"Damn Marines, just wait until I break free!"
After receiving consecutive heavy blows, Kaido briefly regained a sliver of memory before being knocked semi-unconscious by Raleigh's fist.
Borsalino landed lightly and said to Dr. Vegapunk beside him:
"Dr. Vegapunk, we can proceed with sampling now."
Upon hearing this, Vegapunk immediately arranged for personnel to begin sampling Kaido.
Countless researchers, upon hearing Vegapunk's command, became electrified with excitement as they brought their respective tools to Kaido's side.
Some held specially crafted metal syringes, carefully avoiding the hard scale to penetrate Kaido's flesh through the gaps, meticulously drawing blood.
Others were more violent - wielding giant axes, hammers, or crowbars, they targeted the scales on Kaido's body.
Their research direction focused on how to create lightweight, wear-resistant armor.
They had never encountered biological armor like Kaido's before, so they had to extract everything from him before he regained consciousness.
In summary, during the battle where Kaido was captured by the combined efforts of Raleigh and Borsalino, the busiest people turned out to be the researchers after the fight ended.
Borsalino shrugged - he understood the researchers' nature all too well.
They wouldn't normally show such high excitement.
Their intense interest in Kaido stemmed from his Mythical Zoan-type Azure Dragon being truly a once-in-a-century discovery.
Because of Kaido's appearance, the researchers were experiencing for the first time how many workaholics existed in the base.
Although no one needed to work overtime, they habitually competed with each other.
Kaido's rarity was such that it kept the researchers working continuously for 48 hours without rest.
They all became completely immersed in sampling and researching Kaido.
Unlike other Marines soldiers who had to protect Dr. Vegapunk - that was Borsalino's responsibility - Raleigh had no such duty.
But seeing how relaxed Borsalino still appeared, Raleigh seriously wondered who was the real master of the Slack Off system.
"How can you hide so much of your power?"
Raleigh couldn't understand why Borsalino could remain so comfortable.
Borsalino half-opened his eyes, glanced at Raleigh, and said:
"My foolish younger brother, such matters don't require my personal intervention. Dr. Vegapunk's research base is itself a war machine."
'So whether I'm there or not makes no difference.'
In fact, Borsalino had specifically taken advantage of Kaido's loss of rationality and vulnerability to use his techniques early.
By the afternoon of the third day, most people in the research base had bloodshot eyes.
After that day's frenzy ended, Kaido lay quietly on the ground like a soul drained from his body, awaiting his final fate.
In a pristine white office, Raleigh sat facing Vegapunk again.
"Is everything settled?" Raleigh asked curiously.
''Almost completed, Mr. Raleigh.''
"Previously, we didn't know how to deal with Kaido's scales, but now we've mastered the relevant technology."
Hearing this, Raleigh calmly nodded.
The person sitting across from him was Vegapunk, a top-tier scientist capable of leading the world by five hundred years.
The fact that he spent some time researching how Kaido's armor formed was already extraordinary and by the time he fully understood it, most people had already begun utilizing it.
"So impressive."
Vegapunk stayed in his laboratory, examining the experimental materials delivered to him.
Without a doubt, though lacking high-tech enhancements, the materials were genuinely rare mutated shells.
Raleigh happened to walk in and overheard Vegapunk praising Kaido.
"Doctor, what have you discovered now?"
Vegapunk said with excitement.
"Raleigh, I won't tell you for now—let's keep it a secret. But I promise you, within two years at most, I'll reveal this secret to you."
After hearing Vegapunk's words, Raleigh didn't feel any particular thirst for knowledge.
After all, he was just a laid-back guy; curiosity was for the ambitious.
Once everyone in Vegapunk's lab had finished sampling, the managers of two other small labs followed along.
At this moment, Kaido had long lost the imposing aura he had when he first transformed.
Now, under the suppression of Raleigh and Borsalino, the Azure Dragon had become much more docile, completely listless.
Though he appeared dazed, Kaido had actually freed himself from his frenzied state.
The Marines thought they had firmly controlled Kaido, but no one knew what was truly in Kaido's heart.
To seize an opportunity, Kaido had to conserve his strength, pretending to be extremely weak.
If Kaido found even a one-in-a-thousand chance, he would not hesitate to try.
In an unnoticed corner, Raleigh and Borsalino were idly watching Kaido gathering his strength.
"Should we really let a pirate like him go back?" Borsalino was the first to speak.
He wasn't an indecisive person, nor was he ruthless, so his stance was often quite ambiguous.
Raleigh scratched his head; he didn't really care.
There were very few reckless fools like Kaido.
Although Kaido would later become one of the Four Emperors, for now, at least, he was a training target for Marine officers.
"It should be fine."
"I'll find someone to infiltrate their ship." Raleigh said a few brief words, then swaggered past Kaido, quietly speaking to the other Marine officers.
...
Two days later, Raleigh used a minor incident as an excuse to leave Punk Hazard Island.
That afternoon, due to a horrific pirate massacre in a nearby village, Borsalino was ordered by headquarters to handle the matter.
After both of them had left one after the other, Kaido, who had been gathering strength for days, suddenly opened his eyes.
Then, his Conqueror's Haki and physical power erupted simultaneously.
The chains infused with Seastone could only creak under Kaido's full-force outburst.
Snap!
With a light sound, Kaido shattered all the locks Borsalino had placed on him.
Without a second thought, he swiftly shot up into the sky.
Kaido's escape this time was timed perfectly when the Marine's top-tier combatants were absent from the island.
But he was wrong, because Raleigh and Borsalino—whom he assumed were off the island—were watching his escape with great amusement.
'Does this guy really think he's him?'
Raleigh watched Kaido laughing maniacally before even breaking through the cloud layer, veins nearly popping on his forehead.
Kaido's antics made Raleigh want to capture him and lock him up all over again.
But it was just a thought—Raleigh didn't have that much free time on his hands.
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