“Captain Roger? You know where it is? Then why didn’t we head there earlier?”
Without Inuarashi and Nekomamushi aboard, just finding the Poneglyph on Zunesha’s back had already cost them a huge amount of time. For a certain period, they had even wandered the seas like headless flies.
The difficulty was not only locating Zunesha, but the fact that they had no way of knowing that one of the Road Poneglyphs was actually on its back.
“I’m not completely certain either, but I’d say it’s nine times out of ten. Our destination is Fishman Island! Everyone, we’re setting sail again!”
Having decided on their direction, the Roger Pirates set sail once more. Along the Grand Line they had already traversed who knew how many times, they embarked upon a new journey once again.
Meanwhile, on Fishman Island, an old officers’ gathering was underway.
Every former member of the Fish-Man Pirates had arrived. Even the office on the Sabaody Archipelago had hung up a sign announcing a temporary suspension of operations.
This time, however, it was not because of any sea-sealing order, but because the officers simply could not spare the manpower to remain stationed there.
Although things could still function with ordinary personnel assigned there, the environment of the Sabaody Archipelago was destined to remain unstable without officers overseeing it.
On the New World side, just as Wang Zhi and Nereus expected, a certain purging activity had begun. Combined with the destruction of that group of reckless rookies and Nereus’s existing reputation, this has kept this half of the New World sea route temporarily quite peaceful.
On the contrary, among the pirates arriving in the first half, there is no shortage of ambitious individuals, so it’s more reassuring to have a senior officer there.
Pausing operations for a few hours would not affect Fishman Island anyway.
“Wobbegong, welcome home!”
“The kid’s already this big and you never told us? You really know how to hide things, brat!”
“They look exactly alike, Shishishi~ That’s so rare.”
Wobbegong’s rather ordinary height made him look tiny in front of hulking men like Sebastian and the others. They could not even casually slap him on the shoulder.
Wobbegong himself was primarily a researcher with fairly average combat ability. If they were not careful, they could genuinely smack him flat onto the ground.
However, what attracted even more attention was the tiny little fellow beside Wobbegong. Wobbegong had black-and-white stripes, while the little one was blue-purple in color.
“My son, Zeo. Don’t be shy, come meet your uncles. From now on, we’ll be living here.”
Zeo, Wobbegong’s son, five years old this year. Under normal circumstances, it was natural for a father and son to resemble one another.
But for Fish-Men and Merfolk, while face shape and facial features could be similar, because of the randomness in Fish-Type inheritance, whether parent and child or siblings, they could end up looking completely different.
Cases like Wobbegong’s, where father and son shared the same Fish-Type and looked as though they had come from the same mold, were exceedingly rare.
“Getting married and having a kid, huh? You’re really following Boss’s footsteps closely. Don’t tell me you developed some kind of gene-control drug that can determine what the next generation will look like?”
Barbell stared at Wobbegong with curious eyes, seemingly wondering whether there might be some connection between genetic medicine and hair-growth potions.
“How is that possible?! That’s the kind of idea that madman Judge would come up with. He really does plan to use his own children as test subjects… Mine was just luck. But Zeo really is talented in scientific research. He’s especially good with pharmacology.”
“Who even asked you that?!”
“Having talent is a good thing. Fishman Island today isn’t the same Fishman Island it was over a decade ago. Even with MADS disbanded, there’s still a sufficient platform here.
“The equipment and personnel are almost fully prepared. You can take the lead just in time.”
While Wobbegong was proudly showing off his son’s talents, Nereus also arrived at the welcome gathering and noticed Wobbegong’s child.
Back when he took Wobbegong out to sea, it had simply been because Wobbegong was one of the people in the Fish-Man District willing to follow him. Only after seeing the son Wobbegong mentioned did Nereus remember certain things.
Zeo, one of the members of the New Fish-Man Pirates in the original timeline. Among that group of arrogant and ignorant young men in the New Fish-Man Pirates, Zeo was considered the only one with a bit of actual ability.
The Energy Steroid was a drug mass-produced after Zeo’s research.
“Boss!”
“Wasn’t someone supposed to pick you up? Why’d you come back on your own?”
“I’m not a child. I can handle this little trip just fine. Zeo! Come over and greet everyone! Stop hiding over there!”
“I-I’m not hiding… It’s just that looking up at people for too long makes my neck sore…”
After exchanging a few simple greetings, Wobbegong began talking about MADS.
“Back then, Vegapunk discovered the Lineage Factor and chose to reveal it to the world. After that, we kept researching related subjects.
“But last year, just a few months ago, the World Government suddenly classified the project as an extremely dangerous field of research and directly bought out MADS.
“It all happened too suddenly. If Boss hadn’t always told me to keep extra backup copies of the data, I really wouldn’t have been able to bring everything out.”
At this point, Wobbegong paused before continuing with the whereabouts of the other MADS members.
“Scien… no, I should call him Queen now. He left MADS a few years ago, and last year he joined Kaido’s Beasts Pirates. Boss, you should already know that.
“I heard that guy has now become Kaido’s most capable officer. Looks like Kaido hasn’t managed to recruit many useful subordinates these past few years.
“Judge returned to the North Blue and plans to restore the glory of the Germa Kingdom. Before leaving, he gave me a contact method and hopes to reach some agreements with us once he rebuilds the kingdom.
“Most of the others followed Vegapunk and Caesar Clown and were absorbed by the World Government.”
Most of MADS’s primary research results had come from Vegapunk, though the others had also contributed to some extent. The remaining researchers mostly served as assistants.
But to work as Vegapunk’s assistant, one still needed genuine ability. Since the team had already spent so much time working together, they were simply absorbed as a whole.
Vegapunk needed the funds and resources provided by the World Government. His research projects were money-burning machines, and the only one capable of supporting all his research work was practically the World Government itself.
However, unlike Caesar Clown, who wanted to use the enormous funds for a life of indulgence, Vegapunk had his own ideas.
Wobbegong had spoken openly about all those matters in front of everyone. But at the very end, he quietly approached Nereus and lowered his voice.
“Boss, there’s one more thing. Back then, Buckin and Vegapunk seemed to have reached some sort of agreement. Vegapunk created a clone using Buckin, named Stussy.
“A few months ago, after the World Government classified MADS as a dangerous organization, she followed Vegapunk’s orders and was taken in by Cipher Pol under the identity of an orphan.
“If nothing unexpected happens, she’ll become a hidden piece Vegapunk planted inside the intelligence agencies.”
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