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

The Royal Palace of Sobel in the South China Sea.

The conference room, which was crowded just a few days ago, now only had three people: Long, Da Xiong, and Lindbergh, the commander-in-chief of the South China Sea.

Chief of Staff Sabo and some senior generals who have followed Long for many years have been sent out by Long to stabilize the situation.

Due to the current turbulent situation, the Revolutionary Army has been forced to return to the Four Seas. Long decides to take this opportunity to strengthen the reshuffling and centralization of power within the Revolutionary Army.

During the recent period when the navy was downsizing, Long ordered all the base commanders from the four seas to gather in the Kingdom of Sobel for an internal meeting.

Because all the regional leaders received the same order, they had no other suspicions. Only those who followed Long knew that a group of corrupt high-ranking officials would be purged at this meeting, and those sent out by Long would play the important role of suppressing the various bases.

After issuing the order, Long spent all his remaining time studying the navy's operational plans, apart from preparing the personnel to participate in the cleanup.

Both Xiong and Lindbergh were somewhat puzzled.

The dragon offered no explanation, simply staring blankly at Marineford on the map.

The news coming from within the Navy was not good. He already knew about the incident at Marineford; Fleet Admiral Sengoku was being questioned by the Five Elders for allegedly leaking secrets to him, and even his father, Garp, was being suspected.

In fact, Long knew very well that he had gotten to where he was today not because of his own great abilities.

Instead, he relied on the support of his uncles in the navy, led by Sengoku and Garp, as well as the awakening effect of their advanced ideas on the people.

At most, only half of the work truly belongs to his own abilities.

He knew very well that without the Navy's tip-off, the Revolutionary Army might have suffered a devastating blow before the World Government even noticed them, just like the Poneglyphs he and Nico Robin had seen before, and all of them would have been suppressed by the World Government.

"What's wrong, Dragon? Isn't it a good thing that the Navy has shifted its focus? This gives us some breathing room."

The bear asked.

Dragon was helpless; he couldn't reveal his relationship with Garp and Sengoku, so he could only say it indirectly:

"Well—from the current perspective, the navy's movements are to our advantage."

Having said that, he stood up, transformed into a gust of wind, and disappeared from their sight.

The bear was somewhat puzzled. He could sense that the dragon was hiding many secrets, but out of trust in the dragon, he didn't want to ask anything.

Lindbergh stood there blankly, utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend the dragon's thoughts.

Long stood silently at the highest point of the Sobel Kingdom's palace, looking down at the revolutionary soldiers training below, and felt a sense of confidence.

Although he had risen through the ranks thanks to the navy, the future of the revolutionary army was still in his own hands.

Even if they fail this time, the revolutionary army will still make its voice heard in the world.

Dragon firmly believed that even the highest gods bleed and die.

Anyone who steps forward to challenge God, even if they fail, can break the shackles of human perception.

If Raleigh knew what the dragon was thinking, he would applaud the dragon's imagination.

This world has been ruled by the World Government and the Celestial Dragons for far too long, so long that everyone in the world subconsciously assumes the Celestial Dragons' status, and so long that even the most arrogant and domineering pirates dare not lay a hand on them.

This is why Monkey D. Luffy's fight with a Celestial Dragon after setting sail caused such a sensation worldwide.

It must be said that the reason why the World Government has always hated the D. clan is because the D. clan members have always been fearless. They don't care about gods or anything else. As long as something stands in their way or does not conform to their understanding, they will take action without considering the consequences.

Garp is like that, Luffy is like that, and many members of the D. clan are like that.

They disregard the rules imposed upon them by their surroundings, following only the call of their own hearts.

The New World, Vegapunk's private laboratory.

This is not an official laboratory he established in cooperation with the government, but rather one that Raleigh allocated funds to support.

Of course, many things and funds still come from the World Government. Enel and Barrett, who haven't appeared for a long time, are here. Barrett himself was assigned here by Raleigh to be in charge of Vegapunk and base security.

