XX-level Hokage

At this moment, Mashiro's display of power deeply shook Arlong's heart. Although Tiger was still his boss, he also fully acknowledged Mashiro's status.

Three days later, the Sun Pirates' ship arrived in the West Blue, in the Black Sea.

The Whitebeard Pirates held immense prestige in the Black Sea; in fact, they practically protected the entire region. Many small countries and islanders, thanks to the Whitebeard Pirates' protection, even referred to the Black Sea as the White Sea. After inquiring around several islands, the Sun Pirates easily located the Whitebeard Pirates' temporary port.

Just as they were about to reach their temporary docking point, a blue streak of fire flew through the sky and steadily approached the Sun Pirates. Upon closer inspection, a firebird appeared in the air.

"The Sun Pirates? What business do you have with our Whitebeard Pirates?" the blue firebird asked.

"Long time no see, Marco. Your Devil Fruit awakening level has improved quite a bit." Before Tiger could answer, a clear female voice rang out. Immediately afterward, Mashiro spread her paper wings and flew to a spot not far from Marco.

“It’s Izumi, long time no see.” Marco relaxed upon seeing an acquaintance and spoke. “I need to speak with your commander about something,” Mamoru said softly.

"Alright, I understand. I'll go inform Dad." With that, Marco flew off into the distance. Afternoon.

On a small island, the Whitebeard Kids and the Sun Pirates met.

The Whitebeard Pirates' ideals are the pursuit of freedom and family, while the Sun Pirates' ideals are the pursuit of freedom and equality.

So the two crews got along fairly well and held a banquet together on the island. Not far from the banquet venue, Whitebeard and Mashiro were chatting.

Whitebeard held a huge bowl in his hand, his long golden hair now much shorter, and he quickly drank the wine in the bowl. Mashiro, on the other hand, held a small sake cup containing some sake.

"Did you come here specifically to see me? Is there something you need?" Whitebeard asked, setting down the huge wine bowl. In truth, Whitebeard didn't want to have much contact with Mashiro.

He couldn't see through Mashiro, not only his strength but also his heart. In his eyes, Mashiro had no respect for the world and always remained detached from it.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask you about someone's whereabouts," Mashiro said softly.

"Asking about someone's whereabouts? This is the first time someone has asked me for information." Whitebeard said with a laugh. But Mashiro's next words made Whitebeard's laughter stop.

"Stusi, can you tell me where she is?" Shinji asked softly. Upon hearing Stusi's name, the white-bearded man's laughter abruptly stopped.

"How do you know I know her? Have you met the other members of the Rocks Pirates? Was it Linlin, Wang Zhi, or John?" Whitebeard took a big gulp of wine and asked.

“Charlotte Linlin,” Mashiro replied.

"It really is Lingling. What brings you to Stussy?" Whitebeard asked with some emotion. "I'm curious about some of the technologies she possesses, and I'd like to research some things with her," Mashiro said.

“Research? She should be interested. She left the Rocks Pirates before me, and our relationship had already broken down by then. I don’t know exactly where she is now.”

"You can go check out Egghead; she mentioned wanting to go to this island to find Vegapunk," Whitebeard said. "Okay, I understand. Thank you," Mashiro said softly.

"It's nothing. Maybe I'll need your help again sometime in the future. I just hope you won't refuse," the white-bearded man said. "Don't worry, if I can do it, I won't hesitate to help," Masashi said with a smile.

Egghead Island, also known as Egghead, is a science island located in the New World, the latter half of the Grand Line. It belongs to the World Government and is the location of the Vegapunk Research Institute. It is known as "500 years into the future".

Meanwhile, in a laboratory on the island of Totoro, Stussy was intently researching cloning technology. The laboratory was surrounded by numerous containers, each containing an embryo.

"I'm not trying to be mean, Miss Bagin, but if things continue like this, no matter how many times you research, it will all end in failure," said a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses, with an unusually large head and an unusually tall stature.

"I don't need your help. You should focus on your so-called peaceful weapon research, Vegapunk," Stussy said bluntly, his face grim.

"The Pacifista research is nearing completion; the only remaining issue is mass production," Vegapunk stated. "The Pacifista combines extremely advanced cyborg technology with the scientific weapons Queen originally researched, making it capable of eliminating most pirates."

But your idea has given me some inspiration. If we combine your cloning technology with Judge's bloodline factor technology, and then modify it, we can probably create something even more powerful than the Pacifistas.

