Just as Kai was preparing to leave, Kaido suddenly spoke up to stop him.
"That Vinsmoke Judge you found has encountered problems with his artificial Devil Fruit research."
"Since it's your project, you should handle solving it."
I just got back...
Kai sighed: "I understand."
Kaido grunted without looking up, and he and Babanuki once again immersed themselves in their ocean of work.
Watching the two working in skilled coordination, Kai stroked his chin. Should he also find a competent and attractive secretary?
His affairs seemed to be increasing.
Speed was combat personnel after all, and managing the Rayquaza was already stretching her thin.
With these thoughts, Kai headed to the Vinsmoke family's base on the west side of Onigashima.
Judge hadn't chosen to come ashore, continuing to stay on the snail ship.
Upon entering the castle, Kai saw... well, it wasn't exactly a noble scene. It was Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji ganging up on Sanji.
Three against one, Sanji was clearly at a disadvantage but showed no weakness or pleading, still looking for opportunities to fight back.
Reiju hadn't expected that just inviting Sanji back to the castle for a visit would lead to the three brothers confronting him.
"Stop fighting!" Reiju shouted sternly.
But clearly, her authority wasn't enough to suppress the three brothers.
And Judge, their father, stood to one side with no intention of stopping them.
"Tsk tsk, Sanji, you seem to have gotten a little bit stronger?"
Ichiji's punch missed as he sneered mockingly: "Too bad, trash is still trash!"
Yonji followed up with a powerful sweeping kick aimed at Sanji's lower body: "Let us see what qualifies you to join the Beast Pirates!"
Niji seized the opening while Sanji was blocking, his fist whistling through the air straight at Sanji's temple: "Could it be that Kai guy is such a glutton that he recruited you as a cook? You don't seem to have any other talents, hahaha!"
Sanji was beaten back, and when he raised his head, his eyes blazed with fury.
"I won't let you insult Kai-aniki!"
With his eyes bloodshot, strength surged from somewhere unknown as he suddenly grabbed Niji's hand and slammed him hard to the ground.
BOOM!
The solid floor was instantly smashed into a spider-web of cracks with a deep crater.
Niji groaned and lay at the bottom of the pit, unable to get up for a moment.
Judge's hand stroking his beard paused.
Something was wrong.
Very, very wrong.
Sanji, the weakest child of the Vinsmoke family, shouldn't possibly have such strength.
This was the conclusion he'd reached after countless tests.
It couldn't be wrong.
But what happened next proved that Sanji was no longer that weak boy.
Ichiji and Yonji frowned.
They hadn't expected Sanji, who had just been bullied by them in turns, to suddenly go berserk. Besides being stunned, they felt more anger.
How dare this Sanji guy resist them!
The two brothers immediately rushed forward.
Two fists struck Sanji's chest heavily.
But Sanji only sneered disdainfully. His current condition was unprecedentedly good.
"Heh... is this all you've got? You guys... are kind of weak."
Before the two brothers could react, Sanji had already grabbed each of their wrists with one hand and then began spinning at high speed.
"Spinning Barbecue!"
Sanji spun like a human top. After dozens of rotations, his arms exerted tremendous force.
BANG! BANG!
The two brothers were slammed heavily to the ground, one after the other.
Two more craters appeared in the floor.
"Ahh!"
Both brothers screamed in unison, blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.
Sanji's strength was so great that their internal organs had been displaced.
"Phew~"
Sanji smoothed his disheveled blonde hair, calmly lit a cigarette, and took a satisfying post-battle drag.
This complete reversal left Reiju utterly bewildered.
This was Sanji?
She knew her brother had gotten stronger, but how had he suddenly become this strong?
"Damn it!"
Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji cursed in unison.
Although Sanji hadn't held back just now, their exoskeletons weren't for nothing. The previous attacks weren't enough to make them completely lose consciousness.
Just as the three were about to continue fighting, unhurried footsteps rang out.
"Clap clap clap..."
Kai applauded lightly, smiling: "Sanji, congratulations on fully awakening your lineage factor."
"Kai-aniki!"
Seeing Kai, Sanji's cold battle demeanor instantly melted away, and he scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.
Only now did Judge seem to wake from a dream, his face full of confusion and disbelief: "B-but this is impossible. Sanji shouldn't have the possibility of awakening his lineage factor."
"Did you forget about his Raid Suit?" Kai reminded him: "Ever since Sanji wore the Raid Suit, his progress has been faster day by day."
"I see."
Judge's brow relaxed. He hadn't expected the Raid Suit to have such a function.
But soon he frowned again: "But Sanji shouldn't be this strong."
He'd only given out the Raid Suit a few days ago. Even if Sanji wore it to sleep every day, compared to his brothers, he was still more than ten years late to awaken.
There was no reason he should be able to dominate Ichiji and the others right after awakening.
Kai smiled: "Perhaps Sanji is your greatest masterpiece."
"Emotion is humanity's most wonderful thing. You eliminated Ichiji and the others' emotions, which certainly raised their baseline but also locked their ceiling."
Even in his previous life, there were examples of humans breaking through physical limits due to strong emotions.
Emotions?
I believe in science, and you're talking to me about this?
Judge was full of question marks, but a small seed was still planted in his heart.
The conflict between Sanji and his brothers was just a minor episode. Kai soon got down to business with Judge.
"I need fierce beasts! The more ferocious, the better; the more variety, the better. Researching ordinary animals is meaningless."
Judge said as much.
The stronger the lineage factor used in artificial Devil Fruits, the stronger the abilities of those who consume them. This was simple logic.
Kai understood. He did know of a place rich in fierce beasts.
Rusukaina Island near Amazon Lily.
That was where Luffy trained for two years, a place teeming with fierce beasts.
Though it was a bit hard to believe, according to Rayleigh, there were over 500 beasts on that island capable of defeating pre-timeskip Luffy.
There was also Kuraigana Island, where Hawkeye resided, which had a bunch of baboons that could beat pre-timeskip Zoro.
However, those were baboons that had learned some of Hawkeye's swordsmanship, which was somewhat different from pure fierce beasts.
Kai thought for a moment: "I'll help you collect fierce beasts. For now, I can provide you with blood from a powerful animal."
That's right... the Mountain God they'd encountered today. That was a wild boar that could withstand one of Oden's strikes and not die.
After finishing the artificial Devil Fruit business, Kai hurried to the east side of Onigashima.
That was where Queen's laboratory was located. He and Judge seemed to have a "kings don't meet kings" kind of relationship.