Three Days Later

  Totto Land Kingdom

  Deep beh the Totto Land Sea, in an enormous underground boratory…

  "El-sama!"

  Led by Ryan, the stists saluted El and his ente. Among them were Dr. Kureha—who had spent the past two years mastering lineage factor teology after its discovery by Dr. Vegapunk and others—and several elderly, bespectacled female schors. These schors, oop experts in their fields, had been coerced—partly through force, partly through persuasion—into joining the project.

  After a series of thh checks using specialized equipment to analyze the mothers and their unborn children, the stists firmed the parameters and prepared for the phase of the lineage faodification process.

  The procedure itself was led by Dr. Kureha, who had personally overseeeology’s development, supported by her team of female schors and doctors.

  After all, these were El’s women. He spared her expense nor cautio came to their safety.

  "Mamamamama! Please take care of everything from here!" Linlin excimed, brimming with excitement. She couldn’t wait to see the potential her children would gain after the modifications.

  Though both she and El were natural-born “monsters,” not every child they bore could reach such heights. With lineage factor teology, however, they could eimal ditions for their offspring.

  "This is our duty," Ryan replied with a smile.

  Never one for formalities, Dr. Kureha gestured for the group to follow her. "Kukurururu, e with me!"

  She and her assistants led Linlin, Lily, Gerd, and the other women—including Abyss, wife of Afar the Fire Camity—into the boratory.

  Meanwhile, El and Afar stayed outside, versing with Dr. Vegapunk and his team.

  "Tsk, tsk, Vegapunk! Your head just keeps getting bigger, doesn’t it?" Afar ented, eyeing the young stist’s disproportionately rge head with mingled curiosity and amazement.

  "Indeed! It’s a testament to knowledge," Vegapunk replied with a quirky ugh, patting his enormous, bulbous head.

  Despite being only twenty-one years old, Vegapunk already had the look of an etriius. His head, rger than his entire body, resembled a glowing lightbulb, and his demeanor carried the weight of someone far older.

  "In history, there have been others who ate the Brain-Brain Fruit," remarked Dr. Tsukimi, a white-haired senior stist with a calm smile. "Some of them became renowned schors, but none of their heads grew like yours. Perhaps their knowledge capacity was limited."

  Dr. Tsukimi greatly admired Vegapunk’s talent. Although he had once been Vegapunk’s teacher, the young stist had already surpassed him in many respects.

  Ryan—another of Dr. Tsukimi’s students and an exceptional stist with the powers of the Munch-Munch Fruit—was also incredibly gifted. However, in parison to Vegapunk’s unparalleled genius, even Ryan fell short.

  "It’s true," Tsukimi tinued. "Your mastery of knowledge is exceptional, Vegapunk, but the sheer growth of your brain still fasates me."

  Vegapunk chuckled modestly, brushing off the praise. "There’s always more to learn, and with more knowledge ore possibilities."

  El observed their versation with a smile, fident that the fruits of their research would lead to unparalleled advas—not only for his children but for the strength and future of the Totto Land Kingdom.

  "By the way, how is the Pacifista Project progressing?" El asked, as though recalling something. "Roughly how long will it take to plete?"

  "Ah, El-sama, please follow us…" Ryan said with a mischievous grin. "I promise you won't be disappointed!"

  "Oh?" El raised an eyebrow, gng at Vegapunk and Dr. Tsukimi. Their fident expressions suggested they had good news.

  With Dr. Kureha aeam overseeing the lineage faodification procedures, El, Ryan, Afar, Vegapunk, and the others proceeded down a wide corridor. Passing through multiple checkpoints, they arrived at a massive boratory.

  Rows of t gss tainers, each several meters high, lihe room, all filled with green cultivation fluid. Inside were tall, expressionless beings whose silhouettes closely resembled Cyril Oka—the “Thunder Camity”—famed for his scarred visage after a fateful battle with Iron Cw Hark.

  "Every time I see these guys, it feels unbelievable," Afar remarked, his toh awed and posed. As one of the Fallen Angel Pirates’ core officers, he rivy to these secrets.

  Two years earlier, after the stific team officially discovered the lineage factor, El had ordered the unch of the Pacifista Project. With Cyril Oka’s sent, his robust Bueers body was used as a sample to extract his lineage factor, cultivating numerous es. The goal was to transform these es into true war maes equipped with cutting-edge ser systems.

  However, what truly caught their attention wasn’t ihe tainers. Outside, ected to a work of massive and intricate circuitry, stood a tall figure undergoing “charging.”

  It looked identical to the es in the cultivation fluid but wore a bbat suit. Standing motionless, it exuded a suffog sense of menace.

  "This is…" Afar’s pupils tracted.

  "Oh, has it been fully pleted?" El asked, raising an eyebrow with i.

  "Yes, this is the first prototype—PX-1," Ryan said proudly, his grin widening. "Thanks to enhas from the Munch-Munch Fruit, its body is tougher than steel. It follows orders precisely and autonomously identify hostile targets based on pre-loaded data.

  "However," Ryan tinued, "it hasn’t undergone live bat trials yet. Its performand any potential fws must be tested further and optimized."

  "We’ve unanimously agreed," Dr. Vegapunk interjected, his brilliance evident in his voice, "that the step is to deploy it secretly in real battlefield ditions to gather essential data."

  "I have no objes," El said with a smile, approag the fully upgraded Pacifista. "Si’s modeled after Cyril Oka of the Bueers Tribe, let him oversee its deployment. The Pacifista project exists rgely thanks to his tributions."

  Not everyone was willing to doheir geo create es-turned-war maes. As the leader, El hadn’t forced Cyril Oka’s hand; initially, he po use other Bakaribe members. But Vegapunk and the stists insisted on Oka, given his extraordinary strength. ving him wasn’t easy—it required emotional appeals, lucrative iives, and talk of the greater good. In the end, they even promised to restore his disfigured fad remove his scars, finally seg his agreement.