Enel felt he needed to walk around and see things. After walking for a long time, he figured out some things and also brought the task that Raleigh had given him to this place. At this time, inside the secret laboratory, there were rows of huge experimental chambers with numbers engraved on them.

At the bottom of the experimental chamber, the words "Seraph" are engraved, and a round little robot is busily operating buttons and constantly correcting the data on the instrument panel.

Barrett asked curiously:

What about Edison and Dr. Vegapunk?

Edison heard Barrett's voice, stopped what he was doing, turned around and said;

The main body is underground. Research on the main body of the Gluttony Fruit is still ongoing; more samples are needed to determine a suitable alloy material.

Barrett nodded; he was going down to check if Vegapunk was safe.

With nothing else to do, Enel decided to go with Barrett to see Vegapunk, whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

Inside the underground melting furnace chamber, a massive machine is in operation.

Vegapunk stood below, manipulating the mechanical arm to continuously add all sorts of strange and unusual materials inside.

Below is a giant exit, and a conveyor belt is continuously transporting synthesized metal outwards.

This is the Gluttony Fruit that Barrett sent over.

Vegapunk had previously developed a technology that allowed him to attach Devil Fruits to swords, so converting the Gluttony Fruit into a metal synthesis furnace wasn't entirely impossible. Vegapunk detected and recorded the transmitted metal, the machine's detection beeping continuously.

Footsteps sounded behind Vegapunk, but he didn't turn around.

This laboratory is extremely well hidden; even if all the CP organizations sent by the Five Elders were to find it in a short time, they wouldn't be able to locate it.

And since there was no alarm sounding, the people coming must be our own people.

"Doctor, how's the research going?"

Barrett's voice came through. Vegapunk finished examining the metal in his hand and turned to look at Barrett, his eyes revealing surprise:

"The metal is much more effective than before, and it's very close to the data I wanted."

Enel? What are you doing here?

Enel smiled happily. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, Doctor. I just happened to have nothing to do, so I came out for a stroll."

Vegapunk, without suspecting anything, picked up a piece of metal from a nearby cabinet and handed it to Enel, saying:

"Try your skills on this metal."

Enel took a lump of silver-gray metal with some gold particles and looked at it curiously.

He wasn't afraid that Vegapunk would harm him, so he used his power to pour it into the metal in his palm.

A constant buzzing sound of electricity rang out.

Enel's expression changed from indifference to seriousness, and he stubbornly increased the input of electricity.

Whoosh!

A surge of electricity shot from the metal block toward Barrett beside him. Barrett raised a hand, without using Armament Haki.

The smell of burning wafted from Barrett's palm, but it didn't cause any serious damage.

Barrett stared at the wound on his hand and saw Enel withdraw his power, walk over to Barrett's side, and smile knowingly, saying:

Brother Barrett, I didn't mean it that way. Who knew it would turn out like this?

Vegapunk took a bottle of recovery serum from a nearby cabinet and sprayed it on Barrett's hand.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury, it'll heal quickly."

Barrett said nonchalantly that such a wound would heal in a short time, even without any treatment, let alone spraying a healing agent.

After seeing that Barrett was alright, Enel, his eyes gleaming, said to Vegapunk:

"Doctor, how much of this metal do we have left?!"

I feel it's even better than gold; it not only conducts electricity, but it can also amplify current—it's amazing!

"And it also seems to be harder than gold."

As the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel experimented with many metal materials before finally choosing gold as his primary weapon.

One reason is its sufficient ductility, allowing it to be deformed at will; the other is that gold has better electrical conductivity. Therefore, gold was chosen for its combination of these factors.

"But this is the metal Vegapunk just gave him. Its overall performance undoubtedly surpasses that of Gold Vegapunk." Vegapunk smiled, opened a safe, and said.

"It was originally designed for use in artificial weapons. Since you're here, take as much as you need; I'll synthesize the rest."

Enel wasn't greedy; he used his ability to cut a large piece of metal from the safe, softened it, and then used it as decoration on his body.

He simply handed over the original gold to Vegapunk, since he didn't need it anymore.

Enel stood to the side, beaming with satisfaction as he held the newly acquired metal.

