Chapter 241: The Deal
Asmodai paid no mind to Shaka's explanation. She buried half of her beautiful face in the shadow of her hood and swung the sharp blade in her hand without a change in expression.
Seeing this, Shaka sighed. He then looked at the Den Den Mushi in the corner of the interrogation room and spoke in a deep voice. "I think... we can cooperate."
SHING—
The sharp blade instantly tore through Shaka's clothes and embedded itself deep in his neck, almost severing it in half. Sparks jumped and flew everywhere.
"Cooperate?" Asmodai raised an eyebrow, stopping her follow-through. If the other party was proposing such a thing, he must have a certain bargaining chip. And this situation had to be judged by their absolute leader, Louis. Only if he refused this robot's request for cooperation could she continue.
Shaka seemed to pay no mind to the blade stuck in his neck or the wound that was continuously sputtering sparks. He quietly stared at the Den Den Mushi and said again, "The World Government is the enemy of the one called the Archangel. And I... also have some research that, if exposed, would lead to my elimination by the World Government. Therefore, I intend to reach a cooperation with the Archangel."
"As for that Lunarian individual, King the Conflagration, the experiments conducted on him were not my doing. Before I joined the World Government, I didn't even know that there were still individual Lunarians alive in the world."
With that, Shaka said no more, quietly awaiting his fate.
This was not a proposal made just to save his own life. It was after realizing that the Archangel had already left a new home for the world that would not be submerged by the rising sea levels. Furthermore, his main body, Vegapunk himself, was secretly researching the "Void Century." If this were to be exposed, even with his great merits, he would be silenced by the World Government.
Therefore, Shaka had a sudden idea. He intended to find a partner for Vegapunk who could save his life when that moment came. And the Four Emperors were the most powerful forces outside of the World Government. As for Archangel Louis, whether in terms of power, individual military might, or character, he was the most suitable.
As Shaka's voice fell, Louis, who was watching the other interrogation room through the Video Transponder Snail, raised an eyebrow. "Cooperate with me?"
He then looked to his side, at Judge, who was flipping through Shaka's memories, and confirmed his words. "Judge, is what he said true?"
Nearby, Judge, who was picking up a memory fragment to look at, didn't even raise his head. "He joined the World Government after MADS was disbanded," he replied directly. "And at that time, King the Conflagration was indeed already by Kaido of the Beasts' side. Also, Queen the Plague of the Beasts Pirates was also a member of MADS."
"Is that so?" Louis heard him and fell into thought. He was considering whether, on the basis of having already cooperated with Judge, he should also cooperate with Vegapunk.
Soon, Judge, who had been engrossed in Shaka's memories, instantly realized that Vegapunk's satellite seemed to have made an incredible proposal. "Wait, Vegapunk wants to cooperate with you?" Judge's tone rose a few pitches, his pupils trembling, his face full of disbelief.
Louis was startled from his thoughts. He gave the overreacting Judge a rather speechless look and casually corrected him, "It was Vegapunk's satellite who proposed to cooperate with me."
"Is there a difference?" Judge's expression became abnormally excited. He had never thought that after Louis had invited him to cooperate, he would also receive an invitation from Vegapunk. Judge admired and recognized Vegapunk's knowledge, but he thoroughly disliked the man. Therefore, he was somewhat resistant to the idea of Louis cooperating with him. Of course, Vegapunk's arrival might also lead to the resources that should have been placed on his own project being diverted to Vegapunk, resulting in a reduction of his own research funds. This kind of thing had happened more than once when he had worked with Vegapunk in MADS!
However, the next moment, Louis's words made Judge's face instantly fall.
"I plan to see what he has to say. Do you want to stay and listen?"
"A word of warning beforehand: if the World Government finds out about our cooperative relationship, it certainly won't affect me. But you... it'll be a different story."
Judge heard him, and his face became as black as the bottom of a pot. If his employer this time wasn't a Sea Emperor, he would have already stormed off. But in the end, he still said with a dark face, "Of course I'm staying!"
To this, Judge of course knew what the World Government would do after finding out about his connection with Louis. But he didn't really care much. Once the cooperation with Louis was completed and he had obtained the technology for artificial Paramecia Devil Fruits, his status as a World Government member nation was not really that important.
Seeing this, Louis said no more. He looked up at the 6th area of the Treasure Tree Adam, then turned and picked up the microphone on the desk.
"..."
"Asmodai, bring him over."
Louis's voice echoed in the interrogation room, which was filled with a thick smell, and reached the ears of the two here.
Hearing him, Shaka, who had been frozen, moved, and vitality returned to his form.
