VEGAPUNK POV
Egghead Island is the territory of Dr Vegapunk, a place where he conducted experiments such as devil fruit cloning, human cloning, seraphim creation, DNA alteration and all of this being supported by the World Government.
Inside his private laboratory, only the faint hum of machinery filled the air, accompanied by the soft glow of countless monitors displaying streams of data. In the center of it all stood Dr Vegapunk, his eyes scanning the newspaper in front of him.
Vegapunk had been researching how to clone himself and the progress was currently around 40%, he only stopped his work because of the news coming from the Strawhat Pirates.
"…Impossible," his voice filled with disbelief. "How can he extract devil fruit power and even copy Logia."
Vegapunk had also conducted countless devil fruit experiments and had managed to extract some nutrients and even copy certain abilities. The easiest fruit to copy was the Zoan type and next came Paramecia, which he had almost failed to copy entirely. If a Zoan fruit had only 10 steps to replicate then Paramecia had 40 more steps on top of that, which showed just how difficult copying a Paramecia devil fruit truly was.
But the one fruit that was impossible to copy was the Logia devil fruit. Unlike Zoan which carried the characteristics of animals, Logia itself was a nature type and did not possess a lineage factor. He had tried to extract the DNA from Kizaru, Akainu and even Aokiji but their bodies did not carry any lineage factor that could be copied.
He had also tried to copy a raw Logia devil fruit by collecting specimens directly from the fruit itself but that attempt also ended in failure and now he was hearing from Marines firsthand about a stolen ability that should have been impossible to take.
He double confirmed it through the news, Sabo had managed to obtain the Logia Magma power taken directly from Akainu and after being drained, Akainu no longer possessed his Logia devil fruit power.
"No… no, that contradicts fundamental principles…"
He turned and began pacing slightly, his mind already racing far beyond the words printed on the page.
"I have spent decades studying Devil Fruits," he muttered. "Lineage Factor… replication… artificial manifestation…"
One of the robots suddenly spoke to him. "You have successfully replicated Zoan-class abilities in the past."
Vegapunk nodded immediately. "Yes, artificial Zoans are achievable and even stabilizing them within living hosts falls within expectation."
Another screen lit up displaying images of towering childlike figures, the Seraphim that he had begun cloning after obtaining Kuma DNA, each one possessing abilities derived from copied devil fruits.
"But Logia…" Vegapunk stopped.
His expression tightened.
"Logia is different."
He tapped the keyboard and began creating a new formula.
"Intangible elements, complete transformation, their structure is not simply biological and it borders on the conceptual itself!"
"I have tried," Vegapunk continued, his voice lower now. "Repeatedly. Every attempt to replicate a Logia ability has resulted in instability, failure and total collapse."
His eyes narrowed back towards the newspaper again.
"No… not Monkey D Luffy."
His finger moved slightly, stopping on another name.
"Jack F. Corrie."
The supposed vice captain and the one responsible for all of this wonder.
"Stealing… and transferring abilities…" Vegapunk murmured. "That alone surpasses replication and if what the Marines report is true then this changes everything."
He turned toward the Seraphim display once more, his reflection staring back at him through the glass.
"Replication is no longer the peak," he said quietly as a slow smile formed across his face. "Extraction… transfer… control… whoever this Jack F. Corrie is, I want to meet him."
***
Inside the medical ward, Cipher Pol 9 and Spandam had been moved alongside several people from the World Government who had come to assist them. Like Akainu, they had all been sedated and would remain asleep until the effects wore off.
The room smelled of antiseptic and iron as a faint hum echoed through the sterile chamber and dim lights flickered overhead. One by one the figures began to stir, their bodies long unconscious finally being dragged back into awareness.
Blueno was the first to open his eyes.
"…Where…" he muttered, his voice rough as pain answered him immediately. His entire body felt heavy and restrained with cold metal cuffs locking his wrists firmly to the bed.
