After watching the helpless expressions of the intelligence agents in the lower levels of the base through the surveillance feed, Doflamingo turned his attention back to the cultivation chamber in front of him, fully satisfied.
All throughout Egghead...
The ones who had been sleeping most soundly this entire time were none other than the six clones of Vegapunk lying inside the pods.
Doflamingo rubbed his chin, staring with interest at the six Vegapunks of various appearances.
"Vegapunk, how much longer until these clones are fully matured?"
Originally, he had only been aiming to acquire a single Vegapunk.
Now there were six of them—that's some absurd work efficiency.
"About half a month," Vegapunk replied honestly.
"These clones... are they essentially identical to you? Same thoughts, desires, emotions?"
From what he'd seen with Stussy, Miss Bakkin, and even Weevil and Whitebeard, clones shared traits with their originals, but that didn't mean they were exact replicas.
Besides, these six clones of Vegapunk varied wildly in appearance and size.
Some were male, others female—and two of them were clearly modified, with features resembling cyborgs.
At the mention of this, Vegapunk became visibly excited. He pointed to the large brain above.
"No, no, no—of course they're not the same. The clones and I are independent individuals. That's how I designed them. Their appearances differ on purpose, to distinguish them."
"Once they're synchronized with Punk Records, they'll each have access to all of my memories, knowledge, and... well, everything else."
"Independent individuals?"
Doflamingo mulled over the phrase, the corners of his lips curling into a wicked grin.
"Interesting. So you didn't install any backdoor controls? No hierarchy? Vegapunk, you're practically asking for death."
No one understood desire better than Doflamingo.
As long as you're human, you have desires—even Germa's mass-produced clone soldiers had minds of their own.
And Vegapunk... was a genius among geniuses.
Without safeguards, it was only a matter of time before it all blew up in his face.
And the best part? Vegapunk had generously severed his own brain and shared it.
Unaware of Doflamingo's internal amusement, Vegapunk began introducing his creations with great pride, gesturing toward the pods.
"First up, Shaka, the embodiment of justice. He'll be the coordinator of the six and manage everything in my stead.
Then there's Lilith—representing evil—who may end up doing things beyond my personal moral threshold.
Edison and Pythagoras: one's responsible for generating new ideas, the other for turning those ideas into reality.
To ensure absolute focus, I gave both of them mechanical enhancements—to eliminate unnecessary actions and avoid wasting time.
Then there's Atlas and York, representing violence and desire. They're meant to satisfy—"
After listening to Vegapunk's detailed breakdown of his six clones, Doflamingo came to a clear conclusion: the old man was absolutely going to mess this up.
If this were just another Stussy-type clone, like Miss Bakkin, the group might actually work together smoothly and make faster progress.
But these six? Each a unique, independent personality that merely shared knowledge?
Shaka and Lilith were manageable—at least they seemed reasonably stable.
Then there were Edison and Pythagoras, the so-called worker drones:
One generating ideas like a machine, the other acting as the builder.
No emotions? That might be fine.
But with emotions?
Doflamingo had worked jobs in his past life—he knew the seething resentment of overworked laborers.
The worst of the bunch were definitely Atlas and York:
One was essentially a hyperactive wrecking ball, the other a literal walking bodily function handler.
Armed with Vegapunk's knowledge, who would willingly accept being reduced to either a berserk child or a machine for eating, drinking, and excreting?
Still, Doflamingo didn't voice these thoughts.
A single Vegapunk was already incredibly valuable—and potentially unreliable if captured by the World Government.
But a whole batch of Vegapunks?
Now that opened up a world of possibilities.
Let's see what these clones are really made of.
Finishing his thoughts, Doflamingo pointed at three of the female clones.
"Why are half your clones female?"
One of them was a towering loli, about Kaido's height.
The other two... let's just say their assets perfectly fit their respective roles—evil and desire.
"Because I like them that way!"
Vegapunk replied confidently, completely unapologetic.
What man doesn't like cute girls?
Doflamingo twitched the corner of his mouth.
So it wasn't some special design philosophy—just personal taste. He'd overthought it.
"Facing your desires head-on... admirable. I imagine we'll get along just fine, Dr. Vegapunk."
Seeing that Doflamingo seemed to be in a good mood, Vegapunk took the chance to ask:
"By the way, Doflamingo-sama, do you know what happened to Stussy?"
"Oh? Sounds like you two have a close relationship?" Doflamingo raised an eyebrow.
Throughout the journey, Stussy had clearly been emotionally reactive whenever Vegapunk was mentioned—more so than even the World Government.
"Back when Miss Bakkin came to us during our MADS days, she offered me a deal I couldn't refuse. You probably already know the exchange she proposed—Stussy is a clone of Miss Bakkin. I'm guessing Judge and Caesar already filled you in on that."
Vegapunk began recounting the events of more than a decade ago.
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Due to her exceptional potential, she was taken by the World Government and trained to become a CP0 agent, serving as a shield for the Celestial Dragons."
"Oh, I know."
"...You... You do?"
Vegapunk froze, tongue half-hanging from his mouth, stunned.
Did this guy infiltrate even CP0?
Or had Doflamingo—as a Celestial Dragon himself—never fully severed ties with the World Government?
"Yeah, I said I know."
Doflamingo nodded casually. He'd already read the script—Stussy being part of CP0 was old news to him.
"Go on. What's her situation?"
Vegapunk composed himself and continued.
"As her creator, Stussy trusts me more than the World Government..."
...
"What kind of double agent' nonsense is that."
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg