A mistake? Of course it wasn't a mistake!
And that sacred light wasn't coming from inside Franky's body, either.
Rather, after Franky's body absorbed the Mother Flame and entered its complete form, his greatly enhanced potential successfully triggered the evolution mechanism of his Pokémon template!!!
To put it simply, Franky had...
Evolved!!!
Seeing this sudden unexpected development, Vegapunk blinked in confusion, completely baffled.
Red, on the other hand, had already seen this scene before. He immediately opened Franky's status panel.
In an instant, as the light of evolution faded from Franky's body, an entirely new status panel appeared before Red.
[Pokémon: Franky]
[Level: 66]
[Gender: ♂]
[Nature: Lax (+Defense, -Sp. Def)]
[Type: Steel / Dark / Fighting]
[Ability: Metal Protection (Until the external metal shell is destroyed, the user will not be affected by any negative status effects.)]
[Moves: Steel Beam, Autotomize, Dark Pulse, Dynamic Punch]
[EXP: 11451/13267]
[Total Stats: 1260]
"His total stats increased by more than a hundred and fifty points just from evolving!?"
"Even if the increase itself isn't outrageous, having stats like this at only Level 66 means Franky's talent is probably already enough to rival veteran Marine Admirals like Aokiji and Kizaru."
Talent was something that affected two things. On one hand, it determined the highest level of strength an individual could eventually reach. On the other, it affected the amount of time and resources needed for that growth.
People like Franky, Robin, and Nami were all geniuses by the standards of the pirate world, but if one only considered base combat power, they still couldn't touch the level of the true top tiers of the world.
Without taking into account all kinds of additional amplification methods, they would probably have to wait until Level 90 or even higher before they could barely reach the standard of a Marine Admiral.
By comparison, even setting aside the world protagonist Luffy, professional combatants like Zoro and Sanji, or even strong fighters like King and Katakuri, could more or less reach Admiral-level standards at around the low-to-mid 80s.
Of course, judging a person's strength using raw stat values alone was obviously inaccurate.
A person's combat power was influenced by many factors.
Devil Fruit abilities, combat techniques, battle experience, swordsmanship comprehension, weapons and tools, and...
Pokémon Abilities!
That's right!
Red had naturally noticed the new Ability Franky gained after evolving.
Before, Franky's Ability had been Steel Will, which increased the power of all Steel-type moves used by allies.
It counted as a fairly decent Ability.
It offered a solid boost to combat power, but didn't have much room for tactical manipulation.
But after evolving, Franky's Ability had changed into Metal Protection.
Just from the name alone, the old Ability sounded far more imposing.
But the actual effect of Metal Protection greatly enhanced Franky's survivability!
"As long as his metal shell isn't breached, he won't be affected by any negative status effects!?"
"Doesn't that basically give Franky a built-in magic immunity effect!?"
That meant that if anyone wanted to defeat Franky, they would have no choice but to do it the hard way—smash apart his steel body head-on.
And from now on, he no longer had to fear the appearance of Devil Fruit users unfriendly to cyborgs, such as users of the Rust-Rust Fruit.
"With a metal body for physical defense and a Pokémon Ability for magical defense... Franky really has walked down an alternative path to invincibility!"
"And more importantly..."
Watching Vegapunk question Franky nonstop after the light of evolution disappeared, Red's lips curled upward.
He didn't interrupt Vegapunk's curiosity right away.
After all, Pokémon evolution was something that could only be encountered by chance and not sought out deliberately.
If Vegapunk really managed to research something from Franky's evolution and help Luffy and the others evolve as well, granting them a second boost in talent, that would be wonderful.
Unfortunately...
Even with knowledge five hundred years ahead of the world, Vegapunk was helpless when faced with the natural laws of another world.
After questioning Franky for quite a while, he still didn't obtain anything truly useful.
But Red, who had been listening from the side the whole time, managed to understand all of the changes Franky underwent after evolving.
The first was Franky's appearance.
Generally speaking, when Pokémon evolved, their appearance changed drastically.
But Franky's changes before and after evolution weren't reflected in his outward appearance at all.
He looked exactly the same now as he had when he came out of the operating room.
Yet according to Franky himself, his current condition was better than ever before!
Because all the parts designed and installed into his body by Vegapunk and the others had now completely fused into one with his body.
