Chapter 55: Vegapunk’s Research Notes

"Of course, we are revolutionaries." Koala took the notebook and carefully stowed it away, then said proudly, "Dr. Vegapunk's research lab is one of the most heavily guarded facilities under the World Government. It took us a tremendous amount of effort to retrieve this."

"Was it because of Kuma?" Ace asked with a faint smile.

"Koala, can you tell me what kind of deal Bartholomew Kuma made with the World Government? For a man like him, who harbors such hatred for them, to willingly offer his body for research... that's no small thing." Ace looked at her seriously.

Bartholomew Kuma was one of Ace's most valued allies—a man he was determined to recruit. He needed to understand what kind of arrangement Kuma had made with Vegapunk or the World Government, even at the cost of his own body.

"You... You even know about that?" Koala looked at him in surprise.

Clearly, even within the Revolutionary Army, very few were aware of the true nature of Kuma's agreement with the Government. In the original timeline, even Emporio Ivankov, a top officer of the Revolutionary Army, only knew that Kuma accepted the offer to become a Warlord of the Sea as a way to better serve the Revolutionary cause. But the deeper truth—that he allowed Vegapunk to perform irreversible modifications on his body—was a closely guarded secret.

Koala remained silent for a while, then said solemnly, "I don't know exactly what kind of deal Mr. Kuma made with Vegapunk. But I do know this notebook was smuggled out by him. Over the past few years, Mr. Kuma has repeatedly brought back research data and results from Vegapunk's lab. The rapid development of the Revolutionary Army owes a lot to those contributions."

Just one of those breakthroughs—such as bypassing Reverse Mountain to enter the Grand Line—had given the Revolutionary Army a tremendous logistical advantage.

"So it's true… Kuma and Vegapunk have a secret arrangement. The only question is whether it was made privately or sanctioned by the Government," Ace mused.

If the World Government had approved the deal, they wouldn't have allowed Vegapunk's inventions to aid the Revolutionaries so openly. So the more likely case was that Vegapunk and Kuma acted independently.

"Is it possible the Revolutionary Army is also researching the Pacifista project? You know, those robots modeled after Kuma?" Ace asked thoughtfully. But he quickly dismissed the idea. The Pacifista program not only demanded enormous costs, it also relied on extremely rare resources—resources the Revolutionary Army simply couldn't afford.

"Do you know what's in this notebook?" Ace turned to Koala.

"There are several invaluable research findings in here, including new gunpowder formulas and weapons like laser technology. But the most important entry is Dr. Vegapunk's complete research on how to make inanimate objects eat Devil Fruits," Koala explained with a grave expression. "This notebook must be delivered to Sabo safely."

"Letting objects eat Devil Fruits? That's… incredible." Ace couldn't help but be impressed. Vegapunk's reputation as a super scientist who was said to be 500 years ahead of his time seemed more than deserved.

In the canon timeline, whether it was the Lineage Factor technology developed by Germa 66 or the artificial Devil Fruits sold by Donquixote Doflamingo to Kaido, Vegapunk's influence was found behind the scenes. Those so-called inventions were merely child's play compared to what Vegapunk had truly accomplished.

Even Franky, after the war at Marineford, had improved himself by exploring one of Vegapunk's abandoned labs—yet all he found were discarded prototypes from Vegapunk's youth.

Vegapunk's research into artificial Devil Fruits was only possible because he had deciphered how Devil Fruits integrate with the human body, leading to the first successful artificial fruit.

But even that paled in comparison to his ultimate research—"Life Design"—a concept that had yet to be publicly revealed. Compared to Enel, Vegapunk was playing a far more advanced and terrifying game.

It wasn't exaggerating when Koala said Vegapunk's lab was one of the best-protected places in the world. Even Admiral Kizaru often acted as his personal guard. Without Vegapunk's tacit consent, nothing could leave his lab—yet Kuma managed to deliver materials multiple times. That alone proved how crucial Kuma had been to the Revolutionary Army's scientific progress.

Now that Ace had decided to bring Kuma into his own crew, he couldn't sit back and watch him be transformed into a mindless weapon like in the original timeline. He had to act—soon.

Ace understood that appealing to Kuma with words wouldn't work. A man like him, who was willing to sacrifice everything for the Revolution, wouldn't be swayed by sweet talk. His resolve needed to be shattered—or at the very least, challenged.

It wouldn't be easy, but it wasn't impossible either. And if appealing to his heart failed, Ace was ready to act through other means.

One way or another, he would make Bartholomew Kuma his crewmate.

"What's Kuma doing right now?" Ace asked, looking at Koala.

"I'm not sure," she replied, shaking her head. "After delivering this notebook to our contacts, Mr. Kuma vanished again."

"Actually," Koala added with concern, "every time Kuma brings something out of Vegapunk's lab, he disappears for a while. And it's happening more and more frequently… and for longer durations each time."

"It seems the transformation has already started," Ace muttered to himself. "I wonder how far along Vegapunk's modifications have gone."

In the original story, when Kuma first appeared before the Straw Hat Pirates, Tyrant Kuma had already lost most of his humanity. Beneath his clothes, his body was almost entirely robotic.

"No… next time we meet, no matter what it takes, I won't let him go through with this." Ace clenched his fists, making a firm resolution. If he couldn't change Kuma's mind through words, then he would use force—to save him.

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