Obviously, the earlier items were all secondary.
Reiju's core responsibility was to prevent conflicts whenever Queen, Caesar, and Judge started clashing because they couldn't agree with one another.
To that end, Reiju specifically had Red load her with the moves Hypnosis Powder and Sleep Powder.
It had to be said: when the target was distracted, those two moves worked absurdly well!
Every time Caesar and the others were fighting so hard they were practically seeing red, they would suddenly drift off into dreamland and collapse onto the floor.
Even now, they still had no idea those had actually been Reiju's moves.
It could only be said that when scientists got into arguments, their focus was terrifying in its own way.
They made their way deeper into the castle.
Before long, the Straw Hats arrived at the outer edge of the castle's interior.
Originally, this had been the frozen tower Moria used to imprison the giant zombie Oars. But after Vegapunk's renovations, it had become an experimental zone overflowing with futuristic technology.
Along the walls of the tower hung row after row of specialized incubation pods, and inside them lay clones produced by the Vinsmoke Family.
"You're finally back!"
The moment they entered the lab, Red and the others saw a visibly excited Vegapunk, along with Caesar and the rest, hurrying toward them.
"Ah, sorry, we got delayed on the way—"
Red raised a hand, just about to explain.
But in the next second, Vegapunk and the others walked right past him and swarmed around Franky behind him instead.
"Uh... huh!? What's going on here!?"
Franky looked completely dumbfounded.
Yet immediately afterward, Vegapunk's group produced all kinds of instruments from who-knew-where and began scanning him from head to toe.
"Hm... just as I expected. A cyborg built from real flesh and blood is several times superior to a clone."
"Hmph! That's only because I haven't fully mastered the Lineage Factor formula yet!"
"Once my research bears fruit, I'll be able to mass-produce cyborgs of this level as much as I want!"
"Cut the crap! Without my modification technology, what could a mechanical idiot like you even make?!"
"Will all of you shut up already!? Be quiet, I'm conducting a Devil Fruit compatibility analysis!!!"
The mad scientists each went about their own business—testing, examining, researching. At this moment, in their eyes, Franky didn't look like a human being at all, but rather an experimental subject they could freely manipulate.
That horrifying sight instantly sent a chill through the Straw Hats.
Scientists were terrifying!
"Cough, cough..."
Watching Franky go from a loud, shameless pervert to a bashful little bride under the gaze of those scientific lunatics, Red finally couldn't stand it anymore. He gave a light cough and asked:
"Uh... what exactly are you all doing?"
"What are we doing!?"
Queen pulled open the hatch on Franky's abdomen and had Caesar turn into gas and enter Franky's body to inspect his internal structure.
After hearing Red's question, he turned around in confusion and replied in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Of course we're running basic tests on the cyborg."
"He's about to go onto the operating table. We need to finish checking every indicator before the surgery, don't we?"
"Huh!? This fast!?"
Seeing Franky looking utterly helpless and at their mercy, Red couldn't help suggesting:
"How about... waiting another two days? We could at least discuss the exact modification plan first?"
"Wait!? Wait for what!?"
At that moment, Judge, having just finished one of his tasks, suddenly spoke with obvious irritation:
"We've already gone three whole days without doing research on a new project just because we were waiting for you to come back for this operation. Do you know how much progress that's going to delay?!"
If this had been back in the Germa 66 Kingdom, Judge would never have thought time was this precious.
But ever since reuniting with his old MADS colleagues, watching the others report a new research result or fresh progress in the group chat practically every day, he had become frantic with anxiety.
After all, when it came to Lineage Factor, he couldn't compare to Vegapunk. In mechanical modification, he wasn't as proficient as Queen. In biochemical research, he was inferior to Caesar as well...
At this point, the only thing Judge could really bring to the table was his supply of clones to serve as disposable human test material.
But he wasn't the only one who knew cloning technology.
Vegapunk's research into cloning and Lineage Factor was on an entirely different level from his—so far above it that the gap was almost immeasurable.
It was only because Vegapunk couldn't be bothered making ordinary clones that Judge still had some value.
Right now, Judge desperately needed more research achievements to prove his worth.
"Uh... fine, then."
Having been snapped back at, Red clicked his tongue.
Though he felt these scientists—everyone except Vegapunk—were starting to forget who was the boss around here...
They were still doing their jobs seriously, so there wasn't much he could say.
Besides, they had come back precisely so Franky could complete his modifications. Finishing earlier was a good thing too.
And so, under the Straw Hats' watchful gazes, Franky was quickly changed into a loose surgical gown, forcibly pinned to the operating table, and pushed into the modification room.
