One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 154 Bloodline Factor? The Bear's Choice!

Bartholomew Kuma had a life full of twists and turns.

Slave, revolutionary, priest, king, pirate. His ever-changing identities serve as evidence.

His background, his race, and his abilities have all led him through too many things.

These things never changed his character or essence, but they inevitably made him calm and composed.

But even he, in his calm state, was affected at that moment.

Even when faced with the good news brought by Vegapunk, they couldn't help but be moved.

"Can the Fountain of Youth cure Bonnie's illness?"

His voice trembled.

Joelle Bonney—his daughter, the only treasure left by the one he loved.

However, she suffers from the same strange disease as her mother, called 'Azure Jade Scale'.

Gem-like crystals will continuously grow on her body, which will gradually harden until she is completely petrified and dies in agony.

If exposed to sunlight and moonlight, the disease will progress even faster.

It was an incurable disease that even the best doctors in the world could not cure.

"No, it's not about the 'Fountain of Youth'."

At that moment, Vegapunk, equally excited, was looking at the bear.

“Bear, I told you before—Bonnie’s situation is complicated; the illness she has is not a normal ‘disease’ at all.”

He said solemnly, "That is most likely the result of research conducted by the Celestial Dragons on some slaves. But in any case, its essence is a genetic disease caused by a defect in the 'bloodline factor'!"

"The crystals growing on Bonnie's body are the materialization of her life force, and they will make Bonnie constantly weaker."

At this point, he gestured towards the Fountain of Youth in his hand: "The Fountain of Youth can directly restore Bonnie's life force—in other words, enough of the Fountain of Youth can indeed keep her alive, but..."

But it was merely survival.

The bear wasn't stupid, so he naturally understood—a leaky wooden bucket, if the broken parts aren't repaired, then even if you keep adding water, it's only a temporary fix.

As for the bear...

He clearly only hoped that his daughter could fully recover.

so.
"If that's the case, I still think the deal with Satan is a safer bet."

"No, let me finish speaking first!"

But Vegapunk interrupted him after hearing this.

Because he was well aware of what had recently happened.

Not long after he moved his research institute here, this man came to his door.

Bartholomew Kuma, known as the 'Tyrant,' was a great pirate who once single-handedly overthrew the government of a country.

He possesses an extremely powerful and unique Devil Fruit ability, which allowed him to bypass the numerous defensive barriers that Vegapunk had set up near the island and infiltrate Eghard.

To be honest, Vegapunk thought he was going to die at that moment.

However, he did not expect that the other party had not come here to kill or plunder.

On the contrary, he came to make a request.

"I came here as instructed by someone, please save my daughter."

He begged Vegapunk to save his daughter.

As mentioned before, Bonnie suffers from an incurable disease, a disease related to one of the world's greatest secrets: the 'bloodline factor'.

But it is clear that Vegapunk is one of the few people in the world who has studied the bloodline factor in great depth.

So after confirming that the bear was a descendant of the legendary, extinct race, the 'Bakania,' he readily agreed to the bear's request, and the two formed a cooperative relationship.

He was responsible for treating Bonnie's illness, while the bear provided blood for him to research and clone—he planned to use the naturally powerful Bakania bloodline to create the 'pacifist' he had long envisioned, who could restore peace to the sea.

But here's the problem.

Their transaction was intercepted by a special surveillance Den Den Mushi created by Jaigolusia Satan, one of the Five Elders.

The Five Elders called off the deal between Vegapunk and the Bear and proposed a completely new, and arguably cruel, trade offer.

Kuma must become a Shichibukai and undergo human modification, losing all self and consciousness to become a mindless 'slave' in exchange for Bonney's treatment.

The key point is that Bonnie must be separated from her father as a hostage after her treatment, and she is not allowed to see her father again until Bear completely loses himself.

Vegapunk was well aware of the meaning behind it.

"That despicable guy, Satan, made that deal with you. He's trying to torture you!"

He gritted his teeth, rarely showing his emotions like this.

Yes, Satan proposed more than just a deal.

A father was allowed to accompany his seriously ill daughter during her treatment.

When the daughter finally recovers, her father will undergo rehabilitation and will no longer have the concept of 'love' in his mind.

This is the cruelest torture in the world.

That was the Five Elders punishing Kuma, a descendant of the 'Bakania' race—a race said to have committed crimes against the World Government in the past.

"I know."

The bear said gently, "But this will cure Bonnie, won't it?"

That gentleness was precisely the source of Vegapunk's intense emotional turmoil at that moment.

