"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"
A shrill alarm sounded from the tops of five Pacifistas.
The laser abruptly shut off. The mouths that had been firing the beams were now glowing red-hot, distorting the nearby air with intense heat.
Vegapunk quickly scribbled down all the performance data from the test.
"Not bad... That's some real power!"
Doflamingo stepped out from the cloud of smoke, shaking off the heat from his hand.
Even a Zoan with monstrous vitality couldn't endure that kind of damage head-on for long.
While it couldn't match the global deterrent force of nukes from his past life, it was more than enough to suppress these fish-infested islands of the Four Seas.
Seeing Doflamingo emerge without a single scratch, Stussy's pupils contracted slightly.
She had been the very first test subject when the Pacifistas were created—no one understood their destructive power better than she did.
He tanked that laser barrage head-on… and didn't even get singed?
"BOSS!" *2
Robin and Franky rushed over, excited and relieved.
Doflamingo waved to show he was fine, then turned toward the six new recruits standing nearby.
"Why don't you all introduce yourselves, Vegapunks?"
"Doflamingo-sama, I am Vegapunk—Good, Shaka," said the helmeted man with a slight bow.
"Evil, Lilith." A smile appeared on Lilith's face.
"Thinker, Edison."
"Wise, Pythagoras."
The two robots' faces were expressionless, unreadable.
"Violent, Atlas!" The giant girl waved briefly, then immediately ran off to burn off her boundless energy.
"Greed, York!" York beamed and waved enthusiastically, radiating good vibes.
"Sev... seven Vegapunks?!" Franky looked stunned, mouth wide enough to swallow an ostrich egg.
His gaze shifted between Robin and the seven Vegapunks in disbelief.
No wonder Robin had warned him not to freak out on the way here.
So Vegapunk… was actually septuplets?!
"Welcome to life, everyone. I'm sure you'll discover the true meaning of existence here,"
Doflamingo said with a meaningful smile, eyes flicking subtly toward the real body of Vegapunk.
Vegapunk, your clones... each of them has their own will.
Can such independent beings even be called your clones anymore?
Doflamingo turned slightly and glanced at the Pacifistas before shifting his gaze to the original Vegapunk, who was still buried in his notes.
"Vegapunk, why'd you make the Pacifistas look like Kuma?"
They were equipped with Borsalino's laser tech, yet modeled after the giant bear.
"Huh?"
Vegapunk suddenly looked up, snapped out of his data trance.
"The Five Elders said Borsalino looked too sleazy. Bad for the World Government's image."
"And I happened to have Kuma's body data, so I used it as the base. If you don't like it, I can change it."
"No need. Leave it."
Doflamingo waved off Vegapunk's offer.
He had just mentioned it in passing—honestly, the current design had an intimidating vibe.
Let the Pacifistas destroy the countries the Revolutionary Army had saved.
Pushing aside his drifting thoughts, Doflamingo changed the subject:
"Robin said the energy source for that giant robot still hasn't been cracked?"
"That's right."
Vegapunk frowned and scratched the antenna on his head, looking troubled.
"The robot's just made of metal—it's not some indestructible Poneglyph material.
After nearly 900 years of erosion, the ancient text etched into its frame has become warped and illegible.
Robin managed to translate it, but even then, it's still tough to understand."
"And the fact it activated two hundred years ago—that's nothing short of a miracle.
Every time it was moved, the internal energy module got more damaged. Now, it's practically impossible to restore."
"Is that so?" Doflamingo gave a small smile and beckoned Franky over.
"BOSS?" Franky scratched his head, puzzled but obediently stepped forward.
"Show Dr. Vegapunk your masterpiece."
With a flick of his finger, Doflamingo pulled invisible threads that spun Franky to face Vegapunk, giving his metal belly a light tap.
Franky got the hint. He reached up and popped open his stomach panel.
"This is...?"
Vegapunk adjusted his glasses and stepped in to inspect it with interest.
As someone who had undergone animal-type cybernetic modification at a young age, he wasn't too surprised by Franky's enhancements.
What caught his eye was the energy source.
"It's cola! Super fizzy cola, Dr. Vegapunk!"
Franky beamed, proud that even his idol was impressed by his work.
He happily pulled out a bottle of cola and offered it up.
"Cola?"
Vegapunk twisted off the cap, took a big swig, and felt the carbonation rush straight to his brain.
He began contemplating the feasibility of cola as an energy source.
The five Punk satellites nearby also crowded around, equally curious.
"Don't get sidetracked, Vegapunk. This guy's stomach could probably fire weapons even with vegetable juice. The important part is the energy device."
Doflamingo pulled another can of cola from Franky's stomach, chugged it dry, and cleared his throat.
Then he pulled out three thick stacks of blueprints and a Den Den Mushi.
He swept his gaze across the six Vegapunks.
"Think of this guy as a mini version of Pluton, but his mods aren't scalable."
"Here are the blueprints for Pluton, the Ark Maxim, and the current aerospace warship design. Cross-reference them and start your research."
"If you need materials, contact Tesoro."
"From today, your clearance level is the same as Caesar and Judge."
"In six months, I want my own version of Pluton."
"Whatever you want—money, power, rare materials—I'll provide it."
The current aerospace warship already had a completed frame. It could even take off.
But its power system was adapted from the Ark Maxim's blueprints.
Which meant it needed electricity.
But he hadn't raised Enel all these years just to use him as a walking generator.
He'd even been considering going to Zunesha and capturing the entire Mink Tribe to power the thing.
But now that he had something even better, it was time to upgrade.
"Pluton?!" *6
A surge of curiosity exploded in each Vegapunk's mind.
They took the blueprints and immediately huddled together.
Each took up a role and began researching the ancient weapon that had been sung about for nine centuries.
The area around Doflamingo instantly fell silent.
Not that he minded—he clapped his hands and turned to leave.
"Vegapunk, Franky's yours now. Robin's staying to help you as well."
He had someone else to visit now—Kuma and his adorable daughter.
...
In front of the gates of the Divine Palace on Tenryu Island.
Queen Otohime was still waiting... patiently, bitterly.
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg