Vinsmoke Judge possessed a highly calculating mind, and his previous statement contained a very obvious verbal trap. By saying he would hand over the technology only if the answer satisfied him, he gave himself a convenient loophole. No matter what profound secret Bardock revealed, Judge could simply cross his arms, claim he wasn't satisfied, and attempt to steal the intelligence for free.
Bardock merely smirked. He was the butcher's knife, and Judge was the meat on the chopping block. The only reason Bardock was even bothering to entertain this 'trade' was to keep the transaction relatively civil. If Judge actually dared to go back on his word, Bardock was more than happy to show the King of Germa what true, unadulterated cruelty looked like.
"The fundamental reason Dr. Vegapunk completely eclipses you and the rest of the MADS scientists combined is because he isn't merely inventing things from scratch. He is actively recreating."
Bardock leaned forward, his golden eyes locking onto Judge. "Are you familiar with the Tree of Knowledge in Ohara? It housed the greatest, most comprehensive library in the world. Within its massive archives were ancient technical blueprints and scientific texts left behind from the Void Century.
"Vegapunk visited Ohara. Utilizing his Brain-Brain Fruit, he flawlessly memorized every single piece of that lost, hyper-advanced knowledge. He isn't creating miracles out of thin air; he is simply taking the ancient, 800-year-old technology from those books and turning it into reality. Does it make sense now?"
"This...!"
Judge felt as if his brain had just violently short-circuited. The Tree of Knowledge. The Void Century. Turning ancient knowledge into reality.
"I see..." Judge muttered, his eyes wide with profound realization. "I had always heard obscure rumors suggesting that the scientific level of the world 800 years ago was actually vastly superior to our modern era. I always dismissed it as romanticized mythological nonsense. But if what you say is true... it all makes perfect sense!"
"Exactly," Bardock stated smoothly. "Vegapunk is undeniably a brilliant, generational genius, but it's physically impossible for one man's brain to naturally leap 500 years into the future. The reason his achievements eclipse the rest of you is simply because he is standing on the shoulders of an ancient, forgotten empire."
Judge meticulously processed the information. His scientific ego was finally placated. Vegapunk was a genius, yes, but he wasn't a god; he just had a 500-year head start thanks to a library.
After giving the King a moment to digest the truth, Bardock extended his hand. "Alright. I've delivered. It's your turn. Hand over the Lineage Factor research data."
"Well, about that..."
Judge only managed to utter three words of his prepared stall tactic before his voice completely died in his throat.
Without warning, Bardock's demeanor violently shifted. The calm, conversational pirate vanished, replaced instantly by a terrifying, primordial apex predator. A suffocating, tyrannical wave of Conqueror's Haki violently erupted from Bardock's body, completely saturating the room.
The terrifying pressure only lasted for a few seconds before Bardock reeled it back in, but Judge knew it wasn't an illusion. The King's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat, and he felt as if an invisible, iron hand had just squeezed his lungs.
Worse, Judge looked down and realized his three genetically modified sons—who had just barely been regaining consciousness from their previous beating—had instantly rolled over, completely knocked out cold by the Haki burst. If their chests hadn't been faintly rising and falling, Judge would have thought they were dead.
However, amidst the overwhelming pressure, Reiju was still standing. Although she was visibly swaying, her legs trembling under the sheer weight of the King's Haki, she managed to maintain her consciousness.
Bardock cast an approving glance at the eldest daughter before turning his cold eyes back to the King. "Mr. Judge. You weren't planning on going back on our deal, were you?"
"No! No, of course not! Why would I ever do that?!" Judge frantically waved his hands, completely abandoning his schemes. He didn't dare play games with this monster anymore. "I simply... I just wanted to express my hope that you won't blindly distribute this technology to my enemies!"
"You have my word," Bardock replied, seamlessly retracting his killing intent. "We only need it for our own internal research references. I can also guarantee that we will never use the Lineage Factor to mass-produce clone soldiers. We are explorers and pirates, not war mercenaries."
Having secured Bardock's verbal guarantee—and lacking any other choice—Judge immediately accessed his secure terminal, copied the heavily encrypted Lineage Factor data onto several hard drives, and handed them over.
Bardock took the drives without reviewing them; that was Chopper's domain. However, to absolutely ensure Judge hadn't planted corrupted files or viruses, Bardock casually plucked a few strands of hair from Judge's head and snipped a piece of his fingernail.
"I'll be using these to make a Vivre Card," Bardock smiled warmly, tapping the biological samples. "Do you have any final words, Mr. Judge?"
Judge took a deep, trembling breath and shook his head.
At this exact moment, his only overwhelming emotion was profound relief that he hadn't tried to put fake data on those drives. This young pirate was meticulous and ruthless. Knowing Bardock now possessed his Vivre Card—meaning the White Dragon could hunt him down anywhere in the world if he crossed them—Judge realized he needed to rapidly accelerate his Raid Suit development to ensure his family's survival in the future.
With the transaction officially complete, the intense, suffocating hostility between the two factions evaporated. Judge canceled the red alert, and the tens of thousands of Clone Soldiers outside stood down and returned to their posts.
Bardock signaled the White Dragon to pull alongside the central castle, allowing the rest of the crew to board the legendary Germa 66 and take a look around.
Upon boarding, Mansherry kindly used her dandelion spores to instantly heal the severe internal injuries of Judge's three sons.
True to their emotionless, genetically modified nature, the three brothers didn't show a single ounce of fear or trauma regarding the men who had just violently beaten them. Instead, the moment they were healed and laid eyes on Robin and Perona, their eyes instantly morphed into massive pink hearts, and they began desperately swooning over the beautiful women. Deeply embarrassed by their behavior, Judge quickly ordered them to return to their quarters to rest.
