"Shurorororo! Little kitty, I'm not what I used to be. Want to give it a try and see how I prove my abilities?"
"You—"
Caesar's expression was incredibly punchable. With that blatantly provocative look and those taunting words, Kate immediately granted his wish and kicked at his chin.
This had happened before, though back then it had always been Caesar, Queen, and Judge together, keeping a relatively safe distance. None of them had ever stepped directly into Kate's attack range like this.
But the facts proved that Caesar had a reason to be so smug. Kate did not send him flying as expected. The instant her kick connected, Caesar's body scattered into a cloud of purple gas, and she kicked straight through him.
"Shurorororo! I told you, I'm different now. You'd better call that metal-shell partner of yours and come at me together!"
"A Logia Type? No wonder you suddenly started acting differently. So you got your hands on one of those."
The moment Oran saw Caesar's body turn into gas, he understood why Caesar's attitude had changed. It seemed that during MADS's stay here, he had found a Logia Devil Fruit.
Compared to Paramecia and ordinary Zoan Types, Logia Devil Fruits were far rarer. Of course, Mythical Zoans were said to be even rarer than Logias, but judging by certain circumstances, the number that had surfaced was practically catching up to ordinary Zoans.
Compared to Paramecia and Zoan Types, Logias gave the greatest initial boost, all because of their passive ability—elementalization.
With this ability, Logia Ability Users could ignore the vast majority of attacks. In regions where Armament Haki was not widespread, there were very few enemies capable of harming them.
"That's right. The Logia Gas-Gas Fruit. This is practically tailor-made for me. Siderial, if you're scared, give me half of that extra research funding, and I'll let you save some face. Shurorororo!"
Caesar knew a little about the situation aboard the ship. At the very least, he was certain there were currently no Seastone research projects aboard, so Oran should not have any Seastone weapons.
"It's just one fruit. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were invincible. Watch how kitty deals with you today!"
Caesar did not know that ever since Oran had obtained those Haki training notes from Bakin, he had already begun teaching Kate. It had not been long, but she had already grasped the basics.
As a member of the Mink Tribe, Kate had the blood of a fighting race flowing through her veins. Touching a Logia's true body was no problem for her. She simply had not expected Caesar to have eaten a Logia Devil Fruit, so she had not used Haki.
If someone whose Body Technique matched Kate's had eaten that Logia Devil Fruit, its boost could have turned the battle around. But Caesar's fundamentals were far too poor.
A Logia had never meant invincibility. One careless move, and it could become the shame of all Logias.
"Kate, come back. Take a break today. Didn't the test subject just deliver himself to us?"
"Meow?"
Before Kate could act, Oran stopped her, then shifted his gaze to Frankenstein behind him.
"Give our new member a chance to try. A Logia's abilities shouldn't be able to kill someone, so we can find out roughly where Frankenstein's limits lie. Fran, are you ready to fight?"
"Yeah!"
Frankenstein nodded vigorously, preparing for her "coming-of-age ceremony." She grabbed her warhammer and was about to attack. She was desperate to demonstrate her abilities.
"Don't rush. This isn't the place for a fight. Caesar, I won't argue with you over whether eating a Devil Fruit counts as part of your research results, but you'd better not forget what you'll have to bear if you lose."
According to MADS tradition, such contests compared research results. But there was plenty of room to work the rules, like Kate using the Hextech Heart, which still counted as following them.
If someone had grown stronger themselves, then fighting with a weapon they had invented was also allowed. Caesar had always had plenty to complain about regarding this rule, because it put him at a disadvantage.
But after eating the fruit, Caesar instantly became one of the rule's staunchest supporters.
"Shurorororo! Siderial, you'll be the one who loses this time."
Before long, at the weapons testing grounds on the deck of the MADS ship, Caesar stood ready with a pile of miscellaneous equipment. Among the crowd gathered to watch, Oran also spotted Vegapunk.
"Punk? Why are you here? Aren't you not interested in this sort of thing?"
"Didn't you notice? Your earlier experiment burned out all the ship's wiring. Repairs are still underway. Right now, the ship can only maintain basic operations with backup power, so conducting any other experiments is impossible.
What exactly did you do? How did it cause such a massive chain reaction?"
Accidentally blowing something up was commonplace for them. To avoid interfering with one another, their private laboratories all used separate circuits. This was the first time Oran had ruined the wiring of the entire ship.
"I fused a Devil Fruit with an energy core. The energy released during the fusion was a little excessive. I'll be more careful next time."
"You succeeded? Then congratulations. That's another incredible achievement. At this rate, everyone but the Logia Types has produced results.
Oran, I have a new idea. Although they differ in classification and have varied abilities, Devil Fruits must share something in common.
Earlier, while comparing blood samples, I discovered that an Ability User's blood contains an unknown additional component. As long as we decipher that secret, we'll be one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of Devil Fruits."
Vegapunk pulled out a notebook containing records of his latest research—the embryonic form of the Lineage Factor.
"Hold on. I'll come get it from you later. The situation below is what matters now."
Oran did not immediately take Vegapunk's research notes. Instead, he kept his attention on Frankenstein.
"You don't have confidence in her?"
"I've never lacked confidence. It's just that I made her, so naturally I have to take responsibility for her.
She may be a machine, but she has her own hopes. She longs to be noticed, so she deserves a response. It's part of her growth. As a mechanical lifeform, she has emotions of her own."
As an artificial human, Frankenstein's field of vision was wider than that of an ordinary person.
Though she had only turned her head slightly, she had actually been watching Oran the entire time. Oran had noticed that, which was why he did not distract himself by looking at the research notes.
Frankenstein herself did not know how to express this feeling. Newly born as she was, she was easily satisfied. Even being watched was enough to make her happy.
And action was her response. It was just that this response meant someone was about to have a very bad day.
(End of Chapter)
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