'Pure Gold!'
Taking the backpack, Bazel only opened a small gap.
The soft golden light radiating from within immediately transmitted a wonderfully warm feeling throughout his body.
It was like returning to the womb before birth.
"The real thing."
Bazel quickly covered the gap again and handed it to Toki.
"Toki, this thing is the treasure I mentioned before, valuable enough to buy this entire sea."
"We absolutely cannot let it appear in the public eye. Remember to tell Olga afterwards, make sure she never mentions anything about Pure Gold ever again."
Toki took several deep breaths, wrapped the black cloth bundle securely, and stuffed it into her own backpack.
"I understand, Bazel-kun!"
"I'm counting on you with this."
Given the gravity of the matter, Bazel couldn't help but repeat himself a few more times.
Toki, however, shook her head with a smile and said gently, "To be trusted so much by Bazel-kun, it means I'm a very important executive now, right?"
'An executive?'
Bazel narrowed his eyes, smiling: "No, no, no, you're more than just an executive. You're my personal secretary."
"Secretary? What does that do?" Toki asked curiously.
"There's a saying from my hometown that puts it well..."
" When there's work, the secretary works, when there's nothing... Mmmph Mmmph!!'"
Toki's right hand clamped tightly over Bazel's mouth, her pretty face blushing like a rose in May.
Her guilty eyes darted left and right, afraid someone might have overheard their conversation.
"I didn't hear anything." King, who had been maintaining his stoic 'shadow' persona, left those words behind before turning and walking away.
"It's all your fault!"
Toki removed her hand, placing both hands on her hips, her eyes glaring at Bazel.
"Honestly, there are other people here, how could you say such, such things!"
"What 'such things'?"
Bazel's expression was the picture of innocence, "'When there's work, the secretary works, when there's nothing, the secretary rests.' I was just going to say that. Toki, what were you thinking about?"
Toki's eyes instantly turned into dot-like circles. She blinked rapidly a few times before letting out an awkward laugh.
She then turned around and walked stiffly, arms and legs moving in unison, towards Olvia.
"O-Olvia-chan, let's go make some delicious lantern fish cuisine!"
After the two girls, one tall and one small, had gone further away, Bazel called out to Acier, who was about to go join the fun.
"I'm Bazel. You can consider me the second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates."
Acier instinctively introduced himself and then greeted Bazel.
"You created the Pure Gold, correct?"
This blunt statement made Acier's expression turn serious instantly, "Yeah, it's me, but that amount of Pure Gold should be more than enough for your use, right?"
"Even if you wanted me to make more Pure Gold, I'm powerless. Many of the necessary materials are gone now."
"No, we don't intend to use the Pure Gold."
Bazel nodded towards King, who was keeping watch nearby, and gestured with his chin towards the noisy pirate crewmembers.
"We won't allow Pure Gold to appear. That thing would only bring disaster."
"Then why seek me out?" Acier asked in doubts.
"Pure Gold is a hybrid product of desire and science." Bazel's eyes flashed with a trace of fervor, "Since you were able to create Pure Gold, you should probably also be able to create the thing we need."
"A Desire-Capturing Machine. It's a machine that captures desires. I want to know if, with your abilities, you can manufacture this treasure that only exists in fantasy."
"Capture... desires?"
As the topic entered his area of expertise, Acier frowned in deep thought.
"What do you want something like that for? Even if you could capture them, what then?"
"The legend of the Devil Fruits..."
Bazel promptly explained the story he had heard from Kaido.
"If this information is true, then by capturing vast amounts of human desire, we could potentially transform it into artificial Devil Fruits."
"Artificial Devil Fruits!?"
Acier's expression changed slightly, "What exactly are you trying to do? Such things are taboo! Even two hundred years ago, Artificial Devil Fruits were creations that couldn't be allowed to see the light of day!"
"To get stronger. We want to change this world!" Bazel said this with utterly confident brilliance.
"..."
Acier didn't agree, but he didn't refuse immediately either.
Instead, he carefully pondered the possibility of such a machine existing.
