"Dr. Vegapunk… what is she?"
Seeing the girl's unusual appearance, Kuma couldn't help asking in surprise.
"Ah, Kuma, let me introduce her," Vegapunk said with unmistakable pride. After all, this was one of his greatest scientific masterpieces.
"This is my assistant. She's also a Seraphim with Mr. Ozz as her highest authority. Her name is Shinobu. Just… bear with her."
This was the first-generation Seraphim result, even earlier than the "Seraphim: Warlords" project. In a sense, it was Vegapunk's second perfect clone after Stussy.
She inherited Shinobu's youthful beauty, carried the powers of the Ripe Ripe Fruit, and even retained part of her ninjutsu techniques. On top of that, she possessed the racial gifts of the Lunarians.
One segment of her arm was connected by a tube of unknown green liquid, giving her a distinctly high-tech vibe.
A white-haired, dark-skinned beauty with black wings and a faintly fantastical aura. Strangely mesmerizing. Strangely dangerous.
At the same time, her eyes kept scanning Kuma, confirming he was an authorized subordinate of Lord Ozz, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Only then did she lower her guard.
And in the next instant, she vanished into a corner of the lab.
This eerie, unpredictable "ninja" made Kuma glance after her a few times. When she disappeared without warning, he scratched his head in confusion.
"Don't mind her," Vegapunk said, leading Kuma forward. "That's just Shinobu's personality. She only listens to Mr. Ozz and me. A lot of the day-to-day catalytic steps require her help."
As they walked, the first thing that seized Kuma's attention was the colossal glass chamber dominating the center of the room.
Inside, green liquid churned endlessly.
That terrifying volume… if it leaked, it could probably drown everyone present.
Even Kuma froze at the sight.
"Impressive, right? Of course it is," Vegapunk said with his tongue out, grinning. "Just this giant cultivation tank and the amount of nutrient fluid alone cost over ten billion Beli."
The first time Vegapunk saw it, he'd reacted almost exactly like Kuma.
It was simply too absurdly large.
But when he remembered the size of the monster they were trying to nurture… it started to feel a lot more reasonable.
After all, one of the key materials was Loki, and even as a child, Loki's body size already rivaled an ordinary giant.
Stepping closer, Kuma noticed the main tube was connected to several other thick conduits, each linked to different instruments. Researchers hovered around them, monitoring and tweaking data.
Among them, one figure was hopping mad, practically bouncing in place.
Looking closely, his face was oddly goat-like.
"What are you doing, you idiots?! You can't even handle bloodline factor processing at this level?!"
The lab-coated researchers around him were getting scolded so viciously they barely dared breathe.
Only when Vegapunk appeared did they finally exhale like they'd been rescued.
"What happened this time, Caesar? Why are you so angry?" Vegapunk asked, sounding more tired than curious.
As a former colleague, he knew Caesar far too well. His talent, and his personality.
Sure enough, the moment Caesar heard that voice, his face darkened.
He whirled around and stared at the man he considered his lifelong rival, teeth grinding.
"Vegapunk! I'm disciplining my own researchers. I don't need to explain anything to you!!!"
"Don't get full of yourself! I'm the greatest scientist in the world!!!"
Vegapunk's expression didn't change. He didn't react at all.
He simply walked up to the researchers and began correcting their work, calmly fixing the problem with a few deft adjustments.
Caesar saw that and nearly exploded.
"You bastard!!!"
"Who do you think you are, ignoring me like that?! If you keep this up, I'll quit the experiments I've been running halfway through!!!"
He yanked at his lab coat like he was about to rip it off and storm out.
But he still didn't dare lay a hand on Vegapunk.
Because he knew exactly how many eyes were watching inside this secret facility.
He snatched his coat off and raised his arm, ready to slam it to the floor in a tantrum.
Then Vegapunk, without even turning his head, said flatly:
"Is that so? Then leave. I'll report it to Mr. Ozz later. And I'll call Doflamingo right after."
"Ga…"
The furious Caesar froze mid-motion as if someone had hit him with a time stop.
His arm hung in the air.
His face turned red, then purple, then purple-black.
After a long, silent struggle, he slowly put the lab coat back on, his expression so dark it looked like a storm cloud.
Then he trudged back to the workbench and continued processing bloodline factors.
No choice.
Caesar wanted to be angry, but he didn't want to die.
If he quit and walked out of here, there was a good chance he wouldn't see tomorrow's sun.
The Underworld emperors would hunt him down. Doflamingo would hunt him down. Maybe even the Warlords would hunt him down, because he might leak secrets.
And only a dead man could be trusted to keep his mouth shut forever.
In the beginning, he'd been working under Doflamingo just fine. When he was suddenly told Mr. Ozz wanted to use his expertise, Caesar had been thrilled.
Ozz was famous for having money to burn and an obsession with funding research. Vegapunk himself was living proof.
But the moment Caesar arrived and realized Vegapunk was leading the entire operation, he felt sick.
Then he saw the project itself and nearly went numb with horror.
His eyes bulged. His tongue practically shot out.
He was so shocked he couldn't even speak.
And once you knew the plan, you were on the pirate ship for good. There was no jumping off.
Unless you'd eaten too many red beans and started yearning for death.
In the shadow covering his face, humiliating tears quietly slid down.
Caesar had never felt this stifled in his life.
What he didn't know was that Ozz had actually considered recruiting all the former MADS members.
But Queen belonged to Kaido, and Judge was a king of a World Government-affiliated nation, so Ozz ultimately dropped the idea.
Ignoring Caesar as he silently licked his wounds, Vegapunk finished cleaning up the researchers' mistakes and led Kuma closer.
Kuma stared into the nutrient fluid, seeing fragments of tissue of unknown origin, various samples floating about…
And at the very center…
A rough embryonic form.
Kuma looked at that embryo, massive beyond reason, curled like a baby inside the green liquid.
He went still.
The pose, the helplessness of it, made him think of Bonney when she'd just been born.
His eyes softened with memory.
Then he looked at Vegapunk, confused and curious in equal measure.
"So this is the result of the experiment? Why does it look… so strange?"
Vegapunk's gaze turned complicated.
He swallowed, then watched as Kuma's shock shifted into delighted surprise, a glimmer of worship rising in his eyes.
Vegapunk spoke slowly.
"Because he is… Nika."
His voice lowered, and there was something else he didn't say.
Something darker.
A name that carried a twisted weight.
A Dark Sun God, Nika.
…
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