Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

"Mr. Garp, aren't you going to dodge?"

Kuzan used his abilities to create a giant ice shield in front of him to block the missiles and lasers from the mechanical creatures.

With his arms crossed and a hearty smile on his face, Garp said that these attacks were no threat to him.

After saying that, Garp's aura grew stronger and stronger, and his oppressive power spread outwards in waves.

However, what surrounds Garp and Kuzan now are some emotionless mechanical creatures.

Although the aura emanating from Garp was growing stronger and stronger, they did not feel the slightest fear.

Instead, under Vegapunk's command, they charged forward frantically.

Within the gaping maw of the mechanical creature, a sharp set of fangs gleamed coldly.

"They're nothing but a bunch of lifeless toys."

"Let me show you the Armament Haki that I've forged after defeating eight great mountains."

The Armament Haki on Garp's hands grew increasingly dazzling.

"Get out of my way!"

The pitch-black iron fist collided violently with the mechanical creature made of steel.

!

Originally, the mechanical creature should have had the advantage due to its powerful steel body, but the actual situation is that Garp smashed a mechanical creature to pieces with a single punch.

Hiss—

Karp pulled his right hand out of the mechanical creature's chest, looked at the exposed wires on the shattered body, and burst into laughter:

"Hahahaha, it seems that mechanical creatures made of steel are still not as hard as the Armament Haki of my hammer and chain."

Deep within the base, Vegapunk watched this scene with great interest.

It must be said that he rarely takes the initiative to make contact with the strong figures of his time.

Moreover, this was the first time he had ever seen a powerful individual who had mastered Armament Haki to such a degree.

In the world today, Garp's Armament Haki is arguably the best.

"This is so interesting. I wish I could get some of his genes."

Vegapunk looked at Garp on the screen and felt that he had great research value, and that he was very similar to Garp in some aspects of his research process.

Perhaps his earlier concept of humanoid war weapons could draw inspiration from the powerful.

However, the most pressing matter now is to assess the navy's strength.

Vegapunk then focused his attention on dealing with Garp and Kuzan.

"Mr. Garp, shouldn't we hurry up and capture Vegapunk? What if he's already started to escape?"

After dodging the first wave of attacks, Kuzan quickly adapted to the intensity of the assault.

His Observation Haki, combined with his elemental fighting style, has given him an advantage in battle.

"Frozen World"

Kuzan spread his arms wide, unleashing a chilling aura at the seven or eight mechanical creatures before him.

The near-absolute zero cold air, created by the Ice-Ice Fruit's power, froze and cracked all the internal circuits and joint parts of the mechanical creature.

The mechanical creatures were frozen in place, completely reduced to piles of scrap metal.

"Sorry, sorry, I got so engrossed in playing that I forgot everything else. You're right, if we keep playing, we won't have enough time."

Garp was holding a mechanical creature in his hand, trying to figure out how it concealed missiles within its body.

After hearing Kuzan's reminder, it could only regretfully take out its energy source.

Vegapunk truly lives up to his reputation as a scientist with exceptionally high intelligence. Just by looking at these mechanical beings before us, he's already two hundred years ahead of all the scientists in the Navy.

There are also scientists in the navy who study weapons, but their level is far inferior to Vegapunk's.

Although Garp had no idea how big the gap was, he roughly figured out that even the Navy's scientists weren't qualified to be Vegapunk's apprentices.

Such a brilliant scientist shouldn't be allowed to end up in another organization.

Garp also felt a longing rising within him.

If Vegapunk can research even mechanical beings to this extent, then researching a ship with high speed shouldn't be a problem for him. Garp is obsessed with capturing Roger, so he values ​​having a fast ship.

"That's enough, Fist Bone - Super Meteorite!"

Garp punched the ground, and shockwaves penetrated deep into the earth.

Starting from the center of Garp's fist, layer upon layer of spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread outwards.

Kaka mi.

A cracking sound came from the ground beneath Garp's feet; it didn't seem to be from very deep.

"Mr. Garp is here, what's that sound—"

Before Kuzan could finish speaking, the ground beneath Garp and Kuzan could no longer withstand the terrifying destructive force.

Centered on the two people's positions, they suddenly sank downwards.

"Mr. Garp!"

Kuzan suddenly jumped to Garp's side, spread his arms, and created a giant ice cocoon that enveloped the two of them.

boom!

The disturbance caused violent tremors on the island, causing the already disturbed rocks and trees to collapse.

The entire island was as if it had experienced a magnitude 7 earthquake; the terrain had changed.

"Mr. Garp, where is this?"

Kuzan sensed that he had fallen into a huge building, but his Observation Haki didn't detect anything more.

Garp patted Kuzan on the shoulder, signaling him to activate the ice cocoon.

This is Vegapunk's underground experimental base. When we were fighting the mechanical creatures, we were already close to the edge of the base.

"Instead of searching for the entrance above, we might as well just shake the ground open and enter the base directly."

Looking at the relaxed Garp beside him, Kuzan's eyes sparkled with countless little stars.

"Mr. Garp, that move was so cool! Please teach me!"

Garp chuckled and pointed to the top of his head, saying:

I'll teach you when we get back to headquarters. For now, you should leave here as soon as possible.

"I used a little too much force when I attacked just now, and this area is no longer safe."

Garp and Kuzan quickly left their positions and headed deeper into the base.

Meanwhile, inside the monitoring room deep within the base, everything was in a mess.

When Garp launched his attack, the entire underground building was the most severely affected.

A whirring sound echoed within the underground base, and the flashing red lights indicated that the situation at the base was far from optimistic; Dr. Vegapunk's power supply system had been severely damaged.

"Dr. Vegapunk, Test Subject 76 has lost vital signs due to a power supply problem."

