Experimental Subject Recovery
"Who are you?!"
Kozuki Hiyori spoke again, asking with some doubt. But compared to the beginning, her question this time was less about not knowing Vegapunk's identity and more about doubting her own guesses.
How could this be? Wasn't that person already dead? The shadow that had been hanging over him vanished along with his mother...
But--
"Can't you tell who I am yet? I'm probably the only one who can make Hancock obey me like this, right?"
Vegapunk grinned at Kozuki Hiyori, Kozuki Hiyori and mouth agape in disbelief.
"You, you really are Vegapunk! Aren't you dead? You even took Marine Admiral Akainu down with you!"
"And what happened to you? What happened to your Brain-Brain Fruit ability?"
"There are so many problems!"
Vegapunk shrugged, glanced at Kozuki Hiyori, and replied dismissively:
"But I don't seem to have any obligation to answer you! You just attacked me!"
She swallowed hard, a hint of fear flashing Kozuki Hiyori her eyes, and timidly asked:
"Okay, I don't want to know that... How is my mother now?"
With a whoosh, Vegapunk used Chakra to isolate himself and then threw out a Sea Stone Handcuffs:
"Your mother is doing well now, but what happens to her next is up to you!"
Looking at the Sea Stone Handcuffs on the ground, Kozuki Hiyori gave a bitter smile and reached out to pick them up. Just from the touch, she felt her body go limp. After handcuffing her hands with the Sea Stone Handcuffs, Kozuki Hiyori collapsed to the ground, panting for a long time before she finally got up.
Vegapunk couldn't help but glance at it with some surprise. You see, these Sea Stone Handcuffs had been compressed by Vegapunk, and their effect was far superior to ordinary Sea Stone. Their suppressive force was more than three times stronger than that of the purest Sea Stone.
Even with the Sea Stone Handcuffs on, Kozuki Hiyori was still able to get up, which shows that she has really trained herself quite well.
"Heh, that really surprises me! I thought you'd put up a fight, Hiyori!"
Stussy covered his mouth, looking at Kozuki Hiyori, who was looking down, feigning surprise.
"Weren't you so Haki when you defected from Umbrella Corporation? How come you're in such a sorry state now?"
Kozuki Hiyori and remained silent. Vegapunk also shook his head and said to Stussy:
"Alright, let's talk about it when we get back! Oh, and you spoils of war, take your own Sea Stone Handcuffs with you!"
Seeing the Sea Stone Handcuffs thrown in front of them, Gecko Moria and Perona exchanged a glance, then nodded simultaneously:
"Ghost Kamikaze Bomb!"
"Shadow Gathering Ground!"
With two loud thuds, the two who were preparing to launch a sudden attack spun around and fell to the ground, their Devil Fruit abilities dissipating.
Hancock withdrew her two fingers and gave a slight, cold snort:
"How dare you throw a tantrum in front of your darling!"
Kozuki Hiyori's pupils contracted slightly. What just happened? Hancock actually stunned Gecko Moria remotely?
Perona was stunned by the attack, but Kozuki Hiyori wasn't surprised, since Perona's physical body wasn't much different from that of an ordinary little girl.
But no matter how decadent Gecko Moria was, he still retained some of his former strength. Even if we disregard his Devil Fruit abilities and only consider his physical body, he still possessed the strength of an average Marine Vice Admiral.
This power was actually knocked unconscious by Hancock flicking her finger. What exactly did this ace bodyguard of Vegapunk go through to become so strong?
Or rather, what exactly happened to Vegapunk that led to such an explosive improvement in technology?
Strong individuals on the high seas train blindfolded, and once they reach a certain level, it becomes very difficult to improve. Although Hancock Kozuki Hiyori her current form.
That was already the limit of rigorous training. To improve further, one must constantly engage in hard-fought battles and real combat to enhance their Haki and advance to the ranks of top-tier maritime athletes.