Meanwhile, Hawkins was actually profoundly disappointed by the tour. He had secretly utilized his Observation Haki and realized that Germa's legendary Raid Suits were still highly incomplete and clunky. Without perfected transformation suits, the mythical 'Evil Army' felt slightly underwhelming.
Elsewhere on the castle deck, Reiju was personally giving Robin, Perona, and Mansherry a polite tour of the kingdom.
"Princess Reiju," Robin asked casually, her sharp eyes observing the girl's face. "Are those distinct curly eyebrows a genetic trait in your family?"
"Oh? Why do you ask?" Reiju replied, maintaining her composed, royal facade. "But yes, my brothers and I all share this specific trait."
"I see," Robin smiled softly, holding Reiju's gaze. "It's just that, while we were sailing through the East Blue, we happened to rescue a young, blond-haired boy with the exact same distinct eyebrows. I was wondering if he had any relation to you."
"Sanji?!" Reiju gasped, her composed mask instantly cracking. "Is... is he doing well in the East Blue?"
"He's doing very well," Robin nodded, having already deduced the underlying family drama. "If nothing unexpected happens, he should be well on his way to becoming a fantastic chef. He is...?"
"Yes. He is my younger brother," Reiju admitted, a genuinely warm, relieved smile gracing her lips. "Sanji's dream since he was a little boy was to become a chef. He went missing in the East Blue years ago... I'm so incredibly happy to hear he's actually achieving his dream. He must be very happy now."
Reiju didn't mention the horrific bullying Sanji suffered at the hands of their brothers, nor did she mention their father's absolute disgust for him. She certainly didn't confess that she was the one who had actively bent the prison bars to set him free.
Robin, being incredibly perceptive, instantly understood there was a dark, tragic family secret hidden behind Reiju's words. However, it was their private family business, and she politely chose not to pry any further.
Because the central castle of the Germa Kingdom wasn't particularly large, the tour concluded rapidly.
When it was finally time to depart, Judge stood at the docks, his face completely stern, doing his absolute best to mask his humiliation.
"Mr. Judge," Bardock said casually as he boarded his ship. "Regardless of how this started, I consider this a favor from you. If you ever find yourself in a desperate situation in the future and need some heavy hitters, feel free to give us a call. For a small fee, we'd be more than happy to lend a hand."
Naturally, Bardock wouldn't mention that his true objective was to wait for Judge to fully perfect the Raid Suits using Wapometal—which wasn't widely circulating in the global market yet—before coming back to extort the finalized technology. He was simply leaving a strong impression so that when Judge inevitably hit a brick wall, he might remember the White Dragon.
"Understood. We will keep that in mind," Judge replied, his tone heavily perfunctory.
Having just been violently strong-armed into giving up his life's work, there was absolutely no way Judge would be playing nice if he wasn't painfully aware that he couldn't defeat Bardock in a fight. The world of adults was simply that cruel.
Watching the massive golden galleon slowly sail away into the mist, Judge stood frozen in place for a long time, grappling with a massive dilemma: Should I report this to the Navy?
As a World Government Affiliated Nation that paid a massive Heavenly Tribute every year, Germa had the legal right to request Admiral-level Marine intervention when attacked.
After a long, bitter internal struggle, Judge violently killed the thought. What was lost couldn't be retrieved. Standard Marine warships couldn't touch Bardock's crew, and even if Headquarters dispatched top-tier elites, victory wasn't guaranteed. If the Navy failed to kill him, Bardock would use that Vivre Card to track Germa down and completely slaughter them all. It wasn't worth the risk.
Turning sharply on his heel, Judge marched directly toward his primary laboratory. It was time to aggressively accelerate the Raid Suit project. If he and his children had been fully equipped with perfected suits today, he firmly believed they wouldn't have been so pathetically helpless.
"Captain Bardock, where is our next destination?"
Inside the Captain's quarters of the White Dragon, the crew gathered around the massive nautical chart of the North Blue.
Bardock firmly tapped his finger on a specific, landlocked territory. "Here."
"The White City... Flevance?" Robin instantly recognized the kingdom on the map, her brow furrowing deeply. "But Bardock, didn't that entire nation collapse and die out years ago due to Amber Lead Syndrome?"
On the map, Flevance was a small, landlocked country surrounded by several heavily guarded borders. Decades ago, it was the wealthiest, most beautiful nation in the North Blue.
The keyword was was. The country had been utterly destroyed in a tragic, bloody border war. Officially, there was only one single known survivor of the White City in the entire world: Trafalgar D. Water Law.
"It was completely destroyed, yes. That's exactly why we need to go take a look," Bardock stated, his voice grave.
"But the Amber Lead Syndrome..." Robin hesitated, genuine concern in her eyes. "It's highly contagious."
"Put your mind at ease, Robin. Amber Lead Syndrome is absolutely not contagious," Bardock corrected her, his tone absolute. "That was a vicious, fabricated lie propagated by the surrounding nations to justify exterminating them. It is strictly a biological poisoning phenomenon caused by prolonged, generational exposure to the raw Amber Lead ore they mined. It's heavy metal poisoning. The idea of it being a virus is a complete myth."
Hearing the scientific truth, Robin let out a soft sigh of relief.
The rest of the crew shrugged indifferently. Most of them had never even heard of Amber Lead Syndrome or the tragic history of Flevance. As long as Bardock pointed the way, they were fully prepared to follow him into hell itself.
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