"By the way, Doctor, I've brought the Fungus Fruit that Brother Raleigh asked me to get."

Enel took out the Fungus Fruit that he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Vegapunk.

Vegapunk adjusted his glasses, many combinations flashing through his mind, before finally deciding to place the Fungus-Fungus Fruit on one person.

"I've figured out who I should place this fruit on."

Come with me, I'll show you something different.

After taking the vertical elevator, the three returned to their original laboratory, and Vegapunk walked to the control center.

When Enel first came to this laboratory, he saw the different styles of characters in the nutrient solution, as well as some flesh and blood.

There were many familiar faces, most of them the corpses of powerful warriors who had died in battle.

This includes Edward Newgate the Whitebeard, Shiki the Golden Lion, Mihawk, and a whole host of other powerful figures who were killed by Raleigh and the Navy.

At this moment, most of them have already been transformed into killing machines by Vegapunk using special metals to synthesize mechanical bodies.

Although they are dead, many Devil Fruit abilities remained in their bodies before, and it is unknown what technique Vegapunk used to preserve their abilities.

Although his strength is not as good as when he was alive, he can still reach 80% of his fighting power when he was alive.

Moreover, this strength is not static, because their bodies can be modified, so theoretically they can break through the limit.

Many functions can be added; even Shiki the Golden Lion, a great swordsman, can have several laser cannons or similar weapons installed on other parts of his body.

Just like in the original story, after Kuma died, his Devil Fruit ability was modified by Vegapunk, and there was also the Seraphim battle robot created by replicating the genes of a bunch of Shichibukai.

Vegapunk walked to the jar containing the Golden Lion, pointed to the Lion's body, and said...

After my modifications, although Shiki's Float-Float Fruit no longer has the original ability to levitate an island at will, the Seraph Battle Robot can still fly freely in the sky.

"If the Fungus Fruit is embedded in the Golden Lion's body, then he will appear at any time and place, releasing spore bombs when no enemy is on guard."

Barrett and Enel considered the consequences and both tensed up.

None of the current powers have ever considered that an enemy might come from the air.

Because most people fight on the ground using their own strength, Moonwalk is only something that can be used in short-range combat, and no one can use Moonwalk for a long time.

There are only a handful of Devil Fruit users who can fly, such as Shiki the Golden Lion, Marco the Phoenix, King the Wildfire, and Doflamingo who uses clouds to jump through the air.

Therefore, no one would take precautions against attacks from the air. Imagine if, on a dark and stormy night, a Seraph used the power of the Float-Float Fruit to fly into enemy territory and release spore bombs, no one would be able to detect it.

Moreover, once he is released, he can escape, thus eliminating the vast majority of people from a powerful force without anyone noticing.

A powerful force doesn't just need top-tier combat power. While top-tier combat power is often a symbol of prestige, most of the time it still needs mid- to low-level combat power to conquer territory. Without the support of these people, a few strong individuals can only be called lone wolves.

After giving his instructions, Vegapunk didn't care what Barrett and Enel were imagining, and quickly pressed buttons on the control panel.

Soon, the nutrient tank containing the Golden Lion reacted. The Golden Lion, whose eyes had been tightly closed, suddenly opened them, and two red lights shone from his eye sockets. Barrett and Enel gasped.

It turns out that Vegapunk had already modified the Golden Lion's eyes into laser weapons.

He flew out of the nutrient solution expressionlessly. Vegapunk threw the Fungus Fruit in his hand into his mouth, then turned and walked down.

The synthesis of Devil Fruits originally required various sophisticated instruments, but now that's no longer necessary. Vegapunk already possesses the Gluttony Fruit, so he can naturally choose the fastest method.

hum!

With a voice, the golden lion was sent out by the conveyor belt.

Outwardly, he looked exactly the same as before he went in, but now he gave Barrett and Enel a chilling feeling. Vegapunk seemed somewhat dissatisfied as he said:

"The spore bombs from the Fungus Fruit are a bit too weak; Rajang can't use them yet."

I need to increase the power of the spore bombs while simultaneously reducing their duration.