Super Card System

Chapter 637: Thoughts

By now, Ian had pieced together much of the truth about various events, connecting them to form a clearer picture.

After sorting out the timeline, Ian managed to reconstruct the events that took place more than twenty years ago, which went something like this:

When Vegapunk, Judge, and the other scientists in their original research facility discovered the Lineage Factor, the Navy got wind of it and immediately declared their research illegal. They dispatched a naval fleet to forcibly shut down the research facility and took Vegapunk into custody. As for Judge, Varua, and the other scientists, some died, and others managed to escape.

Given Vegapunk’s genius, the World Government, upon capturing him, couldn’t simply imprison such talent. Instead, they provided him with research funding, putting him to work for the Navy and even establishing a dedicated Marine Science Unit for him.

The first research facility Vegapunk took charge of was the secret lab on Punk Hazard Island—a place inaccessible by Log Pose, ensuring both safety and confidentiality.

Upon taking over, Vegapunk’s first project was undoubtedly related to the application of the Lineage Factor. Based on the information Ian had gathered, this was connected to Kaido’s RT Project, where Vegapunk used prisoners of various races, secretly provided by the World Government, to create Kaido, a super-powered being.

This experiment seemed to have another byproduct: Vegapunk used the Lineage Factor to create a creature that originally existed only in fantasy—a dragon!

Yes, the kind of dragon with wings, resembling a giant lizard-like monster.

It must be said, Vegapunk was truly a genius. The science of creating life from nothing had already touched upon the realm of the divine…

For reasons unknown, the Celestial Dragons were particularly fond of the dragon Vegapunk created. However, the research on Kaido seemed to have failed. Due to some undisclosed reasons, Kaido caused an incident on the island and managed to escape.

Vegapunk likely didn’t favor this kind of research from the beginning. As a scientist, he must have understood the taboo nature of this kind of experimentation. So, after the incident, he persuaded the World Government to terminate the RT Project.

However, even though the research was halted, the data collected at the time could not simply be destroyed. This is why Red Flag X Drake’s father and Drake himself later found clues related to the past research on Punk Hazard Island. The RT Project was likely so significant that it forced both Drake and his father to leave the Navy and become pirates.

With the RT Project no longer viable, the World Government couldn’t let Vegapunk remain idle. It was at this time that Dragon launched his attack on Mariejois, showcasing his Devil Fruit ability.

Dragon’s Devil Fruit must have piqued the Celestial Dragons’ immense interest, but since they couldn’t kill Dragon to force the fruit to respawn, they decided to take a different approach. They funded Vegapunk, hoping he could research and create an artificial Devil Fruit with similar powers.

Vegapunk might have found this research intriguing and thus threw himself into it. As he delved deeper, he unraveled the principles behind Devil Fruits and how their abilities are transmitted. He even discovered a way to allow inanimate objects or machines to “consume” Devil Fruits.

Ian remembered that the artificial Devil Fruit stored in Punk Hazard was the one later consumed by Momonosuke, giving him the ability to transform into a dragon.

If we hypothesize that the original target of Vegapunk’s artificial Devil Fruit research was Dragon’s Devil Fruit, then the nature of Dragon’s ability becomes clearer!

It’s likely a Mythical Zoan-type Dragon-Dragon Fruit!

Considering that even mythical creatures like the Phoenix exist, with abilities such as rebirth through flames, the existence of a Dragon-Dragon Fruit isn’t far-fetched. In mythology, dragons can summon wind and rain and soar through the clouds. With this in mind, Dragon’s ability to control weather elements like wind and rain makes perfect sense.

Ian speculated that when Dragon ventured alone to Mariejois and was discovered, he was attacked and had to use his Devil Fruit ability, transforming into a dragon. This sight must have caught the attention of the Celestial Dragons. Given that they call themselves “Celestial Dragons” and their emblem is the hoof of the soaring dragon, it suggests they have a natural affinity for dragons. Whether it’s an evil dragon or a divine dragon, anything associated with dragons might be something they worship or hold as a totem.

However, now that Dragon, a revolutionary, is their enemy, the idea that the creature they revere is wielded by their foe must have been unbearable for them. This might explain why they were willing to invest heavily in funding Vegapunk’s research into artificial Devil Fruits, hoping to replicate Dragon’s power.

But ultimately, Vegapunk’s research into the artificial Devil Fruit failed! The resulting Dragon-Dragon Fruit was sealed away in the research facility at Punk Hazard.

Why did it fail? Even Ian had considered this issue!

The main problem with creating artificial Devil Fruits lies in a critical issue: the conflict between the artificial and the original Devil Fruits!

According to what is known about Devil Fruits, although their exact origin remains a mystery, it has been discovered that two identical Devil Fruits cannot exist simultaneously in the world. Only when the original Devil Fruit user dies does the same fruit reappear somewhere in the world.

