"What did you say???"
Franky picked his ear, not believing a word of what York said. He could get newspapers here too.
Although he didn't know what Vegapunk actually looked like, Franky had definitely seen the news of Vegapunk's death. The people of Baldimore had even held a memorial service for him.
For Shayna and King, Vegapunk was a researcher who had sullied their bloodline, but for the citizens here, Vegapunk had always been a genius scientist who cared about the people.
Now a broken robot with a woman's voice was claiming to be Vegapunk. Of course Franky didn't believe it.
"Humph. You'd better cherish this opportunity, this is an opportunity others can't even run into."
York didn't explain anything but walked over to the workbench in front of Franky.
"This blueprint is for combining robots, right? You've probably been stuck here for a long time. Your thinking is correct, but you lack the critical materials. Ordinary materials can't achieve this.
Back then, I set it aside for the same reason. I didn't have the materials.
Of the known metals, the best for building this kind of robot is the Divine Steel sold to the outside world by the Beasts Pirates, followed by Wapometal that only appeared on the market last year.
Given the conditions here, it's impossible to get either of those, so another method has to be used."
The exiled Wapol had been reduced to scavenging trash under bridges to make toys for a living. Because of the Munch-Munch Fruit, he ate all sorts of junk, and eventually the toys he made were discovered to contain a special shape-memory alloy.
Wapometal wasn't the same as Arceus's Divine Steel. With sufficient technological expertise, top scientists could also produce it, though the quality would be inferior; after all, man-made synthesis still couldn't compare with the power of a Devil Fruit.
Moreover its output was limited, making it hard to popularize.
But Wapol was different. He used the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit to mass-produce Wapometal.
Wapol became rich overnight. First he expanded his toy shop, then he founded a manufacturing company called the Baku Baku Factory, and even established the Wapol Konzern. With immense wealth, he went so far as to reestablish a kingdom in the South Blue.
Arceus's Divine Steel was only available in limited quantities. Usually, it was only when Onigashima needed repairs or when Steel-type Pokémon were nutritionally deficient that Arceus would casually create some extra.
In the top-tier market, Wapol couldn't compete, but he quickly took over the secondary market, and for those with the right connections, this had become common knowledge.
"The materials here are fairly abundant, enough to barely make some. This weapon system too, here and here should be modified like this."
She was Vegapunk's satellite, but not just a simple satellite. Vegapunk's six satellites weren't mere robots but rather a peculiar type of clone, each one amplifying a certain aspect of emotion.
York's greed was immense, but she also possessed keen analytical ability. The data stored in Punk Records was gone, but what she herself had remembered wasn't forgotten. Seeing these ready-made blueprints, recalling some things was not difficult for her.
This was also her way of proving herself. Franky didn't even know that Vegapunk had six satellites. This little bit of skill was more than enough to fool him.
York's goal was also very clear: she wanted to use Franky's DIY laboratory to first repair her own body, then look for the Marines to contact the Five Elders, and make herself the sole Vegapunk.
As for the result, it could already be seen from the light shining in Franky's eyes. York had succeeded.
What Franky might learn or gain in the process was of no concern to York.
Remembrance, sorrow, regret; different people had different reactions to the news of Vegapunk's death. Two individuals, however, stood out the most: Vinsmoke Judge and Caesar Clown.
Judge himself said nothing, only ordering Germa to accelerate the ongoing research. Caesar, on the other hand, was ecstatic.
"Shurorororo, Vegapunk is dead! Now I'm the world's number one scientist! That fame-chasing Queen, what does he have to compare with me, the great Caesar?!"
Watching the slightly deranged Caesar, Monet rubbed her eyes and decided to speed up her own mission progress.
[Young Master was right after all. Sooner or later, Caesar will get himself killed.]
A few more days passed, and the news of Vegapunk was gradually forgotten by the sea. The matter was far too high-level—so high-level that ordinary people had no interest in it.
Whether someone was five hundred years ahead of the world or the number one scientist in the world had nothing to do with them. To ordinary people, whether Vegapunk lived or died was far less important than how many fish a net could catch or whether next year's harvest would be good.
On the first day they saw the news, they too mourned, but after a few days, those feelings naturally disappeared.
For the people of Onigashima, this was even more the case. Vegapunk's importance didn't even measure up to a few wanted posters.
Thunderclap - Zeraora
Bounty: 1.72 billion Berries.
During the Summit War, Zeraora had lacked any striking performance, so his bounty hadn't changed much. After the battle of Egghead, however, his threat was once again demonstrated.
Another whose bounty soared was Shayna.
Flame Blood - Shayna
Bounty: 2.3 billion Berries — Extremely Dangerous.
Shayna's bounty caught up with King's, matching it exactly, as if to convey some special meaning, though hers carried an additional remark.
Her frenzied actions, which disregarded consequences, made her far more dangerous than other officers.
There was also another wanted poster that changed, but the face on it wasn't Kuzan's, it was Yamato's.
Oni Princess - Yamato
Bounty: 2.963 billion Berries.
The bounty was symbolically increased by 100 million, which was related to the news reported in the newspaper. The news of Kuzan appearing was covered up, and only vaguely mentioned Yamato, a pirate with ice ability.
To hide something like this forever was impossible. Still, since there had been no eyewitnesses at Egghead, they could conceal it for now. After all, the fact that a Marine Admiral had joined pirates was simply too disgraceful.
"What the hell, what are these people even thinking? What does what happened on Egghead have to do with me? Don't you think so, Kuzan?"
"How should I know? I already resigned. This isn't the outcome I wanted."
A few days later, Zeraora and Kuzan naturally returned to Onigashima. Kuzan was not pleased with how the World Government had covered up the matter.
He had originally wanted to use this operation to prove himself. No matter what he did, integrating with the pirate community of Onigashima would have been easier afterward. However, Marines and World Government's concealment ultimately led to his progress bar remaining stagnant.
The only one who felt calm about this was Queen. After all these years, he had finally encountered a matter he could empathize with.
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