On the vast, boundless ocean, a furious Azure Dragon swept in with towering waves, and terrifying thunderclouds continuously spread and expanded, dyeing half the sky pitch black.
On the deck of the Marine warship, the Vice Admiral watched the surging thunderclouds. A terrifying Azure Dragon emerged from the clouds, its limbs treading on flame clouds, its body twisting within the dark clouds, its eerie silhouette illuminated by flashes of lightning.
Kaido spewed a blast of hot breath, which streaked across the sky like lightning, carrying terrifying destructive power, engulfing two Marine warships on the ocean... The next day, news of the great battle between the Beasts Pirates and the John Pirates on Hachinosu Island spread like wildfire, causing an uproar worldwide.
"Great Shock! The John Pirates Annihilated!!!"
"The Beasts Pirates, a new force of evil, are rapidly gaining fame in the New World with unstoppable momentum. It is said that half of Hachinosu Island was destroyed, but it's unclear if that's true."
"New bounties are out!!!"
"Beasts Pirates, Governor, Kaido of the Beasts, bounty of 2 billion Berries!"
The bounty poster showed Kaido with one foot on the ship's bow, wielding his spiked club, giving orders for a charge.
"Beasts Pirates, World Destroyer, Wald, bounty of 500 million Berries."
The bounty poster originally showed Wald with his hands gripping the ground, veins bulging, neck red, ready to show off his power.
But for some reason, whoever took the photo didn't capture the full picture.
The photo didn't include the part where Wald's hands were gripping the ground, making it look as if Wald was squatting and straining to defecate.
"Beasts Pirates, Gravedigger, Travis Hiber, bounty of 200 million Berries."
"Beasts Pirates, Executioner, Otto Roya, bounty of 200 million Berries."
"Beasts Pirates, Young Soldier, Bullet, bounty of 50 million Berries."
..."A child with a 50 million Berries bounty? What kind of monster is this?!"
People looked at the bounty posters in the newspaper, dumbfounded.
"This rising pirate crew, led by Captain Kaido, who is only twenty-three years old, has already amassed nearly three thousand troops, and even the current Marine Admiral Zephyr has been defeated by him."
"Young monsters..."
People marveled, beginning to worry about the future of this world.
"Winter Island, huh?"
Hanafuda sat on a grassy hill, looking at the bounty poster in his hand, his eyes deep, lost in thought.
"Captain, are we setting off?"
The combatant walked over, wearing mechanical finger bones on his hand.
Hanafuda stood up, a slight smile on his lips: "Prepare to head to the Sabaody Archipelago, and enter the New World through Fish-Man Island!!"
"Let the New World witness the power of Boss Hanafuda!!"
The subordinates cheered, waving their weapons with excitement.
"My lads!!"
Hanafuda looked around at his subordinates, grinning: "Set sail!!"
...Peace Research Institute.
Du Feland, draped in a luxurious overcoat, walked through the main gate.
He had a slicked-back, shiny orange pompadour, smoked a cigar, and wore several valuable rings on his fingers.
Queen, with his spiky yellow hair, held the data in his hand and laughed loudly: "What a great discovery! Lineage Factor actually exists in biological genes!!"
"This will absolutely go down in history! Perhaps humans can acquire the powers of various creatures by transplanting their Lineage Factors, becoming new biological weapons!!"
Caesar looked greedily at the data analysis report in Queen's hand: "As expected of the major discovery that Vegapunk and I made. Vegapunk will definitely put my name on this invention, right, Punk-chan—"
Vegapunk, whose head was taller than his lower body, walked over. As a Brain-Brain Fruit user, his brain development and knowledge reserves far surpassed those of Queen, Caesar, and others.
It was a complete generational lead.
If he weren't uninterested in weapons of mass destruction, Vegapunk could invent powerful superweapons in minutes.
Even the future inventions of Pacifista, mechanical beasts, and Seraphim were only meant to help the Marine suppress pirates.
He was a Pacifista, dedicated to using his lifelong knowledge to improve the entire world and achieve world peace.
"Currently, the discovery of Lineage Factor is only in the early stages of observation; it still requires extensive experimentation to confirm our hypothesis... Oh, Mr. Feland is here."
Vegapunk's eyes lit up: "Mr. Feland, the institute's funding is tight right now. I wonder if you could help out...?"
Feland's mouth twitched slightly. Although many of Vegapunk's inventions had indeed brought him considerable profit, each of these people's research projects was incredibly expensive.
All things considered, Feland was starting to find himself in the red.
Feland took a deep breath and asked: "Doctor Vegapunk, when I initially funded your research, besides wanting to maintain world peace like you, I was more interested in making money. Have there been any novel products recently?"
Maintain world peace?
Feland was the God of Wealth in the Underworld, running a usury business.
But his money didn't just fall from the sky. He established the Peace Research Institute precisely because he wanted to leverage Vegapunk's brilliant mind to provide him with value.
He was no Pacifista, constantly preaching peace.
Although the Peace Research Institute's main research projects had indeed contributed to improving the world's living environment, and Feland had received much praise when Vegapunk was awarded the World Peace Prize, he wanted money!
Stussy, with her short golden hair, walked in on stiletto heels, holding a glass of red wine: "Feland, are you trying to extract research results from Vegapunk again?"
"Stussy...!"
Feland's expression changed slightly. While this woman's scientific talent couldn't compare to the others, her scientific aptitude and achievements were quite impressive, especially her use of beauty to steal technological achievements from other kingdoms to make money, which earned her the nickname 'Scientific Bandit'.
"It's fine, Stussy."
Vegapunk smiled slightly, turned and went into the laboratory, rummaged for a while, and took out two items: "I invented these two things casually. Currently, building bridges and houses consumes a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. With them, a lot of manpower can be saved. I will give you the blueprints later."
Feland's face lit up, and then he pulled Vegapunk aside and whispered: "Vegapunk, to be honest, people from the World Government approached me a while ago. They are very interested in your scientific technology... Perhaps you can use this opportunity to get in touch with the higher-ups."
Feland pointed upwards, and Vegapunk suddenly understood: "You mean... the Gorosei?"
To establish contact with Feland, World Government agents provided Feland with funds from the government, while also promising to help him establish a foothold in the Underworld.
Especially now that Kaido has entered the Underworld.
Feland had already envisioned countless Berries beckoning to him: "The opportunity to meet the highest authority of the World Government isn't something everyone gets. Perhaps you can use this to propose some conditions and secure a large amount of research funding."
"I'll consider it, Mr. Feland."
Vegapunk said with a smile, his tongue unconsciously sticking out: "Sorry, head pressure on nerves, a bit hard to control, hahahaha."