If the old Franky had flesh as flesh and metal as metal...
Then now, the metal was his flesh, and his flesh could also gain metal-like properties.
The fusion reactor inside him that had been used to contain the Mother Flame had now completely fused with his heart.
The system device in his brain also now existed in some strange new state.
The combat systems that previously required him some time to get used to had now become as natural as moving his own arms, completely under his control!
It was as if he had been born knowing how to use all those things. They had already become instinct.
"Alright~!"
Seeing everyone still bombarding Franky with all sorts of bizarre questions—such as whether his excretory system was originally flesh or machine, or whether having the Mother Flame as an infinite energy source meant he no longer needed to eat at all...
Red stepped forward and interrupted both the Straw Hats' and Vegapunk's curiosity.
With a smile, he reminded them:
"If you have questions, wouldn't it be better to ask them after Franky enters his final form?"
"Don't forget... our original goal wasn't to make Franky evolve."
"Final form!?"
The Straw Hats all froze for a moment when they heard that.
Then Vegapunk suddenly clenched a fist and smacked it into his palm.
"That's right!"
His eyes widened in realization, and he immediately turned to Franky and asked:
"Franky, how is your Devil Fruit ability loading system?"
"Was it affected by the evolution!?"
"Devil Fruit ability loading system?"
Franky muttered the words in confusion.
The next second, the right side of his upper arm suddenly opened up, revealing a device connected to a set of strange tubes.
At present, the inside of the device was completely empty, making it impossible to tell what it was for.
If not for the evolution, Franky might not even have noticed this difference in his body yet.
Seeing this, Vegapunk immediately rode his flying robot over to Franky's right side and began carefully examining the device's internal layout.
A while later, he finally let out a sigh of relief and said:
"Good, good..."
"Although the fusion of the heart and the reactor changed the pathways of blood flow, it looks like everything is still fine."
Hearing this, Franky nodded calmly and grinned.
"Don't worry! There's no problem!"
"I know my own body!"
"Right now, there's even an interface for the Devil Fruit ability carrying system in my mind!"
"So even though Franky's internal structure changed a bit after evolution, it didn't affect the use of his modified functions."
At this moment, Red also stepped closer.
He first examined the so-called Devil Fruit ability loading device, then curiously asked Vegapunk:
"So, Dr. Vegapunk, how exactly did you overcome the problem of allowing a cyborg to possess multiple Devil Fruit abilities?"
"The principle itself is actually quite simple."
Perhaps he had already expected Red to ask, because Vegapunk answered calmly:
"The reason a single individual cannot possess multiple Devil Fruit abilities at the same time is because the Lineage Factor altered by a Devil Fruit is extremely unstable."
"It is precisely this instability that gives rise to the Devil Fruit ability."
"But at the same time, if an already unstable Lineage Factor is disturbed by another unstable factor, then the Lineage Factor will inevitably become uncontrollable and eventually collapse."
"So unless someone has a special physique—like that Blackbeard zombie, for example... with three hearts and three sets of blood circulation systems—it is impossible for a normal person to possess multiple Devil Fruit abilities."
In order to complete the multiple Devil Fruit ability project, Vegapunk and the others had dissected Blackbeard's body plenty of times.
And the reason they had been able to finish the subject so quickly was also thanks to the research direction Blackbeard had provided.
Vegapunk continued, "After studying Blackbeard's body, we also used his Lineage Factor to cultivate some clones for experimentation..."
"In the end, we successfully came to the conclusion that one independent blood circulation system is enough to support one Devil Fruit ability!"
"So..." Hearing this, Red raised his head in curiosity and asked, "you built multiple blood circulation systems inside Franky?"
But Vegapunk suddenly shook his head.
"No!"
"After repeated testing, we found that for one body to possess multiple blood circulation systems while still maintaining mutual balance and not interfering with each other is something that almost only exists in terms of probability."
"Even the clones we created using Blackbeard's Lineage Factor—none of them survived more than three days."
"Almost the moment they were formed, they began entering the stage of decline."
"A being like Blackbeard... can perhaps only be described as a miracle of life."
"I see..." Red blinked in astonishment. He hadn't expected Blackbeard to really have that kind of protagonist fate.
From the way Vegapunk described it, the fact that Blackbeard had survived into adulthood was even more miraculous than Luffy being Joy Boy reincarnated.