Several scientists dressed as researchers suddenly ran over and said.

Garp's sudden outburst caught Vegapunk off guard. His original plan was for Garp to gradually overcome obstacles or skip several before finding him.

Garp has now jumped directly from the first level to the last. There are no useful defenses set up inside the base. For Garp, who can easily break through the soil and the outer shell of the base, the people here are like chicks.

Alright, stop resisting. Pack your things and let's find another place to study this.

Vegapunk had already communicated with Raleigh, and at that time Vegapunk believed that since he already knew that the Navy would come to capture him.

Therefore, if one designs the defenses personally, the navy will certainly not be able to break through them easily.

However, Vegapunk still remembered the ambiguous smile on Raleigh's face after he finished speaking, and the words, "Good luck, Doctor."

Now Vegapunk understands everything.

The world is not as simple as one imagines; the strength of some powerful individuals has long surpassed the limits of human imagination.

From a rational perspective, it is indeed possible for a stronger entity to directly penetrate the soil layer and the outer shell of the base, but this possibility is much less than if the stronger entity entered through the base entrance.

Perhaps Vegapunk was just unlucky to run into an unreasonable guy like Garp.

Patting his still-dazed brain, Vegapunk decided to just sit there and wait to be transported back to the Grand Line.

Not long after, the sound of military boots pounding on the ground rang out in the quiet environment.

Vegapunk sighed. The last time he heard the sound of navy boots at this base, he had been captured.

From the darkness, Garp and Kuzan emerged.

Looking at the young Vegapunk sitting in the chair, Garp said with a serious expression:

"Dr. Vegapunk, I regret to inform you, you have been arrested."

Seeing this, Vegapunk could only pretend to be disappointed!

I never imagined that someone as insignificant as me could provoke the personal intervention of Vice Admiral Garp, a naval hero.

I can see that the Navy still values ​​me highly.

Looking at the spotless laboratory, surrounded by neatly arranged instruments and experimental samples, and the scientists who were honestly waiting to accept their fate.

Looking at the top scientist in front of him, who had also accepted his fate, Karp was filled with mixed emotions.

"Actually, I didn't take it seriously before I came here. I just thought it was to cover for Kuzan, since this place is located in the Calm Belt. But now I'm more interested in you."

Your talent far surpasses that of any scientist in the world. Allowing you to remain uninvolved could very well create a situation detrimental to the Navy.

Once the data, personnel, and equipment are organized, we will transfer you all to the Grand Line.

Vegapunk nodded, then instructed the researchers standing behind him to tidy up.

He then took out a remote control from his pocket and ordered the mechanical creatures on the island that had not yet been destroyed by Garp to shut down.

Since the naval soldiers were all isolated outside the doldrums, Garp had no way to escort the scientists and could only let them manage themselves.

Fortunately, after Vegapunk said a few words to them, they calmly accepted their fate and happily carried their things.

"Mr. Karp, they seem very happy to be leaving now."

Kuzan leaned closer and said in a sneaky manner,

Really? Maybe they also find life in the Calm Belt too boring.

Garp picked his nose, dismissing Kuzan's words with disdain.

He didn't care what these scientists wanted to do; his mission was simply to bring them back to the Grand Line.

If it weren't for this mission, Garp might be fighting Roger again now.

The thought of Roger enjoying his trip in the New World made Garp feel extremely sad.

"Uh, okay, Mr. Garp."

Kuzan sensed something was wrong, but since Mr. Garp had said it wasn't important, he figured it was nothing to worry about.

Inside the cabin, groups of scientists sat quietly in their seats, discussing things in hushed tones.

Did you hear what the leader said? After we join the navy, we won't have to worry about funding anymore.

"Yes, the leader said that topics that couldn't be studied in depth before due to funding constraints can now be continued."

"That's great. The experiment to replicate Devil Fruits was abandoned from the very beginning because it would waste too much money. Now we can finally begin."

"Not only that, the leader said the World Government is very wealthy, so I think our research on humanoid war weapons can also proceed."

The discussion between the two scientists ignited widespread interest, sparking heated debate among scientists worldwide.

After hearing that the world government was not restricting research funding, everyone started coming up with promotional slogans for their projects in order to secure more funding.

Meanwhile, Vegapunk, who had revealed everything, was leaning against the railing, looking out at the island where he had lived for several years.

"Dr. Vegapunk, are you reluctant to leave?"

The tall, thin Kuzan walked over and spoke to Vegapunk's retreating figure.

Of course I'll miss it; everything here was built after I established the MADS organization.

In order to avoid the glare of others and focus on our own research, we built a ship capable of sailing in the calm zone and came here.

To ensure the project could proceed smoothly, we researched weapons, sold them to the North Sea mafia, and used the funds to acquire resources before starting the research.

"I've poured so much effort into this place, so leaving now is naturally a bit difficult."

Vegapunk turned his head and looked at the young but exceptionally strong Marine Rear Admiral in front of him.

Kuzan clenched his fists tightly, then quickly relaxed them and asked, "..."

"Dr. Vegapunk, I sensed something in the base just now. Some of your labs are using living people. Don't you find that cruel?"

Upon hearing this, Vegapunk was taken aback at first, then seemed to understand something, smiled slightly, and said:

"So that's why you're asking me about this, Mr. Kuzan."

I can answer your question. Originally, our organization had two scientists who studied bacteria, and they liked to use civilians for testing. However, they were later arrested, and since then, no one has been arresting civilians.

"Our research on life factors has reached its final stage, which requires the use of living people. However, these living people are pirate members purchased by our organization. We have connections with some underground forces, and the North Blue mafia is happy to do this."

After hearing Vegapunk's explanation, Kuzan felt a little better.

If we're talking about pirates, then Kuzan has absolutely no sympathy.