Chapter 197: The Storm Is Coming
At this point, Kahn had no idea that Momonosuke and the others had successfully arrived in the future. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
The "Cross Family" was far stronger than the Beasts Pirates. Even against the combined forces of the other Four Emperors, the Cross Family would still hold the upper hand in terms of both power and high-level combat capability.
In the original timeline, it took the combined efforts of the Worst Generation captains and the Nine Red Scabbards to defeat the Beasts Pirates and Charlotte Linlin barely. If Momonosuke were once again to seek the help of the Straw Hat Pirates to reclaim Wano, Kahn wouldn't hesitate to end their journey in Wano's waters.
Just as Baccarat's Lucky-Lucky Fruit could sense luck, if there were a Devil Fruit that could measure the level of fortune, it would reveal that Kahn's luck was currently the most volatile.
Kahn, with the power to reshape the world order, no longer concerned himself with the so-called "Child of Destiny."
Time passed quickly, and in just half a month, Kahn had finally absorbed the essential knowledge from Vegapunk's brain. This included insights into the Seraphim, Artificial Devil Fruits, bloodline factors, Devil Fruit replication, and even space-jumping technology.
Now that he had acquired this "ultimate treasure" from Vegapunk's mind, Kahn instructed Granose and Monet to transform Vegapunk into a doll, then dismember him into dozens of pieces and hide them in a large storage box.
Afterwards, Kahn used the ability of Perfect Five, who wielded the Paramecia Teleport-Teleport Fruit, to become invisible. He then travelled to Punk Hazard Island, the site where Aokiji and Akainu had fought for ten days and ten nights for the position of Fleet Admiral in the original timeline. Although in this life, the island hadn't turned into a wasteland of ice and fire, it still served as Vegapunk's former research base.
Kahn came here to retrieve the abandoned Artificial Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, which Vegapunk had discarded due to its colour being pink instead of blue. Despite this detail, Kahn saw value in the artificial Mythical Zoan.
Punk Hazard had remained under the control of Caesar Clown, who had turned it into an experimental base after Vegapunk moved on. Caesar had been conducting biochemical experiments while also working for Charlotte Linlin, much like in the original storyline. As a result, Punk Hazard became a dangerous and forbidden area where few dared to venture.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hat Pirates, after forming an alliance with Jinbei and King Neptune following their victory on Fish-Man Island, would soon stumble upon Punk Hazard, as in the original timeline. But Kahn wasn't aware of any of this.
After retrieving the artificial Zoan, Kahn returned to Warhead Island, located 10,000 meters above sea level. There, he called upon Carina to give her and her team a new mission: to hunt down Wapol and seize his Paramecia Munch-Munch Fruit, along with his invaluable Wapol Alloy.
Two years after being driven out of Drum Kingdom by Luffy, Wapol had risen to new heights of success. Using the Munch-Munch Fruit's power, he invented Wapol Alloy, which had become a highly prized material among scientists and a coveted resource for the wealthy and powerful.
Thanks to Wapol Alloy, Wapol established the evil Black Drum Kingdom and, despite its small size, built an economic empire strong enough to make it one of the top 50 nations invited to the World Summit. His rise mirrored how the Drum Kingdom had once dominated global medical resources. Now, with Wapol's newfound wealth and power, the Black Drum Kingdom had become a key player among the World Government's member nations.
In just two short years, Wapol's Black Drum Kingdom had risen to become one of the top 50 nations invited to participate in the World Summit. It's remarkable, considering the rapid ascent of his kingdom. If Wapol had a sharper mind and more ambition, like Blackbeard's, coupled with his ability to adapt and endure hardships, he might have become a major force in the world. The Munch-Munch Fruit, one of the most versatile Paramecia fruits, could have elevated him to global significance.
Unfortunately, Wapol's lack of intelligence and foresight meant he would never go far. Worse still, he had no idea that the only reason he was still alive was because Kahn was treating him like a pig being fattened for slaughter. Now that Wapol Alloy had been perfected, Wapol had lost his usefulness entirely.
After Kahn assigned the mission, Violet, who had been monitoring Wapol for the past two years, quickly pinpointed the location of the "Black Drum Kingdom" on the current world map. Without delay, Carina gathered Violet, Oro Jia, and Granose and asked Perfect Five to use the Teleport-Teleport Fruit's power to invisibly transport them to the Black Drum Kingdom.
Following their usual strategy for hunting down Devil Fruit users and assassinating high-profile targets like Shiki, the team used Violet's clairvoyance, Perfect Five's teleportation, Oro Jia's barrier ability, Carina's Dark Water, and Sasuke's power to turn people into dolls. Against this combination of abilities, Wapol—already weak-willed—stood no chance and was swiftly transformed into a doll.
Instead of killing Wapol right away, Carina and her team looted all his treasures before having Perfect Five teleport them, along with the loot, back to Amazon Lily. Upon returning, Carina wasted no time in contacting Kahn to report their success.
As usual, Kahn praised Carina and then instructed her to bring Wapol and Sugar to Slug Island. Once there, Kahn had Granose release Wapol from his doll state, and he used his advanced Observation Haki to read Wapol's memories, extracting the secret of how to create Wapol Alloy.
Surprised by the value of the knowledge, Kahn quickly had Carina kill Wapol and claim the Paramecia Munch-Munch Fruit. However, Kahn had no intention of giving the fruit to a warrior from Amazon Lily. Instead, he planned to feed it to Perfect Eleven, an artificial human he was about to create.
Even without Vegapunk's knowledge, Kahn had mastered the art of implanting loyalty programming into the brains of artificial humans and replicants. By writing the method for producing Wapol Alloy as a program and embedding it in Perfect Eleven's brain, Kahn was confident that Perfect Eleven, once empowered by the Munch-Munch Fruit, would be able to produce Wapol Alloy effortlessly.
In just half a month, Kahn had secured the vast "treasures" from Vegapunk's brain and claimed Wapol's Paramecia Munch-Munch Fruit and Wapol Alloy. With these acquisitions, he could finally begin mass-producing his perfect creations while upgrading the earlier models.
However, as Kahn continued to strengthen the foundation of the "Cross Family," his actions stirred up a massive undercurrent throughout the New World. The brewing storm quietly spread its dark clouds, foreshadowing a turbulent era for the entire sea.
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