"Hey, hey, hey! Is nobody going to tell me what my modification plan actually is!?"
"I'm a mechanic too, you know! I deserve to know the details!!!"
Even lying on the bed, Franky was still shouting wildly.
But right then, Reiju suddenly appeared. With a wave of both hands, she scattered a strange cloud of powder, instantly sending Franky into a dream-filled sleep.
Screee—
The operating room doors closed behind him.
"Hope everything goes smoothly."
At the entrance, the Straw Hats all looked at one another with wide eyes.
They had originally thought this would be a lighthearted, exciting robot-upgrade scene, but for some reason, under the influence of those scientists, it had turned strangely tense.
Even the troublemaker trio of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had closed their mouths, as if they were empathizing with Franky's miserable treatment.
Especially little Chopper...
Not long ago, he had actually been considering whether he should have his own body modified too.
After all, Queen had already proven that an altered body wouldn't interfere with the use of Devil Fruit powers. It could even store all kinds of tools inside the body, making it perfect for someone like Chopper who was aiming for an all-rounder route.
But after seeing Franky being modified, Chopper suddenly felt a bit intimidated.
Maybe... he should think about it some more.
The truth was, even with the world's top scientific technology and methods, human modification was still no simple undertaking.
Or rather, Franky's human modification was anything but simple.
In the blink of an eye, three days and three nights passed.
And the light above the modification room door, marked [Work in Progress, Do Not Disturb], remained lit the entire time.
Finally, at dawn on the fourth day—
Just as the Straw Hats were about to lose patience and leave to take care of their own business—
The light above the modification room suddenly went dark.
Immediately afterward, the tightly sealed door made of special metal slid open.
Accompanied by the hissing sound of changing air pressure, a figure slowly walked out of the room, heavy footsteps ringing with crisp metallic echoes.
"Wooo~! That was one heck of a comfortable sleep!!!"
Franky, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs, stretched lazily from head to toe before flashing a huge grin at his companions.
"Morning, everyone!"
"FRANKY!!!"
The moment they saw Franky reappear, the prankster trio cried out in unison.
Then, their eyes sparkling, they leaped onto him and started groping all over his body.
"Your modification is done!? Why doesn't it look like anything changed!?"
"Where is it? Where is it!? Where's the missile launcher!?"
"That's weird—your bones have gotten so light!!!"
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper each blurted out the question they cared about most.
At that moment, four more figures walked out of the modification room.
They were the four doctors who had participated in the procedure.
Among them, Queen, Judge, and Caesar all looked utterly exhausted, with dark circles under their eyes so severe they could go straight to a zoo and pass as giant pandas.
Only Vegapunk remained energetic and full of spirit, since he had delegated every time-wasting task to his satellites.
After stepping out, Queen and the other two didn't say a single word. Like zombies, they were helped away by a group of clones and returned to their rooms to rest.
That left Vegapunk alone, walking out with an excited smile.
"I truly didn't expect this project to go so smoothly!"
"Lord Red, perhaps that cyberpunk era you mentioned really is about to arrive!!!"
"Is that so?" Red smiled faintly. "Then it looks like the names of the doctors are about to spread across the seas once again."
"Haha, those things are unimportant."
Vegapunk shoved his hands into his pockets, looking utterly uninterested in fame or profit.
"Well then, I'm sure all of you are very curious about what kind of changes Franky has undergone, right?"
"Allow me to explain."
As he spoke, a flying robot suddenly appeared behind Vegapunk and projected a holographic display into midair.
On it was a detailed breakdown of Franky's modification plan.
First was the essential nature of Franky's body.
Because he had suffered severe injuries in childhood, Franky had used ordinary scrap metal to modify his own body in order to survive.
That metal granted Franky physical abilities far beyond those of an ordinary person—but at the same time, it also restricted his own development.
For example, Franky had been unable to properly use powers born from the body itself, such as Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
And aside from direct upgrades, his own training had very little practical impact on improving his strength.
Even with the Six Powers, which every member of the Straw Hat crew had mastered, Franky had only managed to fully grasp them after gaining the Fighting type.
After all, the essence of the Six Powers lay in controlling the muscles of the body.
But with more than half his body composed of mechanical structures, it was obvious that he could never do that as easily as Luffy and the others.
And for scientists like Vegapunk, who pursued perfection to the utmost, such a flawed cyborg was absolutely not an acceptable result.
So after extensive modifications, they successfully overcame this problem.
As for the body itself, Franky was still a cyborg—but now, aside from his skeleton and skin being made from special metal, every other part inside his body had been replaced with real artificial organs created using Franky's own Lineage Factor.