Across the room another groan followed.
"Kuh…" Kaku blinked repeatedly, his vision still blurry. "This… is a Marine ward."
Rob Lucci forced himself upright despite all the pain radiating through his body. He was covered in bandages far more than the others, deep bruises staining his skin with faint traces of dried blood still lingering despite the treatment he had received. His breathing was steady but heavy.
Blueno frowned. "Lucci… you look worse than all of us."
Lucci did not answer but his eyes were cold and filled with anger.
Kalifa slowly pushed herself up, wincing slightly. "We were captured…" she said, recalling fragments of what happened. "Straw Hat Pirates… and that man…"
"The vice captain," Kaku added quietly. "Jack F. Corrie."
The name alone made the air feel heavier in the room.
Before anyone could speak further the door suddenly clicked open and several agents in black suits entered with unreadable expressions. Behind them a tall figure stepped forward.
"Awake?"
Blueno narrowed his eyes. "Cipher Pol…?"
The man nodded. "You are to be transferred immediately, the Gorosei have requested your presence."
A brief silence followed before Kalifa gaze sharpened. "The Gorosei… for us?"
"That is correct."
Kaku exchanged a glance with Blueno and even Lucci eyes flickered slightly at the mention of their name.
"There is something else you should know," the agent added. "We wanted to know about your ability."
"That man, Jack F Corrie had extracted the devil fruit from us and we no longer can use our devil fruit power," answered Kalifa.
"That man…" Lucci continued, his voice quiet but filled with something far darker than anger as his fingers dug into his own palm while he remembered the humiliation inside the prison. The other CP9 members fell silent hearing the weight of his anger.
***
In another room laid Spandam, who had been brutally tortured by Jack during his time in captivity.
A steady beep from the machines filled the medical ward as Spandam eyelid twitched and his fingers trembled. At first he thought he would wake up and face that devil again because his experience with Jack had left him with severe PTSD. Whenever he had woken up during the torture sessions, Jack would always say a few words before the pain came again.
He had begged Jack to stop and had even tried to kiss his feet out of desperation but when he did, Jack looked at him with such disgust that he kicked him directly in the face for it.
Before all of this he had perfectly aligned teeth but now they were all gone and he had begged Jack just to end his life, but Jack was truly evil in the way he carried out his punishment.
Every time he beat him, Jack would question him with the same words.
"All the slaves that you guys captured and brought to the Celestial Dragons were facing torture each day but I am a good person so I wanted you to also learn what it feels like to be a slave," said Jack while torturing him.
"AAAA—!"
His scream tore through the room and he realized he had woken up screaming.
"Spandam!" a very familiar voice called out to him.
A man stepped forward and moved close to him, this man was Spandine, the father of Spandam.
"Calm down!" Spandine ordered, grabbing his son shoulder firmly.
But Spandam could not calm down as his eyes were wide and bloodshot, darting wildly as reality slammed back into him all at once.
"M-my body—!" he choked out while trying to move but failing entirely.
His right arm was gone and his body was wrapped in layers of bandages and then slowly, trembling uncontrollably, he looked down and could not feel his third leg.
Silence filled the room as one second passed, then two.
"NO… no… no…"
His voice broke completely.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!"
The scream was raw and animalistic as Spandam entire body shook violently with tears spilling uncontrollably from his eyes.
"They— THEY TOOK IT!!" he shrieked. "THAT MONSTER— THAT STRAW HAT CREW—!"
His breathing became erratic as he almost choked on his own rage and fear before his voice dropped to a trembling whisper.
"He… he laughed…" Spandam whispered, his voice cracking. "That man… that Vice Captain… Jack F. Corrie… he cut me down like I was nothing and my arm… my body… my—"
He could not finish the sentence before he fainted again.
Spandine watched all of this with a look of pure hatred burning in his eyes, wanting nothing more than to cut Jack F. Corrie into a thousand pieces.