Chapter 193: Birth of a Legend

Chapter 193: Birth of a Legend

Standing on the castle ramparts, watching the warship gradually recede into the distance, Judge's smile vanished.

He had sent away one troublesome fellow, but there was still an even more difficult one here.

"Speak. What exactly do you want from me, Your Excellency?"

Judge looked seriously at the man sitting opposite him, feeling extremely wary in his heart, not only because of the other party's strength but also because he had mentioned Vegapunk.

"Before we discuss matters, I need to see if you're actually qualified. After all, in Vegapunk's eyes, you were classified among the pig-brained."

Nicholas glanced up at Judge, completely ignoring his increasingly ugly expression.

"Heh, I wonder what qualifications Your Excellency speaks of?"

"I'm very curious to see just how far you've developed the technological power you possess since leaving Vegapunk! You wouldn't mind if I took a look, would you?"

"Then please come with me, Your Excellency," Judge said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, then stood up and led the way towards a heavily guarded section of the castle.

...

Soon, they were inside a large research laboratory filled with various sophisticated instruments.

"This is the Electromagnetic Railgun I designed. Theoretically, its firing rate can reach five times that of conventional artillery, and its range extends hundreds of nautical miles. It's a powerful weapon with high lethality and long-range strike capability."

Judge enthusiastically introduced his design.

"Theoretically?"

Nicholas asked doubtfully.

"Ahem, developing such a powerful weapon is very difficult, and many key technologies require extremely high research capabilities. Although it doesn't currently possess practical combat effectiveness, it will succeed sooner or later."

Hearing Judge's bragging, the corner of Nicholas's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.

Good grief, after all that talk, it turned out to just be a theory, and judging by Judge's capabilities, it seemed unlikely he'd ever manage to build it in this lifetime.

Completely unaware he was being ridiculed, Judge arrived before a laboratory filled wall-to-wall with cultivation pods, introducing it with immense pride, "This is my most outstanding research achievement, the production line for Germa 66 elite soldiers!"

Looking at the Germa soldiers in each cultivation pod, Nicholas fell silent.

Although clones were indeed somewhat taboo, their effectiveness in warfare couldn't be denied.

According to the cloning technology Judge currently possessed, it took five years for a Germa soldier to grow from an embryo into a qualified warrior.

This meant a batch of powerful soldiers could be produced every five years.

And what was the cost of training a powerful Marine? Not to mention the time involved.

Furthermore, if an elite Marine soldier died, they were truly dead, and training had to start from scratch, with veterans leading recruits.

But Germa's clone soldiers didn't have this problem.

Even if they died, their bodies could be recovered and recycled into nutrient solution through special means.

Moreover, during the clone soldier cultivation process, various combat skills and tactical knowledge were directly imprinted into their bodies through technology, making them qualified warriors from birth.

"Well? Am I qualified now!?" Judge looked at Nicholas proudly.

Hearing Judge's words, Nicholas was somewhat speechless.

It seemed Vegapunk was right; this Judge fellow and that Queen guy were both pig-brained.

After running off with Vegapunk's technology back then, they hadn't made a shred of progress.

"Judge, can you tell me what the hell you've been doing all these years? Is this clone technology any different from the research Vegapunk was doing back then?"

Hearing Nicholas's words, Judge finally lost some of his composure.

"Vegapunk! Vegapunk! That shut-in, apart from proposing technical theories and doing research, what else can he do? Which of his research projects did he ever implement himself!?"

"Uh, so are you saying your clone technology and Lineage Factor technology aren't just copied from Vegapunk?"

Judge: ...

That hit the mark, leaving him speechless and defensive.

Because Nicholas was actually right.

Germa's cloning technology was basically taken directly from Vegapunk.

"But so what!?"

"Nothing, I'm just curious why you think Vegapunk, who could discover something like the Lineage Factor – which could be called the blueprint of life – would share it with you without taking any precautions?"