"I named him Seraphim," Vegapunk said excitedly.

Chapter 94: Vegapunk

"Seraph? You really dare to dream. Judge's bloodline factor technology only works on the bloodline now. It can only be truly effective by procreation."

"My cloning technology still has huge problems. Even creating a clone of Whitebeard is extremely difficult, let alone combining these two technologies." After listening to Vegapunk's words, Stussy said bluntly, believing that the idea was completely unfeasible.

"Of course I know about these things, but I already have a general idea."

Cloning technology is already quite advanced. The reason you can't create a clone of Whitebeard is mainly because you're asking for too much.

It is extremely difficult to replicate Whitebeard's physical attributes, Devil Fruit abilities, combat experience, and memories.

In my opinion, all of these can be discarded. The physical attributes of the clone can be modified by implanting bloodline factors, and artificial Devil Fruit abilities can be used. Memories are also unnecessary; we only need to modify the clone and implant the original's combat experience.

The same applies to lineage factors. As long as cloning begins from a larva, lineage factors can be implanted into the embryo, thus allowing the grown individual to possess the abilities of the lineage factors.

If all goes well, they can create an unparalleled group of clone warriors. "Vegapunk continued to listen excitedly.

Upon hearing this, Stussy was stunned. Only now did she realize that Vegapunk's abilities were indeed not on the same level as theirs.

"If we follow your plan, I don't know how long it will take to succeed, and the probability of success will be very low. The most important thing is how you should obtain the DNA of those powerful pirates or marines. You should know that you are not very popular in the World Government."

"Just obtaining Whitebeard's DNA took me a lot of effort," Stussy pointed out, "the flaws in the 'Blazing Gate' plan."

"Well, I haven't really considered that right now," Vegapunk sighed. You see, the World Government and the Navy have always restricted cloning research.

"Furthermore, artificial Devil Fruits currently have significant flaws. Not only are their powers unstable, but they also have numerous side effects. Otherwise, you wouldn't have allowed Caesar to steal the data on the artificial Devil Fruits," Stussy continued.

"You're right, this plan will indeed take some time, but I believe I'll be able to solve these problems in a few years. You need to..."

"Don't stay and help me," Vegapunk said.

After Caesar left, he was in dire need of a smart enough assistant.

Forget it, I have no interest in being someone else's subordinate. I wasn't originally a scientist; I just want to gain wealth and status through my own abilities.

"This technology is my life's work, and I can't possibly give it up," Stussy said with unwavering determination.

"Okay, I understand." Even though he knew this would be the answer, Vegapunk still felt incredibly disappointed.

"However, I still want to thank you for reminding me. I really should discard some useless things, and in order to ultimately succeed, I also plan to start from the embryo."

"I'll start cloning the embryo, then raise it to adulthood. With a white-bearded clone working for me, my later years will be incredibly smooth," Stussy said with a smile.

Just then, a robot walked into the laboratory.

"Master, a stranger has arrived at Egghead Island and requests instructions." As the robot spoke, a screen appeared above its head, displaying the images of Mashiro and Toki.

"This person, Vegapunk, looked at Mashiro on the screen and suddenly laughed. In the center of Egghead Island, Mashiro led Kanzuki down from the Senbon Tower."

Looking at the unique scenery around them, Tenzuki was incredibly excited, and Mashiro was also quite surprised.

This island has a unique style, unlike any other, filled with a technological feel and vibrant colors. Just then, a middle-aged man with a somewhat enormous head flew over.

"Taoquan Palace, is there something you need from me?" the middle-aged man asked. "Who are you?" Zhenbai asked softly.

"By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Vegapunk, I'm a scientist, and also the owner of this island," Vegapunk began.

“Vegapunk, I’ve heard so much about you.” Shinpachi said with a smile. [Name: Vegapunk]

Gender: Male Age: 42

Affiliation: World Government; Haki: None

Devil Fruit Ability: Paramecia-type Brain-Brain Fruit

Height: 234cm Luck Value: 85 Approval Rating: 25

[Paramecia Type: Brain-Brain Fruit: Possesses unlimited brain capacity; his brain can store an unlimited amount of information, but the more data he absorbs, the smaller his brain becomes.]

This ability doesn't seem to have any particularly strong aspects.

An unlimited brain capacity sounds impressive, but if you're an idiot and lack talent, brain capacity is still useless. From this perspective, Vegapunk should still be an extremely outstanding genius even without the Brain-Brain Fruit.

