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Vegapunk looked strikingly similar to a great scientist from Kyle's previous life, Einstein.
He was in his middle years now, with an enormous head, tall and bulbous, almost brushing the ceiling.
Kyle followed quietly behind him until they entered a laboratory crammed with papers and instruments of every kind.
"It's stuffy in here!"
Vegapunk walked over to a rack of test tubes and began clinking and clanking as he adjusted them.
"I was brought here against my will," he said casually."At the time, I was researching the 'Lineage Factor' together with Vinsmoke Judge.""The World Government thought my work was too dangerous, so they dragged me here and bought off my entire team."
He paused, then chuckled dryly.
"But later on, I realized it wasn't so bad. At least I no longer have to worry about funding or resources for my experiments."
Kyle listened in silence, a little surprised.
Truth be told, he didn't know Vegapunk well at all. Most of what he knew came from his previous world.
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to work with the World Government," Vegapunk continued."Everything I do here is forced, one way or another."
"Are you really allowed to say things like that?" Kyle asked curiously.
"The room's well soundproofed," Vegapunk replied with a smile."And they don't really care what I say."
"The World Government only cares about my results.""That's all they want."
Then he added lightly, "If you ever get rich enough to fund my experiments, you could try kidnapping me and taking me away."
"I'd be happy to work for you instead."
He turned around and smiled at Kyle.
Kyle froze for a moment, then smiled back and nodded. "If I ever get the chance, I'll do exactly that."
Vegapunk poured liquid from one test tube into another. Crackling sounds filled the air, as if tiny sparks were jumping between them.
Kyle couldn't help worrying that the whole place might blow up at any second.
"I actually know quite a bit about you, Major General Kyle," Vegapunk said.
"The gloves you're wearing? I made those."
"How are they? Pretty useful, right?"
He smiled again.
Kyle raised his hand and nodded. "They're excellent."
"Sea Prism Stone is incredibly hard," Vegapunk said."Giving it flexibility like that wasn't easy."
"That pair is the first of its kind. Possibly the last as well."
"I'll treasure them," Kyle said earnestly.
Vegapunk nodded, then turned back and stared straight into Kyle's eyes.
"So… we're friends now, right?"
Kyle was momentarily stunned. He couldn't quite keep up with the scientist's jumps in logic.
Still, he didn't hesitate. He nodded again.
"Yes. We're friends."
Vegapunk let out a breath of relief and laughed.
"That's good!"
"I've looked into everything about you, you know."
"Your hometown is in the West Blue. Ohara, the famous land of archaeology."
"I'm very interested in some of the ancient knowledge recorded there. If I ever get the chance, I'd love to visit."
"The wisdom of the ancients is truly astonishing."
Those words made Kyle freeze.
His hometown was Ohara, in the West Blue?
Even he hadn't known that.
"You killed a Celestial Dragon two years ago at the Sabaody Archipelago, didn't you?" Vegapunk added calmly.
Kyle's heart jolted. He stared at Vegapunk in disbelief. How could he possibly know something like that?
In just a few days, things Kyle thought he'd hidden perfectly had been exposed again and again.
"Very few people in this world would even dare to do something like that," Vegapunk went on."Being able to do it and daring to do it are two very different things."
"You're special. Completely different from most people in this world."
"That's why I was willing to make those gloves for you."
He spoke rapidly now.
"If there's anything I can help you with, feel free to ask."
"I like doing things for my friends."
Kyle was stunned by Vegapunk's generosity. He didn't quite understand it, but he accepted it gladly.
Because something immediately came to mind.
"You've been researching Devil Fruits recently, haven't you?"
He placed the wooden box he'd been carrying onto the table.
"That's right," Vegapunk nodded."I'm studying how to give inanimate objects Devil Fruit abilities."
"The Elephant-Elephant Fruit you brought is one of my test subjects."
"Then is there any way," Kyle asked, "to locate Devil Fruits nearby? Some kind of device, or method?"
He was thinking of Skypiea, and the Lightning-Lightning Fruit that Enel had not yet eaten.
"Locate Devil Fruits?" Vegapunk blinked, then spoke quickly.
"Of course there is!"
"But I shelved that project pretty early on. The results were underwhelming."
"The detection range was only two or three kilometers. Compared to the size of the world, even compared to a single island, that's basically useless."
"Rather than searching, I much prefer creating."
Kyle's eyes lit up. "Could you tell me how it works, or give me the device?"
Vegapunk smiled and nodded. "I don't know what you're planning, but sure, that's no problem."
"Just don't get your hopes too high. Even with the device, the odds of finding a Devil Fruit are still very low."
Kyle nodded in understanding.
Vegapunk rummaged through the lab for quite a while before finally pulling out a palm-sized object. It glowed faintly, covered in strange patterns, and looked vaguely like an orange.
"When it glows green, there's no fruit nearby," Vegapunk explained."When it turns red, that means there's one close."
Kyle took the device and smiled. "Thank you very much."
"And one more thing," Vegapunk added eagerly."If you'd let me study your body a bit, I'd be even happier!"
"I've heard you're immortal?"
"I've never seen bloodlines like yours before!"
As he spoke, Vegapunk licked his lips, his eyes shining with unsettling excitement.
That look made Kyle's heart skip.
He was absolutely certain that if Vegapunk ever got the chance, he would slice him up without hesitation.
"Looks like you really don't like the idea of being studied," Vegapunk said regretfully."What a shame."
Only then did Kyle finally relax. He forced a small smile.
"Time really flies," Vegapunk said."You should be going now. Still, I'm very happy to have made a friend today."
"To be honest, you're the first friend I've had in many years."
He turned around and handed Kyle several densely scribbled sheets of paper from the table.
"If you ever get the chance, make sure you kidnap me."
"I know you'd dare to do it. Maybe you're the only one who would."
"As for the Celestial Dragon incident, don't worry. There are probably very few people in this world who know about it."
"I just made an educated guess, then confirmed it by your expression earlier."
Kyle blinked, then smiled and nodded.
"Alright."
"I like helping my friends too."
Their gazes met, and both of them smiled.
"I'll be waiting," Vegapunk said.
Kyle turned and left as the guards outside began urging him on.
There was no doubt about it. This meeting with Vegapunk had been an enormous and unexpected gain.
"..."
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