"Alright, you can use this body for now, and I'll make you a new one later Meow~ Of course, if you want to make it yourself, I can also lend you the lab Meow~ Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
As Purah Meow words fell, Edison, who had been sent back by Shanks, climbed up from the experimental table of the Dodo Advance.
However, beneath his cartoon-style socket head, what was connected was a Sheikah-style Guardian body. Together with the Guardian standard four metal tentacles, it looked rather Cthulhu-esque.
Nevertheless, Edison didn't have any complaints about it. After thanking Purah Meow, he walked out of the lab with her.
"Oh! Purah Meow sister and the others are out Meow!"
(=ΦωΦ=)
Klee Meow waved her paws at them immediately.
"Then, it time for us to leave as well."
Time was pressing right now, and Sherwin was rarely active. He didn't intend to stay in Elegia to rest for the night, and directly pulled Shanks along with the Red Hair Pirate "only brain," Benn Beckman, preparing to head straight to the Revolutionary Army headquarters, the White Soil Island, Baltigo.
"Wait a minute! Why do I have to go along too?!"
A certain afro-headed skeleton who was dragged onto the Dodo Advance together with them looked utterly bewildered.
"The experiment that needs your cooperation isn't finished yet! Are you trying to back out?! Watch out or I'll set the dog on you Meow!"
(=`ω=)
Haibara Meow deliberately put on a fierce, claw-baring posture to threaten him, but with her fiercely cute appearance, it felt far more adorable than threatening.
Besides, Brook, who already knew her nature, actually found her completely unthreatening long ago.
"Don't worry, once Haibara and the others finish their research, I will send you back again."
Sherwin patted Brook shoulder and comforted him, "If you are really unwilling, then forget it."
Brook did not hesitate for too long before choosing to move together with Sherwin and the others.
Aside from having already promised Haibara Meow, a more important reason was that during the process of cooperating with the research, he was also developing his own abilities...
Back then, wasn't that soul projection ability forced out by Sherwin and the Felynes just like this? Otherwise, if he wanted to discover this ability, he would have had to wait several more years.
Soon, the Dodo Advance, with its speed maxed out again, arrived at Baltigo. With Kuma delivery service, Dragon and Whitebeard naturally didn't need Sherwin to wait. The few individuals didn't waste any words either, quickly entering the meeting room to discuss.
"I contacted Kaido and Linlin just now. They are both still alive, but... the pirate crews under their command suffered heavy losses. Even Wang Zhi died on Egghead Island."
Upon learning that another former companion had died, Whitebeard mood was inevitably somewhat melancholy.
But Sherwin was a bit annoyed.
Being somewhat narrow-minded, he was still thinking about finding a chance to settle scores with Wang Zhi in the future, but the guy ended up kicking the bucket a step ahead...
Fortunately, the grudge between them wasn't anything deeply resentful, so Sherwin quickly threw this little bit of annoyance to the back of his mind.
"Edison, tell us in detail what happened on Egghead Island before. We need to decide what to do next based on the specific information you provide."
"In fact, I don't know much either. York sudden betrayal caught us completely off guard..." Edison, temporarily using the body of a Guardian, sighed and told Sherwin and the others everything that had happened to him on Egghead Island in great detail.
The overall situation was not much different from what Sherwin and the others had previously learned, except that Edison added information such as the Mother Flame and Seraphim being taken away, and Vegapunk recent development of some equipment targeted at Elemental Beasts.
But the most important thing was that the lineage factor database on Egghead Island had been taken away by the Five Elders.
In fact, although Vegapunk technological capability was terrifyingly strong, they were not afraid to deal with it since they had Haibara Meow and Purah Meow, as well as Edison, who was also a Vegapunk, joining them.
Moreover, Edison, who represented thoughts, was clearly more suited for research than York, who represented desire.
The World Government true advantage lay in the heritage accumulated over their eight hundred years of rule, as well as the database and material library built up by the Science Unit led by Vegapunk.
The database had already gone up in smoke along with Punk Records, but there were plenty of good things in those material libraries.
Not to mention the lineage factors of various ability users, just the Lunarian lineage factors used to manufacture the Seraphim were enough for the World Government to mass-produce combat power at the Warlord level.
In comparison, the exposure of Sherwin private contact with Vegapunk, as well as some of Purah Meow and Haibara Meow research falling into the hands of the World Government through York, were not things worth worrying about too much.
Because Sherwin had previously guarded against a potentially traitorous York, the technology the two research Felynes exchanged with Vegapunk at the time was not considered their core technology, so it was no big deal if the World Government knew about it.
"...However, if we follow our previous plan and form an alliance with Kaido and Big Mom, it wouldn't be difficult to obtain the Lunarian lineage factor. King is the only remaining survivor of the Lunarian race today."
After briefly giving Dragon and the others an understanding of what kind of existence the "Seraphim" were, Sherwin immediately tossed out this piece of information, putting their minds slightly at ease.
However, right after delivering this "good news," he immediately poured a bucket of cold water on them...
"Of course, this is under the premise that King didn't die on Egghead, and that he can accept you using his lineage factor for experiments."
Sherwin shrugged. Given Haibara Meow attitude toward androids, she definitely wouldn't get involved in this sort of thing.
However, with the addition of Edison, there was no need to worry too much about the technical aspects.
What Dragon needed to consider more was whether the Revolutionary Army could afford to fund Edison research.
Even if they added Sherwin, Whitebeard, Red Hair, and even future allies like Kaido and Big Mom, the Revolutionary Army still couldn't compete with the financially powerful World Government in terms of economic strength.
Not to mention, Kaido and Big Mom would certainly be unwilling to act as suckers who only provided money.
Perhaps... they could pull Tesoro in too?
In any case, under the current circumstances, the intelligence from Saint Bertrand side didn't seem that important anymore. It would be better to just have him turn traitor directly.
Although Sherwin political skills had always been subpar, he had been exposed to it for so long after all, so he still had a general concept of establishing a united front before a large-scale war.
However, even if they got Tesoro on board and secured enough research funding, where to obtain the relevant research equipment remained a major issue.
Sherwin was well aware of how severe the consequences of things like economic sanctions and import-export restrictions on Earth could be.
Although the World Government, with its current level of control, couldn't achieve a complete lockdown, it could still significantly drag down the Revolutionary Army progress...
Well, that was assuming the World Government actually had the concepts of economic and technological warfare.
Right!
Sherwin suddenly remembered that in the original manga, Perospero had used candy to directly replicate a whole set of laboratory equipment from Punk Hazard! Devil Fruits really didn't bother with logic!
"...Although our Lineage Factor database also contains the ability of the Lick-Lick Fruit, achieving it to the extent that Perospero did is no easy task. Therefore, no matter which angle you look at it from, the Beasts and BIG MOM are both targets we need to win over."
Sherwin seriously suggested to Dragon, and then, he couldn't help but add once more—
"Assuming Perospero didn't die on Egghead."