Even natural, original Devil Fruits work this way, so it’s not surprising that artificial Devil Fruits would be even more problematic. If Vegapunk tried to replicate Dragon’s Devil Fruit while Dragon was still alive, the resulting fruit would inevitably have flaws, making it a complete failure! The Dragon-Dragon Fruit that Momonosuke consumed, although it allows him to transform into a dragon, is likely a defective product, similar to the difference between a superior and an inferior Devil Fruit.

Furthermore, this applies to all artificially created Devil Fruits. If there is a conflict in the type of Devil Fruit and the original Devil Fruit user is still alive, any artificially created version is bound to be a failure with defects.

This is why Kaido’s Beasts Pirates ended up with those bizarre ability users!

No one can predict the consequences of consuming such a flawed Devil Fruit…

After Vegapunk thoroughly understood the principles of Devil Fruits, it was natural that he would discontinue this line of research. The Dragon-Dragon Fruit that he created was sealed away in his office, and Vegapunk didn’t create any other artificial Devil Fruits.

However, there was one person who became aware of the process Vegapunk used to create artificial Devil Fruits.

That person was Caesar the Clown! Originally, Caesar was the Navy’s chief scientist, but when Vegapunk arrived, he took over Caesar’s position and became the leader of the Navy’s Science Division.

Caesar believed himself to be the most brilliant scientist, so he harbored a deep resentment towards Vegapunk. Because of this, Caesar rarely entered Vegapunk’s office, which is why the Dragon-Dragon Fruit was preserved and not destroyed by Caesar.

Driven by jealousy, Caesar likely learned about the process for creating artificial Devil Fruits while assisting Vegapunk. He understood how to create SAD, the essential material for producing artificial Devil Fruits, and how to cultivate these fruits using SAD. However, he wasn’t aware of the flaws inherent in artificial Devil Fruits, perhaps because Vegapunk didn’t inform him, or perhaps because he knew about the flaws but was too tempted by the potential to stop himself from continuing the research.

After the failure of the artificial Devil Fruit research, it seems that Vegapunk moved on to research human gigantification, while Caesar shifted his focus to the development of the poisonous weapon “Land of the Dead.” Their research paths diverged significantly from that point onward.

Vegapunk was strongly opposed to the development of such cruel weapons like poison gas, but Caesar insisted on pursuing his own research. Despite the warnings and attempts to stop him by others at the research facility, Vegapunk eventually reached the limit of his patience and decided to dismiss Caesar.

Enraged, Caesar forcefully activated the poison gas weapon he had been developing, resulting in the massive explosion at Punk Hazard over two years ago.

A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, destroying the research facility on Punk Hazard. The Navy had no choice but to urgently evacuate Vegapunk and the other researchers, leaving Punk Hazard a desolate island with no living creatures for a long time.

Caesar, being a Gasu Gasu no Mi (Gas-Gas Fruit) user, managed to survive the poison gas explosion, but he could no longer return to the Navy. As the person mainly responsible for the catastrophic accident, he had no choice but to seek refuge by cooperating with Doflamingo, manufacturing artificial Devil Fruits based on what he had stolen from Vegapunk’s research. He even accepted funding from Big Mom to continue his research on human gigantification.

This guy had always been riding on the coattails of Vegapunk’s research, yet he still believed himself to be the most brilliant scientist…

After sorting out all these causes and effects, Ian finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Perhaps due to the explosion incident at Punk Hazard, Vegapunk was relocated to another research facility, where he began the so-called PX—Artificial Weapon Program. For reasons unknown, Uncle Kuma even volunteered his body for Vegapunk’s research.

Ian’s instincts told him that Vegapunk was a crucial figure. Based on everything Ian had learned up to this point, he couldn’t believe that Vegapunk was genuinely loyal to the World Government. After all, if Vegapunk had once stopped Caesar from developing the poison gas weapon “Land of the Dead,” it didn’t make sense for him to continue creating powerful weapons like the Pacifistas for the World Government.

Recalling that Uncle Kuma had specifically given him a “key” to control the Pacifistas, allowing Ian to seize control of three of them, Ian realized that the Revolutionary Army might have already reached some sort of agreement with Vegapunk, and Kuma was likely the one who facilitated this.

As for what Dragon was trying to find when he secretly infiltrated Mariejois, Ian would need to hear that from Dragon himself.

However, Ian had a suspicion that it might be related to the identity chip of a Celestial Dragon that he had once obtained. Could it be the so-called “National Treasure”? If that were the case, it wouldn’t just be Doflamingo who was interested in it; the Revolutionary Army might also have a stake in it.

But what exactly is this “National Treasure”? Could it really be the ancient weapon Uranus?

Wait a minute! Uranus? The RT Plan?

Could it be that the so-called RT Plan is an abbreviation for the Artificial Uranus Project!?

Ian was shocked—could it be that Kaido is actually the product of this Artificial Uranus Project!?

What the hell! Damn it, I always thought it was some plan of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government to dominate the world…

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