"Does Ohara know?"
Vegapunk didn't let Vic leave immediately. Instead, he asked a completely unrelated question and then stared at Vic's face.
"I know! I was 12 years old that year, and I also read the newspaper report!"
Vic's smile faded, and he said in a low voice, "At that time, I had been in this world for two years. I had been training myself to develop stealthily, but I also read newspapers regularly."
Although he knew the ins and outs of the matter in his previous life, he also looked at the newspaper reports, wanting to see how much the newspaper reports differed from the truth he knew! He wanted to see how much of the truth the World Government wanted the world to know!
"So what do you think of that report?" Vegapunk continued.
Vic didn't answer immediately. Vegapunk's question seemed casual, but it was definitely not unfounded. He had some guesses in his mind.
Vic unleashed his Observation Haki, paced back and forth a few steps, and looked around. Vegapunk's eyes lit up slightly when he saw Vic doing this.
" The Ohara Incident was extremely cruel from any perspective. The entire island was full of ordinary people, and just because historians were there researching history, they were all wiped out by Buster Call?"
Even as a naval officer, I cannot agree with this. Is the purpose of studying history simply to revive Ancient Weapon?
Such reasons only fool ordinary people. If it were truly possible to revive Ancient Weapon, the World Government should have recruited those historians to its cause. Why not simply possess such powerful Ancient Weapon themselves? Why cover them up?
Was it to conceal Ancient Weapon or to cover up the history of the Void Century? What exactly happened during that Void Century that would drive such a desperate attempt to cover it up, even at the cost of massacring everyone?
This is a case of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free"! This is really worth thinking about. If it's good history, there's absolutely no need to cover it up, unless what they did was so outrageous that its exposure would inevitably trigger a major event that threatens their rule, or even overthrow them!
Vic knew that Vegapunk was testing his stance. If he wasn't satisfied with his position, then the gravity device and bracelet would probably be out of the question. Even if they were made, he wouldn't let him use them, or the idea would simply be shelved and ignored.
Vegapunk certainly thought so; this thing had to be carefully considered before it could be made, because the gravity bracelet would be an invention that could affect balance.
If the World Government, the Navy, or the Revolutionary Army possessed large quantities of these weapons, the combat effectiveness of their soldiers would undoubtedly increase significantly. While a slight improvement in the strength of a single individual might not affect the overall situation, what if thousands or even more of them experienced such an increase?
That thing absolutely has the power to change the outcome of wars between nations, so Vegapunk needs to see what Vic's stance is. If he's on the World Government's side, then the Gravity Bracelet is useless. If he lets you know about it, then the Five Elders will know too, right?
His friend Dragon's forces were already weak; if the World Government were to strengthen them further, what would become of them? Vegapunk was also a witness to the Ohara Incident, and he even went to Ohara Ohara pay his respects to Dr. Clover after the fires subsided.
There he met Dragon, who had the same goal. The two talked about their ideas, and one of them formed Revolutionary Army, while the other went to the Elbaf to see all the books that had survived the Great Fire of Ohara.
He then joined the Navy as a hired scientist, but he joined the Navy only to use the World Government's financial, material, and human resources to complete his research and make his own contribution in this field, not because he really wanted to serve the World Government and the Navy.
If anyone in the world could afford such a massive research budget, it would undoubtedly be the World Government, so he didn't have many other options.
However, he also had to occasionally come up with some inventions to gain the trust of the World Government, such as warships with outer wheels, Pacifista, non-biological Devil Fruit eating technology, artificial fire-breathing dragons, and Seastone stealth technology for traveling through Calm Belt zones.
This is what Vic knew from his previous life. Apart from the Pacifista who have direct destructive power, the others are only auxiliary. Moreover, he didn't unleash the Pacifista indiscriminately, so it wouldn't cause an imbalance.
There are many other storylines that Vic didn't know about, such as Stussy, Seraphim, Seastone Bubble Gun, and Mechanical Beast. Stussy infiltrated CP0, the Seastone Bubble Gun is for Devil Fruit users, and the Mechanical Beast is guarding the vicinity of Egghead Island.
However, none of these have been deployed by the Navy or the World Government, which demonstrates Vegapunk's stance. As for Seraphim? Although the Five Elders are ostensibly the highest authorities...
But how do you know Vegapunk didn't have a backup plan? Just like how Kuma protected the Thousand Sunny for two years before his consciousness was completely erased—an order that the World Government and the Navy wouldn't allow, but Vegapunk did it anyway.
Perhaps Vegapunk intended to use the Seraphim's supreme authority to lure the Five Elders out of Mary Geoise and defeat them one by one? For example, was York's betrayal and betrayal merely bait? Or perhaps he had already conspired with Dragon to eliminate Saturn once he arrived at Egghead Island?
From God's perspective, Vegapunk is indeed on the side of true justice, but Vic is unaware of this. Vic discerns Vegapunk's stance from his questions.
If Vegapunk were truly on the side of the World Government, he wouldn't have asked this unnecessary question. Instead, he would have simply created the device and made it available for everyone in the World Government and the Navy, including Marine Vice Admiral Vic.
However, Vegapunk immediately asked such a sensitive question after Vic raised this idea, which is obviously unusual. If these two things were not related, it would be really difficult to see Vegapunk's stance and true thoughts if he suddenly asked this question without any context.
However, when put together, Vic could tell that Vegapunk was clearly considering whether or not to create the thing. So, after ruling out being monitored, he revealed his true thoughts. Vic was also afraid that Vegapunk was being monitored without realizing it, and that he would be exposed in the end.
Of course, the above is not the real reason why Vic trusts Vegapunk. The real reason is Vic's previous meeting with Dragon, which is the key reason why Vic trusts Vegapunk.
Dragon and Vic had previously mentioned that he had a friend in the Navy who he could seek help from if needed.
Vic initially thought this person was someone he had made friends with when he was in the Navy, and even speculated that it might be Kizaru. However, Dragon told him that this friend was Vegapunk!
It really surprised Vic at the time; he never expected that two people who seemed to have nothing in common would have such a relationship!