Infiltrating Punk Hazard! Vegapunk: Your Theory of Space Shocked Me

Sengoku's words had run through Lin Yuan's mind all night.

Rocks, the strongest pirate of the era, was gathering powerful people from across the world. Joining him meant gaining protection, as well as access to more resources and information.

But Lin Yuan didn't want to join anyone.

He was going to become a "king," not someone's subordinate.

"So you're not going?" Bullet asked.

"No." Lin Yuan gnawed on a compressed biscuit he'd taken from the transport ship. "But I need someone."

"Who?"

"Vegapunk."

Bullet frowned. "That genius scientist from the World Government?"

"That's him."

Lin Yuan stood and brushed the biscuit crumbs from his hands.

"All the World Government's technological power is in his hands. Weapons, Lineage Factors, Artificial Devil Fruits... If we can get his help, our forces can skip an entire stage of development."

"But will he help you?"

"No." Lin Yuan smiled. "So I'm going to 'persuade' him."

Two

Punk Hazard.

The site of the World Government's most advanced research facility and Vegapunk's laboratory. The island was heavily guarded, with CP Agents patrolling day and night. Not even a fly could get in.

But Lin Yuan wasn't a fly.

He stood above the sea outside the island, his foot on a tiny door. The other end of the door was attached to a reef on the seabed, leaving him suspended in midair as if he were standing on an invisible step.

"Spatial Perception..." Lin Yuan closed his eyes.

Within an eight-hundred-meter radius, the position of every guard, every surveillance blind spot, and whether every door and window was open or closed spread out in his mind.

"Found it."

He opened his eyes and opened a door in front of him.

Beyond it was a laboratory corridor.

Three

The corridor was long, the lights were deathly pale, and the smell of disinfectant hung in the air.

Lin Yuan walked down the corridor without a sound. He didn't need to hide from the guards. He opened a door before they came by, waited for them to pass, then came out again. He had already "seen" every corner, every door, and the location of every surveillance camera.

"Here." He stopped in front of a heavy metal door.

The door read: "Top secret—Dr. Vegapunk's exclusive use."

Lin Yuan raised a hand and opened a tiny door in the lock cylinder. Its structure unfolded in his mind like a 3D model. He gave it a gentle flick, and the lock opened.

The door slid open without a sound.

Beyond it was a vast laboratory. Lights flashed on all kinds of instruments, and screens displayed dense streams of data. In the center of the room, a man in a white lab coat, his hair a mess, was looking down at a document.

Vegapunk.

Lin Yuan entered the laboratory and closed the door behind him.

"Good evening, Dr. Vegapunk."

Vegapunk looked up and froze for a moment when he saw Lin Yuan.

Then he smiled.

"You're that Marine recruit who defected, Lin Yuan. A bounty of five hundred million."

"You know me?"

"Of course. Your 'Soru' isn't Soru. It's the power of the Door-Door Fruit, isn't it?" Vegapunk put down the document. "I've studied footage of your 'Soru.' That wasn't speed. It was spatial displacement."

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

He really was the smartest man in the world.

"Doctor, I've come to discuss a partnership."

"A partnership?" Vegapunk leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. "You're a Marine recruit who defected. What makes you think you can partner with me?"

Lin Yuan didn't answer directly. He walked over to the lab table, picked up a pen, and drew a circle on a piece of paper.

"Doctor, do you know the true nature of the Door-Door Fruit?"

"Spatial manipulation," Vegapunk said. "Opening a door in any material is, at its core, opening a spatial passage."

"Not quite."

Lin Yuan drew two points on the paper, then folded it in half so that the points overlapped.

"The ultimate form of the Door-Door Fruit isn't 'opening doors.' It's 'Space Folding.' Compress the distance between two points to zero, and you don't need a passage or a door. You simply make the two points overlap."

Vegapunk's expression changed.

"This is..."

"This isn't a Devil Fruit power," Lin Yuan said. "It's physics. Space can be folded, time can be bent, and dimensions can be crossed. Doctor, you've spent your life studying science. You should know that better than I do."

Vegapunk fell silent.

He walked over to Lin Yuan, picked up the paper, and studied it for a long time.

"Where did you learn all this?"

"I once... met a teacher," Lin Yuan said. "He taught me many theories about space. But he's dead now."

That was a lie. The knowledge came from his doctorate in space physics in his previous life.

But Vegapunk believed him.

"That teacher... was a remarkable man." Vegapunk put down the paper. "What do you want?"

"Technical support," Lin Yuan said. "Weapons, equipment, information. I don't need you to leave the World Government. I just need you to help me in secret."

"Why should I take that risk?"

"Because you want to see how far science can go," Lin Yuan said. "And I can help you open that door."

Vegapunk stared at him for a long time.

Then he smiled.

"Interesting. Very interesting."

He held out his hand.

"Deal."

Four

When Lin Yuan left Punk Hazard, he had a case in his hand.

Inside was the first batch of "greeting gifts" Vegapunk had given him: ten high-performance modified firearms, two sets of bulletproof combat suits, and a signal jammer that could block Observation Haki.

There was also a note with a string of coded characters on it.

"This is the route chart for the World Government's Seastone transport ships," Vegapunk said. "Three ships a month, loaded with Seastone, traveling from Wano Country to Mary Geoise. Used well, it's enough to keep you fed for a lifetime."

Lin Yuan put the note away.

"Doctor, thanks."

"Don't thank me." Vegapunk waved a hand. "I just think... this world needs someone to break it. I can't do it myself, but maybe you can."

Lin Yuan walked to the door, then suddenly stopped.

"Doctor, there's something I want to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"Do you know Rocks?"

Vegapunk's expression changed slightly.

"Why do you ask?"

"Someone told me to go find him."

"Don't go," Vegapunk said. "Rocks is a madman. He's gathering powerful people not to overthrow the World Government, but for himself. If you go, you'll only become his pawn."

"Then what do you think I should do?"

Vegapunk fell silent.

"Do it yourself," he said. "Don't rely on anyone. Rely on yourself."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"That's what I thought too."

He raised a hand and opened a door in front of him.

Beyond it was the beach on Void Island.

"See you next time, Doctor."

"Next time you come, knock first," Vegapunk said. "Don't come through the wall. It's frightening."

"Heh heh heh..." Lin Yuan laughed. "I'll try."

He stepped through, and the door closed behind him.

The laboratory fell quiet again.

Vegapunk sat in his chair, looking toward the spot where Lin Yuan had disappeared, and murmured to himself.

"Space Folding... Where did this young man come from?"

(End of Chapter 9)