Zhenhai Star Hub, headquarters of the Science Department.
From a distance, Luo Chen could already see the scientific personnel waiting at the entrance. Vegapunk and over a dozen scientists in white lab coats were smiling toward him.
"They want you to open the Shinobi World as soon as possible. They're eager to see the technology of another world," Robin explained with a soft laugh at his side.
By now, news of Luo Chen, the Marshal of the Jinghai Army, discovering a new world had spread completely through the upper echelons of the military. The heads of the Department of Military Affairs, Science Department, Department of Finance, and Department of Civil Affairs—many of which had been established over the past three years—were all filled with anticipation.
The Science and Finance departments were particularly excited. A new world meant never-before-seen technology and a massive influx of economic resources.
"Marshal Luo Chen, the reconstruction of Pluton and Uranus has been completed. They are ready for combat at a moment's notice," Vegapunk inquired with clear anticipation. "I wonder, when will the new world be opened?"
Staying with the Jinghai Army for these three years had been a researcher's dream come true for him. Research funding was limitless, provided in whatever amount he requested. Under the coordination of the Jinghai Army, the resources of the entire world were at the service of his scientific endeavors.
Rockets that could fly to the moon, satellites drifting in space, transponder snails integrated with intelligent computers—all sorts of technological products were being born constantly. He had even successfully replicated the Ancient Weapons, Pluton and Uranus, the greatest technological achievements from eight hundred years ago.
Now, Vegapunk was desperate to witness the level of technology in an alien world to see if it could provide him with new inspiration.
Luo Chen smiled. "In about a month."
Many within the Jinghai Army were already growing impatient. Some battle maniacs felt that sparring with their own comrades wasn't enough; they were itching to clash with the ninjas of the other world.
"Excellent," Vegapunk and the scientists behind him laughed in delight.
Vinsmoke Judge had been forced to abdicate the throne of the Germa Kingdom years ago, with his daughter Reiju taking over. After a period of depression, he had joined the Science Department at Vegapunk's invitation.
Judge's scientific expertise was profound. As a former colleague of Vegapunk, he specialized in cloning technology, modified humans, lineage factors, and combat suits. For the past three years, Judge had focused his energy primarily on the development of combat suits.
After generations of experimentation and revisions, the high-tech combat suits currently equipped by the Jinghai Army could effectively enhance the individual combat capabilities of the soldiers.
Judge spoke up, clearly intending to claim some credit. "Lord Marshal, with our latest combat suits, an ordinary person can possess the combat strength of a soldier with a Colonel rank. If a Jinghai Army officer of field grade wears one, their strength can be boosted to at least the level of a Marine Rear Admiral."
Luo Chen glanced at him, quite surprised. Such an enhancement was incredibly significant.
Field grade officers included Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, and Colonels. Currently, the number of such officers in the Jinghai Army was nearly sixty to seventy thousand. If they all donned these combat suits, they would instantly become sixty to seventy thousand Marine Rear Admiral level fighters.
The Marines during the era of the World Government had only a few hundred Rear Admirals; there was simply no comparison to the Jinghai Army.
Caesar, his legs in a gaseous state as he floated out of the crowd, also sought credit. "Mr. Luo Chen, the SMILEs I developed..."
Luo Chen waved his hand, cutting him off. "I know the contributions of the SMILEs. You've worked hard."
Luo Chen's interest in SMILEs was even higher than in the combat suits, so he had specifically asked about the progress of that research.
A major technological breakthrough had been achieved in SMILE production recently. They could now almost perfectly replicate any Devil Fruit from the three main classes—Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia. Only the Rubber-Rubber Fruit, the Dark-Dark Fruit, and a tiny handful of others remained impossible to copy.
Caesar certainly couldn't have achieved this on his own, but Vegapunk could. Vegapunk had once used Kaido's Azure Dragon Mythical Zoan as a template to create a SMILE that was later eaten by Momonosuke. That fruit was nearly identical in power to Kaido's, though Momonosuke was too young to unleash its full potential.
In three years, Vegapunk and Caesar had joined forces to master the technology of replicating the three classes of Devil Fruits. Furthermore, these SMILEs carried no side effects.
Currently, several of the Jinghai Army's main Admirals had already formed their own elite squads. The soldiers within these squads were fed SMILEs with the same abilities as their commanders. For instance, Kizaru led an elite unit of one hundred men, all of whom were users of the replicated Glint-Glint Fruit.
The SMILEs did have a downside: the replication cycle was long and the failure rate remained relatively high. Therefore, it was not yet possible to equip the entire army with powerful Devil Fruit abilities.
Next, Luo Chen was led by Vegapunk and the others on a tour of the Science Department. He hadn't visited in six months and found several new technological products on display.
Before leaving, Luo Chen followed Vegapunk to a highly secure secret room. The door was small, no different from a regular room, but once inside, the space expanded a thousand-fold.
The vast, boundless space was densely packed with electronic screens—hundreds of millions of them. Each screen displayed scenes from various islands and trans-oceanic bridges across the world. It could be said that every corner of the world could be seen from this room.
Standing within this immense chamber were tens of thousands of humanoid robots. These machines used their electronic eyes to monitor the hundreds of millions of screens every second of the day.
A man wearing a black helmet and a deep blue coat walked toward them.
Vegapunk introduced him with a smile. "Shaka, my 'Good' satellite. You've met him before, Marshal."
Vegapunk had eaten the Brain-Brain Fruit, giving him wisdom far beyond that of ordinary men. To conduct research more efficiently, he had created six satellites to assist in his daily work. Shaka was one of them, representing Vegapunk's inherent sense of justice.
This secret room was the core of global surveillance. Through space satellites, footage from all over the world was transmitted back here, monitored by the robots and Shaka. If any criminal activity was detected, Shaka would directly contact the local Jinghai Army garrison to arrest or eliminate the criminals.
Thanks to this, world order was incredibly stable, and the crime rate was at an all-time low.
Luo Chen glanced at the millions of screens, pondered for a moment, and said:
"The roads are full of high-speed cars, the seas have high-speed trains, and there are airships in the sky. There must be many traffic accidents every year. See if you can implant accident identification or even predictive technology into the programs of these surveillance robots."
"In short, find a way to reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents and increase the speed of rescue. Natural disaster prediction should also be integrated."
Currently, the Department of Civil Affairs had a disaster response agency, but they couldn't predict events in advance; they could only carry out rescues after casualties occurred. Luo Chen hoped to use technology to achieve the effect of pre-judging traffic and natural disasters. He wasn't sure if it could be done.
Vegapunk froze for a moment upon hearing this, falling into deep thought before finally nodding. "It is possible. I will get to work on it immediately."
He loved science. If the technology he developed could benefit the people, it made him all the more passionate and excited.
Vegapunk left in a hurried rush. Luo Chen didn't stay much longer either, teleporting away.
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**Would you like me to translate the next chapter as well?**
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