Chapter 126: Germa Bound To The War Chariot
“I heard that the Jermma Kingdom is a world-class technology great power, second only to Doctor Vegapunk’s homeland Future Country Baltimore, Mister Judge, you were once partners with Doctor Vegapunk······ In your opinion, what kind of person is Doctor Vegapunk?”
Elus threw out the opening topic.
But this topic made Judge’s face stiffen, stirring up a violent tsunami in his heart.
The matter of him mixing with Vegapunk to conduct illegal research was a secret that even his children did not know, he was well aware of the danger this secret posed, it would attract pursuit and even hunting from the World Government, so for so many years he had tightly guarded this secret······
Why does the Black Prince know such a secret?
Could it be that among the colleagues from back then, someone else also escaped from the World Government like him and survived······ Judge’s thoughts involuntarily spread out, pondering all kinds of possibilities, but unfortunately he had no clues at all.
“Your Highness Elus, where did you learn about this matter?” He tried his best to control the panic in his heart, making his smile not seem too stiff, the hypocritical mask had become his instinct, in front of stronger people, he was accustomed to fawning with a smile.
“I have my own channels.”
Elus did not explain, nor did he need to explain.
Judge’s eye twitched, he did not continue to pursue this topic, and sensibly replied: “Vegapunk is a genius, a true genius. When I was young, I thought I was the protagonist of this era, the genius destined to restore the prestige of the Jermma Kingdom, but after meeting Vegapunk, I realized what a true genius is like, and that the protagonist of the era was not me······”
At first, he was reluctantly answering Elus’s question, but as he spoke, recalling that period of time that brought the greatest setback and turning point in his life, he could not help but feel emotional, the complex emotions surging up even diluted some of the panic and anger in his heart.
“······Also, Vegapunk is obsessed with scientific research, in my view, Vegapunk at that time was just enthusiastic about research, exploring unknown fields, and did not value the results of the research much·······”
“······Probably that’s about it, to be honest, it’s been nearly twenty years now, I have no idea what Vegapunk is like now.”
Judge squeezed out as much memory and cognition about Vegapunk as possible.
“Pretty good.”
After listening to Judge’s account, Elus nodded in satisfaction.
The reason for asking Judge this question was not because he wanted to do something targeting Vegapunk, the World Government watched this treasure closely, now was not a good time to target Vegapunk, the reason for asking was really very simple, just to find a topic to warm up the atmosphere.
By the way, intimidate Judge a bit.
So far, the effect was pretty good.
Judge’s attitude became even more respectful, beside him Reiju and Ichiji, the princess and prince of the Jermma Kingdom remained silent, quiet like stones, silently watching their father deal with the Black Prince, their naturally cold and cruel temperament due to modification was well controlled.
As modified humans, they lacked part of human emotions, but were also born with extraordinary qualities, plus years of rigorous training, their senses for danger were quite keen, on Elus’s body, they felt a fatal threat.
Warnings from instinct made them not dare to have any inappropriate behavior here.
Elus’s gaze did not linger on Reiju and Ichiji for even a second, compared to these two modified humans, his interest was more on Judge, not to mention the man’s character and conduct, Judge’s talent in scientific research was very impressive.
If he could get Judge over to do research with Caesar······ Elus could not help but think so, whether Judge or Caesar, neither was as perverted as Vegapunk, even if the two combined, they would probably only be able to follow behind Vegapunk and eat dust.
However,
These two both had considerable attainments in biotechnology, if united, perhaps it would be a 1+1>2 effect.
Thinking of this, Elus’s gaze toward Judge suddenly heated up a bit, making His Majesty the King of the Jermma Kingdom somewhat uneasily twist his body, waves of danger alerts from intuition rising in his heart, but he raised his head and met Elus’s eyes for a second······
The formless, intangible intimidation directly acting on the soul made him let out a despairing sigh in his heart.
