Great Crisis

It was a seller's market now. Unless Bakin walked into a trap herself and sought cooperation with the World Government, she would not find anyone else capable of doing this.

"You want Linlin's DNA?"

"That's right. Since you collected Whitebeard's, you should have samples from the other members too.

Given your personality, I figured you would have prepared more than one backup plan."

In Oran's eyes, Bakin was essentially a treasure trove, capable of yielding quite a few valuable things. Having once sailed aboard Rocks' ship, she had come into contact with too many powerful people and had opportunities to acquire things others could not.

Oran did not know whether Bakin had a sample from Charlotte Linlin, but that did not stop him from trying.

"You're lucky. I do have a sample of her. If you wanted anyone else's, I really wouldn't have one.

But since we're both women, I had some chances to get close to Charlotte Linlin."

"So you agree, then."

"Of course. My target is Newgate. As for her sample, if you're interested, it's yours."

In Bakin's mind, Whitebeard was the strongest one.

But Oran did not see it that way. Once the Four Emperors structure took shape, the four Sea Emperors consisted of three men and one woman.

Whitebeard, known as the world's strongest man, had roamed the seas since childhood, experienced countless battles, and eventually made a name for himself.

Kaido had likewise been born in a non-member nation and grown up on the battlefield, developing through innumerable fights. After being recruited by Rocks, he had also received Charlotte Linlin's favor. Giant race techniques, a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit—Charlotte Linlin had given Kaido a great deal of help.

Shanks had been Roger's apprentice and learned plenty from following Roger.

There was a clear trail behind their strength. They had all undergone plenty of tempering. Only Charlotte Linlin was different.

Abandoned as a child, she had never received any systematic training. Her only hobby had been eating, yet even as a young child, she had gone berserk and beaten an old Giant race hero to death.

Although that giant had been far weaker due to old age, he was still not someone an ordinary child could have defeated.

She was later discovered by Streusen and set out on the path of piracy.

Not long after reaching adulthood, Charlotte Linlin began a lifetime of bearing children, practically giving birth to an entire pirate crew by herself.

Without much training and having wasted enormous amounts of time on childbirth, Charlotte Linlin had become one of the Four Emperors almost entirely through talent.

In terms of overall attributes and potential, she was the highest of them all.

To survive on these seas, top-tier individual strength was indispensable. For the future, Oran needed a force powerful enough like this. Bakin had delivered the opportunity right to his doorstep, so naturally he would not let it slip away.

"Then what about Haki training methods?"

To survive aboard Rocks' ship, Bakin had never been helpless to begin with. Not to mention she had Whitebeard as her boyfriend. Oran was certain that Bakin possessed a set of Whitebeard's Haki insights.

Given Whitebeard's personality, he could never be stingy toward those he regarded as family.

"Haki training methods aren't a problem either, but I can't guarantee what you'll achieve with them."

This was the first half of the Grand Line, where Haki was still relatively uncommon. But as they sailed onward, more and more people would know how to use it.

Whitebeard was strong, but his Haki had not surpassed the limits of Haki found across the seas.

Whitebeard was powerful because of who he was. Even with his training methods, it might not be possible to recreate another Whitebeard.

At the very least, Bakin's Haki was nowhere near comparable to Whitebeard's. There was practically an insurmountable gulf between them.

Bakin knew very well what two top scientists could accomplish, so while Haki still held considerable value, she did not mind trading it for greater benefits.

"That won't be something you need to worry about."

Haki was not some internal cultivation technique that could make someone suffer a backlash from training. At its core, Haki training meant tempering the body to awaken its inner potential.

Of course, having Whitebeard's experience and insights would avoid plenty of detours, especially when advancing one's Haki. If one explored alone, they might not realize how to use advanced Haki for years.

But with a skilled teacher's guidance, they might break through in just a few days. Even with an incompetent teacher, two years of building a foundation could still make someone much stronger.

"It seems our cooperation has been established. Then I'll be staying on the ship to freeload for meals for the time being."

Bakin needed to wait for the results to be born, and she also had some special requirements. For example, she wanted a Whitebeard she could control more easily. He did not need to be particularly intelligent; he only needed potential equal to Whitebeard's.

After the deal was completed, MADS' ship gained another freeloader. Caesar and Queen had no objections. As long as it was not someone like Oran, who needed to take a huge share of the research funding, joining them would not affect them.

However, they all knew that Vegapunk and Oran had launched a project involving clones. Judge was quite interested in it and began considering using large numbers of cloned soldiers to restore the Germa Kingdom.

Oran and the others continued their research. The experiment to filter P-particles had not been shelved, while Oran's improvements to the Hex Core also entered the experimental stage.

Of the Hex Cores he had brought with him, one had been used as Blitzcrank's core, and another to treat Kate's heart. He still had three remaining.

Until they found similar materials and a new method of synthesis, those three were irreplaceable. However, that did not interfere with certain experiments.

The members of MADS had now all begun focusing on Devil Fruit research.

Vegapunk worked on his origin hypothesis, Caesar began attempting Fruit replication, and Judge wanted to apply Devil Fruit abilities to mass-produced cloned soldiers.

Queen seemed to have been provoked by Kate and began modifying his own body. Meanwhile, Oran was attempting to fuse the Hex Core with Devil Fruits in search of a new energy source.

Inside Oran's private laboratory, a metallic humanoid skeleton had already begun to take shape. Beside it sat a peculiar sphere, but at that moment, Vegapunk's voice came through the broadcast system.

"Everyone, please pause your research and come to the meeting room. We have a new problem."

The ordinary researchers remained busy. They knew Vegapunk was not calling for them, but for the core members.

"Vegapunk, what are you doing? My research was at a critical point! If you hadn't interrupted me, I definitely would have succeeded!"

Caesar entered while grumbling and cursing, but Vegapunk showed no emotional reaction. It was obvious that Caesar was merely trying to demand more funding.

The others gradually arrived. Only after Oran, the last one, entered did Vegapunk nod. With a grave expression, he said, "Everyone, we may be facing the greatest crisis since MADS was founded. We're... out of money!"

"Huh?!"