Bardock was a man of his word. After acquiring Bagg's exact coordinates from Wolf, he steered the White Dragon into the sky for an aerial assault.
When the golden ship descended from the clouds and dropped right onto Bagg's doorstep, the pirate captain was busy feasting with his subordinates.
Most pirates operated this way—they were either throwing a banquet or on their way to one.
"Who the hell are you bastards? You looking to die?!" Bagg sprang to his feet, glaring fiercely at Bardock's crew.
But as his eyes adjusted and he got a clear look at the White Dragon, greed ignited in his chest. Even obscured by a hardened wax layer, a magnificent ship capable of flight was an undeniable treasure.
"So you're delivering a new ship straight to my lap! Boys! Surround them!"
With a battle cry, Bagg led the charge to encircle the intruders. One had to admit, he possessed undeniable nerve.
Bagg was a "Melting Man" who had consumed the Drunk-Drunk Fruit. He could freely liquefy his body, rendering standard physical attacks useless against him. This invulnerability fueled his arrogance.
In a place like the North Blue, as long as someone with this ability avoided a tiny handful of elite monsters, they could essentially walk sideways across the sea. The fact that Bagg had survived this long meant his luck held strong.
Furthermore, his Devil Fruit granted him the ability to shoot a "heart-melting beam" from his eyes. Anyone struck by the light was instantly forced into an intoxicated stupor, allowing Bagg to manipulate them effortlessly. If the victim failed to dispel the ability within twenty-four hours, they would simply die of alcohol poisoning.
This potent arsenal made Bagg incredibly haughty. Unfortunately for him, today he faced a reckoning.
Bardock had zero interest in wasting time here, nor did he intend to test Law's combat skills on this fodder. He simply narrowed his eyes and unleashed a concentrated pulse of Conqueror's Haki.
Instantly, the surrounding pirate lackeys crumpled to the earth, foaming at the mouth. Only Bagg remained standing, his legs trembling violently.
"What kind of trick did you pull?! Why did they all drop?!" Bagg shrieked, masking his mounting dread with false bravado.
"How boring."
A flash of blue lightning illuminated the clearing. Bagg only heard those two words before a sharp pain pierced his neck. Then, his world faded to black.
"Drag Bagg aboard, sweep the base for loot, and notify the local Marines to clean up the trash," Bardock ordered.
"Yes, Captain!"
The crew moved efficiently, fulfilling their duties before regrouping on the deck.
Like most low-tier pirates, Bagg's crew lived purely in the moment, squandering their plunder on booze and meat. Consequently, they possessed no hidden treasury or surprise loot. Empty-handed but victorious, the White Dragon quickly set sail back to Swallow Island.
When Wolf laid eyes on Bagg—bound securely in Seastone shackles—his jaw dropped. It had only been a few hours, and a significant chunk of that was just travel time. The efficiency was staggering.
Wolf harbored deeply complicated feelings toward his son. He knew Bagg had strayed down a dark path, but a father's hope rarely dies easily. Wolf had tried countless times to correct the boy's behavior, even briefly masquerading as a pirate himself to steer Bagg right.
Only when he realized his son was truly beyond saving did Wolf finally give up. He poured his grief and energy into developing a submarine, explicitly planning to use the vessel to hunt Bagg down and end his reign of terror.
Why did Dr. Vegapunk join the World Government's scientific division? Because they offered boundless funding and limitless manpower.
Wolf, on the other hand, toiled away in isolation. Plagued by a severe lack of funds and lacking any assistants, his submarine blueprints had only recently reached maturity. Translating those schematics into a physical, functioning vessel still required a massive investment of time and Belly.
Fortunately, Bardock possessed deep pockets. Throwing money at a problem saved years of labor. With Wolf's expertise and the crew's resources, retrofitting the White Dragon wouldn't take long at all.
"Law, you're up," Bardock said, clapping the young doctor on the shoulder.
Law wasted no breath. "ROOM! Scalpel!"
Deploying his spherical field, Law lunged forward and slammed his palm directly into Bagg's chest.
A translucent, pulsating cube encasing the pirate's heart flew out from his back. Law flicked his wrist, activating his spatial manipulation once more. The distant heart teleported seamlessly into his palm, continuing to beat rhythmically within its gelatinous casing.
Despite a gaping, square hole in his chest, Bagg remained entirely unharmed and breathing steadily.
Such was the miraculous, logic-defying nature of a Paramecia Devil Fruit.
"Whoa!" The surrounding crew members gasped, marveling at the surgical precision.
Bardock accepted the cubed heart from Law and gave it a gentle squeeze. Bagg instantly dropped to his knees, clutching his chest and shrieking in agony.
"As you can see, Mr. Wolf," Bardock smiled smoothly. "With his heart in your grasp, he has no choice but to follow your every command. It might not be genuine obedience, but it prevents him from ever harming another innocent person."
Bardock gestured to the chains. "Consider the Seastone handcuffs a complimentary gift. If he regains access to his Devil Fruit powers, he could easily overpower you, heart or no heart."
"Well, Mr. Wolf? Does this satisfy our arrangement?"
Bardock tossed the cube through the air. Wolf scrambled to catch it, his clumsy hands fumbling the catch and accidentally squeezing the organ. Bagg let out another bloodcurdling scream, writhing in the dirt.
"Captain Bardock, we have a deal," Wolf nodded, his eyes locked on his captive son. "I'll go organize my engineering blueprints right now. Please, allow Law to assist me."
Wolf already knew Bardock had forcibly recruited Law and the Minks. Powerless to stop the pirate captain, Wolf wanted to use this brief window of privacy to pass on some crucial parting advice to his surrogate son.
Bardock nodded in agreement.
Wolf led Law into the workshop and closed the door. He had a lot to say, and precious little time to say it.