"You guy, can you really produce artificial Devil Fruits?"
Smoothie stared at Caesar with inexplicable surprise, somewhat disbelieving.
This guy, full of petty cunning and vulgarity, without a shred of backbone, and looking so unreliable, can he really create something like artificial Devil Fruits?
"Fufufufu! Madam, don't underestimate me! This genius is the greatest scientist in the seas, and will surely surpass that fellow Vegapunk in due time..." Seeing Smoothie's disbelief, Caesar felt immensely satisfied and grinned proudly.
"It's just a semi-finished artificial Devil Fruit, and it has considerable side effects. Its power amplification is also questionable; there's nothing much to be surprised about..."
Ichiji, sitting there with crossed legs, raised an eyebrow and said indifferently: "Compared to Vegapunk's achievements, it's still far behind..."
"If I didn't need to focus my efforts elsewhere, that old man of mine could also research it. To put it plainly, it's just about the application of 'Bloodline Factors.' Essentially, it's still built upon Vegapunk's research achievements."
Being so impolitely splashed with cold water by Ichiji, Caesar completely wilted like a boiled eggplant, his head drooping in dejection.
"Heh heh."
Isabel, standing behind Ichiji, chuckled secretly.
In reality, Caesar's scientific research ability was quite commendable.
She believed that even if Vinsmoke Ichiji himself led a team to research artificial Devil Fruits, it would still take a considerable amount of time. After all, Ichiji wasn't initially specialized in this field. He was more focused on biological "modification" and "replication."
"Grrr—"
Suddenly, accompanied by a fierce beastly growl.
Two leopards, forced to take the ES drug, almost bit the few elite soldiers and began to furiously tear at each other.
"Clang, clang...!"
The originally sturdy iron cage was violently shaken by the impact.
The interwoven alloy steel pipes were directly twisted out of shape, making one involuntarily startled.
"Fufufufu~~~ Such power, although it's probably impossible to infinitely stack it, it currently means they've increased their strength by about double..." Caesar said, hissing strangely with some excitement.
"They actually smashed the specially made alloy iron cage like this! If they take a third dose, I'm afraid they'll tear the iron cage apart immediately! I just don't know how long the medicinal effect can last!"
The power amplification from the ES drug relied on overdrafting the creature's potential. The data naturally couldn't be constant; it clearly varied from person to person.
"Let's observe first... see how long the effect lasts..."
Watching the two blood-splattered leopards tear at each other, and the iron cage constantly shaking from the impacts, Ichiji squinted and said directly: "As for the plant cultivation you just mentioned, it reminds me of Dresrosa's Tontatta Tribe, who are said to be able to cultivate any plant in the world. When Fujitora brings back the Hard Wall Fruit user, I'll go directly to Dresrosa..."
As for the problem of the Tontatta Tribe's small numbers, at worst, they could directly conduct large-scale cloning. It wouldn't take long for this type of little people to cultivate "finished products."
"Tontatta Tribe?"
Caesar's eyes lit up. He floated excitedly in front of Ichiji: "Fufufufu~~~ I almost forgot about this tribe's talent! They're rumored to be the best at cultivating all kinds of plants! Maybe they can really increase the success rate of artificial Devil Fruits!"
"Hard Wall Fruit?"
Smoothie casually sat on a chair that a soldier had carried over, asking with some surprise, "What kind of ability is that?"
"A user of the Hard Wall Fruit has a body like a moving fortress inside. They can shrink their subordinates and cannons inside their body, and can also output firepower to the outside world using the army inside their body, or pull opponents into the fortress, borrowing various 'weapons' from within the fortress to attack..."
Isabel, who had already learned about the Hard Wall Fruit ability from Ichiji, smiled and introduced it to Smoothie.
"A human fortress?" Smoothie was startled.
Some Devil Fruit abilities were indeed so incredible.
"This ability is quite useful for a major power like Germa. An ability user is essentially a mobile fortress. The advantage in troop transport naturally goes without saying..."
Ichiji waved his hand and said with a light chuckle: "If we directly install the radiation system from Dr. Vegapunk's laboratory in his hometown, dozens or hundreds of radiation cannons firing simultaneously would make them a humanoid killing weapon with no blind spots!"
He wasn't exaggerating. Not to mention large-scale lethal weapons like poison gas bombs, just installing dozens of radiation cannons inside the fortress, continuously launching successive attacks, ordinary strong individuals wouldn't even be able to get close to the ability user.
"Dr. Vegapunk's radiation weapon system, has Germa already gotten it? Fufufufu~~~"
And at this moment.
Far away in the West Blue, in the Caribbean Sea.
A pirate ship was sailing horizontally through the sky, filled with an eerie aura.
"How much longer...?"
Cavendish paced back and forth on the deck, speaking impatiently.
This was not their pirate ship, but one they had casually plundered in the New World. After killing most of the crew (or rather, the good ones), they only left the navigator to lead the way.
"Lord Cavendish, according to this sea chart we bought earlier, it will take about half a day to reach the destination..." The poor navigator said, wiping cold sweat from his forehead, a bit timidly.
"One of the Five Great Underworld Families of West Blue, the Capon family. I never expected Your Highness to suddenly arrange such a mission. My holiday is ruined..." Fujitora also lay lazily on a lounge chair at the bow of the ship, saying helplessly with his arms crossed over his head: "Wait until this mission is completed. I guess Your Highness will start that crazy training again. By then, I won't be able to rest."
He knew just how crazy Ichiji was when he started training.
As Ichiji's physique grew stronger, the gravity he needed to apply became greater and greater. Naturally, it wouldn't be as effortless as it was initially.
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