"I can't give you an answer right now. This is the first time I've heard of such a miraculous machine. After all, I was just an alchemical scientist before."
"I need a stable environment and a large amount of equipment."
"No problem. We will provide you with both the environment and the equipment next year, whatever you need."
To be honest, even Bazel himself wasn't very optimistic about the possibility of a Desire-Capturing Machine being born.
No matter how fantastical the world of One Piece was, whether such a rule-based product, akin to something from Doraemon, could appear was anyone's guess.
But even if there was only a sliver of hope, they had to try.
After all, inferior Artificial Devil Fruits had already appeared in the original story.
The Beasts Pirates' Gifters were all Devil Fruit Users who had eaten inferior Artificial Devil Fruits.
The Pleasures were even worse, as they are people who ate the Artificial Devil Fruits but failed to gain any abilities.
Bazel searched through his memories before the transmigration.
He remembered Vegapunk once said…
'Artificial Devil Fruits are only of the Zoan-type. Artificial Paramecia-type Devil Fruits require the Lineage Factor of a Paramecia Devil Fruit User. This blood is used to create a special substance, Green Blood, which grants the target the corresponding Paramecia ability.
If they reasoned based on this line of thinking.
The reason Zoan-type Artificial Devil Fruits could be manufactured might be because they contained a special energy, like an animal's soul or perhaps an animal's will.
And the reason those who failed did so after eating the fruit might be because the animal's will contained within the fruit didn't reach the threshold required for the ability to activate.
To use the simplest, most direct analogy:
If a Zoan-type artificial Devil Fruit contained 90% animal's will, then the eater could perfectly gain the ability.
If the animal's will accounted for 60%, the eater would most likely become an existence like the Gifters.
If it was below 60%...
then they would become like the Pleasures.
They ate the Artificial Devil Fruit, earned the sea's hatred, but gained no ability.
In other words-
As long as the Desire-Capturing Machine could successfully capture the essential element needed for Artificial Devil Fruits, the next step would just be to find a way to increase that ratio to 90%.
Even if that wasn't possible, 60% would be an acceptable ratio.
"You can take this time to think carefully about how to build this machine."
Bazel walked forward with his arm around Acier's shoulder, acting very familiar.
"I'll instruct my pirate subordinates. You and your daughter, just ask for anything you need. In the future, when we reach Wano Country, you will get the scientific instruments and the stable, safe environment you want."
"Of course, to make up for the two hundred years of separation you and your daughter endured, if you wish, I can authorize giving you a ring made of Pure Gold."
"No, let's forget about that kind of thing."
Acier said with a bitter smile:
"I've had enough. A lifespan stretching two hundred years is an unimaginable length of time. I absolutely refuse to return to that cage."
"Of course, of course, it's entirely up to you. If you regret it later, you can come find me anytime."
Patting Acier on the back, Bazel called out to Babanuki:
"Babanuki, come here!"
"Aniki?" Babanuki ran over quickly.
"Take our new friend here to get cleaned up, and find him a set of suitable clean clothes for the banquet tonight."
"No problem! I'm Babanuki, the captain of the Beast Pirates' First Division!"
Babanuki led Acier away, proudly boasting about his self-proclaimed status.
"If anyone gives you trouble later, just drop my name! See if I don't break their legs!"
Acier turned his head and nodded to Bazel as a farewell before leaving with Babanuki.
"Bazel, is there hope for that machine?"
Kaido walked over slowly once there was no one else around Bazel.
"It's still unclear for now, but Acier might also need a capable assistant."
Taking out a cut-out newspaper clipping from his pocket, Bazel looked at the large head with a mohawk hairstyle on the paper, the corner of his mouth quirking up slightly.
"Perhaps we can keep an eye on this guy's movements during our voyage."
Kaido leaned down to look. "Scien? Isn't he that runaway illegal scientist?"
"The World Government wouldn't easily put a bounty on a scientist who came from the wilds."
"MADS was led by four people. Two of them joined the World Government's Science Unit, one disappeared, and the other got a bounty."
Bazel looked up at Kaido and said with a playful smile, "Kaido-san, what do you think they touched that got them a bounty?"
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