While Oran arranged the follow-up matters, someone aboard the MADS ship was also planning something new.
"Shurorororo, did you two fall into some native hunter's trap? How did you end up looking so miserable?"
Judge and Queen, who had been chased by Blitz for most of the day, finally returned. But the moment they boarded, they heard a smug, irritating voice.
A man with a greasy black mushroom cut, a flat nose, and a pair of horns on his head was mocking the two of them.
Caesar Clown, another member of MADS, was also currently MADS's moral low point. More accurately, he had no bottom line at all, though he had not gone that far yet.
Of course, when it came to narcissism, he lost to no one. Like Queen and Judge, Caesar believed himself superior to Vegapunk and looked down on everyone else.
Seeing Queen and Judge in such a sorry state should have delighted him, but neither of them attacked him this time. They merely snorted in succession.
"You idiot didn't go out all day, so you have no idea what happened, do you?"
"Vegapunk personally invited someone else to join. Our funding is about to be cut."
Queen and Judge revealed their intelligence one after another, successfully making Caesar lose his mind as well. Yet after hearing about Vegapunk's wager, Caesar became excited instead.
"So it's a contest between our results? Shurorororo, if the three of us join forces, that's not a bad idea."
No researcher ever thought they had too much funding, and Caesar's lifestyle was the most extravagant of them all. A large portion of whatever funding reached his hands would never be spent on legitimate research.
In the original timeline, he had even brazenly swindled funding from BIG, then used the money to indulge himself. He had not reached that point yet, but the signs were already there.
However, their alliance did not go as smoothly as imagined.
"Muhahaha! Excellent! Then let me lead you to victory!"
"Hold it, Queen. Why should you be the one leading? That thing is a robot. What you research is completely useless here. Obviously, I should take charge."
"Shurorororo, Judge, didn't you and Queen both lose? That proves you're both useless, so I'm clearly the right choice to lead."
An alliance was an alliance, but none of the three respected the others. After their gazes clashed, they started fighting among themselves first.
Vegapunk silently watched their dispute from nearby but did not intervene. He had grown accustomed to such things.
They fought internally from time to time and were of little help in his research anyway. What Vegapunk wanted now was to encounter someone more capable, someone who could offer greater assistance to his studies.
Each member of MADS had their own research focus. Caesar's work currently leaned toward Devil Fruits, Queen focused more on chemical viruses, while Judge specialized in weapon development.
Their research also shared one thing in common: all three wanted to apply their inventions to weaponry, which somewhat conflicted with Vegapunk's philosophy.
From Blitz's behavioral patterns, Vegapunk saw far more possibilities, so he held great expectations for Oran.
The next day, Queen and the other two had fought all night without a winner, ultimately taking each other down. They were now lying around like corpses together.
When the appointed time arrived, Oran brought Kate and Blitz here. Ginny and Bear had originally wanted to return with them, but Oran had assigned them other matters to handle.
Not long after boarding, they saw the medical team that had long been prepared.
"Mr. Siderial, we're ready. We can assist with the operation at any time."
Oran was the only lead surgeon. Everyone else merely needed to pass surgical instruments, wipe sweat, and handle other minor tasks. To be safe, Oran even handled the anesthesiologist's work himself, since all he needed was a location and equipment.
After nodding to the nurses and doctors, Oran looked at Kate, who stood behind him with worry on her face.
"Relax. Just sleep, and in a few hours, you'll have a healthy body. I promise."
"Meow believes you."
Oran and Kate both changed into surgical attire, while Blitz stood silently outside the door like a guard. The light above the operating room door came on, and Vegapunk put down his research to examine Blitz's structure outside the room.
"Siderial created you, is that right?"
"Yes. Master gave me everything."
"Then are you here to guard this place under his orders?"
"Yes, and no. Blitz came here on his own. Kate is a friend. Blitz is very worried about her."
The cold mechanical voice held no emotion, yet its words struck Vegapunk's heart like a heavy hammer.
"A genius concept."
This was not a preset response pattern. Instead, he had developed his own behavior according to his own logic. Of every robot Vegapunk had ever seen, none had been as human as Blitz.
And according to Oran, Blitz still had room to improve. He had not yet reached his highest stage.
Vegapunk said nothing more and simply waited with him. Before long, the operating room light went out, and a nurse emerged first.
"What happened? Is there a problem?"
"Director Vegapunk? There's no problem. Everything went smoothly. The biggest problem was probably that it went too smoothly."
D. Fild's connections were mainly in the underworld. You could question the character of the doctors and nurses he found, but not their skills. After all, quack doctors in the underworld really did get killed.
These nurses had seen their share of major scenes, yet they had never witnessed such a swift transplant operation. From the moment the surgery began, Oran seemed like a completely different person, as if he had transformed from a human into a precise machine.
His scalpel never hesitated, nor did it deviate by even a fraction. He completed the replacement in less than one-fifth the time of a conventional operation, even spending a few extra minutes making the sutures look better.
But compared to what happened next, that was hardly worth mentioning. After all the assistants had left the operating room, Oran himself remained inside for several dozen more minutes.
Then Vegapunk saw someone who had just undergone open-chest surgery walk out of the operating room on her own.
"What is going on?! Where's the gurney?! Get back in bed! Who told you to move around like that?!"
"Calm down, Director Vegapunk. Kate is my person. I'm more concerned about her condition than you are. If she can walk out herself, then naturally it means her body is already fine."
The Hextech Heart itself enhanced the body's recovery, and the Mink Tribe already possessed considerable natural healing ability. Combined with Shimmer's special therapeutic effects, this result became possible, ultimately shattering Vegapunk's established understanding.
(End of Chapter)
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