Escape, Harvest, Sudden Inspiration

As the small boat disappeared into the horizon in the distance, the Charlotte Pirates couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Kizaru had ultimately completed the hostage exchange honestly, and no unexpected trouble arose when he left with Dr. Vegapunk on that fastest Navy warship.

It was likely out of consideration for the "powerless" doctor. Normal humans truly couldn't guarantee their safety amidst the aftermath of battles between those monsters.

However, Punk Hazard would probably be abandoned soon. Since it had been discovered by the Charlotte Pirates, it was naturally no longer a top-secret research base.

"What a shame, that was Dr. Vegapunk." Charlotte Oven said with some regret.

Katakuri, however, shook his head. "We don't have the backing of the World Government and the Navy. Even if we forcibly kept Dr. Vegapunk, it would only end up bringing trouble upon ourselves."

Charlotte Oven actually understood this logic. He nodded helplessly. "I just felt that the opportunity was truly rare..."

"Don't let greed blind you. Not to mention the future retaliation from the World Government and the Navy, Admiral Kizaru alone is not someone to be trifled with," Katakuri said. "Besides, we didn't come back empty-handed."

The spoils Katakuri mentioned were naturally the weapon blueprints in Minos's hands. Although most of these weapons were too high-tech for Whole Cake Island's current level to manufacture, even the ones that could be produced were enough to significantly improve the overall strength of Whole Cake Island.

Of course, most people on the ship couldn't understand them. The blueprints were currently with Baby5, who was studying them.

Baby5's learning ability wasn't particularly high, but due to the Weapon-Weapon Fruit, she had indeed studied many weapon structures, making her a quasi-expert technician.

While she lacked creativity, she could at least understand the blueprints, which was enough for her. She didn't need to know the principles, and manufacturing, materials, and power sources could all be handled by the Weapon-Weapon Fruit itself.

He clenched his fist. Although this battle had been extremely dangerous, and they had almost perished at sea, even many of the Royal Guards of Dressrosa had sustained serious injuries. The Navy didn't care about your original status; as long as you were on a pirate ship and not a captive, you were considered a pirate, and they showed no mercy.

But for Minos, this was also a great opportunity. The Dragon Blood Ritual, obtained in exchange for the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit, had elevated his talent to a new level and significantly improved his Armament Haki.

If he had to train this himself, it would have taken at least a year to reach the hardening standard for Armament Haki, let alone possess an impenetrable physique.

If he also factored in the Hundred-Eyed Demon Mode as a trump card, Minos estimated that he would be close to the level of a top executive in a Yonko Crew, equivalent to pirates with bounties of two to three hundred million.

With this strength, Minos felt a stir of ambition. He didn't want to stay with the Charlotte Pirates forever. For one thing, he needed to cause trouble to truly become stronger!

The memories and knowledge exchanged through the Golden Scales were only minor gains. Only things like the Dragon Blood Ritual and the Evil Eye could truly bring about qualitative changes.

This required him to collect treasures like Devil Fruits and to constantly stir up trouble on the seas.

And what did the Charlotte Pirates do every day?

Suppressing and absorbing pirates entering the New World, collecting delicacies and chefs, engaging in low-intensity battles or sparring with other Yonko Crews, occasionally exchanging blows with the Navy, and collecting protection fees from their territory...

These activities were almost routine. Minos didn't believe he could gain many Karma Points from these daily tasks.

"It seems that after we return, I'll have to start considering my future. I can't possibly dedicate my life to the Charlotte Pirates. Big Mom isn't my real mother, and besides, Charlotte Linlin treats her own sons and daughters like tools..."

The backlash from the World Consciousness seemed to have ended. The Charlotte family quickly found a normal route and returned to the territory of Whole Cake Island ten days later.

During his time back in Whole Cake Island, Minos hadn't been idle. He had also roughly explored the potential brought by the Dragon Blood Ritual, at least gaining a basic understanding of it. At the same time, he began to practice Rokushiki.

After the Dragon Blood Ritual, Minos's physique not only increased, but his own defense also improved. He gained extremely high resistance to high temperatures, electric shocks, severe cold, and toxins. Furthermore, this resistance and physical defense capability would continuously increase as his strength grew.

Currently, he could only defend against the rifle bullets of New World Marines grunts. Facing truly high-tech military weapons, he couldn't withstand them. Not to mention anything else, he couldn't block the cannonballs fired by Baby5's legs at all; one shot could make him spit blood.

This was different from Charlotte Linlin and Kaido's Steel Balloon and immortal bodies. Both of them were close to max level when they first appeared, possessing at least sixty to seventy percent of their adult defense. Although their defense increased as their strength grew later, it didn't truly increase in sync with their power.

His training speed for Rokushiki was also very fast, as his physique had long met the requirements. During this period, he also continuously searched within the Golden Scales for training knowledge or memories that met his expectations, as well as other Technological Weapons blueprints.

After obtaining various high-tech blueprints from Vegapunk, Baby5's abilities had indeed improved significantly, with her destructive power greatly increasing.

However, this substantial increase in destructive power came at the cost of reduced endurance. Her current weakness was likely her insufficient Stamina.

The Golden Scales refreshed new trade items daily. One day, after looking through a pile of miscellaneous training items that were basically useless in the Pirate World, Minos began to check what could be exchanged for Vegapunk's technology blueprints.

"Hmm? Bat Fighter blueprint?" Minos suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "That's right! Airplanes are also considered weapons!"

In an instant, it was as if Minos had opened up a new world: "If Baby5 can transform into rockets and missiles, why can't she transform into airplanes? Even transforming into an Iron Man suit or a Gundam in the future would be normal! Who can say those things don't belong to weapons?"