He had already been targeted by the Black Prince, where could he escape to? The Jermma Kingdom was a mobile kingdom, sure, but it could not wander everywhere forever, the Black Prince was said to be only in his twenties, he could outlast him, he still had unfulfilled ambitions······
He could only pray that the Black Prince’s malice would not be too unbearable.
“I heard that you’re very interested in Artificial Dragon technology, Mister Judge?” Elus suppressed the dangerous thought in his heart, Judge was ultimately the king of the Jermma Kingdom, directly abducting a king was not a good idea, especially for a special country like the Jermma Kingdom, as the absolute overlord that once ruled the entire North Blue, the World Government probably had never relaxed vigilance over such a country and family fond of local separatism.
Abducting Judge was not difficult, the problem was how to abduct Judge without attracting the World Government’s attention, plus using coercive means might not make Judge sincerely cooperate with Caesar on scientific research······ Moreover, it was not necessarily necessary to use such crude methods.
Could be gentler.
Ending the warm-up chit-chat, Elus got straight to the point.
Artificial Dragon Technology,
The origin of the intersection between the Jermma Kingdom and Elus was because of this technology.
“Yes, I think this technology can bring me quite a few inspirations, perhaps allowing me to break through the current bottleneck regarding clone warriors.” Judge told the truth, speaking very slowly, carefully pondering every sentence, confirming there were no issues before saying them one by one, “If possible, I hope to research the related technology.”
“Want Artificial Dragon Technology······” Elus smiled, “Sure, as long as you can offer exchange conditions that satisfy me, the Artificial Dragon Technology can be given to you.”
“Would Devil Fruits work?”
Judge asked.
He knew powerful Devil Fruits could give people huge strength boosts, but he was unwilling to give up the sea and become a land duck that could not swim, even if he collected good Devil Fruits, he never thought of consuming them, dedicated to researching various scientific equipment comparable to Devil Fruits.
Although he had not actively collected them, in repeated wars, while scavenging trophies, there were often unexpected gains, over these years, he had accumulated six Devil Fruits, this time he brought them all, precisely for such a moment.
“Six Devil Fruits, three Paramecia, three Zoan, I wonder······”
“Not enough.”
Elus stated directly.
Hearing this, Judge’s face twitched, the smile he tried hard to maintain showed signs of collapsing, he had thought Elus might open his mouth wide like a lion, but this appetite was really too big, the lowest price of Devil Fruits was at least 100 million Beli, but on the market, they often doubled or more, six Devil Fruits, properly operated, could sell for over 10 billion······
“And an additional condition.” Elus added, “You can take the Artificial Dragon Technology, but I hope the Jermma Kingdom and the Eckmond Kingdom establish a cooperative relationship in science and technology.”
“Cooperation in science and technology?”
Judge was stunned for a moment.
He had thought it would be more excessive demands, like using clone technology or modified human technology as the price······ These technologies were the foundation for the Jermma Kingdom to dominate the North Blue, if the related secrets leaked······ He was troubled over how to politely refuse Elus’s excessive demands, but unexpectedly his worries seemed completely useless.
“That’s right, between our two countries, we can carry out academic exchanges in the field of science and technology, learn from each other’s strengths, and progress together.” This statement was so grandiose, impeccable, but······ progress together? Judge’s face twisted a bit.
Before coming, he had thoroughly investigated the situation of the Eckmond Kingdom.
The Eckmond Kingdom was established less than two hundred years ago, a purely agricultural country relying on exporting primary products like coffee, with no technology content at all, naturally no basis to talk about development in science and technology, if the two countries really cooperated, it would purely be the Eckmond Kingdom taking the strengths of Jermma to compensate for its own weaknesses.
Talk of progress together was pure deception, not as useful as a pile of dog shit.
“It is my honor.”
After being stunned for a few seconds, Judge agreed outright.
