hunting rifle on his back.
Two modified creatures followed by his side: one was a beetle-like mechanical creature.
Its original shell had been replaced with heavy metal plates, the single horn on its head thickened into a metal cannon barrel, its compound eyes replaced with red laser sensors, and all six legs were hydraulic mechanical limbs.
The other was a snow hound, its chest, jaw, and limbs wrapped in silver-gray steel plates.
Its muzzle had been modified into a cannon barrel, its eyes were electronic scanning lenses, metal fins for heat dissipation grew on its back, and exposed pipelines were visible all over its body.
Inside Vegapunk’s laboratory.
The thick stone walls blocked the raging blizzard outside, and the firewood in the indoor stove crackled.
The orange-red firelight cast a warm glow across the design blueprints and metal parts covering the walls.
Rector and Vegapunk sat around the wooden table near the stove, both holding warm teacups with faint wisps of white steam drifting from the rims.
“Having a cup of hot tea after eating your fill, don’t you feel much more comfortable?” Vegapunk set down his teacup and spoke.
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Rector felt the changes inside his body; the food he had just eaten was continuously transforming into energy, slowly repairing his damaged internal organs.
The specialty of the Iron Balloon lay not only in its extremely high defense, but it also came with formidable self-healing abilities.
As long as there was sufficient food replenishment, returning to peak condition was only a matter of time.
Rector looked around; the walls were hung with modification methods, ideas, and future visions regarding Baljimoa!
“You want to modify the winter island environment of your hometown, Baljimoa.
I can help you with this matter.”
“Really?!”
Vegapunk abruptly stood up, slamming both hands heavily onto the tabletop, causing the blueprints on the table to roll up and ripples to stir within the teacups.
He stared at Rector with excitement filling his eyes.
“You are willing to take me away from Baljimoa?”
This winter island was frozen year-round, and the freezing weather made material transportation extremely difficult, preventing the island from developing at all.
There was no signature industry like Drum Island here, and it simply couldn’t attract caravan merchants and tourists.
Vegapunk could only rely on his own research abilities to modify the ferocious beasts on the island, turning them into semi-mechanical creatures that obeyed commands.
These modified creatures temporarily eased the labor shortage on the island, but they still could not change the barren and freezing current state of the island.
He had always wanted to research a heating device that could change the climate of the entire island, but after studying all the books and materials he could find on the island, he still hadn’t figured out a theoretical direction for regulating large-scale climate.
At most, he could only install heating equipment in residents’ rooms.
The heated corridors connecting various households in his original plan had never broken ground due to insufficient funds.
He was too eager to go out to sea, wanting to go to the Tree of Knowledge in the West Blue to read more books.
As long as he could read all the collection of books accumulated by the Tree of Knowledge over hundreds of years, he would definitely find a method to change his hometown’s climate and become the greatest scientist in the world.
Right now, he was even more urgently in need of an investor—one who could support him in doing research nonstop.
Rector narrowed his eyes slightly, the firelight of the stove reflecting in the depths of his eyes.
All these thoughts in Vegapunk’s mind were clearly captured by his Observation Haki.
“I can fund your research with money, but you also have to do things for me.”
“You?”
Vegapunk raised his eyes to look him over, clear suspicion carrying within his gaze.
No matter how he looked at it, he was just an underage youth, even younger than himself, looking to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.
“You probably don’t know who I am yet.
Let me introduce myself, my name is Charlotte Rector.”
“Charlotte?!” Vegapunk frowned in thought, feeling like he had heard this name somewhere before.
“Wait!
You are Big Mom’s son?”
“That’s right.”
Since the Marines had sent Zephyr to capture him, his identity had long been exposed.
Even if he didn’t say it now, once Vegapunk was brought out onto the open sea, he would find out sooner or later.
Vegapunk furrowed his brows even tighter, his heart extremely conflicted.
Toward the identity of pirates, he instinctively felt some repulsion.
“No matter where you go right now, the first investors you can come into contact with are either pirates or people from the Underworld.”
“I can provide you with countless knowledge, as well as endless research funds.”
Rector picked up his teacup and took a sip, his tone calm.
He had already made up his mind in his heart; if Vegapunk didn’t agree, then he would simply have to kill him.
The combat power boost that Vegapunk brought to the World Government was simply too great.
Sea Stone technology, Pacifista, Seraphim, Devil Fruit consumption technology for inanimate objects, Green Blood system, Mother Flame…
Even Lucci being able to complete a Devil Fruit awakening within two years was most likely achieved by Vegapunk through Lineage Factor research.
Aside from Luffy, he had never seen anyone else develop a Devil Fruit to awakening within two years.
In his view, Vegapunk’s level of threat was even higher than an Admiral.
Vegapunk remained silent for a long time, and finally nodded: “I agree.”
He was well aware that he currently had no fame and not a single impressive achievement to show for himself.
Even if he went out to sea, it would be difficult to find a reliable investor.
Moreover, he himself lacked combat power.
Drifting alone on the sea, he would most likely be robbed by pirates or even lose his life directly.
“Very well!
I will provide you with unlimited funds, but you must first help me complete a piece of research.”
“What research?” Vegapunk raised his eyes to look at him, a trace of tension in his tone.
“I want you to help me develop an infant cultivation system.” Rector stated his core requirement.
All other research could be put on hold, but this system alone had to be made as soon as possible.
As long as she didn’t have to experience pregnancy personally, Linlin’s physical toll could be reduced to a minimum, and her peak state could also be maintained for longer.
Ever since Perospero told him that Big Mom had gone on a rampage again a year later, this idea had been buried in his heart.
What he lacked most right now was time.
The God Valley incident was right around the corner, and after the incident concluded, the sea would plunge into an even greater melee.
He needed Big Mom’s combat power to guard his territory, but he still had many things to do and couldn’t stay in Totto Land all the time.
Once Linlin went on a rampage, no one else could suppress her except him, and by then they would only be able to solve problems by following her whims.
“An infant cultivation system?
What is that?”
Vegapunk was full of confusion.
He had never heard this term before, but it didn’t sound like weapon-related research.
“A system that can provide all the conditions required for a fetus before birth.”
“As you know, my mother, Big Mom, follows the route of a family-style pirate crew.
I need this system to save my mother the process of personal pregnancy.”
Vegapunk picked up his teacup and took a sip, the warmth of the hot tea dispersing in his chest.
Although he hadn’t come into contact with this system before, he had previously learned the complete process of fetal development from books, so he wasn’t completely clueless.
“I can try.”
“Then let’s go, I’ll take you somewhere.”