Having spent this time together, he had come to know what kind of person Xiong was.

Gentle, calm, strong, keeping promises, and loyal, he is a saint-like figure whom even Vegapunk acknowledges.

Just like now.

He didn't care about his own fate for the sake of his daughter.

Pain, torment, death—those things are utterly insignificant in the face of a bear's 'love'.

"Can't you be a little selfish?"

But Vegapunk shook his head helplessly.

He had guessed that the bear would say such a thing.

Without absolute certainty, Xiong would definitely choose to continue cooperating with Satan in exchange for his daughter's complete health.

But it is precisely because Kuma is this kind of person that Vegapunk could not stand by and watch him end up like this—they had only known each other for a short time, but he had already regarded him as a friend.

Vegapunk had even prepared to secretly carry out some 'plan' to preserve Kuma's last glimmer of hope.

His brilliant mind made an unusually irrational decision—he was indeed prepared to defy the World Government's orders for the sake of a pirate.

of course
That was just his 'original plan'.

Now, after studying the Fountain of Youth.

His mind has changed.

"Bear, the key is not the Fountain of Youth itself, but the creator of the Fountain of Youth."

He looked intently at the bear.

"The creator?"

"Yes, my research shows that the water of the Fountain of Youth could not have been produced naturally. Its structural sequence and coding are very special, belonging to the X-type structural formula. In short, according to the test of DMF-314 reagent, there is a 97.813% probability that it is a 'man-made product', and it contains more than three groups of lineage factors."

Vegapunk exclaimed excitedly, "Do you know what this means?"

Bear:"."

Are you trying to make things difficult for me, Big Bear?

But Vegapunk was oblivious to his friend's thoughts. He continued to spit excitedly: "I have studied lineage factors for many years and consider myself to have done some research on them, but I am still far from seeing their true nature—'lineage factors' is simply a vast research topic."

"To treat Bonnie, I need at least six months to study her bloodline factors and slowly modify her body. Along the way, I will need a large amount of research materials provided by the World Government."

This is also why Satan was so fearless.

Bonney's treatment can only be carried out in Vegapunk's laboratory and requires materials from the World Government.

The bear will not run away, nor dare to run away.

His goal was to make Xiong accept his fate in the face of his powerlessness to change everything.

However, he clearly did not expect the conclusion Vegapunk would reach at this moment.

"The Fountain of Youth must be a product of 'Devil Fruit power'."

Vegapunk spoke with obvious disbelief at this point.

"And there's more than one Devil Fruit ability inside!"

He certainly understood what this conclusion meant.

"In the research of bloodline factors, the creator of the Fountain of Youth has far more knowledge than I do. In fact, compared to him, my research is nothing!"

Then, Bear felt he understood: "You mean, he can definitely cure Bonnie?"

"It is highly likely."

Vegapunk maintained the rigor typical of researchers: "Even if the creator of the Fountain of Youth is incompetent, the person behind him who possesses this 'bloodline factor technology' must be. If my guess is correct, it should be the being codenamed 'Star Lord'."

"Star Lord?"

Hearing this, the bear became even more curious.

"Do you think 'Fantasy Island' is really the work of the Zodiac?" He had obviously heard of this idea, but it wasn't considered mainstream at sea at the moment.

"I have analyzed all the possibilities, and the probability that Dream Island belongs to the 'Twelve Constellations' is over 82% - if we take into account the research results of the Fountain of Youth and the abilities shown by the executives of the Twelve Constellations, this probability will rise to 99%."

At this point, Vegapunk's voice suddenly became serious: "Moreover, I now understand why the World Government is so wary of the Star Lord, even going so far as to cause such a tremor in the ocean in order to forcibly search for his location."

"Given his progress in researching lineage factors, if he makes further progress, he might very well be able to grasp the essence of 'lineage factors'!"

"Nature?"

Upon hearing this, Xiong's words became serious.

He doesn't understand these things.

But he understood that what the World Government feared so much must be the biggest secret of this ocean.

And Vegapunk, standing before him, was perhaps one of the few who had vaguely sensed that secret.

"Yes, the essence of lineage factors—the method of 'creating fruit'."

"Creating fruit? The subject your colleague researched?"

It's clear that Xiong has been talking to Vegapunk quite a bit lately, including about Vegapunk's reasons for coming to Eghad.

"No, of course they're different."

Vegapunk, however, shook his head decisively.

"Caesar did study this very seriously and diligently, but his thinking was too extreme, and what he created was destined to have huge flaws—that was the wrong path."

He is not an arrogant person, but he is not an overly humble person either.

