Momonga's warship was anchored off the coast of White Salt Island, giving them a clear view of the fierce battle unfolding on the island.
"So this is what monsters look like at their peak…" Smoker swallowed and muttered under his breath.
Momonga chuckled beside him. "This isn't even their peak yet. It's only just getting started. That said, I've always been curious. Between Ortoren and Charlotte Linlin, who do you think is actually stronger?"
Smoker found himself just as intrigued. He turned toward Hina and asked, "Hina, you've been following the Admiral for years. Has he ever mentioned anything about this? Who's stronger between them?"
Hina didn't even look away from the battle raging on the island. Clearly irritated, she replied, "No idea. The Admiral's never talked about it. As for who's stronger, just keep watching and you'll find out. Don't distract me…"
Smoker scowled. "You brat. Have you forgotten who recommended you to become the Admiral's personal secretary in the first place? That was me. Is this how you treat your benefactor?"
"Yes, yes, I know," Hina waved him off impatiently. "I'll treat you to a meal sometime later, alright?"
…
Not far away, aboard the Queen Mama Chanter.
At the moment, only Arber stood there, his expression grim as he stared at the battle on the island. A faint unease lingered in his heart for his Kaidou-sama.
"The one destined to defeat you is Joy Boy… Could Admiral Benn really be Joy Boy?" Arber thought heavily.
Unlike him, Queen had long since blended right in with the Big Mom Pirates.
On the deck, Katakuri, Perospero, and Queen were seated around a small square table, each holding a hand of hanafuda cards. Their attention was completely focused on the game, with no intention of sparing a glance at the earth-shaking battle nearby.
Just as Perospero was about to play a card, he seemed to sense something. A warning glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Katakuri.
"Using abilities like seeing the future during a card game is not something a perfect man would do, Katakuri."
Katakuri snorted. "Hmph. It's just a bit of entertainment. Why would I do something like that?"
Perospero studied his eyes for a moment before finally relenting. "I was only saying."
What he didn't notice was the faint redness beneath the scarf covering half of Katakuri's face, as though he'd been struck right where it hurt.
"Once those monsters finish fighting, no matter the outcome, we'll all be family anyway," Queen said casually as he played a card. "Come to think of it, I actually considered joining your Big Mom Pirates back in the day. I love red bean soup. If I'd joined you, I could've at least become the Minister of Red Bean Soup, right?"
"You're one of the top officers of the Beasts Pirates," Perospero replied offhandedly. "If Kaidou loses, you'll lose a lot of status. You really don't care at all?"
"Watch your mouth. Top officer?" Queen snapped. "Second-in-command. Don't tell me you think I rank lower than that pretentious guy."
Queen and Arber had never seen eye to eye. Each of them believed they were the true second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates.
After "correcting" Perospero, Queen spoke again, a hint of anticipation in his voice. "Tell me, do you think I'm really a pirate?"
Perospero froze. "What kind of question is that? You're a senior officer of the Beasts Pirates. How can you even doubt that?"
Katakuri also looked at Queen as if he were an idiot, completely baffled by the nonsense he was spouting.
Queen shook his head. "At best, you could say I'm not a very pure pirate. To be honest, my real dream has always been to become a great scientist."
Before Katakuri or the others could respond, Queen played another card and continued, "The only reason I ended up becoming a pirate back then was because our MADS research group was labeled an illegal organization by the World Government and forcibly disbanded. If I hadn't run so fast, I might be working under Admiral Benn right now… huh?"
He suddenly froze. After glancing at Katakuri and then at Perospero, Queen slapped his thigh hard.
"Damn it! If I'd known it'd turn out like this, why did I even run back then? If I'd joined the Navy earlier, I'd be at least a Vice Admiral following Admiral Benn by now! I wasted more than ten years taking the long way around!"
If he hadn't fled back then, he might already be one of Ortoren's trusted subordinates. Instead, here he was, having to return to this life as a pirate just to join this so-called glorious family.
After thinking it over, Perospero nodded in agreement. "When you put it that way… yeah. You really did take a detour of over ten years."
Having finally connected all the dots, Queen was filled with regret. Distracted by his thoughts, he misplayed twice in a row and ended up losing the game outright.
As he shuffled the cards, Queen steadied his mood and sighed.
"Fine, fine. It doesn't matter anyway. The end result would've been the same." He kept dealing and continued, circling back to his earlier point. "Back to what we were talking about. Over the years, I've researched all kinds of weird viruses and the like… but you outsiders probably don't realize this. Viruses are actually a very important force in driving biological evolution."
"My reason for studying viruses was to dig deeper into evolution itself. And back then, our MADS project was this close to succeeding…"
"MADS… that's the group Caesar was in too, right?" Katakuri asked quietly.
"Yeah," Queen said with a snort. "But his tech is garbage. I never respected him. The only one who was truly impressive was Vegapunk."
Katakuri didn't argue. Caesar had said almost the exact same thing: that Queen and Judge were trash, he looked down on them, and only Vegapunk was better than him, though only by a little.
Maybe that kind of mutual contempt was just the arrogance of top-tier scientists.
Since Katakuri stayed silent, Queen paused, then awkwardly tossed himself a way out.
"…That said, they can be useful sometimes. Caesar… Judge… that sort."
Then his voice suddenly grew animated as he looked at Perospero and Katakuri.
"You know why I'm the one in the Beasts Pirates who supports Kaidou-sama's gamble the most?" Queen said, practically buzzing. "Because no matter how it ends, it could mean MADS gets back together! Research into Life Blueprints and the Lineage Factor can finally move forward again!"
To be fair, Queen wasn't wrong. The core members of MADS, the truly cutting-edge scientists, were only a handful.
Vegapunk, Queen, Caesar, Judge… and if you absolutely had to add one more, then maybe Bagin Stussy.
Queen and the others looking down on each other was arrogance. But everyone looking down on Bagin Stussy? That was less arrogance and more a genuine lack of ability.
From Queen's perspective, Caesar was with the Big Mom Pirates now. Judge, according to rumors, had completely thrown in with Admiral Benn. And Vegapunk, the strongest of them all, was still in the Marines' science division.
But once they all truly merged into one "family," their sights would inevitably turn toward Mary Geoise. When the World Government got smashed to pieces, wouldn't Vegapunk come back too?
Wouldn't the four giants of MADS be reunited again?
And by then, they wouldn't be some underground illegal research group anymore. They'd become the cutting-edge scientific organization of the new ruling class. Life Blueprints, the Lineage Factor, whatever else… they could research it all openly, without restraint.
That was why Queen was so excited, so energized.
Maybe he was right. Maybe he really wasn't a pure pirate at heart. What he wanted most was to become a… "great scientist."
…
And just as Queen was pouring out his dreams—
Back on the warship, the tightly focused Hina had finally been interrupted.
She held a Den Den Mushi in her hand, her face frozen in disbelief, then shifting into outright shock as she demanded,
"What? Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the others have all been captured by the World Government!?"