Pacifista Clone Project
It's quite normal that Vegapunk's identity was discovered. After all, with the Chakra Project now in full swing, the secrecy has been greatly compromised due to the large number of people involved. It would be strange if he hadn't been discovered.
With Vegapunk's discovery and the search proceeding along his trail, most of his actions were soon exposed to the World Government.
This naturally infuriated the World Government. Unfortunately, Vegapunk, who possessed spatial abilities and had the Dream Heart in outer space as his base, was truly elusive, appearing and disappearing without a trace. No matter how the World Government searched, they could not pinpoint his location.
In fact, a major reason why the World Government was initially unable to find Vegapunk was due to Stussy's interference. Most of the intelligence surrounding the World Government passed through Stussy's hands, and she could conceal Vegapunk's existence by simply shifting the focus slightly.
This time, Vegapunk felt he could no longer hide it, so he directly sent Stussy to report it. This not only did not shake Stussy's position within the World Government, but it also solidified it.
"Alright! Now is not the time to talk about these things!"
One of the Five Elders tapped the ground with his cane and said in a cold voice:
"The crucial issue now is how to deal with those Revolutionary Army!"
"During this period, the Navy's strength has been severely damaged. It is not so easy for the World Government alone to suppress the Revolutionary Army."
"Especially after the Revolutionary Army gained Chakra abilities..."
Even ordinary people in the Pirate World have far greater potential in terms of physical abilities than ninjas in the Ninja World. Those selected as elite members of the Revolutionary Army are one or two times stronger in physical ability than ordinary people.
After obtaining Chakra, they generally possessed Chunin -level Taijutsu abilities thanks to the Chakra's enhancement, increasing their combat power by more than tenfold.
They also possess the Three Body Technique, the ability to climb trees, and the ability to Water Walking. Some of the more talented Revolutionary Army have even learned some Five Basic Nature Transformations. It can be said that each of them is equivalent to having eaten a Devil Fruit with considerable power!
In terms of conventional combat power, the World Government suffered a complete defeat. Even Devil Fruit User were severely countered by Water Release Ninjutsu. This was only because the Chakra system had just been spread and the Revolutionary Army had not yet properly trained in various Ninjutsu.
The longer it goes on, the greater the gap in combat power between the two sides will become! Even though the World Government has obtained a certain number of Chakra Seed, due to the different initial scale of their spread and the lack of ninja training, it will take at least a decade for the Chakra system under the World Government to take shape.
The Revolutionary Army will need at most one or two years to basically complete its Chakra system. At that time, tens of thousands of warriors with Chakra will be no match for the World Government in terms of conventional combat power.
"Or... we could report to Lord Imu... and use that..."
One of the Five Elders was interrupted by another Five Elders halfway through his sentence:
"Impossible! Don't forget that Vegapunk is still eyeing us!"
"The attack on the Holy Land back then has already demonstrated that Vegapunk's invention was definitely no less than Ancient Weapon."
"In this situation, if Imu makes a move, he will likely be targeted by Vegapunk and have our ultimate trump card destroyed!"
When he said this, the Five Elders' expressions were extremely unpleasant, as if they had swallowed a fly.
The development of human civilization has always tended towards offensiveness, especially in the field of technology, where the development of offensive weapons has far outpaced that of defensive weapons.
Tanks worth tens of millions can be destroyed by a single anti-tank rocket launcher costing tens or hundreds of thousands; even the most advanced body armor can only protect against ordinary medium-caliber bullets...
As a result, the development of human technology in later stages has completely abandoned the purely defensive aspect and moved towards flexibility and concealment, such as airplanes and submarines.
Even when the most advanced missile technology is developed, humans have no means of defense other than digging tunnels. They can only rely on missile defense systems to attack and intercept attacks directly.
Vegapunk's Dream Star also relies on its existence in outer space and the power of Devil Fruit to possess formidable stealth abilities. To put it bluntly, it still follows the path of concealment and agility in avoiding attacks, rather than having any truly formidable defensive capabilities.
If Dream Star were to actually be hit by a superweapon, it would shatter on the spot, and there would be no other outcome.
Naturally, the superweapons in the hands of the World Government are no exception. They also have the problem of being strong in offense but weak in defense. They are fine when they are not discovered, but once they are discovered, they may be blasted into scrap metal!
This is precisely why the World Government is unwilling to use its trump card. It must be said that Vegapunk's fishing scheme is rather obvious, or rather, the World Government is too sensitive in this regard, depriving him of a chance to achieve a permanent solution.
"Should we deploy the God's Knights?"
"It's best not to... Although the God's Knights are quite powerful, if they reveal even such a trump card, those who know something about our World Government and the God's Knights will probably start to make trouble!"
Nuclear weapons are only most threatening when they are on the launch pad; once launched, they will result in a world war.
"What can we do then? Although I hate to say it, the Navy's strength has been greatly weakened, and they are no longer on good terms with our World Government. Even if the World Government can defeat the Revolutionary Army, they will probably suffer heavy losses. At that time..."
What will happen then? The Five Elders didn't say, but the meaning was quite clear.
Just like the dynastic cycle, once a dynasty reaches its end and a large-scale peasant uprising breaks out, even if the uprising ultimately fails, the feudal dynasty will be severely weakened. At that time, it will be a time for the feudal lords to rise up and attack, and for heroes to vie for supremacy.
The World Government is the Revolutionary Army's number one enemy, but the Revolutionary Army is not the World Government's only enemy. There have never been few madmen in this world who want to overthrow the World Government!
