The Science Unit Arrives!
Tokikake the coffee man's voluntary departure was truly a helpless situation, as his presence severely hampered Kuzan's abilities.
As mentioned before, Kuzan's Devil Fruit ability cannot freeze Bullet, who possesses the power of Sonic Booms; he can only indirectly freeze the latter's body through low temperatures.
However, there is a very important condition: Bullet cannot have a way to raise his body temperature and thaw himself.
That's how it was originally; he genuinely didn't have that ability.
But the Tokikake boiling coffee perfectly provided this service!
Bullet discovered this by chance during battle: whenever frost appeared on his skin and his muscles and joints became stiff over time, he could instantly thaw them by turning around to face the rush of hot coffee, without suffering any burns.
Simply put, it's like the high temperature of the coffee and the low temperature of the air conditioner cancel each other out!
Now, Kuzan couldn't freeze him, Tokikake couldn't burn him, putting the two of them in an awkward situation.
This also prompted the battle-savvy Bullet to immediately decide to postpone Tokikake relentlessly hammering the elemental ice blocks. Once his body had cooled down enough, he would go find Tokikake a hot coffee bath.
Tokikake a fierce internal struggle, Kaji gritted his teeth and took Gion with him to voluntarily exit the Gion, because no matter how you looked at it, Kuzan was stronger than him, and with his Logia elemental transformation ability, he was the only one among the three who could go toe-to-toe with Bullet.
As for why Gion was brought along, well, without his coffee to take care of her, this Swordsman girl who had just Awakening her Observation Haki wouldn't have the ability to intervene in the battle at all.
Neither Bullet's Sonic Boom nor Kuzan's low-temperature blasts are things she can handle alone.
Unless she automatically Awakening another Armament Haki.
The reason Vidal said the final battle ended somewhat anticlimactically is because the duel between Bullet and Kuzan ultimately didn't result in a clear winner.
This is all Zephyr's fault. Just when Bullet was covered in white frost and Kuzan was panting heavily, he appeared on the scene and announced that the time for the Z Island melee had come.
This action infuriated most people, especially Bullet, who was absolutely furious. But Zephyr didn't back down at all, punching the guy who was yelling at him to the ground and strictly ending the fight according to the rules.
As for what Zephyr was really thinking, only he himself knew.
Inside the Sabaody Marine Base, Vidal, having finished washing up, slowly stepped into the spacious reception hall. Meetings with multiple people were usually held here, while if there were only one or two people, Lieutenant Isoka would take them directly to his office.
"Greetings, Base Commander Vidal. I am Geda, Captain of the Science Unit. I have been ordered by Dr. Vegapunk to receive the miraculous plant!"
A burly Marine Vice Admiral quickly stood up and solemnly stated his purpose, showing no sign of displeasure at being kept waiting by Vidal.
Although he was a senior Marine Vice Admiral with a higher rank than the young rear Rear Admiral in front of him, he knew in his heart that Vidal should not be regarded as an ordinary Rear Admiral!
This base commander, who earned the nickname "Ryokugyu" at the young age of 22, is clearly destined to become one of the Navy's top combat forces.
Under these circumstances, only a complete idiot like Vice Admiral Geda would dare to put on airs in front of Vidal.
Unfortunately, someone who can fight their way up to the rank of Vice Admiral, or even the captain of Science Unit, is no fool!
"Well, thank you for your trip to the Red Line." Vidal nodded casually, then turned and walked outside without even sitting down, saying, "Come on, I'll go out and get the magical plants for you. Are the cages ready?"
"Yes, it's ready, but we don't know if we have enough. We only brought ten iron cages," Lieutenant Vice Admiral Geda hurriedly replied politely, following behind Vidal.
"Ten is enough. If we need more in the future, Dr. Vegapunk can ask me for more. It's no trouble!"
Vidal never intended to satisfy them all at once. Relationships can't be bought and sold; you have to be mindful of the interactions between the parties. In addition, he knew very well that scientific research would require a lot of experimental subjects, so he made a little effort in that area.
The group arrived at the dock of the private Marine Base. The warship that Geda and his crew were on was right next to Dragon's warship. The difference was that the latter had several coating craftsmen busy working on it, while the former already had a complete bubble.
This is quite normal. If Sabaody Archipelago, where Vidal is stationed, is the base responsible for providing coating services to warships in the first half of the Grand Line, then the G-1 Branch, where the Science Unit is located, is the place that provides coating services to warships in the New World.
Vidal stepped onto the deck from the wooden planks connecting the warship to the ground, and the transparent bubble did not break at all because of his passage, which was truly amazing.
However, he was already extremely used to bubbles, and his gaze fell directly on the ten iron cages prepared on the deck.
[Bang.]
He lightly stomped his foot on the deck, and with a dull thud, Vice Admiral Geda and the naval personnel directly under his Science Unit saw ten green lights appear on the deck.
At the same time, strange plants, each over a meter tall, rapidly grew and took shape, then sprang up from the ground!
They truly rose from the ground, their roots pulled directly out from under the deck, standing there like human legs, occasionally looking around curiously.
"Five Peashooters, three Boxing Cabbage, and two Cactus Beasts should be enough for Dr. Vegapunk to study for a while," Vidal said with a smile to the astonished Vice Admiral Geda behind him.
At the same time, the ten magical plants seemed to have received some kind of command and automatically walked into the iron cage. Their obedient and docile appearance seemed somewhat unbelievable.
But Vidal saw it as perfectly normal; these magical plants only possessed the intelligence of insects, meaning they had only basic instincts.
And he, this plant-like Woods-Woods Fruit, is equivalent to the supreme will of the insect swarm.
He really wanted to further enhance the intelligence of these magical plants, but apart from feeding Zoan Devil Fruits, he couldn't think of any other way for the time being.
Moreover, even if they were fed Zoan Fruit, their intelligence would only be raised to the level of an animal, not even as good as the Kung Fu Dugong!
Therefore, Vidal genuinely hopes that Vegapunk can research something, perhaps by using this powerful figure's advanced technology to improve the intelligence of the plants.
Of course, if that guy Woonan could be a little more helpful and find the deserted island where Lily Carnation is located as soon as possible, then all the problems would be solved.
By then, not only will all of his magical plants possess the intelligence of a human teenager, but they will also be able to speak human language!
What does this mean?
It's like going from Plants vs. Zombies to a talking Pokémon.
"Maybe I should give him a call and urge him on. Otherwise, what if this kid doesn't put in the effort? It would be a waste of all the good Devil Fruit I gave him!" Vidal thought to himself. He was actually quite anxious, even though he had plenty of time.