Ronglin glanced at Caesar, whose face was full of embarrassment. "When we got off the ship, you were clearly still studying dinner with Jazz. Tell me, what work did you do? Jazz cooked the dinner, after all. It had nothing to do with you!"
"I... I was researching Artificial Devil Fruits!" Caesar stammered. "This consumes too much energy, so it's normal to have a few minor physical reactions."
"Oh?" Ronglin was immediately interested. "How's the research going? Any progress?"
Back when Caesar was still with the World Government, he had worked with Beckman, one of the greatest minds in the world today. The two had both researched the further development of Devil Fruits in another direction.
So Caesar had a certain foundation in Devil Fruit research. Ever since leaving the Ashil Kingdom, he had been devoted to researching the production of Artificial Devil Fruits. Ronglin had placed quite a bit of hope in him.
Caesar proudly puffed out his chest. "Of course! I'm a genius. This little thing is no challenge at all. Give me one year, and I'll be able to successfully produce Devil Fruits!"
"Go screw yourself!" Ronglin's face darkened as he kicked him directly. Others might not know and might have been shocked by this news, but Ronglin knew when Caesar would successfully manufacture Artificial Devil Fruits. He had thought Caesar might produce them ahead of schedule, but it seemed his expectations had been for nothing.
"Heh heh!" Jinbe was at the helm. Seeing a row of black shadows appear ahead, he sharply turned the ship. The small boat swung hard, its hull lightly swaying over the sea as it rounded the turn, changed direction, and sped onward.
"Hm?" Ronglin felt the ship tilt. Jazz, who had been training on the deck after dinner, bent with the