The battles between such powerful figures are incredibly destructive, and almost every one of them is under the spotlight, making it difficult to keep from others. At least Kozuki Hiyori didn't know that Hancock had fought against any powerful seafarer.
Without real combat experience, it's almost impossible for strength to improve so rapidly. The only possibility is Vegapunk's technological modifications.
After all, she was a scientist 500 years ahead of humanity. Kozuki Hiyori, who had been working on the periphery of Vegapunk's forces, vaguely sensed that Vegapunk must have held back a little bit of what he had to say about the World Government.
Given his skill level, it's hard to imagine him making such a level of human modification, but it's still somewhat possible.
Beside the giant, Thriller Bark, an ordinary wooden sailboat slowly rose up. The energy shield covering the sailboat gradually disappeared, revealing Kozuki Toki, who was anxiously waiting on the deck.
When Kozuki Toki looked up, he saw Stussy with a smile on his face, holding an iron chain in his hand, with several pirates leading the way.
A gigantic, onion-shaped fat man dressed like a vampire demon; a chubby, round fat man wearing stockings and sunglasses, looking timid and hesitant; and a delicate, petite girl with a slightly eerie, gothic lolita-like face...
And finally, there was the beautiful girl with green hair and a bright face, wearing a traditional kimono from Wano Country, who was also her daughter, Kozuki Hiyori!
"Hiyori!"
Kozuki Toki excitedly shouted out. Hearing her mother's voice, Kozuki Hiyori immediately turned around. Looking at the lively Kozuki Toki, Kozuki Hiyori couldn't help but shout out excitedly as well:
"Mom, sob, are you alright? You're not dead, that's so good!"
As the mother and daughter talked, tears streamed down their faces, and they looked extremely excited. Faced with this scene that often occurs in the Pirate World, Vegapunk just shrugged in boredom.
"Hehe, don't get excited yet, Lady Kozuki. Your daughter just attacked Vegapunk, and we haven't even discussed her punishment yet!"
Stussy covered her mouth with a coquettish smile, her malicious gaze lingering on the mother and daughter.
Kozuki Toki's body trembled slightly, and her face, which was already streaked with tears, became contorted with fear and terror.
"Lord Vegapunk, Hiyori must have done it unintentionally! Please forgive her!"
"If you have any complaints, then punish me! Whatever the punishment, I'll accept it!"
"Wait, I did it all, it has nothing to do with Mother!"
Kozuki Hiyori's expression changed slightly, and she quickly stood in front of her mother, her face full of a heroic and selfless expression.
"If you have any problems, come at me. Don't hurt Mother!"
"Oh ho ho, what a touching mother-daughter relationship!"
Stussy's eyes lit up as he looked at the Kozuki Family as if he had discovered some fun toy. He licked his lips slightly, seemingly excited.
Vegapunk glanced at Stussy. The situation of the Kozuki Family was really like some 18+ porn movies... He didn't expect Stussy to be excited about this kind of thing. She really deserves to be the queen of the Pleasure District.
"We can talk about your matter later. Let's go back to base now!"
With the anxious Kozuki Family, along with the prisoners they had taken in, Vegapunk and the others quickly returned to Dream Star through the Space Gate.
The original large wooden ship was also transformed into a Sealing Scroll with a bang. It has to be admitted that with the Chakra system, many aspects can be bypassed by using this system, and a lot of amazing black technology can be created.
In any case, if it were purely about advancing the technology tree, Vegapunk felt that he wouldn't be able to develop such an advanced Space Miniaturization Scroll in less than 30 to 50 years.
Devil Fruit from the Pirate World Chakra from the Ninja World are good tools for him to advance his technological skills. Although this makes many of the technological gadgets unclear even to Vegapunk himself, the effects are indeed amazing.
For example, Dream Star was originally just a small island-like artificial satellite. Even with an Eco-Chamber inside, it could only support the biological resources of a few hundred people at most under normal circumstances.
But with the help of Chakra technology, the exterior of the entire Dream Star looks almost unchanged, but the interior space has expanded by several thousand times, even larger than Wano Country in the Pirate World.