With a slight scraping sound, Asmodai slowly drew her sharp blade and, with one slash, cut through the heavy steel chains.
Shaka slowly raised his head and looked silently at the grim-faced woman before him. To this, Asmodai raised an eyebrow and said meaningfully, "You've saved your own life, robot—"
Shaka ignored the woman before him and instead said silently, "Lead the way."
Asmodai heard him, sheathed her weapon, turned, opened the heavy gate, and walked out. Seeing this, Shaka followed with slightly swaying steps. As he walked, his chest and neck wounds continuously sputtered with electric currents and sparks.
Soon, the two of them entered another room along the corridor. As soon as they entered, Shaka saw the tall figure sitting on the sofa, waiting quietly. He had a head of pale-golden hair, a pair of flawless, broad white wings on his back, a holy appearance, and an inhumanly outstanding face.
"Archangel Louis," Shaka said, staring at the tall man before him. But the next moment, his gaze was drawn to another man not far from the Archangel, and he froze on the spot.
"You are..." Before him was a man in a gray combat suit, with a white lab coat draped over it, a waterfall of long golden hair, and a jet-black beard.
"Judge?"
"That's right." Judge crossed his arms, his expression solemn, his eyes becoming more and more displeased.
Hearing this, Shaka quickly recovered. He sat down on the sofa opposite Louis and leaned back. He looked at Judge's face and couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I never thought I'd see you here, Judge. Have you already joined the Archangel's crew?"
After taking a deep breath, Judge composed himself and replied in a deep voice, "I'm not like you. I was invited by a Sea Emperor for cooperation. That's why I'm here."
"Is that so?"
After the pleasantries, Shaka did not dwell on the difference, but once again turned his gaze to Louis and slightly lowered his head. "I've long heard of your great name, Archangel - Louis—"
To this, Louis had no intention of wasting time with Vegapunk and cut straight to the chase. "Vegapunk, tell me about this cooperation you speak of."
"I am a satellite of Vegapunk. You can call me Shaka." Shaka corrected in a deep voice, and then, without further delay, "My main body is currently conducting a research that is absolutely forbidden by the World Government. If this matter is exposed, the World Government will not let him go. Therefore, I hope that if this matter is exposed, Lord Archangel can help him escape the pursuit of the World Government."
Hearing this, Louis fell into a brief thought. He felt that this was not so much a cooperation as a deal. "Then, what can you offer in return?"
Shaka seemed to have already thought of his bargaining chip and, almost the instant Louis's words fell, gave his answer. "Some of the World Government's movements. Also, a project my main body is currently working on: using the Lunarian Lineage Factor given to me by the World Government and the Lineage Factors of the Warlords to create a batch of powerful weapons. I can insert a command into their base logic to make them friendly to and protective of the Lunarian race. This can also be considered my compensation for the damage that King the Conflagration suffered back then."
Asmodai heard this, and her brow furrowed tightly. She had never thought that the World Government would actually use the Lunarian Lineage Factor to create weapons.
But Louis, after hearing this, was unmoved. "Not enough. These things are only enough for Vegapunk to buy his life from my hands."
Hearing this, Shaka almost crashed. It took him a good while to come back to his senses. He understood what Louis meant. In other words, even though he had made it clear that he was not the culprit who had experimented on King, the Archangel still had him on his death list.
After some thought, Shaka spoke again. "Since you've invited Judge to cooperate, then you must be conducting some scientific research, right? I can help you solve the problems that Judge cannot, and make your research go one step faster."
Hearing this, Judge was instantly filled with rage. He slammed the table and stood up, wanting to refute. However, a calm gaze from the side instantly made him shiver, and he calmly sat back down.
With this, Asmodai, who had never left, once again withdrew her gaze and leaned against the wall behind Louis with her arms crossed. And from beginning to end, Louis had paid no attention to Judge's anger.
Under everyone's gaze, he lit a sun-like flame in his palm, causing the temperature of the room to instantly rise by several dozen degrees and making Judge feel uncomfortable.
When Shaka's gaze fell on the sun in his palm, Louis said in a deep voice, "The Mother Flame. I know you're researching it. When it's born, bring me a wisp of its flame—"
For a long time, Louis had not created a fire-element Fantasy Species. On one hand, he himself had the ability to generate and manipulate flames. On the other hand, he was waiting for a higher-level fire elemental body—the Mother Flame. And the fact that it had not yet been born was the main reason why he had not gone to Punk Hazard, even though he knew what Vegapunk was researching there.
It wasn't just the World Government that was eyeing the Mother Flame; Louis also had special thoughts about it. As for the yet-to-be-born fire Fantasy Species, he had already thought of several names.
Golden Crow, or Zhurong.
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