On top of that, Judge had deliberately shown off some of his own research results by incorporating certain easily compatible Lineage Factor patterns into those artificial organs.
Although there was still a huge difference between Franky and a perfect genetically modified human like Sanji, just those internal organs alone were enough to raise Franky's physical talent to a level not inferior to that of a typical Yonko commander.
Speaking of which, there had been a small incident during the process.
After seeing Franky's Lineage Factor chart, Queen's demeanor had clearly changed in a subtle but noticeable way.
Perhaps he had discovered something in Franky's Lineage Factor as well.
But at this point, those old matters no longer seemed that important.
So until the modifications were complete, Queen never voiced what he had found.
And just like that, Franky had now regained a new kind of flesh-and-blood body.
With such a body, things like mastering both colors of Haki and precise muscle control would no longer be difficult for him.
Climbing mountains of blades, crossing seas of fire, diving into the deep ocean, even surviving in outer space—those would all be easy for him.
On top of that, Vegapunk and the others had followed Red's suggestion and carried out additional modifications on Franky's brain, adding an external combat system independent of his main brain.
That was no difficult task for Vegapunk, because he already had a complete combat system on hand.
It was originally designed for the Pacifistas, and after a little adjustment, it was directly installed onto Franky.
Of course, Franky was not some machine of war.
So aside from assisting in battle, collecting information, and providing intelligence support, this system also had every function a Personal Terminal was supposed to have...
Listening to music, watching shows, reading books, chatting—every kind of capability was built in.
And because the device was external, Franky could even update the system at any time in a manner similar to plugging in a USB drive.
This, too, was one of the results Red had achieved after explaining the concept of cyberpunk to Vegapunk.
Naturally, every kind of weapon upgrade had also been included without exception.
His arms alone now had a wide variety of combat forms, including mantis blades, monowire, gorilla arms, hand cannons, flamethrowers, electric discharge, poison release, grappling hooks, and more.
And at the soles of Franky's feet, a fully rotational turbine propulsion device had also been installed.
Whether moving horizontally or flying through the air, he would now be agile and fluid in every direction.
But even all of that was still not the main point of this modification.
As the Straw Hats—everyone except Red—stood there with expressions that practically screamed, You can do something like that!?, Vegapunk suddenly gave a mysterious smile and pointed at Franky's chest.
That had originally been the compartment where Franky stored cola to power his body.
But later, after gaining Pokémon energy, he had been able to directly use Steel-type energy to power himself, so that area had gradually been left unused.
Now, Vegapunk once again drew everyone's attention to that spot.
Raising two fingers, he smiled and said:
"There are two major highlights to Franky's modification plan!"
"And one of them concerns the energy inside Franky's body."
As he spoke, a figure suddenly appeared from around the corner of the castle.
In that figure's hands was a crystal-like box.
Inside the box was a flame that danced ceaselessly.
"Main body, I brought the item you wanted."
"That's—!?"
The moment he saw that flickering flame, Red's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Mother Flame?!"
"To be precise... a small portion of Mother Flame!"
Vegapunk grinned.
"I've already built a miniature fusion furnace inside Franky's body that can contain a portion of the Mother Flame."
"Although the output is far lower than that of the genuine fusion furnace, if it's only being used to power a single individual..."
"That's enough! More than enough!!!"
Before Vegapunk could finish, Red cut him off immediately.
No one knew the power of the Mother Flame better than he did.
Even just the fraction York had stolen had been enough to allow Uranus to effortlessly annihilate an island and leave scars upon the sea that could never be erased.
A flame that would never go out—something like that could already be called a miracle.
And now, such a thing had been completely installed inside Franky's body. Red simply couldn't imagine just how much Franky's strength would rise.
A top-tier Yonko commander would only be the minimum.
Would he reach the level of an Emperor of the Sea?
Or even surpass one!?
Red truly wanted to know.
After briefly explaining to the others just how terrifying Mother Flame was, the impatient Red immediately asked Vegapunk to begin the installation.
And Vegapunk did not hesitate in the slightest.
Taking the Mother Flame from the box in his hands, he stepped onto the flying robot and rose until he was level with Franky.
Then, with a light press on a button somewhere on Franky's body, Franky's chest suddenly opened up, revealing a furnace-like mechanism.
Vegapunk carefully placed the Mother Flame into it, then pressed the button once more.
In the next instant, under everyone's excited gaze, Franky's body...
Was suddenly enveloped in a sacred white radiance!!!
The light was so dazzling that even Vegapunk, standing right beside Franky, was left frozen in shock.
Vegapunk: ?????
Wasn't the lighting system only supposed to activate in bald mode!?
Did I screw up the design!?
(End of Chapter)