After they docked at the port on Pandora Island, Vegapunk looked at this small island. It had no sense of scientific research at all. Instead, it was filled with a strange vibe.
The sky outside was clear, but here it was oddly dark.
"Let's go. Time to meet the devils."
Vegapunk slowly walked down from the ship and headed toward the deeper parts of Pandora Island.
Ah Xing smiled and said, "We should go see Fleet Admiral Makima first. She should be here."
Vegapunk nodded. It was basic manners to visit the local host first when arriving somewhere.
On paper, Pandora Island was directly under the World Government, but everyone in the know understood that its real leader was not an official sent by the World Government. It was the Fleet Admiral from the nearby Black Order headquarters.
So yes, they should meet her upon arrival.
And so, in an office on Pandora Island, Makima also met Vegapunk.
She didn't hold back her praise as she said to him, "I've heard of you, Vegapunk, the smartest person in the world. If it's you, you can surely bring new progress to Pandora Island."
In the past, Vegapunk had worked with Judge and Queen on research, especially on life factors. He should be interested in the monster cells too. But compared to the monster cells, Genichi wanted him to study something else first.
"Fleet Admiral, you flatter me. Humans can't control their own desires, and my desire just happens to be pursuing science. I hope this time on Pandora Island can satisfy that a bit."
Vegapunk looked at Makima with some surprise. He had long known that the Black Order's Fleet Admiral was a woman, and possibly one from thousands of years ago who had come to the present. But he didn't expect her to look so young.
"If that's the case, I think Dr. Vegapunk can't start researching the devils yet." Makima sat in her chair, arms on the desk with hands crossed. She said to Vegapunk,
"Devils amplify a person's inner desires and then control them based on that, taking over the body. You're the World Government's most valuable asset. I can't let you take that risk."
"There's no research without risks." Vegapunk shook his head. "I'm prepared, Fleet Admiral. No need to stop me."
And besides...
This was also an order from the World Government!
But Makima's next words surprised Vegapunk. She took a vial of reagent from her drawer and held it in her hand. "I'm not trying to stop your research on devils. It's just that before we're fully prepared, we can't take pointless risks."
She toyed with the vial and continued to Vegapunk, "This is a potion made by a scientist from my era who specialized in devils. Injecting it improves your physical abilities, but most importantly, it changes your inner self."
"Changes the inner self?" Vegapunk frowned, then got interested.
He had researched such life modifications before. Back then, he and Vinsmoke Judge had studied life factors in 'MADS.' That stuff was also called the 'blueprint of life,' and someone as smart as Vegapunk had long seen its potential for human application.
In other words, it could create artificial humans, and in making them, you could freely alter their basic instincts to produce completely loyal soldiers.
But that kind of change often made people 'lose emotions,' so Vegapunk didn't like that research much. He believed full emotions were key to real progress.
But now Makima was talking about inner changes, which seemed totally opposite to life factors.
"This serum potion develops the human mind, making the spirit pure and able to resist any devil's temptations." Makima said softly.
"But after I woke up in this world, this is the only vial left. So I want Dr. Vegapunk to analyze its makeup and figure out how to copy it."
"I see. That way, I can focus on devil research, and people injected with this serum will become the main force against devils." Vegapunk was indeed interested in this. If he studied it, he could put off the devil research for now.
Makima nodded and confirmed, "Yes. If we can mass-produce it, we'll have the upper hand in fighting devils."
"Alright, let's get started then!" Vegapunk agreed with Makima. He stepped forward and took the super soldier serum from her hand.
Yes, before starting on the monster cells, Makima had Vegapunk begin research on the super soldier serum.
He could breed monster cells himself; it just took time. But there was only one super soldier serum. If he could replicate it, his clones could get stronger.
The super soldier serum unlocked a person's inner power. It shouldn't count as something unique to this world's style, like the monster cells. So it wouldn't be limited by world types.
That meant even the Little Demon Dragon, with its three powers, could use the super soldier serum again to boost itself.
This was a good thing. Of course he wouldn't pass it up.
Seeing Vegapunk agree to the research, Makima quickly set up a lab for him and provided plenty of assistants.
The Black Order's growth was funded by the World Government. Before, the funding was small, even tiny. But the research funds for Pandora Island were generous.
At least for the current projects, the budget was more than enough.
........
Once things were set up on Pandora Island, Makima freed up her focus from there.
Sengoku and those kids still trained their superpowers daily on schedule. Over these days, Makima had roughly gauged Sengoku's talent. He was indeed quite gifted in superpower training, even stronger than most artificial humans born with telekinesis.
He was probably second only to Mumei's talent...
With that gift plus his own Haki boosts, he should reach a very strong level.
As for the kids, most weren't great. Some had talent, but far less than the artificial humans made by Human Maker.
Still, time was on their side. She wasn't in a rush.
And the top priority now...
Was how to deal with Aatrox!
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