Although it's called an artificial satellite, it can actually be considered a self-sufficient medium-sized country, and even a large country in the Pirate World!
Previously, Kozuki Hiyori was only an outer member, so she had only been to Vegapunk's Future Island. It wasn't until today that she arrived at Vegapunk's true headquarters Dream Star.
Despite being handcuffed with Sea Stone Handcuffs, Kozuki Hiyori's awe of the entire Dream Star remained undiminished, especially after learning that she was in space outside of the Pirate Planet. She was filled with awe for Vegapunk's technological inventions.
As for Gecko Moria, Perona, and the others, knowing that they were now in outer space millions of meters above the ocean, they were already feeling dizzy and disoriented.
"Is this the place where you, Lord Vegapunk, live in seclusion? If you have been living here all along, no wonder the World Government and the Navy have been unable to find you!"
"Oh, the World Government contacted me?"
After hearing Kozuki Hiyori's words, Vegapunk looked at Stussy with some surprise.
Stussy shrugged and spoke casually:
"Of course, boss. Although you did it flawlessly back then, and there was no way to prove your death, it was a bit too easy for those marines and the World Government to die!"
"You should know that the trap you set in the end killed more than a dozen Marine Vice Admiral, and even killed the most radical Marine Admiral at the time, Akainu, leaving only Aokiji to escape..."
"Under these circumstances, both the World Government and the Navy would naturally have some suspicions about how easily you died!"
"However, they only investigated for a year or two, and without finding any clues, they have now assumed you are dead."
Vegapunk nodded. So Akainu is dead...
It's not surprising when you think about it, after all, it was tens of thousands of meters deep in the ocean. The pressure of the seawater alone would be enough to make anyone suffer. Moreover, Akainu had already been injured by the various traps he had left behind before that.
In addition, since he was a Magma-Magma Devil Fruit User, he was naturally more vulnerable to the ocean, so his death wasn't too shocking.
As for Aokiji, who was with Akainu, being Devil Fruit User, even if ice blocks fell to the bottom of the sea, they would float to the surface...
It was precisely because of this slight difference that Akainu ultimately survived unharmed, while Aokiji met a gruesome end.
However, it is precisely because a Marine Admiral died that the World Government and the Navy suspect that they faked their own death, or that they committed suicide, which is far removed from the image of murdering Marine Admiral.
"I wasn't living on Dream Star back then... But that's not important, Hiyori, shouldn't we settle our scores?"
Kozuki Hiyori somewhat nervous, Kozuki Toki had a pleading expression. Vegapunk glanced at the two of them and then spoke:
"You attacked me, fine, but you stole the Artificial Devil Fruit I painstakingly created... You should know that even I only created one Paramecia Artificial Devil Fruit!"
"That Devil Fruit was itself a unique experimental subject, let alone one born from Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors!"
"I wonder, Hiyori, how do you plan to compensate me for this Devil Fruit?"
Kozuki Hiyori's expression was calm as she gently bit her lip.
"No matter what... I'll do anything for you, Lord Vegapunk!"
"So... please spare my mother!"
"No, Hiyori..."
"Mother, this was my fault! It has nothing to do with you!"
Kozuki Hiyori's serious expression left Kozuki Toki speechless, as she still felt a little ashamed as a mother and couldn't just blurt out everything!
Vegapunk is no saint, not to mention Stussy, the Queen of the Pleasure District. He's already sent her there, so how could he not even protect his own daughter now?
Vegapunk ignored the interaction between the mother and daughter and simply nodded:
"Alright, from now on you'll be my guinea pig, treated the same as your mother."
"Don't worry, we won't conduct any excessive research on you. At most, we'll collect some blood or something from you to see if we can advance the deciphering of Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities and create a truly perfect Paramecia Artificial Devil Fruit!"
As he spoke, Vegapunk Hand Seals, and half a minute later, the new Kotoamatsukami Ninjutsu was imprinted into Kozuki Hiyori's brain.