"Portgas D. Ace. Here to discuss a deal."
Ace's voice faded into silence.
The heavy silver-white alloy doors didn't open right away.
The corridor stayed quiet for a dozen seconds or so.
"Beep. Hiss."
A green scanning beam lit up the center of the door. Then, with the sound of pressure releasing, both halves slid open.
Beyond them stretched a super-lab, vastly larger than Caesar's workspace. It was packed with incomprehensible precision instruments, enormous cultivation pods, and floating holographic projections.
A tall, thin old man stood at a complex terminal. His head was absurdly oversized, swollen like a hot-air balloon. He wore a white lab coat, a data pad in his hand. He didn't look up.
"Hurry up and come in. The cold air from the corridor will compromise the cell activity in my incubators."
Dr. Vegapunk's voice carried a focused, almost obsessive calm. He might as well have been addressing a few errand boys, not a crew of infamous pirates worth over a billion.
Ace and the others stepped inside. The doors sealed shut behind them.
Kuma guided Bonnie's mechanical spider, staying right behind Ace. His breathing quickened the moment his eyes landed on Vegapunk.
"What's wrong with the old man's head? Did it get caught in a door?" Buggy whispered, hiding behind Sabo.
"Shut up, Red Nose." Carina shot him a glare. Her eyes swept the room, tracking the automated defense systems humming with quiet menace.
Vegapunk set down the data pad. His enormous head turned slowly, sweeping over the intruders.
"So. What do you want?"
No fear in his tone. No curiosity. Just the standard irritation of a scientist whose work had been interrupted.
Kuma stepped forward. He didn't speak. Silently, he opened the cockpit of the mechanical spider and let Bonnie step out.
"I see."
Vegapunk adjusted his glasses. "I was wondering why pirates capable of smashing through Sentomaru and the Pacifista defense line in seconds would go to the trouble of barging into my boring laboratory. You brought a patient."
"Smart people make things easy."
Ace walked up, pulled over a chair, and sat down. "Since you've figured it out, I'll be direct. I want you to cure that girl."
Vegapunk ignored him. He walked up to Bonnie's mechanical spider. Those brilliant eyes studied the blue-green jade scales on her arms through the protective glass.
"Sapphire Scales."
Vegapunk's voice turned heavy. "A malignant mutation at the genetic level. And given how far it's spread, she won't live past ten."
"I know," Kuma said, fists clenched. "But I've heard you have a way."
"There is a way."
Vegapunk turned to face Kuma and Ace. He sighed. "But it comes at an extreme cost."
"That's fine."
Ace leaned back in his chair. "Start with the treatment plan."
Vegapunk moved to the holographic projection table and pulled up a model of human cell division.
"Conventional medicine does nothing against Sapphire Scales. The only permanent cure is to use my Lineage Factor technology. Extract healthy stem cells from her body, then mass-cultivate them in a cloned culture outside her body. After that, she undergoes a six-month, full-body blood and cellular replacement procedure."
Vegapunk looked at Kuma. "This will consume an astronomical amount of funding and research resources. That's why I've never made this technology public. No one could afford it."
The words "astronomical amount of funding" hit Kuma like a weight to the chest.
He'd braced himself for this. But hearing it from the world's greatest scientist still filled his lungs with despair.
"Funding? That's it?"
Ace smiled, utterly unconcerned.
He turned and looked behind him.
"Jeno. Bring it out."
Jeno stepped forward and opened his mouth. Five massive black suitcases dropped onto Vegapunk's spotless floor with a heavy thud. Each was stuffed with high-denomination bills and high-purity gold bricks.
"Ten billion."
Ace casually kicked open one of the cases. Golden light flooded the entire laboratory.
"Is that enough?"
The lab fell into dead silence.
Vegapunk's giant head lowered slowly. His eyes settled on the gold bricks and stacks of cash spread across his floor. He was quiet for a few seconds. Then he crouched down, picked up a gold brick, turned it over in his hands, and set it down. He lifted a stack of bills and rifled through it with his thumb.
"Don't worry. The money's there."
Ace stood and walked to the pile of gold. "But I have one condition."
Vegapunk looked at him. "What condition? As long as the funding is sufficient, you may use any medical bay in the research institute..."
"I'm not leaving her here."
Ace cut him off. His voice carried a dominance that left no room for argument.
"This is World Government territory. If Bonnie lies in this place for six months, who's to say the Five Elders won't use her as leverage against my people?"
Ace pointed at Kuma. "Kuma and Bonnie are my crew. They're under my protection."
"I want you to pack up that top-tier cultivation pod and every piece of equipment required for the cloning process. All of it. Then rebuild a maximum-spec medical bay aboard my ship, the Eclipse."
"What?!"
Vegapunk's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "Build a Lineage Factor laboratory on a pirate ship?! That's impossible! Those instruments demand extreme environmental stability. Ocean turbulence and magnetic interference will cause the cell cultures to fail on the spot!"
"Chopper. Jeno." Ace didn't waste a word. He called their names directly.
"Here!" The reindeer and the cyborg stepped forward, chests out, heads high.
Ace pointed at them and spoke to Vegapunk. "My ship's doctor and my chief engineer. These two, plus that horned idiot Caesar, will handle all daily maintenance and equipment operation for the six-month period."
"As for the turbulence?"
Ace let out a cold laugh.
"There isn't a storm on these seas that can shake my warship. And for that matter, we don't even need to float."
"I want you to transfer all the technology and equipment to the Eclipse within the next few days. You'll supervise the full six months of treatment remotely, through the comm network."
Ace walked up to Vegapunk and met his eyes with genuine sincerity.
"Ten billion. In exchange for a set of equipment and your friendship. Do we have a deal?"
Vegapunk stared at the young pirate standing before him. Then he looked down at the ten billion fortune scattered across his floor.
His colossal dream, free energy for all humanity, had stalled completely under the World Government's budget cuts. With ten billion, so many of his projects could restart immediately.
"Deal!"
Vegapunk drew a deep breath and agreed without a shred of hesitation. To a pure scientist, research funding was his lifeblood. World Government regulations meant nothing next to ten billion.
"However..." Vegapunk frowned. "There's a Marine surveillance network surrounding Punk Hazard. You forced your way in, and now you plan to haul this much heavy equipment onto your ship. The World Government will not let this go."
"Leave that to me."
Ace turned around. His dark red coat blazed under the cold laboratory lights.
"If they want to come looking for trouble..."
"Then we'll beat back whatever they send."
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