"My child... is extraordinarily gifted?"
Dottore froze, deeply skeptical that his ears were playing tricks on him.
The infant lying on the bed was originally supposed to be one boy and two girls.
But due to an anomaly in the womb, the embryos had fused during growth, resulting in conjoined triplets sharing one body.
The only reason the baby had survived was thanks to the exceptional researchers and remarkably effective medicines at this mysterious research facility.
Yet here was this golden-haired youth, claiming that his severely flawed child was "extraordinarily gifted"?
Dottore couldn't bring himself to believe it, no matter what.
Judge smiled faintly and gestured with his right hand.
"Come with me to the research lab over there. You'll understand what I mean."
"Ah? Oh, right!"
Dottore could only nod and follow Judge.
Soon, they arrived at a small room.
Dottore glanced around curiously, but when his eyes fell upon the contents of the glass containers inside, he nearly screamed aloud.
The room held over a dozen waist-high glass vessels.
They were filled with some kind of viscous liquid, within which floated human brain tissue, hearts, and even half of a human head.
Only half of the head remained, with just the portion above the nose intact.
When Dottore looked at it, the closed eyes on the head suddenly snapped open, staring straight at him.
"Wahh—!" Dottore fell backward onto the ground in fright.
As a doctor who had practiced in Drum Kingdom for over a decade, Dottore had certainly seen corpses many times before.
Even dismembered body parts weren't unfamiliar to him.
But these specimens before him—so fresh they seemed to have just been separated from a living body, still highly active—were something he had never encountered before.
Especially the half-head, its eyes still rolling around as if it retained consciousness!
"Heh, these organs are all very fresh. They were provided by the Capone family's organ trafficking ring," Judge said without the slightest discomfort, as if the things before him were merely materials.
Judge walked up to the half-head, leaned in, and stared into its two eyes, seemingly trying to discern its thoughts.
Bending over, he asked while observing, "Dottore, you're a skilled doctor too. Tell me, what distinguishes one human being from another?"
Dottore was taken aback, furrowing his brow in thought before hesitantly replying.
"Appearance... thoughts, I suppose."
Judge straightened up and continued, "If I were to create multiple copies of you, would all of them be Dottore?"
"P-people can't be copied! That's impossible, right?" Dottore stammered in disbelief.
Judge shook his head. "Though I haven't completed this experiment yet, I already have relevant leads. But let's not dwell on that. If ten Dottores appeared before you—all identical in appearance, with perfectly replicated bodies, even their brains copied to produce nearly identical thoughts—how would you determine which one is the real you?"
"Huh? That..."
Following Judge's line of reasoning, Dottore realized he truly couldn't find a way to identify the real himself.
"Heh, the correct answer is—the soul!"
"The soul? Do humans really have souls?" Dottore found it hard to believe.
With a light chuckle, Judge pulled out a box-shaped device from his waist.
It had a small screen, which he pressed against Dottore's forehead.
Soon, irregular wave patterns began scrolling across the tiny display.
"What is this?"
"This little gadget was created by Vegapunk. It's called a brainwave detector. It measures a person's brainwaves to determine whether they're the original or a lookalike—be it a modified human, a bio-engineered being, or someone transformed by a mimicry-type Devil Fruit Ability."
Judge grinned. "This device can detect brainwaves—or rather, the soul's consciousness."
As he spoke, Judge pressed the device against the glass container holding the half-head.
Dottore watched as undulating lines appeared on the screen, sending chills down his spine.
Could it be... this half-head wasn't actually dead yet?
"You guessed right. This was a pirate who washed up on this island. He was dissected and turned into experimental material. See? Even with only half a head left, as long as the brain tissue—the dwelling place of the soul—remains intact, this person still has hope of survival." Judge's smile sent a chill down Dottore's spine.
This handsome-looking youth was saying things that made his scalp tingle.
"Your child is extraordinary. There are three distinct brainwave patterns in his mind, which means three complete souls reside within his skull! Dottore! Have you heard of Devil Fruits?"
As he spoke, Judge's eyes narrowed, his expression turning fanatical and somewhat ferocious.
"You certainly don't know this - Devil Fruits possess souls too!"
Dottore's mind reeled, struck speechless by Judge's words while simultaneously feeling an unnatural chill in the air.
Devil Fruits originated from various parts of the ocean, each possessing mysterious and unpredictable abilities.
It was said a person could only consume one Devil Fruit in their lifetime - eating a second would cause their body to explode...
Dottore had once heard Dr. Kureha say that if a Devil Fruit user overdeveloped their abilities without sufficient mental strength to control them, the power could backfire, turning them into a demon.
If Judge's claims were true, then wasn't this loss of control caused by the Devil Fruit's soul growing stronger than the user's, thereby overtaking their body?
"Theoretically, a single Devil Fruit can only be eaten by one person or creature. Whether you divide the fruit into portions or try eating it simultaneously, only one individual will gain its power - because there's only one soul within the fruit."
"Calculating by the rule of one soul per fruit, your child, born with three souls, might potentially consume three Devil Fruits in the future! With powerful abilities, your child could become one of the rarest superpowers on these seas! Of course, this assumes he possesses an exceptionally strong physique and mental fortitude to resist being overtaken by the fruits' souls."
Locking eyes with Dottore, Judge continued.
"This child has three hearts. With triple the normal blood circulation, his metabolism accelerates exponentially. His recovery speed and physical endurance will increase. In other words, no matter how intense the training, this child can endure and convert it into physical strength. Dottore, as a doctor, you understand what this means."
Dottore's mouth went dry.
Licking his lips, he stammered.
"I've heard... that one can only eat one Devil Fruit because we only have one heart."
"Ridiculous!"