One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 44 Unexpected Information about MR.4, Vegapunk's Laboratory?

A month later.

The Grand Line, Cactus Island, Whiskey Peak.

The atmosphere inside the Baroque Studio branch, hidden away here, is somewhat solemn.

"Simply put, that's how it is."

Chenlong was at the front of the crowd, talking eloquently.

"You mean, you are my 0-boy, and you only had us assassinate you to test my and these guys' strength."

"And now, because you killed Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, we are being hunted down in Alabasta, so we have to lay low for a while, right?"

In front of Chenlong, Mr. 2 Fung Clay, whose body was still wrapped in bandages, was rubbing his chin with one hand.

then
"So that's it!"

He suddenly realized and smacked his hands: "I knew it! How could someone as powerful as you be unknown? And you defeated us but didn't kill us."

Tears streamed down his face; he seemed quite moved.

"First of all, although I am Mr.0, I am not a 0-boy - my name is 'Chenlong'."

"Furthermore, it's not about letting you lay low for a while, but about changing your methods of operation; the old ways have been abolished."

"Finally, stay away from me, your snot is getting on me."

Chenlong silently pushed Feng Kelei away.

He then looked at the others present: "And you—do you have any questions about this?"

And naturally, there's no need to say more.

The others present were all Baroque Works assassins who had been defeated and captured by Chenlong.

Without exception, they were all brought out of Alabasta by Chenlong.

"You just said that our Baroque Workshop is now a subordinate organization of an organization called 'The Twelve Constellations'?"

"Furthermore, the company's business operations will also need to be adjusted."

After a long silence, Mr. 1 asked in a deep voice.

"wrong."

Chenlong waved his hand: "To be precise, we have always been a subordinate organization of the 'Twelve Constellations' - as for the recent adjustment of our work content, it is also in accordance with the orders of our superiors, you don't need to ask any more questions."

"Miss.allsunday will arrange the specifics for you. Is that alright?"

Big problem!

Mr. 1 thought to himself.

Aside from someone like Mr. 2 who isn't quite right in the head, even the most oblivious person would obviously notice something's wrong, right?
Is Baroque Works a subsidiary of the recently infamous 'Zodiac'?

They had never even heard of such a thing before!

And what nonsense about Alabasta wanting them—they were brought out of prison right in front of the jailers by Chenlong before.

Not to mention that not long ago, he personally witnessed Alabasta's guard captain 'Icarim' secretly arriving on the island with a large sum of money.

Although there is no evidence and we don't know where the treasure went, it is certain that it was taken by the person in front of us.

"Was the original MR.0 killed?"

In fact, the assassins present could more or less guess some of the things.

But
"."

Seeing Nico Robin standing right next to Chenlong, everyone tacitly refrained from mentioning the matter.

Miss.allsunday has already betrayed us; it's obvious to everyone that the situation is settled.

Moreover, changing bosses wouldn't have any real impact on them—it doesn't matter who they work for, right?

so.
"Oh my! It really is you, Boss!"

Mr. 3 Gardinor drawled in a fawning voice, "I guessed it when we fought last time—where in the entire ocean could you find another powerhouse with such incredible strength as yourself?"

His hand was still wrapped in bandages, but he resolutely raised his hand in a salute: "Please issue the mission. I am absolutely loyal to you, right, Miss Golden Week!"

As he spoke, he looked at his partner—a little girl standing beside him, who was also the only numbered assassin who had not participated in the attack on Chenlong.

"Ah."

Miss Golden Week glanced at Chenlong with some curiosity, but said nothing.

"There aren't any specific tasks, but you all need to keep a low profile lately. In addition, I will assign each of you to be in charge of a sea area to collect intelligence for the organization."

Chenlong said calmly.

"intelligence?"

"Yes—about special items, such as gold, Devil Fruits, and the like."

As Chenlong spoke, he unfolded a nautical chart, which marked the sea areas that Baroque Studio could operate in.

