Chapter 273: An Offer No Scientist Can Refuse

“But it’ll take some time. After all, this is about longevity. We’re talking months here—maybe even years. You’d better brace yourself for that.”

Karl completely understood. Pure Gold was all about extending life, nothing more. Besides, he was still young, so there was no rush. As long as they figured it out within the next twenty years, he’d be satisfied.

Vegapunk thought it over carefully. “To test exactly how many grams of Pure Gold are beneficial to the human body, we’ll need a lot of comparative experiments.”

“I’d love to crack this in a few months too, but that’s just not realistic.”

Karl waved it off. “No worries. As long as it doesn’t take thirty or forty years, I’m fine.”

“But there’s one more thing, Karl.” Vegapunk’s brain was already running at maximum. If he wanted to keep pushing the boundaries, he had to find new ways to expand his mental capacity.

“I want to make a trip to Ohara in West Blue.”

“It’s home to more knowledge than anywhere else in the world.”

“It’ll give me exactly what I need to broaden my mind and my research.”

“Of course, Vegapunk. No point wasting time—let’s head out right now.”

Karl didn’t waste a second. He was ready to take Vegapunk on the spot.

“Wait, Karl. Hold on.”

“Halil’s test is scheduled for tomorrow. I can’t leave just yet.”

“Once that’s over, we can set sail for Ohara in West Blue.”

At that moment, Vegapunk suddenly remembered he still needed to run tests on Halil, Notty’s good friend.

He placed the Pure Gold in an airtight container, making sure its glow was concealed before stepping out of the lab with Karl.

When they reached West Blue, Karl dropped Vegapunk off at Ohara first.

“Vegapunk, if anything comes up, contact me right away on the Den Den Mushi.”

“Plus, I’ll assign a team of Fishmen nearby to make sure you’re safe.”

With that, Karl handed Vegapunk a set of numbers—a direct line to the Fishmen squad stationed in West Blue. They’d be swimming to Ohara soon, ready for orders.

Vegapunk waved him off. “Don’t worry. If anything happens, you’ll be the first to know. I’ll call right away.” With that, he headed toward the massive Tree of Knowledge in the center of Ohara.

Karl really wasn’t worried. Odds were the Navy would never guess they were coming here.

He took to the sky again, flying straight for North Blue to track down Judge Vinsmoke. According to news from the Fishmen, Vinsmoke was hiding out somewhere in the uncharted seas of North Blue.

He was still buried in research. Word was, he’d already made contact with people from the World Government. That instantly made Karl think of his cloning technology.

If Karl wanted clones made from his own genes, he had to get Judge’s help—there was no way he could let the World Government snatch him up first.

Judge Vinsmoke had pioneered cloning tech based on the Lineage Factor, all on his own. Vegapunk even borrowed from his work.

If Vegapunk respected his technology, you could bet it was top-tier black market science in the One Piece world. No way was Karl letting the World Government get that edge. Bringing Judge over would not only boost Karl’s own strength, it would weaken the World Government too. Why wouldn’t he do it?

With Judge’s help, top-class clones carrying Karl’s genes could soon join the fight, giving him a major card to play in the coming battle against the World Government.

As for whether Judge or his family would actually agree to work with him—that didn’t really matter.

With enough power, you didn’t have to care what other people thought.

It didn’t take long to find Judge Vinsmoke, still drifting around North Blue, thanks to the Fishmen’s info.

“Who’s there?”

“Stop! Don’t move!”

Karl had just landed on deck when two men burst out of a corner, pointing guns at him.

He frowned. “This isn’t the time to play house with you two.”

A flash of red flickered in his eyes as he released a wave of Conqueror’s Haki across the whole ship, sparing only Judge, of course.

Thud, thud!

One by one, everyone on the ship collapsed. Inside his lab, waiting for a reply from the World Government, Judge immediately realized something was wrong.

It was way too quiet on board. Just to be sure, he glanced at the Visual Transponder Snail feed and saw the whole ship was out cold. Then he spotted a stranger making his way across the deck.

He zoomed in on the feed.

The instant he saw the man’s face, he gasped. “Is… is that Karl?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Did our deal with the World Government get exposed?”

Judge stared in disbelief. He couldn’t figure out why Karl would come looking for him. As far as he knew, there was no bad blood between them.

Crash!

Splash, splash!

Before Judge could recover, Karl smashed a hole in the ceiling and jumped down right in front of him.

Karl figured it was too slow to use the door—and it just wasn’t his style. So he smashed straight through the deck, landing right in front of Judge.

“You must be Judge Vinsmoke.”

Seeing Judge’s shock, Karl just chuckled. “Looks like you recognize me.”

“Sorry to barge in like this.”

“But I’m guessing you don’t really mind, do you?”

Judge thought, Even if I did mind, you already smashed through my ceiling. What’s the point in complaining?

“N-no, not at all. But… what brings you here, Lord Karl?”

The first time Judge ever heard of Karl was back when he worked with Vegapunk on Machinery Island.

Suddenly, some mysterious group had kidnapped Vegapunk and the others. Judge only escaped by luck and had been tracking their movements ever since.

Lately, he finally caught up with Davis and the others. They were off treasure hunting in the depths of the New World, but there was always a trail—Karl’s family.

So, the second he heard the news, he guessed Vegapunk had been taken by Karl’s crew.

But what he still couldn’t figure out was why Karl was looking for him.

Seeing Judge’s confusion, Karl got straight to the point. “I’m here for your cloning technology.”

Judge’s jaw dropped. He’d only ever discussed this with the World Government—never told another soul. Did that mean Karl also had spies inside the World Government?

“No need to jump to conclusions. I heard about your cloning research from Vegapunk. My team’s in need of your skills. I hope you won’t say no.”

Karl spoke so calmly, it sent a chill down Judge’s spine.

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”