Hearing this, Vegapunk's eyes suddenly widened.
"That fast?!!!"
He immediately jumped down from the giant robot, rushed to Orin's side, took the tube of blood, and began examining it carefully.
With ready-made Nika material and an experimental subject already available, what was the point of studying that robot anymore?
Brimming with excitement, he led Orin straight to the laboratory. He didn't even have time to pour this "sponsor" a glass of water before plunging headfirst into his research.
Orin didn't mind. With a snap of his fingers, he conjured a glass of juice and casually drank it.
That's just how research fanatics are. Orin himself also wanted to see the results as soon as possible.
"How is it?"
"How long will it take?"
After a long while, seeing Vegapunk finally take a brief break, Orin spoke up.
"Well… hard to say."
Vegapunk stuck out his tongue, a bit of sweat on his face from exhaustion, but his eyes still shone with energy.
"Although we have Sadgeo, a Gum-Gum Fruit user, as the host, most of my previous ability replication research focused on Paramecia types. This kind of awakened Mythical Zoan grafting will still take some time."
"At least a few days..."
"That long? As expected of that guy Joy Boy's power~"
Orin knew Vegapunk's scientific capabilities well. Especially as his head grew larger and larger, his technological methods became increasingly powerful.
So normally, most research wouldn't take long at all.
Several days was already considered a long time.
"Alright..."
Orin set down his cup, his crimson-glowing eyes turning toward the seemingly busy Vegapunk.
The latter stuck out his tongue again, glancing off to the side, a few beads of cold sweat forming on his face.
"Then I'll stay here for a while~"
Leaving behind that meaningful sentence, Orin's tall black figure slowly vanished from where he stood.
Once Orin disappeared, Vegapunk—who had been busy the whole time—suddenly froze, then slowly let out a breath.
"Ha..."
"So he noticed after all~ As expected, nothing can be hidden from Orin..."
"But in that case, maybe I won't have to die after all?"
That's right.
The World Government had already discovered his attempt to research the Void Century, and had decided to send people to eliminate him.
To the World Government, aside from anomalies like Orin, whether it was a highly useful tool like Vegapunk or a nation like Ohara, anyone who dared touch that segment of history had to be dealt a devastating blow.
Vegapunk had already been extremely careful, but he couldn't withstand York—the greedy negative personality—betraying the main body in order to become a Celestial Dragon.
When one sponsor wants to kill you, what can you do?
You can only turn to another sponsor.
And coincidentally, whether it was for all kinds of Devil Fruit ability research, technological products, or even personal interests,
Orin had a great need for Vegapunk.
So even after noticing Vegapunk's little schemes, Orin chose not to expose him, but instead silently allowed it.
The following days passed calmly.
Orin didn't appear frequently on Egghead. In fact, the only ones who knew he was there were Vegapunk and a few of his clones.
Orin kept a low profile not because he wanted to lie in wait and mischievously surprise the arriving CP0 and Elder.
Absolutely not.
He just hated trouble.
If the Elder discovered that Orin had secretly come to Vegapunk to research turning Sadgeo from a rubber giant into a "Giant Nika," they would probably stop it at all costs.
Scientific research is complicated and requires equipment and environment.
Orin wasn't afraid of fighting, but if this island got blown away, the plan would definitely fall apart...
"In that case, might as well make it simple."
Orin instantly appeared beside York, black energy gathering in his hand.
"Sorry, but you'll have to die."
Since he decided to spare Vegapunk, the source of trouble had to be eliminated.
York, who had been indulging in food and entertainment, saw this scene—saw Orin appear—and her eyes instantly widened.
She also had access to Vegapunk's brain, so she quickly realized what was happening, her expression twisting.
"No..."
With a spatial piercing strike, the clone robot York was completely erased from existence.
All the other Vegapunks, including the original, chose to remain silent.
They never really had any say in the matter anyway.
From the moment Orin arrived at Egghead, this battle was no longer a simple race against time between the World Government and Vegapunk.
It had become a true confrontation.
Of course, since Orin himself had stepped in, unless Imu personally appeared and the two "mechanics-breaking monsters" clashed, the final outcome held little suspense.
But as for the process, Orin wanted to have some fun with it.
For example...
"So that really is the robot Joy Boy used back then. It's almost completely rusted~"
Standing on empty air, Orin slowly walked onto the robot Emeth. He still remembered how this thing had caused considerable trouble for the Twenty Kingdoms.
He just hadn't expected it to end up like this.
"If I remember correctly, there's a knot inside,"
Orin clicked his tongue, seemingly recalling an unpleasant memory, one hand holding his chin.
He reached his hand into the robot's interior, his fingers slowly curling upward, as if trying to teleport something out.
After straining for a moment, a few drops of cold sweat formed. Orin suddenly stepped back.
"Got it!"
A massive knot appeared in front of him.
When using spatial-type Devil Fruit abilities to move something imbued with powerful Haki, it's impossible to bypass differences in level.
Just like how Law couldn't move Kaido or Big Mom with his ability,
Orin previously—and even now—couldn't teleport Joy Boy's actual body.
The latter's spirit had already surpassed the world itself—a being on the verge of truly liberating the entire world, having reached the absolute peak a living being could attain.
But this was only a stored strand of Haki, not the actual body, so with some effort, Orin could still manage it.
The massive knot floated in midair, then was stored away by Orin for future use.
As for when to use it—and on whom—Orin couldn't think of a second person in this world worthy of it.
Right?
Thinking of this, a grin spread across Orin's face. He even recalled a very famous image—
"What exactly do you take life for?!!!"