Chapter 490: Vegapunk Disappears
After hearing Ryuunosuke's words, Roy was stunned.
"Captain Ryuunosuke, do you really need this Infinite Mother Stone... no, the Heart of Infinity?"
He could not help asking in confusion.
"Yeah."
"I need it, and not just casually. It is essential."
"So I have no reason to turn you down."
Ryuunosuke nodded, making it clear that this cooperation worked for both sides.
Roy had been tangled up over why Ryuunosuke agreed so easily.
Some things were better left alone. Think too much and you would only drive yourself crazy.
Ryuunosuke did not want a partner who overthought things until they broke their own brain.
"I feel like I am taking a loss here."
"Captain Ryuunosuke, it seems you will have to make it up to me somehow during our cooperation later."
Roy finally relaxed completely.
A moment ago he had still been wondering why Ryuunosuke accepted his terms so quickly.
Now there was no need for that kind of pointless mental gymnastics.
Ryuunosuke much preferred him like this.
"No need for compensation."
"By the way, what are you planning to do about that lunatic?"
Ryuunosuke asked directly.
"Carmel?"
The moment he heard the word lunatic, the first person who came to Roy's mind was Carmel.
Aside from Carmel, he could not think of anyone else Ryuunosuke would describe that way.
"Yeah."
"Considering all the nonsense you pulled before, he is probably hiding somewhere out there, still scheming."
Ryuunosuke said bluntly.
Roy could only look embarrassed.
This was all because he had not known Ryuunosuke needed the Heart of Infinity.
If he had known, he would have brought the Infinity Heart straight to him, instead of dragging it out like this.
"The order I gave him was to do whatever he wanted."
"I have no idea where he is right now."
Roy admitted, a little awkward.
Yes, he was that irresponsible.
He just tossed people out into the world and never bothered to reel them back in.
"...Seriously?"
"Roy, that is a bit much."
"So, you do have at least some lead, right?"
"He is your subordinate. Do you not even have a way to contact him?"
Ryuunosuke asked.
Carmel was not especially powerful.
If Ryuunosuke sent a single division leader with a team, they could probably bring him back in chains.
The hard part was finding him in the vast sea.
Especially a man like Carmel.
Someone like that would have prepared a safe hiding spot long ago.
As long as he refused to come out, almost no one would be able to track him.
And even if he wanted to cause trouble, a man like Carmel barely needed to show his face to do it.
"I do not have his number."
"When he was in Mary Geoise, all my instructions went through the Five Elders."
"So as for him... forget Den Den Mushi. Even if he has one, they probably do not know about it."
Roy spread his hands helplessly.
"Alright."
"Then let the Five Elders look for him."
"If they cannot find him, we will deal with it later."
"Speaking of your people, there is someone I am very interested in."
"Vegapunk. You know where he is, right?"
Ryuunosuke asked with a smile.
Vegapunk was known as the greatest mind in the world.
He had invented countless things and even researched bloodline factors that bordered on divine power.
That kind of achievement was beyond this era.
No, it was beyond this world.
And a man like that had always been under the control of the World Government.
Now that Roy had chosen to cooperate with the Dragon Hunter Pirates to achieve his own goals, Ryuunosuke naturally wanted to see for himself what kind of genius this Vegapunk really was.
"Vegapunk?"
"Was he not taken away by your people earlier?"
Roy was silent for a long moment before he finally spoke.
Ryuunosuke froze at that.
He did know that Vegapunk had once been imprisoned in Impel Down.
But he had never gone after Vegapunk personally.
At most, he had passed that information to the Revolutionary Army and let them handle it.
And the message he had received back from Sabo was that the Revolutionary Army had not taken Vegapunk away.
Instead, he had been transferred by agents of the World Government.
During that period, the Dragon Hunter Pirates had been focused on recovering their strength, and the World Government had taken heavy damage from their battles with Ryuunosuke.
No one had paid close attention to Vegapunk's situation afterward.
Now that the topic suddenly came up again, both men found themselves confused.
"So in other words, Vegapunk was not taken by the World Government."
"But in the chaos of that battle, someone else snatched him away."
After sorting through the information, Ryuunosuke finally spoke.
It really was strange.
Going by Roy's attitude, he clearly was not lying.
Could it be that the Revolutionary Army had lied?
But Sabo was his point of contact there.
If Dragon had done something in secret, Sabo would not have hidden it from Ryuunosuke.
Their bond as brothers ran deep.
For a moment, Ryuunosuke felt genuinely puzzled.
At that time, who had been capable of slipping into that chaos and exploiting such a gap?
"That is how it looks."
"But Captain Ryuunosuke, why are you interested in him?"
"His research is impressive, sure."
"But in the end, it is a side path. It can never compare to strength you forge yourself."
"Besides, the Dragon Hunter Pirates do not seem like they need that kind of power."
Roy asked, still unable to understand.
If someone else had been greedy for Vegapunk's work, Roy could understand.
To the weak, science based power was extremely tempting.
But they were already standing at Ryuunosuke's level.
Did he really still need such power?
Obviously not.
That was why Roy was so confused.
"Mr Roy, you really underestimate science."
"You have been alive this long because you carry Lilith's power, right?"
"But science can reach for the same thing."
"One example is pure gold, which the World Government also knows about."
"That is a powerful treasure created through science."
"Pluton did not just fall from the sky either."
"It was discovered and studied by people. That is science too, allowing the powerless to control terrifying might."
"All of that is the power of science."
Ryuunosuke said slowly.
Roy fell silent for a long time after hearing that.
"So Captain Ryuunosuke thinks Vegapunk will become an extremely important person."
"That he might even create something that surpasses our own strength?"
Roy asked thoughtfully.
Ryuunosuke was quiet for a moment.
Reaching a level beyond their power would be incredibly difficult.
If Vegapunk really could do that, he would not have stayed chained to the World Government for so many years.
No one, not even a scientist like Vegapunk, would willingly give up their freedom.
So for a moment, Ryuunosuke did not know how to answer Roy's question.
"Forget it, we will put that aside for now."
"But we still need to investigate."
"Let us head back to the Eternal Boat first. We need to discuss our next move."
After saying that, Ryuunosuke did not continue the topic.
<><><><><>
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]