In this regard, Whitebeard, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit user, actually had more of an advantage. With the large-scale destructive power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, ordinary elites who didn't meet the standard would basically be wiped out in one move. Even if a million robots were thrown at him, it's unknown if they could take down a peak Whitebeard with them.
However, besides ordinary cannon fodder, Vegapunk's robots also included true powerhouses. The improved WarGreymon, Machinedramon, and MetalSeadramon had combat power even a step higher than a few years ago.
Even if they didn't reach the level of a Marine Admiral or a Pirate Emperor, they were quite a bit stronger than the average Yonko Commander. In certain specific environments, they were no different from a Marine Admiral.
"It's just that we've encountered a problem now... that is, the Pyrobroin factor is insufficient!"
"If we rely purely on extraction from seawater, it would take seven or eight years to arm all the robots!"
The Pyrobroin factor, also known as the seastone factor or ocean particles, is the key to suppressing the special abilities of Devil Fruit Users.
Don't look at the million-strong army Vegapunk created as being insane; if they aren't processed with the Pyrobroin factor, any Logia-type user could take out all the robots without taking any damage. After all, these mechanical things don't have Haki.
If they encountered someone who countered them, like a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, the so-called million-strong robot army probably wouldn't even last an hour before being completely destroyed.
After all, setting aside that lightning counters machinery, the electricity used inside the robots would simply replenish the power of a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user. The opponent would be recharging while fighting; even if they destroyed all the robots, their stamina might still be full.
Therefore, the robots Vegapunk produced must be equipped with the Pyrobroin factor. After Vegapunk's modification, these Pyrobroin factors could even form an energy field, which could not only damage Logia users but also grant immunity to some special ability effects.
For purely destructive abilities like the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the Pyrobroin field's effect isn't great, but for fruits that target machinery like the Magnet-Magnet Fruit or the Rust-Rust Fruit, it can greatly reduce their effectiveness.
Hearing Nico Robin's report, Vegapunk's expression became a bit troubled.
"Should I modify the seastone factor extraction machine? But even with modifications, the effect won't increase much... the concentration of seastone factor in seawater is simply not enough!"
"Although these robots are just cannon fodder used to test the World Government... if they don't have the Pyrobroin factor bonus, I'm afraid they'll all end up being wiped out by some special Devil Fruit User..."
"In that case, why don't we just go look for a Sea Stone mine?"
The one speaking was Stella. This beauty, who looked like a gorgeous young girl, had a smile with a hint of ruthlessness at the corner of her mouth:
"I remember the Beasts Pirates relied on their great strength to take quite a lot of advantage of our Umbrella Corporation! A mere Kozuki Toki dared to ask for a top-tier Artificial Mythical Zoan..."
"Especially after you left, Lord Vegapunk, the Beasts Pirates immediately raised the price of Sea Stone sold to our Umbrella Corporation and even seized quite a lot of goods from Wano Country... It's time to give them a little lesson!"
To separate their ties, the relationship between Umbrella Corporation and Vegapunk was a loose cooperation, but Umbrella's high-tech products basically all came from Vegapunk. Without Vegapunk, their military force indeed declined, which was why Kaido suddenly turned hostile.
Although Stella was socially adept, she didn't have much of a way to deal with a truly great villain like Kaido. At the time, she could only decisively cut her losses. Now, seeing her backer return and knowing Vegapunk happened to need Sea Stone, it was naturally time for grievances to be redressed and revenge to be taken.
"Going to find trouble with Kaido... actually, everyone collaborated quite well before! Killing him directly would be a bit embarrassing."
Vegapunk showed a look of hesitation, then changed his tone:
"So we'll just beat him half-dead and put him in our laboratory!"
Jokes aside, while there were indeed some underground dealings between Kaido and Vegapunk, saying they had a good relationship was purely a joke!
Kaido had warmly invited Vegapunk to come in person for every transaction; Vegapunk could guess what he was thinking with his toes!
Similarly, almost all the products Vegapunk gave Kaido were tampered with. Don't look at how Kaido always felt he was profiting; if Vegapunk wanted to mess with him one day, he could easily turn his Artificial Devil Fruit army against him!
It can only be said that neither of these two was a good person, but obviously, while Kaido had a treacherous and cunning side, he was still a long way off compared to Vegapunk, who truly played with brains and technology.
Or rather, even if people in the One Piece World had some schemes, they were very shallow, the kind that was bad on the surface.
These simple pirates could never imagine that someone would actually leave a back door in the technology products they sold. This kind of high-end operation was simply beyond the imagination of these pirates and even the World Government.
Hearing Vegapunk's words, Stella's lips curled up. As expected, the Boss still had the same personality. With the forces currently under Vegapunk, the entire Beasts Pirates would likely suffer a huge misfortune!
No, it wasn't just a matter of misfortune anymore. With the current gap in their scale, the Beasts Pirates would inevitably face total annihilation.
"Since the idea was yours, then the Beasts Pirates will be your responsibility!"
Vegapunk waved his hand and gave instructions to Stella:
"You can use the power inside Dream Star as you wish. Additionally, I will give you the control rights over those Artificial Devil Fruit users in the Beasts Pirates!"
"If you need anything else, feel free to ask me. My requirements aren't many: Orochi, Kaido, and King—these three must be left for me for experiments!"
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