He was well aware of his own abilities and could calmly and objectively recognize the differences between different levels of scientific expertise.

Caesar's research on lineage factors was very in-depth, and he was indeed a genius in the eyes of ordinary people.

But
Compared to Vegapunk, his talent is far inferior—like a firefly compared to the moon.

The things he researched, which he called 'artificial Devil Fruits,' weren't even worthy of Vegapunk's attention.

“My former organization, ‘MADS,’ did indeed discover some valuable materials that concern the essence of lineage factors, and our respective research on lineage factors is based on those materials.”

"I once thought I had found the key, so I used a portion of that precious material to create a fruit—which was indeed a true 'Devil Fruit'."

At this point, Vegapunk sighed, seemingly still regretting the precious materials that had been used.

"But it is still a failure."

The bear truly doesn't understand.

The goal was to create a Devil Fruit, and a real Devil Fruit was successfully created—so why is it still a failure?
"because."

Vegapunk glanced at him before speaking softly.

In his mind, the Devil Fruit he had created came back to him.

When the World Government asked him to hand over the fruit, he told them it was a failure, thus avoiding the task.

His reasoning to the other researchers was that "the fruit's color was different from the original fruit, so it was a failure."

But in fact, only he himself knew the truth.

The only thing that made that fruit successful was its different color.

"The essence of that fruit is replication, not 'creation'."

"It is still bound by the world, therefore, it is a failure."

His sigh faded away.

Xiong looked at the scientist who seemed inexplicably melancholy and didn't ask any more questions.

What he cared about was never topics like Devil Fruits or bloodline factors.

"."

He was simply thinking about what Vegapunk had just told him.

But it is precisely at this moment
"Father, father!"

But he heard a voice calling to him.

He turned his head and looked at the greenhouse not far away.

Inside the greenhouse lived a little girl with crystal-like features on her face and pink hair.

That's his daughter.

And just as mentioned before—Bonnie's illness meant she should never be exposed to light, and any natural light would hasten her death.

Only inside Vegapunk's greenhouse, with its special artificial light, could she laugh and play for a while.

But Bonnie, who should have been cheering and jumping for joy on the lawn, was not playing.

She went to the greenhouse window and looked at the bear.

"Bonnie, why aren't you going to play?"

The bear looked at Bonnie and asked gently.

“What’s the point of playing without my father—oh, and Grandpa Vegapunk too.”

Bonnie said this, not forgetting to consider the feelings of a certain lonely old man at the end.

Vegapunk: "."

But after hearing this, Xiong was stunned.

then
"You go ahead first, I'll come and play with you right away."

"Really?"

Bonnie immediately beamed: "Then let's dance the Liberation Dance later!"

"Yes, jump."

"Great!"

Bonnie then left, cheering with joy.

The crystals that grew on her body seemed to be shining with a joyful light at this moment.

As Xiong watched his daughter leave laughing, he smiled the same way.

"Vegapunk."

"Ok?"

Do you know where Neverland is now?

"The bear asked softly."

Upon hearing this, Vegapunk's eyes flashed with surprise.

He clearly knew that the bear had accepted his offer.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Seeing Vegapunk's expression, Kuma couldn't help but chuckle.

His gaze fell on Bonnie, who was not far away.

From that cheerful figure, he seemed to see another person.

That's his wife.

"Bear, promise me."

He could almost hear the other person's weak yet still affectionate voice before they died: "Take Bonnie with you and live on for me."

"Live freely."

so.
Nobody wants to die.

He said softly, "I also want to live—whether for myself or for others."

Clearly, he made his choice.

If necessary, he wouldn't mind giving up everything for his daughter's health.

But if he had the opportunity to stay by his daughter's side all the time...

He would be willing to give anything for that!
"That's fine, that's fine."

Upon hearing this, Vegapunk breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he looked at the bear seriously: "As for Neverland, I think you don't need to go looking for it."

"Ok?"

The bear was still a little confused.

But Vegapunk patiently explained, "Based on recent newspaper reports and the current situation at sea..."

"I suspect that the twelve constellations will soon be making a big move."

　1.22 words updated today.

　　These chapters are transitional, laying the groundwork for the upcoming plot.

　　And I really like the character of Xiong (I'm sure of it, after the Egghead Island flashback, it's hard not to like him).

　　Actually, I originally planned to dedicate more chapters to this part, but there was just too much to explain, and I found it very bloated, especially the section on bloodline factors, which is the main thread of the entire book. Therefore, I had to cut back on the bear's content. Even so, I still had 4600 words left.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)