The Momonga's warship was anchored on the coast of Yanshi Island, and could clearly see the fighting situation on the island.
"The monsters at their peak..." Smoker swallowed hard and murmured.
The Momonga beside him chuckled and said, "This isn't even the peak yet... it's just the beginning. Speaking of which, I've always been curious about who is stronger between Ortolan and Charlotte Ms. Linlin!"
Smoker, intrigued by this, turned to Hina and asked, "Hina, you often follow the Admiral around. Have you ever heard Admiral mention these secrets? Who is stronger among them?"
Hina's attention was entirely focused on the fierce battle on the island, and she replied somewhat impatiently, "I don't know. The Admiral didn't mention it. As for who's stronger, we'll find out as we watch. Don't bother me..."
Smoker, annoyed by Hina's disdain, retorted, "You brat, have you forgotten who recommended you to be the Admiral's personal secretary? It was me! How dare you be so rude to your benefactor?!"
"Yes, yes, I know. I'll treat you to a meal when I have the chance..." Hina waved her hand, giving a nonchalant and perfunctory reply.
On the other side, not far away, aboard the Anthem Queen Mother.
At this moment, only King Arbel was watching the fierce battle on the island with a solemn expression, feeling somewhat worried about his older brother Kaido.
"The one who can defeat you is Joy Boy... Could General Admiral be Joy Boy?" Jhin thought heavily in his heart.
Unlike him, Kui and the Big Mom Pirates are already quite familiar with each other.
On the deck, Katakuri, Perospero, and Qui-chan were sitting around a small square table, each holding a card. They were all very focused and paid no attention to the three people fighting. They were engrossed in playing cards.
Just as Perospero was about to play his card, he seemed to realize something, a warning glint in his eyes as he looked at Katakuri and said, "Using the ability to Future Sight while playing cards is definitely not something a perfect man should do, Katakuri!"
Katakuri scoffed at this, saying, "Hmph, it's just for fun. Why would I do something like that?"
Perospero stared into Katakuri's eyes for a while before finally managing to say, with some difficulty, "I was just mentioning it..."
He didn't notice that under the scarf covering half of Katakuri's face, his skin was faintly flushed with embarrassment, as if he had been caught doing something wrong.
"Once those monsters finish their fight, no matter the outcome, we'll all be family. Speaking of which, I've actually considered joining your Big Mom Pirates. After all, I absolutely love red bean soup. If I joined you guys, I could definitely become the Minister of Red Bean Soup, right?" Kui played a card and chatted casually.
"You're the third-in-command of the Beasts Pirates. If Mr. Kaido loses, you'll drop a lot in rank. Don't you care at all?" Perospero said casually.
"Don't talk nonsense. What do you mean, 'third in command'? It's 'second in command'. You don't actually think I'm lower in status than that pretentious guy, do you?" Kui said with a displeased expression.
He and King have always disliked each other, each believing themselves to be the true leader of the Beasts Pirates.
First, he 'corrected' Perospero's statement, then Qui-chan asked with a hint of anticipation, "Do you think I'm a pirate?"
Perospero paused for a moment and said, "Aren't you one? You're a high-ranking officer in the Beasts Pirates, how can you doubt your own status?"
Katakuri looked at Keiji with the same gaze one would give an idiot, wondering what nonsense he was spouting.
Kui Xu shook his head and said, "I can only say that I'm not a pure pirate. Actually, my lifelong dream has always been to become a great scientist..."
Before Katakuri and the others could speak, Queen played a card and said, "The reason I became a pirate back then was mainly because our MADS research organization was deemed an illegal organization by the World Government and was forcibly disbanded. If I hadn't run away quickly back then, I might be working under Admiral Bane now... Hmm?"
Queen paused, then looked at Katakuri, then at Perospero, before slapping his thigh and exclaiming, "Damn it! If I had known this would happen, why did I run away back then? If I had joined the Marines earlier, I would be a Vice Admiral serving under Admiral Bane by now, right? I've wasted over ten years of my life!"
If he hadn't run away back then, he might have become one of Ortolan's confidants by now. Instead, he has to rejoin this wealthy and powerful family as a pirate.
Considering this final conclusion, Perospero pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement, saying, "Indeed, thinking about it this way, you did take a detour of more than ten years..."
Queen finally understood all this, and he was filled with regret. He made two consecutive mistakes and lost the game.
Then, while shuffling the cards, he composed himself and sighed, "Never mind, the final outcome is the same anyway, so it doesn't matter. Getting back to the topic, over the years, although I've studied quite a few strange viruses and such... perhaps you, as laymen, don't know that viruses are actually a very important factor in promoting plant evolution... The reason I study viruses is for deeper research into evolution. Back then, MADS almost succeeded in this..."
"MADS, you mean the one where Caesar is also there, right?" Katakuri said softly.
"That's right, but his skills are terrible, I don't think much of him... The only truly skilled one is Vegapunk," Queen said arrogantly.
Katakuri didn't refute him, because Caesar had said the same thing. He said that Queen and Judge's skills were terrible and he didn't think much of them. Only Vegapunk was better than him, and even that was only slightly better.
This mutual disdain might just be the arrogance of top scientists.
Katakuri didn't refute, but Queen paused for a moment before finding a way to back down, saying, "Well, how should I put it, they do have their flaws sometimes, like Caesar... Judge and stuff."
Then, his tone became excited as he looked at Perospero and Katakuri and said, "Do you know why I'm the most supportive member of the Beasts Pirates of this gamble with Kaido? Because no matter how it ends, for me, the MADS from back then could potentially reunite! The research on the Life Blueprint and Lineage Factor can begin again!"
Queen was right; the main members of the MADS research team, the leading scientists, were actually just a handful.
Vegapunk, Queen, Caesar, Judge... if you really want to count, you could add Bakin Stussy at most.
Well, to put it simply, Queen and the others looking down on each other is arrogance, but if everyone looks down on Bakin Stussy, then there's a real problem with their technique.
At this point, Queen believed that Caesar was with the Big Mom Pirates, and Judge had reportedly completely surrendered to Admiral Bane. Only Vegapunk, the most powerful of them all, remained with the Marine Science Unit.
Once this group of people has completely united as one, they will inevitably set their sights on Mary Geoise. When they destroy the World Government, Vegapunk will be back, won't he?
Didn't their four giants from the MADS research group reunite?
At that time, they will no longer be illegal research groups from the public, but rather the cutting-edge research organization of the new ruling class. Whether it's the Life Blueprint, Lineage Factor, or anything else, they can conduct their research openly and legitimately!
Therefore, Queen was excited and thrilled.
Perhaps, as he said, he wasn't actually a pure pirate; he wanted to become a so-called... great scientist.
And it was here that Queen was telling his dream.
Hina, who was engrossed in her work on the warship, was interrupted.
Holding the Den Den Mushi in her hand, she asked the other end with a look of surprise and even shock, "What? Sengoku no Utaha and the others have been captured and taken over by the World Government!?"