"Come on, it was just a sneeze. Since when does that mean my body is failing?" Dante looked at Vegapunk with open disdain.
Was the old man trying to bluff him?
He had to be joking.
Just how strong was he right now? It had only been one night, there was no way his stamina had given out. Not to mention, he had recently received a significant promotion and a raise to match in his cheat and gotten stronger.
With his body undergoing continuous enhancements, being "weak" was physically impossible.
However, Vegapunk ignored Dante's retort entirely. With his hands clasped behind his back, the scientist spoke with the leisurely air of someone holding all the cards. "I heard your haul from this latest outing was quite substantial?"
"So, you're just fishing for a budget increase," Dante scoffed. "I was wondering where this was going. Couldn't you have just asked directly?"
"Then... Boss, do you mean...?"
"Approved!" Hearing the word 'Boss' from Vegapunk put Dante in a charitable mood. He waved his hand grandly. "Whatever you need, just hand the list to Robin later."
"It seems you really did make a fortune this time!" Vegapunk stroked his chin, genuinely surprised by the generosity. "Are the Shichibukai really that wealthy?"
At those words, Kuma, standing silently beside Bonney, stiffened.
He remained completely silent, offering no comment.
"I can't speak for the others, but the Donquixote Family is certainly loaded," Dante nodded, ignoring Kuma's reaction. "After all, that guy runs a business with zero overhead costs, purely illicit, pure profit. He's stashed away quite a bit over the years."
Dante paused, shooting Vegapunk a pointed look. "That said... try to be a little frugal with the funding. If you keep spending recklessly, I doubt even the World Government could afford to sustain you for long!"
Vegapunk was undeniably useful. But he was also undeniably expensive.
It was his inventions. Yes, they worked, but often their utility was incredibly niche, or they lacked any commercial value. Sometimes, it seemed Vegapunk would have a flash of inspiration, build the device, look at it once, and then toss it into a warehouse to gather dust.
Take the 'Mark I Autochef,' for instance. As long as ingredients were loaded in, it could prepare any programmed dish within a minute.
The problem? Its energy consumption was atrocious, and it wasted far more ingredients than a human chef. The machine would scan raw materials, and if they were even slightly imperfect, it would incinerate them instantly.
And while the food it produced was better than an average cook's, it couldn't compete with a top-tier chef.
The result was predictable.
Besides... Dante was currently trying to 'create' jobs, not automate the kitchen staff out of existence. Even Vegapunk had gotten bored of the machine after two days and left it to rust.
"Ah, haha... when inspiration strikes, I can't help it. If I don't build it, it just rattles around in my brain." Vegapunk stuck out his tongue in a sheepish, characteristic gesture. "Sorry, sorry. I'll be more careful."
In truth, since arriving here and escaping the World Government's strict supervision, he had let himself go a little wild.
Back with the Government, funding wasn't an issue, and rare materials were abundant, but the restrictions were suffocating. Unless he completed their specific mandates, he was given neither the money nor the time to pursue his own interests.
That was exactly why he had made the agreement with them later on. He had hoped that transferring to Egghead would grant him some autonomy. Instead, before he could even settle in, he ended up here.
Things had been tight at first, but lately... the funding was flowing.
As for materials, while they didn't have the World Government's stockpiles, they had no shortage of metal. With that Wapol kid around, they could manufacture alloys that even the Government didn't possess.
"Alright, I admit I wanted more funding. But since you've already approved it, I won't hide this anymore. Take a look!" Vegapunk pulled a small glass vial from his robe, rattling the contents. "Aqua Ursa 2.0. I've enhanced the formula. Materials are limited, so the raw power increase isn't huge, but the requirements to use it are higher. It makes the user much more... 'excited'."
'Viagra?' Dante paused, eyeing the familiar-looking tablets in his hand. He looked back at Vegapunk with a strange expression. "May I ask... which part of the body gets 'excited'?"
"Why ask the obvious? Just like the first generation, the whole body gets stimulated!"
Dante's eyes narrowed as a capitalist scheme formed in his mind. "Can you remove the physical enhancement, add some harmless side effects, and include a refractory period? Say, a full day of weakness after use?"
Vegapunk frowned, baffled. "Why would you want to dilute the efficacy and add a weakness period? It works perfectly fine."
"Because it'll make money."
"Consider it done!"
"Don't make the effect too strong. Just enough for an ordinary person to last two or three hours. You figure out the details." Dante pocketed the pills, then looked up at the scientist, tilting his head. "By the way... where is your massive head?"
"I had Law slice it off last night!" Vegapunk pointed proudly to the apple-shaped antenna now crowning his normal-sized skull. "I've been ready for a long time, just waiting for you all to return. Don't worry, I've hidden the brain-mass safely. But with this antenna, I can still access all my knowledge."
He patted his head. "With a simple disguise, most people won't recognize me now. That means I can finally go out. To be honest, I'm quite curious about this 'Romance Dawn' place that Mock is always raving about."
Vegapunk stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What exactly is it like inside? That kid keeps saying it's 'incredibly comfortable.'"
"..." Dark lines formed on Dante's forehead.
What the hell was that Mock doing? He has corrupted even world's greatest scientist.
Was he planning to take all the officers of the Marine 16th Branch out for a foot bath?
Dante wasn't actually surprised Vegapunk had cut off his head, he had only asked out of politeness. As the brain grew, it was an inevitable step.
"Congratulations on the weight loss," Dante said dryly. "Though Mock probably won't have time to guide you for a while." He tucked the blue pills deeper into his pocket. "So, you called me over... just for this?"
"Ah? Is that so? Isn't that kid always free?" Vegapunk looked momentarily disappointed but quickly shrugged it off. As long as the funding was secure and he could research freely, he was happy. Romance Dawn was just a passing curiosity.
"The pills? No, no. That was just something I whipped up while slacking off, bait to trick you into opening the treasury. I wouldn't call you over for a trinket like that." Vegapunk pointed to the antenna on his head again. "Do you see this?"
"Yes. I see your head is gone."
"I'm not talking about that! I mean... thanks to this antenna, I can receive electric waves directly from my brain."
Realization struck Dante. "You mean..."
"That's right. I've completed the research you requested." Vegapunk stood tall, hands behind his back, grinning with his tongue lolling out. "I still don't know why you wanted me to research such a thing when Den Den Mushi are perfectly sufficient, but I've invented it according to your specs!"
He looked at Dante, who had gone completely still. "What's wrong? Do you not need it anymore?"
"I need it!"
Dante snapped out of his daze, shouting the answer. Ignoring the confused scientist, he spun around and barked an order at the large Kuma standing nearby.
"Kuma! Go get Mock! Tell him to get ready to receive a VIP guest, tell him to give our Meritorious Officer here the full treatment!"
"..."
===============
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