"I can't seem to find anything special in the composition... Where are your research notes? Let me see them, meow."
(=ΦωΦ=)
After recording the data, Haibara Meow unceremoniously extended her small paw toward Indigo, who was still clinging to Sherwin leg.
Eager for Sherwin and the others to join them immediately, Indigo didn't hesitate for a second. He leaped up from the floor and dashed toward the staircase at the far end of the flower bed.
"Please wait a moment! I'll go get them for you right away!"
Accompanied by the "puji puji" sound of his footsteps, Indigo rushed into the laboratory upstairs. Amidst a series of clatters and chaotic noises, he quickly ran back clutching a stack of manuscripts and placed them before Haibara Meow.
"These are the records I made while developing SIQ, along with observation logs of several experimental subjects that showed excellent evolutionary directions. The remaining logs for the other subjects are a bit numerous if you're interested, you can go to my lab later and look through them at your leisure."
In truth, Indigo, like Shiki, did not believe a small kitten like Haibara Meow could actually discern anything from them, but...
Those top-tier research facilities and materials obtained from Punk Hazard were simply too enticing!
Therefore, even though he didn't think Haibara Meow could understand his research notes, Indigo showed no impatience or contempt. Instead, he put on an act of being a humble student seeking guidance.
Perhaps because his "studious" expression was too realistic, Haibara Meow felt inclined to offer some pointers while flipping through the notes.
The kitten skillfully took out her Panda brand gold-rimmed glasses and put them on. She flipped forward a few pages in the research notes she held and pointed at a section of text.
"You were trying to further enhance the strength and aggression of the subjects here, right, meow? Replacing the Hot Kiss Fruit with Twilight Flowers would yield better results. As for the side effects of the Twilight Flowers, you only need to add a small amount of Umbrella leaves, meow."
(=ΦωΦ=)σ
Before Indigo could recover from the shock of Haibara Meow easily understanding his research notes, he heard the optimization plan she provided.
As someone whose scientific capabilities were not lacking, he only needed to think for a brief moment to realize there was no issue with her proposal, and furthermore...
It was indeed more brilliant than his own method.
"..."
Indigo, already shaken by Link Meow, was struck once more—this time in the domain of his professional pride, a far heavier blow.
As Haibara Meow casually pointed out several more areas for improvement and immediately provided superior alternatives, Dr. Indigo fell into a profound silence. The comical grin that usually defined his face had long since vanished.
Maybe... maybe I should actually defect to the Hunter...
The thought suddenly sprouted in Indigo mind.
After all, Sherwin side possessed top-tier equipment, the knowledge reserves of the World Government and Vegapunk, and a scientist whose abilities far exceeded his own. Even in terms of combat power, the Felyne Investigation Team was clearly superior...
The legendary Great Pirate Shiki and the Flying Pirate Crew he had once dedicated his life to suddenly lost their luster.
While Indigo wrestled with the idea of jumping ship, Haibara Meow finished scanning the SIQ development notes and the observation log of a high-performing experimental subject.
She carefully returned the research materials to their place, and then...
"Crude, inefficient, and most importantly... the fundamental research direction of this SIQ is utterly moronic, meow!"
(︶︿︶)
The kitten wore a look of pure disdain, launching a merciless verbal assault.
"Wh-What?!"
Having his twenty years of life work dismissed so contemptuously, even a wavering Indigo couldn't help but explode in rage.
"I admit you are highly skilled in pharmacological research, but you cannot simply belittle my life work like this!"
Shiki expression beside them was equally unsightly, considering he had been the sole benefactor of this research for years.
If Haibara Meow truly was just an inexperienced child acting out, as he had previously assumed, it wouldn't matter. But seeing Indigo current state, there was no way her critique was mere child play.
That made the situation even worse.
Did this imply that his nearly twenty years of patience and effort were all for naught?
No, that wasn't right. The strength of those evolved beasts was real, so his work couldn't be called useless. It likely just failed to meet the expectations of Sherwin—or rather, this little kitten named Haibara.
Even so, the outlook remained grim. Shiki had originally intended to use this research to entice Sherwin into an alliance, but if Sherwin actually deferred to this kitten opinion, wouldn't the plan for a union fall through?
As a great pirate who had weathered countless storms, Shiki quickly suppressed his irritation. He forced a smile a kindly as possible and asked Haibara Meow, "Can you tell me why you say that? What exactly is wrong with Indigo research?"
"Guiding animals to evolve toward higher combat power isn't inherently an issue meow, but sacrificing their sanity just to boost that strength is simply too stupid meow."
┑(￣Д￣)┍
Her interest piqued, Haibara Meow didn't mince words. She spread her tiny paws and pointed out the fatal flaw of the SIQ drug with piercing accuracy.
"Mister, you are the captain of a pirate crew, so let me ask you: which would you choose meow? A group of subordinates who follow orders but are slightly weaker, or a group of uncontrollable beasts who are only marginally stronger?"
Despite his face turning a shade of iron blue, Shiki answered honestly, "The first kind."
Even though his primary goal for these beasts was destruction, controlled destruction was always more efficient, even if the raw power was slightly lower.
"Exactly," Haibara Meow shook her head helplessly. "Setting aside the fact that ordinary animals can be trained to follow simple commands, given that IQ has the property to intervene in the direction of evolution, it shouldn't be difficult to create an animal army with sufficient intelligence meow, right?"
Shiki and Indigo both knew that Haibara Meow speculation was not nonsense, because they already had a successful case—a somewhat lecherous gorilla that, aside from being unable to speak, was essentially no different from a human.
Precisely because of this, the expressions of the two men became even more unsightly. Why had they never considered this issue in nearly twenty years?
"I... I just wanted to increase the combat power of those animals as much as possible..."
Indigo still wanted to struggle, forcing an explanation to Haibara Meow.
However, the kitten just curled her lip in disdain. "If you could enhance their strength significantly by doing this, it wouldn't be a problem meow. But this power you traded their sanity for only increased by about 13%, didn't it? In this situation, a combat force that maintains its sanity and can follow commands would only be stronger meow."
(ω)
"No... it was only about 8%, with the highest one reaching 11%."
Indigo replied somewhat dejectedly.
"Oh..."
Haibara Meow immediately understood. "It seems your purification equipment and technology here are also quite mediocre meow."
"Puji, puji."
Dr. Indigo clutched his chest and staggered back a few steps.
This wasn't over yet Haibara Meow continued, "Furthermore, you could completely manufacture something like berserk potions and place them on those animals. When you need them to go berserk and increase their power, you could activate them remotely. This way, the gap between the two would shrink further, or perhaps even be overtaken, and it would be much more flexible in terms of tactics meow."
Once this proposal was brought forth, it essentially invalidated nearly all of Indigo hard work over the past decade. His body swayed slightly before all strength seemed to drain from him, and he collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud. The expression on his face was a distorted mask, somewhere between a smile and a sob.
It was clear that this unlucky fellow had been pushed into a state of mental trance by Haibara Meow devastating critique.
...