Germa 66
"Look! This is my kingdom!" Gage proudly displayed his "land" before Sig.
Before them lay a "land" composed of more than twenty Germa warships pieced together.
The Germa Kingdom's warships, while not as large as the Thriller Bark on a single ship, are still about the size of ordinary giant warships, and some even have buildings like castles on them.
Although the current Germa Kingdom is not as large as it was more than ten years later in the original work, and there are no ordinary residents on it, only soldiers, technicians and royal servants, in terms of the scale of the "land", the twenty-odd Den Den Mushi giant ships put together are no different from a small island.
When talking about the Germa Kingdom, one must mention its history.
Long, long ago, the Germa Kingdom, also known as the Vinsmoke Family, once dominated the North Sea and achieved the feat of unifying the North Sea. However, this feat only lasted for 66 days before being overthrown by the restoration alliance of the North Sea countries.
The Germa Kingdom that followed also called themselves "Germa 66," symbolizing that they had never forgotten the feats and ideals of their ancestors.
Moreover, the Germa Kingdom never disappeared; instead, it became "war merchants" and "mercenaries without a stance," using its strong technological advantage, primarily in Battle Suit technology, to develop its military power, participate in wars everywhere without regard to its allegiance, and collect fees from its employers.
Therefore, in various legends and even fairy tales, Germa 66 has always been depicted as an evil legion.
When Gage took the helm, the discovery of Lineage Factor and the maturity of cyborg and clone soldier technology, combined with the Germa Kingdom's already proficient "Battle Suit" technology, made them even more formidable.
In a recent war, the Germa Kingdom killed the kings of the four North Sea kingdoms. Gage directly used the heads of the four kings and his own "photo" as a propaganda poster.
Gage's short-term goal is to become Affiliated Nation recognized by the World Government, so as to facilitate the realization of his "greater ideals".
The Germa Kingdom currently does not have a fixed territory; their warships are their territory!
"It's spectacular, but I still hope the contents inside won't disappoint," Sig said casually.
At this point, Sig portrays himself as a simple person who is "eager to use the technology of the Germa Kingdom to gain greater power and develop his own abilities."
However, it's not completely successful yet...
Because of a "story" that Sig had told on Axe Island that involved all parties, Gage was very wary of him.
The "Telepathist" can only guide, not hypnotize in a mystical sense. Once the other party is on guard, Sig becomes very passive.
"Hahaha, of course you won't be disappointed. This is the very foundation upon which my Germa Kingdom is built!" Gage laughed and patted Sig on the shoulder, looking as if he truly believed it.
Gage is about 2.7 or 2.8 meters tall. Even though Sig can activate his "Lineage Factor" and grow much taller, he is still more than a head shorter than Gage in his current Fish-Man form.
When Sig followed Gage down the stairs extending from the warship, a line of welcoming soldiers was already standing on both sides—all wearing Battle Suit, and... showing no emotion!
Directly in front of them were a woman, four men, and five little kids. Except for one who had his head down and seemed to be injured, they all wore mature and composed expressions and politely greeted Gage.
"Father," the children greeted politely in unison.
They were clearly Gage's children...
Although the girl has pink fur and the four sons have red, blue, yellow, and green fur, they are indeed all Gage's biological children.
"Well, we have guests now. We'll check on your progress later." Gage's attitude towards the children didn't seem too cold; he even patted his daughter's head and red-haired boy's shoulder.
Sig only detected disgust in the blond-haired man's expression when his gaze swept over him, who was clearly in a bad mood.
Of course, regardless of whether they are pink, red, blue, or green, Gage's "affection" for them is by no means the emotion of a normal father—there is too much earnest expectation and almost no maternal love.
Of the children, only the one with yellow hair had "normal" emotions.
Like any ordinary child, he felt both nervous and excited to see his long-lost father.
Red-haired, blue-haired, and green-haired, while not as emotionless as the clone soldiers, were not like normal people either; their emotions were clearly absent and Distortion.
The only girl, the pink-haired one, seemed to be experiencing a somewhat fragmented emotional state...
After Gage turned and left with Sig asked without hesitation, "Are they the result of Lineage Factor modification?"
"That's right, they will be Germa's strongest Warrior in the future!" Gage said with great pride.
There was absolutely no resentment on Sig referring to his children as "achievements".
However, he felt a little regretful and saddened afterward—probably because of his third son... Gage's wife, dissatisfied with Gage using their children as test subjects, drank drugs to resist modification during her pregnancy. This not only shortened her own lifespan but also caused the third of her quadruplets to show no signs of Awakening superpowers after birth and to be very "weak".
To ensure his children could become the strongest modified Warrior, Gage not only modified their Lineage Factor but also erased their "negative" emotions.
In Gage's view, grief, fear... even any thought of others, are "negative" for Warrior!
The eldest daughter, being the first modified Warrior, wasn't completely erased; the other three of her four sons are Monster devoid of "emotion."
This was also the main reason why their mother fought back!
Now, Gage only sees the third brother as a failure, and feels a deep-seated disgust for him...
However, Gage himself still had feelings, which is why he didn't go so far as to devour his own cub.
The third brother is none other than Sanji, the cook of the main characters, who is most familiar to readers of the original work more than a decade later.
Thinking of the useless Sanji, Gage felt a little down. After composing himself, he said to Sig, "Go and rest for a bit! Before dinner, I'll take you to see some good stuff!"
The quantifier "piece" made Siege make some guesses.
A maidservant came over and, following the king's orders, led Sig to his guest room.
Fortunately, the cloned soldiers were limited to soldiers. These researchers, servants, and the like were still normal humans, so Sig's "Telepathist" ability finally had some room to be used.
Meanwhile, Gage was listening to the researchers' report; he had been away from the "Kingdom" for several months...
Of all the things that Gage cared about most was the growth of his children, and the result... was a mixed bag.
The eldest daughter Reiju, as well as the eldest son Ichiji, the second son Niji, and the fourth son Yonji, all have their "superpowers" Awakening in an orderly manner, and their physical strength is showing an extraordinary side. However, the third son Sanji... is still just an ordinary child!
After coldly dismissing the researcher, Gage murmured his deceased wife's name to himself, "Sora... is this what you wanted?"