“Hopeless…
absolutely hopeless…
This guy is beyond saving!” Miss Buckin muttered as she backed away from Arthur after hearing his blunt rejection.
She genuinely thought there was something wrong with him.
Any normal man would have found it difficult to resist someone openly flirting with them.
Arthur ignored her.
If it had been her clone, however, things might have been different.
Feeling the strength returning to his body, he realized it was the same sensation he had experienced after the battle on Lionheart Island two days earlier.
“So that’s how it is…
Once ordinary training reaches It’s limit, you have to find a way to break through.
As long as I keep making even the smallest amount of progress each time, after thirty years I’ll be strong enough to stand at the top.”
Watching Arthur’s expression, Dr.
Vegapunk got the impression that the boy didn’t fully understand his own body.
Still, he had only brought Arthur here unconscious for research purposes.
He had no intention of telling him anything.
Having just extracted the Lineage Factors of Kaido and Alber, Vegapunk was already immersed in a new research project that might take ten years…
twenty years…
or even longer.
He simply had no spare energy to devote to experimenting on Arthur.
“Vegapunk!”
Miss Buckin strode behind him and smacked him squarely on the head with a loud thunk.
Vegapunk collapsed onto the floor, clutching his head.
“Buckin!
What was that for?”
“If you ever tell someone my age again, I’ll report your secrets to the World Government and make sure your funding gets cut off for good!”
“You’re awfully rough with the leader of MADS.”
“You’re twelve years younger than me.
Show some respect to your elders.”
“You’re just freeloading in MADS.
Why should the organization’s leader have to respect you?”
“If it weren’t for my connections, Kaido would’ve never handed over his blood so willingly.”
“He also destroyed Laboratory PH-006 and took the Lunarian boy with him.
We suffered huge losses!”
“But you still got what you wanted from them, didn’t you?”
While the two argued, Arthur searched the laboratory for something to eat.
He was starving and desperately needed food.
Suddenly, alarms blared throughout the research facility.
Vegapunk hurried into the monitoring room and saw a large Marine force gathered outside the laboratory entrance.
“Garp’s son?” Buckin exclaimed in surprise as she spotted Monkey D.
Dragon leading the Marines on the monitor.
As a pirate, she instinctively feared the Marines.
“Relax,” Vegapunk reassured her.
“We’re scientists employed by the Government.
The Marines won’t attack us.”
The World Government had hired MADS as an organization.
At the Punk Hazard facility, however, only Vegapunk and Buckin remained.
“I’m not relaxing,” Buckin snapped.
“Kaido and that Lunarian escaped.
“If those Marines receive orders to arrest us, scientists like us—people who’ve committed crimes all over the world—will definitely be taken into custody.”
Vegapunk couldn’t deny her reasoning.
Their relationship with the World Government was strictly business.
They weren’t loyal servants.
The Government had poured massive funding into researching Kaido and the Lunarian in hopes of producing groundbreaking technology.
Lineage Factor.
A discovery capable of benefiting the world—or creating weapons that could wipe out entire populations.
The research data had already been delivered to both the World Government and the other members of MADS.
Even Vegapunk began to feel uneasy.
Soon enough, his fears were confirmed.
The next morning after arriving at Punk Hazard, Dragon was still waiting outside Laboratory PH-001 when the Den Den Mushi at his waist suddenly rang.
“A call?
Why now?”
He picked up the Den Den Mushi, confusion written across his face.
What new orders could Headquarters possibly have?
After a brief pause, the Den Den Mushi spoke.
“Monkey D.
Dragon.
We have received confirmation that your mission has failed.”
“By order of Headquarters, you are to immediately arrest the leader of MADS, Dr.
Vegapunk, and Miss Buckin.”
“…What?!”
Dragon froze in shock.
“I haven’t even submitted my report yet.
How do you already know?”
“Several hours ago, the Marine base near Punk Hazard was attacked by Kaido.
The base has been completely destroyed by fire, and all military assets and warships on the island were looted.”
“They were the experimental subjects tied to your mission.
Therefore, your mission is officially deemed a failure.”
Dragon’s anger exploded.
“Then why didn’t Headquarters tell us the full details before assigning the mission?!”
“It was to prevent the soldiers from becoming anxious or demoralized, thereby maintaining operational efficiency.”
In other words…
The ordinary Marines had been sent into battle completely ignorant, forced to confront an enemy they had absolutely no chance of defeating.
They had been sent to die.
For the first time, Dragon’s faith in the Marines’ sense of justice began to waver.
What was justice, really?
“…Understood.”
Suppressing his anger, Dragon accepted the new orders.
“Redeem yourself by completing this mission.”
Redeem yourself…
The words only deepened his disappointment with the Marine’s leadership.
“I need reinforcements.
My warship was sunk during the battle with Kaido.”
“Your request has been approved.
Please await the arrival of support vessels at Punk Hazard.”
Every Marine present looked pale.
“So that’s how it is…”
“We’re just expendable cannon fodder to complete someone else’s mission.”
“We’ve encountered remnants of the Rocks Pirates twice in just one week…”
Listening to his men, Dragon’s resolve faltered even further.
Why this mission?
Did Vegapunk create something so incredible that Headquarters decided to silence him?
Inside the laboratory, Vegapunk and Buckin hesitated over whether they should open the door for Dragon.
Meanwhile, Arthur had somehow discovered an entire crate of apple pies.
Leaning casually against the monitoring room’s automatic sliding door, blocking it from opening, he ate one while listening to their conversation.
“Hey!
Those are my food supplies!” Buckin protested angrily.
Arthur glanced at her, then at the half-eaten apple pie in his hand before smiling.
“Oh.
They’re mine now.”
After only a few days at sea, he’d come to realize that worrying less about unnecessary morals and etiquette made life much easier.
Buckin’s expression suddenly softened.
“Fine.
But now you owe me a favor.”
She slowly licked her lips while looking at him.
“Not happening,” Arthur replied without hesitation.
“Buckin, I’m not interested in older women.”
“Boy,” Vegapunk called out, looking toward Arthur.
“Since you’re one of Dragon’s soldiers, what kind of person is he?”
Arthur answered honestly.
“Conflicted.
I’ve only known him for four days, but I’ve already realized he’s beginning to question the Marines’ justice.”
Before anyone could respond—
BOOM!
The laboratory’s massive reinforced door exploded inward as Dragon smashed it open with a single punch.
Warning sirens echoed throughout the facility once more.
Vegapunk remained surprisingly calm.
Buckin, however, immediately panicked.
“I don’t plan on getting arrested.
I’m leaving.
You’re on your own, genius.”
Without a second’s hesitation, she gathered her belongings and sprinted toward the laboratory’s rear exit.
“Buckin!
What about your clone?!”
“Do whatever you want with her.
She’s not me.
Program her however you like.”
With that, she disappeared from the laboratory.
Arthur watched her leave, concluding that Buckin was an incredibly selfish woman.
He then turned toward the naked Stussy clone floating inside a nutrient tank.
She’s really this irresponsible toward her own clone…
No wonder that clone ends up so lost in the future.