"That was also the only recorded Devil Fruit User — Freddy. He was able to kill people in his dreams, which once plunged his village into panic. Later, his true form was discovered, and he was killed by the angry villagers."
Roy was speechless. To be killed by a bunch of weak villagers was truly a disgrace to Devil Fruit User.
However, Roy also understood the guy's mentality to some extent. In the dream, he was almost omnipotent, but in reality, he was just an ordinary person. The gap between his reality and his dream could easily cause him to break down and do some irrational things.
"In the eyes of the Five Elders, if even Freddy could develop such an ability, then Master will naturally only develop it to be even stronger. If Freddy can kill people across a town, then Master might be able to cross the sea, descend into the Celestial Dragons' dreams, and kill them."
"In addition, your previous demonstration of self-preservation ability has led the Five Elders to unanimously agree that they absolutely cannot turn against you unless absolutely necessary." After all, it takes the deployment of a top Admiral to deal with the injury of a Celestial Dragons. If Roy is pushed too far, the Celestial Dragons could suffer heavy casualties, potentially causing global turmoil.
After hearing this, Roy's expression turned strange; he really hadn't expected this.
The main reason is that killing in dreams is not very useful for strong people with firm wills. Roy can easily kill ordinary enemies without having to go through the trouble. Therefore, Roy has never paid much attention to it.
"Used to threaten the Celestial Dragons? Tsk tsk, it seems I've gained another bargaining chip." Roy nodded in satisfaction. Although his control over dreams would gradually weaken with distance, he could easily annihilate weaklings like the Celestial Dragons, even across half the Grand Line.
"As for the data on the Dongdong Island Base, if it were really that important, there wouldn't be only a Headquarters Rear Admiral stationed there."
"You're right. Among the World Government's seven secret research bases, Dongdong Island ranks last. When Dongdong Island was captured, the World Government didn't feel much regret. They just didn't want the data to fall into the hands of the Revolutionary Army, so they wanted to stop you before you entered the Grand Line."
"The main research focus of Dongdong Island is human gigantification, but the number one base among the seven secret bases also specializes in this area. You are probably familiar with the leader of this base, who is said to be Vegapunk, who is said to have surpassed human intelligence by 500 years. It is precisely because of Vegapunk's existence that the World Government is so indifferent to the data lost by Dongdong Island."
Roy's eyes widened slightly; even he couldn't remain calm upon hearing this legendary name.
A person who has never appeared in the Pirate World, yet is able to influence the course of the entire world.
If Whitebeard is the undefeated king among pirates, then Vegapunk is the supreme myth among scientists.
Roy once asked Judge in private what he thought of Vegapunk, and to his surprise, the guy also spoke highly of Vegapunk.
They claimed that their team at the time could only study things that Vegapunk had already done, but even so, it was enough for them to study for a lifetime.
"However, just recently, Dr. Vegapunk launched another research project. After losing his leadership, the research progress of human giantification technology has plummeted, even coming to a complete standstill. Because the research data left by Dr. Vegapunk is too profound, other scientists are simply unable to innovate on it. That's why they have set their sights on the research data of the Dongdong Island Base. After all, they are on the same level."
Fursis then said with a hint of doubt, "Actually, I'm also a little puzzled. Logically speaking, the Giant Corps Project has always been the World Government's top scientific research mission. It's not only the foundation for contacting Elbaf, but also the key to infiltrating the Big Mom Pirate Crew. How could they transfer Dr. Vegapunk away halfway through to research something else, unless it's a new research mission that's even more important than the Giant Corps Project?"
His words revealed a lot of secrets. Unexpectedly, the World Government had been quietly eyeing Elbaf and the Four Emperors, but Roy didn't care about any of that.
"Is it more important than the Giant Corps Project? In that case, perhaps only the development of the Pacifista is possible." Roy pondered to himself, feeling a mix of inexplicable emotion and apprehension.
A super strongman like Bartholomew Kuma, a ruthless person who can develop many powerful abilities from the Paw-Paw Fruit, actually willingly became a template for Pacifista. Should we say that the Revolutionary Army's brainwashing ability is too strong, or that he and Dr. Vegapunk secretly reached some kind of deal?
Moreover, once the Pacifista is successfully developed, it will undoubtedly fill the last gap in the Navy's capabilities, namely the problem of a slightly weak core force.
It's important to understand that the cost of a Pacifista is roughly the same as that of a warship, and for most officers, destroying a warship is no easier than swatting a mosquito.
The Pacifista, on the other hand, are nearly as strong as Vice Admiral, and are completely outmatched by pirates with bounties of over 100 million.
After clearing his mind of distracting thoughts, Roy asked again.
"So, the Five Elders originally planned to use the data from the Dongdong Island Base to make a deal with me to become Shichibukai?"
"That's true," Fursis said cautiously.
Roy was a little annoyed. He hadn't realized at first that the Five Elders were bluffing him. Although he was good at scheming, he was still a bit too green to act like a politician like the Five Elders.
However, this confrontation cannot be considered a defeat, because the Five Elders were not confident that Roy would act unpredictably. The changes in the Ancient Weapon were truly beyond their control, which is why they were so furious.
If they were worried that Roy would target the Celestial Dragons, they could have used the title of Shichibukai to keep Roy in check and then sent a top-tier assassin to carry out the assassination later.
But after Roy used Pluton's information to threaten them, the situation changed completely. Even if Roy was killed, he could leave a backup plan beforehand and pass the information to the Revolutionary Army through other channels.
The Five Elders are all highly intelligent individuals, so naturally they would have thought of this. This means that unless they completely disregard the threat posed by the Revolutionary Army, they will be unable to deal with Roy in the short term.
In this light, Roy has at least won back some ground. It's not something everyone can do to gain the upper hand against shrewd and calculating politicians like the Five Elders.
"Master, shall I go back and report like this?" Fursis asked tentatively.
"Forget it, it's just a bunch of data anyway. Let's just consider it a reward for the Five Elders' hard work in putting on such a show."