Hearing Nicholas's words, Judge felt a cold chill run down his spine, like someone was holding a knife to his neck.

"What do you mean?"

"What 'what do I mean'?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Oh, so that's what you meant."

Looking at Judge, whose forehead was now beaded with sweat, Nicholas said with a smile: "Anti-Life Equation."

Hearing Nicholas's words, Judge's expression changed drastically, and he said in disbelief: "How could something like that possibly exist!"

"Why couldn't it? After all, Vegapunk is inherently a creator of miracles."

Thinking of Vegapunk, that anomaly in the pirate world, Nicholas felt genuine admiration.

"Alright, you win."

Judge said dejectedly.

He didn't dare gamble on whether Nicholas possessed such a thing.

After all, just as Nicholas said, Vegapunk was inherently a creator of miracles.

"Then welcome back to MADS."

The final sea of the Grand Line, a certain port village.

"Cough cough!!"

"Captain, are you alright!"

"I'm fine, it's not a big deal. By the way, do we know the location?"

"Yes, we know."

"When do we set sail?"

"Right now, of course!!!"

Roger looked at the crew members in the cabin and declared decisively.

Isn't this the moment they had all been waiting for?

Since the coordinates were locked, as long as they set foot there, they would put a perfect end to their journey.

Anticipation showed on the faces of the other crew members as well.

It was possible that the answers they sought were stored there.

And once they landed on the Final Island, they would be the undisputed number one pirate crew in the world, and their captain, Roger, would ascend to the throne of the Pirate King.

Just as the Oro Jackson was about to embark on its final voyage, Buggy, who had been perfectly fine, suddenly developed a high fever.

"Captain, Buggy's body simply can't handle the upcoming voyage."

Crocus looked at Roger and said gravely.

"Ah, well, that's truly a shame."

Roger looked at Buggy lying in bed, burning with fever, and spoke with some regret.

Although Buggy and Shanks were still apprentice crew members, as people who had grown up on the Oro Jackson since childhood, everyone on board saw them not just as apprentices, but as family.

"Ahhhhh, no way, Captain Roger! I'm fine, look at me—"

Hearing he couldn't go to the Final Island, Buggy panicked and tried to sit up, but before he could, he collapsed weakly back down.

Shanks caught him just in time.

"Captain, I'll stay behind to take care of Buggy. As for the Final Island, if we're going to go, we'll go on our own ship in the future."

Shanks said, looking at Roger.

Hearing Shanks' words, smiles appeared on the faces of Roger, Crocus, and everyone else nearby, because Shanks had said "we," implying that after this voyage was completed, Shanks and Buggy would continue onward, starting their own journey.

"Roger! We've arrived!"

Rayleigh stood at the bow, gazing at the island faintly appearing in the distance, and said solemnly.

"Haha, yes, Rayleigh, we've arrived!"

Roger burst out laughing, his handlebar mustache twitching.

But at this moment, Roger's face showed no excitement, no thrill, none of the ecstatic joy of being the first to set foot on this unknown land.

There was only calmness.

"Hahaha, it's truly unbelievable! I actually made it here!"

Crocus looked at the distant silhouette, his voice trembling slightly.

Reaching this final destination, he didn't possess the calm composure of Roger and Rayleigh; his heart was filled only with excitement and exhilaration.

After all, he had initially joined the crew just to help Roger fulfill his wish, but along the journey, Crocus had experienced too much with Roger and the others.

He had long lost the calmness he'd had when he first boarded the ship.

Because he was destined to witness the birth of a legend!

Apart from Crocus, almost everyone else on the Roger Pirates' ship was incredibly excited.

Because they were not only about to witness the birth of a legend, but they themselves would also become legends spoken of by others!

But what puzzled them was that, at this very moment, the Captain ordered the pirate ship to stop.

The pirate ship halted right there, no longer advancing.

They were so close to their destination, yet they stopped.

But none of the crew members said anything.

They simply looked at Roger, waiting for their captain's next command.

(End of Chapter)

End of Chapter