"Then... how did you complete the project!?"
Usopp, standing nearby, could no longer suppress his curiosity.
As one of the few technically minded members of the Straw Hat crew, he was also completely drawn in by Vegapunk's research approach.
At that moment, Vegapunk suddenly grinned.
"Simple!"
"As long as you create a blood storage and filtration system inside the cyborg, that's enough!"
"Hm!? What do you mean?"
Vegapunk's answer left both Red and Usopp stunned.
But Vegapunk pressed a button with one hand, and the flying robot beneath him immediately projected another image.
The image showed a cross-sectional diagram of Franky. Countless small arrows filled the image, seemingly marking the direction of blood circulation.
At the position corresponding to Franky's bladder was a strange circular device filled with crimson liquid like blood, replacing the original bladder.
Vegapunk explained:
"The principle of Green Blood is actually extracting the Lineage Factor of a Paramecia Devil Fruit user and integrating it into the blood, allowing the blood itself to carry the Lineage Factor changes of the Devil Fruit ability."
"So all we needed to do was build a standard Green Blood application system inside Franky, then add an extra blood storage and Green Blood filtration system..."
"When he wants to switch Devil Fruit abilities, all he has to do is pressurize the system so that the ordinary blood in the blood storage device enters the blood vessels, squeezing the ability-bearing blood back into the storage device..."
"And during that process, the Green Blood contained in the blood is filtered out and recovered..."
"That way, a perfect closed-loop system is formed!"
"Uh..."
For some reason, watching the vivid and intuitive demonstration animation on the screen, Red's mind suddenly produced the thought:
That's it? It's that simple?
But he quickly discarded the thought.
Because Red knew very well that although the project sounded simple, the actual scientific knowledge and techniques involved in truly accomplishing it were probably enough to make one's head explode.
Fortunately...
As a high-ranking member of the Straw Hats, all he needed to know was the result!
"So that means Franky can now freely load Devil Fruit abilities, but can only use one at a time?"
"Uh... I think I can answer that question myself."
At that moment, Franky suddenly spoke up.
"Judging by the current situation, the limit of Devil Fruit abilities I can carry should be three."
As for why he knew that...
It was because, in the system interface within his mind, the entry for Devil Fruit ability carrying capacity clearly displayed [0/3].
"That's right." Vegapunk sighed regretfully. "Though I hate to admit it, our research is still imperfect in the end."
"It's just that the other three all said it was already ready for delivery, so Franky was allowed to return and undergo the modification."
"Otherwise, I would absolutely never have tolerated such a flaw existing."
"Heh... looks like I really should thank those three guys."
Knowing Vegapunk's perfectionist tendencies were acting up again, Red muttered inwardly.
If they had really waited for Vegapunk to produce a perfect result, who knew how many years it would have taken.
At the very least, as things stood now, Red was extremely satisfied with the outcome.
And in the end, Vegapunk also gave the reason for the quantity limit...
Although the issue of the Lineage Factor in the blood had been solved, the effect of the Lineage Factor on the blood vessels had become the key reason for the limit.
Simply put, while the Lineage Factor mainly acted on the blood, it also affected the blood vessels to a certain extent—just not as strongly.
Given the current strength of Franky's blood vessels, the maximum he could theoretically withstand was the Lineage Factors of five Devil Fruit abilities.
But to be safe, after unanimous discussion among Vegapunk and the others, they ultimately allowed Franky to load only three Devil Fruit abilities at the same time, avoiding possible accidents.
"So that's how it is."
Having received this explanation, Red nodded in satisfaction.
No matter what, the results demonstrated by the Scientific Research Corps had already far exceeded his expectations.
After gaining a full understanding of Franky's body, the Straw Hats followed Vegapunk into a refrigerated chamber.
The moment they entered, Red and the others saw an entire room filled like a library with countless strange reagents.
Vegapunk smiled lightly and said to Franky:
"This is the Ability Storage Room!"
"Inside is every type of Green Blood for Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities I collected while in the World Government..."
"There's also Green Blood newly produced after arriving in the Pokémon Sea."
"I've labeled the name and effect of each ability on the tags beside the Green Blood."
"Next, you can choose the three Devil Fruit abilities here that suit you best..."
(End of Chapter)