Elus chuckled lightly, his gaze carrying a bit of teasing and contempt, as if seeing through Judge’s worries, “I’m not so unreasonable, a cornered dog will jump over the wall, a cornered rabbit can bite, there is no irresolvable deep hatred between us, pushing Mister Judge to the end would not bring me greater benefits.”
“On the contrary, only through cooperation can our future have more possibilities.” Elus spoke casually, freely painting imaginary pies, well, not entirely imaginary, “I understand myself that the Eckmond Kingdom’s technological foundation is quite weak, cooperating with the Jermma Kingdom naturally benefits me greatly, however······ in cutting-edge technology, I won’t disappoint you, Mister Judge.”
These words······ sounded like hot air.
But with Artificial Dragon Technology as precedent, it was not entirely impossible, from Elus’s attitude, that mad scientist wanted by the World Government and Navy was likely hidden in the Black Prince’s hands.
“Your Highness Elus, I look forward to in-depth exchanges with your country, to have someone to exchange science and technology with me is exactly what I desire.”
Judge said solemnly.
Resistance was destined to be impossible, since he could not resist, better to accept it readily, and······ to be honest, cooperating with the Black Prince might not be a bad thing, with the additional identity of the Black Prince’s ally, in the North Blue he might more easily suppress those who did not submit.
Thinking this through, plus Elus not excessively pressuring Jermma, Judge accepted this reality at extreme speed and tried to adjust his mindset.
Elus grinned, his smile exceptionally bright.
“Very good.”
Judge’s attitude satisfied him greatly.
Without much effort, he pulled the Jermma Kingdom over, though only cooperating in limited fields, but the Jermma Kingdom’s most valuable thing was their science and technology, and once the door was opened, naturally he could slowly and subtly draw the Jermma Kingdom to his side.
“By the way, Artificial Dragon Technology is for research only, best not to sell it outwardly under Jermma’s name.” Elus reminded.
“The Jermma Kingdom only sells war outwardly.”
Judge laughed.
“Moreover, Artificial Dragons are not very reasonable war weapons, I just hope to gain some new ideas and inspirations from them, so, the Jermma Kingdom will not intervene in the Artificial Dragon market.”
“······”
Elus stared at Judge for five seconds.
“I don’t like letting my partners suffer losses.” He lowered his eyes, as if thinking for a moment, “I know you’ve always been working hard to restore the glory of the Jermma Kingdom······ If you don’t mind, this humble title of Black Prince might be able to help you solve some trouble.”
“······ Endless gratitude, Your Highness Elus, your help is exactly what I have been hoping for.”
Judge’s excited voice was trembling.
Black Prince······ to be able to openly borrow the Black Prince’s reputation, this monster comparable to the Pirate Emperors, if not for concerns about his own position and fear of attracting World Government strikes, he had always harbored the wish to borrow greater power to unify the North Blue.
He did not care if it was achieved by his own power, as long as the goal was reached, he would even dare to reach for the devil’s power.
It was just that with the World Government and Navy hanging high in the sky like the blazing sun, intimidating the Four Seas and the Grand Line,
Hooking up with pirates at this time would only invite destruction.
So no matter how much he craved power, he had not contacted the New World Pirate Emperors, until now······ Elus had power comparable to the Pirate Emperors, was also a prince of a World Government member nation, and additionally held the title of Seven Warlords······
Hooking up with Elus, even the World Government could not openly accuse anything.
“If you don’t mind, that’s naturally best.”
“No no, of course not, how could I mind your aid!”
Judge was so excited.
Compared to his previous tense and troubled state, it was like heaven and earth, what seemed like misfortune ultimately brought an unexpected lucky outcome.
His mood was genuinely good.
Elus also laughed very happily, as long as Judge dared to borrow his name to act in the North Blue, it would be equivalent to voluntarily binding himself to the war chariot driven by Elus, the future······ he would probably have no choice but to go all the way to the dark with him!
At this moment,
The atmosphere in the reception room was exceptionally harmonious and pleasant.
