Just as Lloyd stood silently contemplating, Dr. Vegapunk beside him suddenly clapped both hands together and shouted with unrestrained excitement.
"Good, yes, I did it, I succeeded!"
Before Lloyd could react, the scientist bolted for the control panel and pressed a large red button. A transparent glass cover slid down slowly, enclosing the solution within.
Inside, the fluid had completely evaporated from the intense heat, leaving only the artificial Devil Fruit. Steam still spiraled up from its surface.
When the glass cover fully closed, a strange and awe‑inspiring scene unfolded. The white‑hot air that floated around seemed drawn upward as if tugged by some invisible force. It gathered above the fruit, momentarily forming the shape of a radiant white dragon before dissolving into the air.
Vegapunk's hands trembled as he reached out carefully and held the artificial Devil Fruit before his eyes to examine it.
Anyone who saw the intensity of his expression would know better than to disturb him.
Suddenly, Lloyd's figure appeared beside him in an instant, and he took the Devil Fruit into his hands without hesitation.
Vegapunk blinked in surprise. His elation slightly shattered as he looked at his empty palms, then slowly turned his head with a look that seemed to accuse Lloyd of offending the heavens and humankind all at once.
Lloyd ignored him. He held the Devil Fruit up to his eyes, examining it, and asked in a flat tone,
"Dr. Vegapunk, are you sure this experiment was successful?"
Vegapunk immediately brightened, his fervor returning full force. In his mind, Lloyd's question was doubt about his genius, and that thought made him smile proudly. He pointed toward a pile of other fruits stacked in a corner of the lab.
"Saint Lloyd, look at those Devil Fruits. Compared to them, this one here could be considered a success!"
Lloyd cast a glance toward the pile. Those fruits were grotesque and irregular, their surfaces covered with unattractive bumps and strange protrusions, like they had been warped by some corrupt force. Only a small number even vaguely resembled a normal piece of fruit.
Viewed by appearance alone, the one in Lloyd's hand, in both color and shape, was unquestionably the most refined.
Lloyd weighed the fruit in his palm, its contours smooth under his fingers. Vegapunk beside him gradually calmed from his earlier excitement, pinching his chin in thought.
"Of course, one cannot judge by appearance alone," he muttered aloud. "What matters is whether this fruit can pass the final test. Whoever eats it should gain powers at least comparable to Kaido's. If that happens…"
Before Vegapunk could finish, the Devil Fruit in Lloyd's hand vanished. It was as though it had dematerialized into nothing.
Lloyd looked at Vegapunk with his usual cool indifference.
"I will take this fruit for now," Lloyd said. "I will conduct the subsequent tests."
"Uh…" Vegapunk muttered under his breath about Lloyd's habit of taking things unexpectedly, but he smiled politely and said,
"Very well, Saint Lloyd. When you have the test results, please be sure to inform me."
Lloyd gave a soft wave of his hand.
"Yes, but this visit is for something else. I need a physical examination."
He tore open his black shirt, revealing a torso sculpted with taut muscle. Red veins spidered across his chest, striking against his skin like flowing rivulets of ink.
Vegapunk blinked in surprise. He gestured for Lloyd to lie on the examination table, then began affixing tubes and sensors to him. Instantly, data began streaming across the display screens beside them.
Vegapunk studied the readings with professional focus.
"Saint Lloyd, have you felt any discomfort in your body recently?" he asked.
Lloyd responded, voice steady and composed,
"Not really. I only sometimes feel sleepy."
Vegapunk nodded, analyzing the data.
"Everything in your body falls within normal ranges," he concluded, "except your blood pressure, which is abnormally low. That likely explains your occasional sleepiness."
From a scientific standpoint, low blood pressure could indeed cause drowsiness. But in Lloyd's case it was strange — given his physiology and ability from the Blood‑Blood Fruit, his blood pressure being low was counterintuitive.
Vegapunk furrowed his brow, puzzled by the contradiction. Lloyd's blood pressure was so low that an ordinary person would have long since collapsed, yet Lloyd appeared perfectly alert.
"Saint Lloyd," Vegapunk continued, "do you feel any other symptoms? Fatigue or weakness?"
Lloyd shook his head matter‑of‑factly, his tone blunt,
"No."
He had just restrained multiple Sea Kings each over five thousand meters long as though they were nothing more than animals. That hardly felt like exertion.
Vegapunk thought deeply for a moment and said,
"This is unusual, Saint Lloyd. You must be careful. If your blood pressure continues to drop, you could be at risk of shock or worse."
Lloyd narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. He then deliberately provoked his body's blood to surge wildly. His skin flushed dark red, and the veins bulged as if boiling beneath the surface, steam rising faintly from his skin, creating the impression of molten metal hardened into flesh.
The monitor beside them registered data that spiked erratically, astonishing Vegapunk.
The man who moments ago was labeled "low blood pressure" now displayed readings consistent with dangerously high blood pressure.
A large red caution symbol began blinking on the screen.
Vegapunk shouted in alarm,
"That is enough, Saint Lloyd! Please stop immediately!"
Lloyd exhaled calmly. In an instant the turbulent data fell, plummeting back to its previous low blood pressure range.
Vegapunk watched, bewildered. Despite the dramatic swings, Lloyd remained composed and unfazed.
From this unexplained physiology, it seemed that even with low blood pressure, Lloyd's life was not in jeopardy in the least.
Lloyd observed Vegapunk's confusion without comment. Finally, he rose from the examination table and pulled a fresh black shirt from his dark bible, sliding it on.
He looked at Vegapunk, whose expression still betrayed disbelief, and said in his usual detached tone,
"Do not overthink it. Low blood pressure is simply low blood pressure. It does not worry me."
He paused briefly, then continued,
"I am pleased with the Devil Fruit you crafted. When I return, I will allocate a significant research fund to your work."
Vegapunk's excitement surged again, but his expression shifted into something more serious.
"Saint Lloyd," he said, meeting Lloyd's cool gaze, "you mentioned feeling sleepy. Based on these readings, over time you could drift into a hibernation‑like state."