Not to mention pirates and powerful World Government Member States, even within the Navy, there are bound to be figures who want to overthrow the World Government.
Once its own power is depleted too much, that will be the time when the World Government is dethroned!
"Actually, I have an idea... Do you guys remember the technology Vegapunk left behind?"
"You mean... the Pacifista Clone Project?"
"That's right... because the clones created initially required a huge amount of resources and would develop self-awareness, making them difficult to control, our World Government rejected this plan..."
"However, now, after years of research by our scientific department, we have derived a more practical theory from Vegapunk's research!"
"Vegapunk pursues perfection, so the clones he creates have potential almost indistinguishable from the real person, and even possess self-awareness. Perfect clones are almost identical to the originals, and if the original is a Conqueror, they can even develop Conqueror's Haki..."
"But in reality, stability is what we World Government need most!"
"Those scientists couldn't advance Vegapunk's research any further, but they could still degrade him! Through various degrading methods, we can create clones that obey the World Government's orders and, while not perfect, are above average in combat ability!"
To be considered a clone at the "standard level" by the Five Elders, one must possess combat strength at least at the level of a veteran Marine Vice Admiral. Such a powerful individual is considered a backbone force for the World Government and is by no means an insignificant figure to be ignored.
"Is that so? If we start production now, how long will it take to get these Pacifista into the battlefield?"
"By simply modifying this technology, the production speed of clones can also be increased, but the rate of attrition will also increase!"
"Based on our estimates, with the resources currently in our World Government's inventory, we can produce about a thousand Pacifista Clone within half a month! The only problem is that these hastily produced Pacifista don't live long, at most ten years!"
"That's enough. Ten years is enough time for the World Government to get through this difficult period and also for Chakra abilities to become widespread!"
"With the World Government's resources, once we get through this difficult period, dealing with the Revolutionary Army will be a piece of cake."
"In that case, let's begin preparations for the Pacifista Project! But which powerful individual should we clone?"
"The clones can only approach the original's strength to the greatest extent possible by using the original's blood. If we use the clone's blood, the clones will also deteriorate. So, a strong person that we can control is naturally the best."
"However, creating so many clones would require a considerable amount of blood, and even the Navy probably wouldn't be willing to do it!"
"If only Ryokugyu were still here! He's strong enough, and his regenerative abilities are amazing..."
"Why are we still talking about this now? Those powerful figures in the Navy would never truly sacrifice themselves for us. The body material needed for thousands of clones would be enough for a Marine Admiral to give up all his blood!"
Of course, given enough time, this amount of blood wouldn't really be a problem for the people in the Pirate World. The key issue is that the World Government has no excuse for wanting so much blood. Even the Marine Admiral certainly wouldn't want thousands of clones to appear in their ranks!
"Hmm... if all else fails, what do you guys think of Whitebeard?!"
"Whitebeard?! How did you come up with that idea?"
"Clones can have their physical age adjusted. Young Whitebeard was definitely among the strongest, but now Whitebeard's strength has declined..."
The original Marineford War is now nowhere to be seen, and even Blackbeard has been replaced – Vegapunk secretly kidnapped the cunning old man to study Blackbeard body, and then simply sent a clone back with him.
Poor Blackbeard, because he always pretended to be a pig, he didn't leave a very deep impression on the entire Whitebeard Pirates, and therefore was easily replaced by that clone.
Even so, Whitebeard's old age and frailty, along with his numerous ailments, had already become apparent. The Marineford War wasn't for Ace, but rather because of Whitebeard's age; the Navy simply chose an easy target to establish their authority.
Now the World Government has naturally set its sights on this easy target. Although Whitebeard is old and frail and his strength has declined, he still has a great deterrent effect.
The Whitebeard Pirates were not weak. Even if they could win under normal circumstances, it would be a huge drain on the World Government and the Navy. In addition, Whitebeard did not have much ambition. Therefore, unless there was a good opportunity, neither the World Government nor the Navy had any intention of causing trouble for Whitebeard.
However, this does not mean that the World Government cannot afford to offend Whitebeard. With the Five Elders having made up their minds, they completed their strategic deployment against the Whitebeard Pirates in just a few days and launched their operation.
Compared to the original Marineford War, this war was silent but even more brutal— the World Government's accumulated strength, along with some powerful individuals sent by the Navy, and the use of a sneak attack, almost wiped out the entire Whitebeard Pirates.
Since the World Government doesn't need to intimidate other pirates, it naturally doesn't need to save face.
They first captured several of Whitebeard's sons, and then set up an ambush. Before the Whitebeard Pirates could even summon their own affiliated pirate crews, they were directly confronted with a bloody battle against the World Government.
After a fierce battle, with the World Government and the Navy suffering more than half of their casualties, they finally defeated Whitebeard and took his body. In the end, only Marco and Ace, who later joined the Whitebeard Pirates, escaped from the entire high command of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"I didn't expect... the World Government is going to create Whitebeard clones? That's quite an idea... Heh, they're using the technology I left behind again? Do they think they can make those clones obey after improving and degrading them?"
Vegapunk wore a strange expression as he looked at the information brought by Stussy, a hint of something interesting playing on his lips.
Stussy's expression changed slightly after hearing Vegapunk's words. In a way, she was also a clone created by Vegapunk, but compared with normal people, apart from being much more talented and intelligent, she was almost no different.
The only difference might be that Vegapunk programmed her to be more loyal to her master, but this did not affect Stussy's self-awareness or other aspects; her personality remained completely intact.
As for the World Government's technology, she, as the intelligence chief, also had some understanding of it, which was basically no different from manufacturing robots!