It must be said that Crocodile's business is indeed quite large.

Throughout the first half of the Grand Line, there are countless "Billionaire Elders" and "Millionaire Elders" under the command of Baroque Works.

With such a comprehensive intelligence system, and given that Mr. 1 through Mr. 5 are indeed quite capable, he naturally intends to make use of them.

"You can each choose the area of ​​sea you are responsible for. Hmm—MR.4, you go first."

Chenlong called out one person's name—mainly because this person was the slowest and would waste the most time.

So, Mr. 4 and his dog, Rasou, slowly walked forward. But to Chenlong's surprise, before Mr. 4 could speak, Rasou started barking at a certain spot on the nautical chart.

"Oh, so this is your hometown?"

Mr. 4 slowly said, "Then it's decided, Boss, we've made our choice."

".Um?"

Upon hearing this, Chenlong expressed his confusion.

Then, a hint of surprise flashed across Roy's face beneath the mask.

Because at that moment he suddenly realized that he had been ignoring a problem all along.

That is MR.4's gun, named 'Lasu'.

As mentioned before, its essence is a gun, but it has become what it is now after eating the 'Dog-Dog Fruit'.

But the problem is—Roy had never really thought about where this gun came from.

"The technology to make weapons consume Devil Fruits... Thinking about it carefully, isn't this the kind of effect that only Vegapunk's technology could achieve?"

"How could MR.4 have such a weapon?"

Upon thinking of this, Chenlong looked at MR4 and asked directly, "Hometown? You mean the place where you got this gun?"

".Um."

MR.4 nodded slowly.

He then made no attempt to hide anything and began to tell the story of him and Rasu.

And just as Chenlong had guessed.

Rasu was not originally intended to be a gun for the MR.4.

On the contrary, he obtained the gun during an unexpected shipwreck before he even joined Baroque Works.

"I had just set sail and was working as a boatman on the ship. I don't know the specifics, but I do know that there seemed to be a huge tsunami that sank our ship."

He said in a simple and honest voice, "But I am naturally stronger than others, so even though I drifted at sea for a long time, I still managed to survive."

"It wasn't until several days later that I discovered there was a small island nearby. I managed to land there and found a huge research institute."

"There were many strange robots in that research institute. It was very dangerous. I was injured by them and then escaped into one of the rooms."

At this point, he pointed to the dachshund-like gun beside him.

"There, I met Rasu."

"It was with its help that I was able to escape the island."

When he said this, Chenlong was almost certain of what was going on.

Research institute, robots, and weapons made from Devil Fruits.

"Was that one of Vegapunk's early research institutes? Like the one in Baltimore?"

Chenlong had already formed this suspicion in his mind.

He then naturally became interested.

Vegapunk—this genius scientist is a remarkable figure, and his research on Devil Fruits is unparalleled.

Chenlong was naturally very interested in what he left behind.

"What else is in that research institute? And where is that island?"

So he asked directly.

"I don't know, I didn't stay at that research institute for very long."

MR.4 continued speaking slowly.

As for that island

At this point, he exchanged a glance with Rasu, both of them looking somewhat hesitant.

“You might not believe it, but after joining the company, Rasu and I went back to look for it, but we couldn’t find the island in its original location.”

"Can't find it?"

Chenlong paused in his speech.

“Yes, Rasu and I have confirmed that the coordinates are correct, but there is no trace of any islands nearby.”

As he spoke, MR.4 pointed to the nautical chart.

When Chenlong looked over, he saw that the place MR.4 was pointing to was a blank area of ​​sea on the nautical chart.

And in the vicinity of that sea area, there is
"The capital of seven waters?"

Upon seeing the city near those coordinates, Roy's eyes flickered slightly beneath his mask.

"That's quite a coincidence."

He murmured to himself.

Yes, that's quite a coincidence.

Because he knows it very well.

The fruit he desperately needed, which would allow him to meet his clones at will, happened to be in Water Seven!

(End of this chapter)