He walked quickly towards the elevator, followed by the giant bear that had eaten the Tone-Tone Fruit.
Carole caught up with the hurried Vegapunk.
After entering the elevator and going up two floors, it stopped.
After verification, they entered the laboratory.
Rows of tanks filled with nutrient solution were placed in the room.
Inside were many pieces of flesh and blood, as well as many corpses.
The flesh and blood were cells or extracts from rare races.
As for the corpses...
Many familiar faces...
Such as Weevil, Mihawk, Boa Hancock, and others...
They had all been mechanically modified and turned into robots.
Although Boa Hancock had been modified and could unpetrify the soldiers of G-8 Branch, it was not yet time...
Because this couldn't be explained...
As for Weevil, known as Whitebeard's second son, he was already dead when sent, so his abilities were not preserved. However, after extreme physical modification, he was extremely durable and became a powerful combat force.
Over here.
Vegapunk led Carole to the corpse of "Pirate Hunter" Jorakol Mihawk.
After his battle with Barrrett, Mihawk's left arm was broken, and his ribs were shattered. Fortunately, his head was intact.
After Vegapunk's modification, his skeleton was recast using memory metal synthesized from the Tone-Tone Fruit's abilities and transplanted onto Mihawk's corpse.
With a half-metallic skeleton and the memory from his head, he was transformed into a highly intelligent great swordsman robot.
He possessed 80% of the original "Pirate Hunter" Hawk-Eye Mihawk's combat power, and this was still improvable.
In the future, through continuous intelligent analysis, integration, and learning, his strength would gradually recover and even surpass its peak.
Vegapunk went to the control panel and quickly entered commands.
The door of the nutrient pod opened, and Mihawk opened his eyes, walking out with a blank expression, indistinguishable from a normal person.
The giant bear, having eaten the Tone-Tone Fruit and undergone mechanical modification, opened its massive mouth like a large door.
Mihawk walked in expressionlessly, and then Vegapunk told Carole to throw in the Clear-Clear Fruit as well...
Carole's mouth twitched. He already knew what was coming.
He directly threw the fruit in.
Then, a sound of mechanical operation emanated from within the giant bear, and steam continuously puffed out from its ears.
Ding—
A crisp sound was heard, and the mechanical operation stopped.
The giant bear's mouth opened like a large door, but there was nothing inside.
*Slap!*
Carole's shoulder was patted.
His hair suddenly stood on end, and then Mihawk's expressionless body slowly appeared in front of Carole.
His hand rested on Carole's shoulder.
Carole let out a long sigh of relief:
"That's quite scary, Doctor."
Vegapunk smiled:
"How is it?"
"A modified Pacifista from the corpse of a top great swordsman."
"Integrated with the abilities of the Clear-Clear Fruit."
"It can assassinate 90% of the strong individuals on the sea."
"Of course, it's not without its flaws."
"The modified person has a slight stiffness, and the Clear-Clear Fruit cannot hide one's footprints, nor can it account for the instinctual response to the crisis of facing a blade."
"Therefore, for those truly powerful individuals, it doesn't pose a significant threat."
He wasn't exaggerating. Although Mihawk was killed by Barrett before reaching his peak, even in that state, he was still an existence that many on the sea couldn't resist. Many of the top cadres under the Four Emperors would also struggle to withstand him.
Carole marveled:
"It's already incredibly powerful."
"Truly strong individuals are certainly not something modified humans can handle."
"There will be experts to deal with them."
"This kind of modified human can be mass-produced, greatly reducing casualties among mid and low-level soldiers."
Vegapunk smiled, then looked troubled:
"That's what I thought. If only they could be mass-produced through cloning."
"It would greatly alleviate the pressure, but there simply isn't enough time. The cultivation period is too long."
With the technology obtained from Judge, mass-producing elite soldiers required five years.
After his optimization, it could be reduced to around three to four years.
But that was for soldiers. These powerful individuals were different; the resources consumed were immense, and the time for cloning increased exponentially.
Therefore, one of the current primary research projects was to overcome the cultivation time.
According to Sakazuki's plan, the decisive battle was only a few years away, and they needed to develop 'Seraphim' capable of fully maturing within two to three years.
Even with six clones already created, it still felt insufficient...
Carole sighed softly:
"It's already enough..."
In fact, he and Admiral Sakazuki had also deduced that if it truly came to that day,
Unless thousands of these things could be created, they wouldn't have much effect... the most crucial element would be large-scale troop combat.
Sacrificing lives would be the way...
----------
New World, Steam Pirate Group.
On the throne, Hell Noct frowned, looking at the message in his hand:
"Wiped out?"
Beside him, the chief steward of the Steam Pirate Group, Ben Black, said:
"That's right."
"Confirmed, not a single survivor."
"From the time the fleet lost contact to the arrival of my subordinates, it was less than half a day."
"Not a trace was left."
"On the sea, only the Navy possesses such abilities."
"Not only that, but during this period, the arms factories in the first half of the Grand Line have been almost completely wiped out."
"All of them..."
Hell Noct's eyes narrowed slightly:
"Sakazuki, huh..."
Ben Black replied:
"Indeed."
"This business line with the Revolutionary Army is temporarily cut off."
Hell Noct picked up a newspaper, which carried the news report of the Navy's split from several days prior:
"If it's cut, then so be it."
"Tell the men below to prepare for battle with full force."
"I've learned a bit about the internal conflict within the Navy."
"Sakazuki is about to become Fleet Admiral, and that guy's personality..."
"He won't be as gentle as Sengoku."
"This is a signal."
"The war between the Navy and the pirates is about to begin."
Ben Black was taken aback, but he nodded and went down to issue orders to his subordinates.
He knew that his boss had business dealings with some high-ranking government officials, so he likely already knew the inside story of the Navy's split.
In a way, it was a fortunate coincidence.
Because Sakazuki's cooperation with Kaido was targeted at...
Hell Noct.
----------
World Economic News Headquarters.
The location of Morgans, one of the kings of the underground world, the king of information who controls the world's newspapers.
As a news bird carrying a surveillance device returned for newspapers,
Morgans, who controlled the news birds, sensed something, but remained outwardly calm...