Just as Zhen Zi guessed, Bergabank's innate genius and unlimited brain database made his brain the largest in the world, and it continues to grow to this day.

“I have long admired Prince Izumi’s name. You know, this is the first time a Celestial Dragon has voluntarily chosen to join the pirates and free the slaves. Even I never expected it,” Vegapunk said.

Upon hearing this, Shinbai paused for a moment, scrutinizing Vegapunk with his eyes, especially his enormous head, as if pondering why Vegapunk knew so much.

But looking into Mashiro's eyes, Vegapunk seemed to have misunderstood what he meant and said, "I didn't mean to belittle you. I'm just very surprised by your feat. This is the first time in history that someone has offended the Dragon People so much."

I also dislike the Celestial Dragons and am disgusted by their unbridled bullying of civilians. Therefore, I have been secretly studying historical documents to find out why the World Government treats the Celestial Dragons this way, but I have not yet come to any conclusions.

"The result? If you want to know this, I can give you a heads-up. The Celestial Dragons are descendants of the Twenty Kings. Legend has it that the Twenty Kings saved the entire world. As descendants of the Twenty Kings, the Celestial Dragons never eat Devil Fruits. In recent years, the World Government has been building the Intercontinental Bridge, and the Dragonkin live in the Holy Land of Mariana, located atop the Red Earth Road." At this point, Mashiro fell silent.

She believed that if Vegapunk was truly as intelligent as rumored, he would arrive at a plausible conclusion. After hearing Mashiro's words, Vegapunk paused, his brow furrowing, as if he had indeed thought of something. "Let's not talk about that now. Did Taoquan Palace come to Egghead Island specifically for something?" Vegapunk asked.

“I’m here to see someone,” Mashiro replied. “Someone?”

"Her name is Stussy."

Chapter 95: Back to the Future

Following Vegapunk into the laboratory, Masami met Stussy, who was conducting research.

When Vegapunk led the two to the laboratory, Stussy glanced at him with some confusion before turning to look at Mashiro and Toki. As Stussy looked at them, Mashiro was also observing her.

Unlike the Stussy that Mashiro meets in the future, the Stussy at this time is already a middle-aged woman. Although she is still incredibly beautiful, she is far from having that peaceful and confident temperament.

[Name: Bakingom Stussy]

Gender: Female Age: 41

Affiliation: Pirates; Haki: None; Devil Fruit: None; Height: 168cm; Luck Value: 70; Agreement: 0

“Vegapunk, who are they?” Stussy asked.

“My name is Sassarian Spring, you can call me Spring, this is my companion Toki,” Mashiro introduced herself.

"So, is there something you want to see me about?" Stussy immediately guessed that Mashiro had come to see him.

“Mr. Vegapunk, can we talk alone?” Mashiro asked with a smile, looking at Vegapunk beside her. Hearing this, Vegapunk hesitated for a moment, then ultimately left the lab with the robot.

“I’ve come here to make a deal with you,” Mashiro said to Stussy after Vegapunk left. A deal? Tell me about it. Stussy said softly.

“I want your cloning technology. In exchange, I can give you a drop of my blood,” Mashiro said with a light laugh.

"Your blood? Are you kidding me? Even if Whitebeard offered his own blood, I wouldn't agree. Do you think you're stronger than Whitebeard?" Stussy said with a hint of sarcasm.

Qi Bai remained silent, watching Stussy quietly, his pale green Rinnegan silently activating. Instantly, Stussy knelt on the ground.

Sweating profusely, dazed, and with drool involuntarily dripping from his mouth, he nearly lost control of his bladder. "What kind of power is this...?" Stussy asked incredulously.

"I forgot to tell you, the deal I'm talking about is one-sided, and you have no room to refuse," Qi Baitan said with a smile to Stussy.

“Okay, okay, I understand,” Stussy said, filled with immense fear. Ten minutes later, Mashiro left the laboratory with Amatsuki Toki.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Vegapunk asked from a short distance from the laboratory entrance.

"It's alright, but I'm not really cut out for research. I wanted to give these materials to an acquaintance of mine, and he should be very interested in them," Mashiro said calmly.

"Can you tell me? Who exactly are you?" Vegapunk suddenly asked. "Oh? Have you thought of something?" Mashiro looked at Vegapunk with great interest.

"Pure white eyes—this peculiar structure is something I've never heard of before, even in some rare species."

Each race will undoubtedly possess a unified adaptability to the ocean.

Just now, when you walked into that laboratory, I secretly activated the radio wave scan.