Chapter 483: Caesar's Demand
While Brett was visiting Vegapunk's laboratory, Mariejois was not having a good day.
The five old men sat together in a state of communal frustration, their expressions uniformly grim.
"We've brought in a considerable number of new soldiers, but they're all rank-and-file Marines at best," Saint Ju Peter said, exhaling slowly. "Just as we feared. Using mass recruitment to find fighters of genuine caliber has its limits."
The Five Elders exchanged glances and shook their heads as one. They understood perfectly well that the world didn't simply have extraordinary fighters scattered across every port, waiting to be discovered. The last recruitment had produced Fujitora and Ryokugyu, which had been a remarkable stroke of fortune. Expecting lightning to strike twice was another matter entirely.
Still, doing nothing while anxiety built in their chests was its own kind of unbearable.
"And meanwhile, the NEO Navy's own recruitment is flourishing." Saint Warcury's jaw was tight. "The moment those two treacherous wretches Sakazuki and Kuzan joined Zephyr, his standing shot up immediately. Nations and territories that were sitting on the fence have been lining up to throw their support behind him. The losses from the battle have been all but recovered."
The Five Elders sat with that in silence.
Their side was stagnating. The enemy was advancing with the wind behind them. If there was a worse combination of circumstances, none of them could name it.
Knock knock knock.
A sharp rap at the door cut through the quiet.
"Come in," Saint Mars called out.
The door opened. A CP0 agent entered carrying a Den Den Mushi, bowed respectfully toward the Five Elders, then straightened. "Five Elders. A visual transmission from Doctor Caesar."
"Caesar?"
Saint Ju Peter's expression shifted immediately. Something like cautious hope crossed his face. "Finally some good news? He's made progress?"
The others felt the same thing stir in their chests.
At this point, Caesar was essentially their only card left to play.
The CP0 agent set the Den Den Mushi down, bowed again, and withdrew. The Five Elders connected the call. The snail's eyes projected an image onto the pale wall, forming a screen.
"Oh! The Five Elders, is it?"
A large face crowded into the frame from very close up, accompanied by a low, unsettling cackle. "Fuhehehehehe. It's Caesar."
"We know it's you, Caesar," Saint Nusjuro said, making no effort to hide his impatience. "We're not here for introductions. You wouldn't be contacting us unless you had something to show. So. Do you have results?"
"But of course!"
Caesar puffed his chest out with visible self-satisfaction. "I'm calling specifically so you can witness my greatest work in person."
He appeared to lift the Den Den Mushi and carry it across the room. The image swung wildly enough that several of the Five Elders had to look away from the screen. Then it stabilized.
The camera was now trained on something at the far end of a wide room.
A monster.
There was no other word for it. It sat hunched on the floor like an enormous octopus, roughly five or six meters tall, its surface glistening with slick moisture. It had no arms. In their place, a forest of tentacles extended from its torso and from where its legs should have been. Its head was smooth and bare, with only a pair of dull, glassy eyes set into its face.
The Five Elders' first collective impression was revulsion.
"Caesar. What exactly are we looking at?" Saint Mars kept his voice controlled, though the effort was evident. "This is your product? This is nothing like what we asked for."
"Simply turning them into Fish-Men is barely scratching the surface!" Caesar moved into frame beside the creature, his voice rising with the fervor of a man who had been waiting to deliver this lecture. "My research has gone far beyond that. I've awakened the bloodline power that was dormant inside the Fish-Man lineage all along! Look at this magnificent form. Who could ever imagine that he was once human?"
Saint Warcury's brow furrowed. "Caesar. We asked for warriors capable of operating in the deep sea."
"He is a warrior!"
Caesar's smile was sharp with pride. "After awakening his ancient bloodline power, his combat capability has been dramatically enhanced."
He nudged the creature with his foot. "Doberman. Show the Five Elders what you can do."
The camera swung to one side of the room, where an enormous iron ingot had been placed.
"Caesar!"
Saint Ju Peter's voice came out sharper than intended. "Did you just say Doberman? That thing is Doberman?"
Caesar's only answer was a low, knowing laugh.
The monster moved.
What had been slumped on the floor like a pile of discarded material suddenly launched itself forward with shocking speed. Its tentacles shot out in all directions, each one wrapped in crackling black Haki, striking from multiple angles simultaneously, fast as lightning.
With no apparent effort at all, it drove every tentacle through the iron ingot. The metal offered as much resistance as foam. When the tentacles withdrew, the ingot was riddled with holes.
Saint Nusjuro's eyes narrowed. "Strength, at least, has increased."
"Precisely!"
The camera swung back to Caesar's face, flushed with triumph. "I activated the fish-based components of the Fish-Man bloodline, then integrated that with my artificial Devil Fruit research. In practical terms, this subject has become a Fruit user. Which naturally means a significant power increase. And because the power source is the bloodline itself rather than an external fruit, he is completely unaffected by seawater. A deep-sea capable power user."
Saint Mars stroked his long beard slowly, something calculating in his eyes. "That does sound promising."
Hideous, certainly. But functional? If this technology could be scaled into an army, they would effectively have an unconventional force of power users, all capable of fighting at depth. That was a capability the World Government had never possessed before.
"Excellent work, Caesar. Genuinely."
Saint Warcury had moved past his revulsion and arrived at the obvious conclusion. This was the best news they'd received in weeks. "Can this be mass produced?"
"Ah."
A strange silence settled over Caesar.
The Five Elders exchanged glances. "What is it?"
"There is, in fact, one small remaining issue with the research." Caesar held up his thumb and forefinger a sliver apart, indicating truly, barely, nothing of consequence. "As you may have observed, Doberman appears to be experiencing certain cognitive difficulties. When we awakened the fish bloodline, the animalistic instincts seem to have extended to his higher reasoning."
"Meaning?" Saint Ju Peter's eyes narrowed.
"He responds to direct commands. Very direct commands. He cannot engage in independent combat decision-making."
Caesar had the grace to look mildly embarrassed about this.
Someone would essentially have to dictate his every move in a fight. That was not a functional combat asset.
The Five Elders went quiet.
"Can it be corrected?" Saint Mars asked, his tone measured.
"Absolutely!"
Caesar's posture snapped back to confident immediately. "In fact, that's precisely why I'm calling. I've examined Doberman extensively and I can't isolate the cause. What I need is a control subject for comparison. If I had one, I could identify the problem immediately."
Saint Nusjuro frowned. "What about the test subjects you've already used? You had hundreds of Fish-Man Marines sent to you."
"Fuhehehehehe! They have, naturally, made their contributions to science!" Caesar drifted upward slightly, the camera wobbling with him.
"You absolute wretch!"
Saint Mars couldn't hold it. Those had been hundreds of Fish-Man Marines. Hundreds. This man had burned through all of them and had the nerve to sound cheerful about it.
Where were they supposed to find more subjects at this point?
A thought occurred.
Saint Mars stared at the screen, fixing his eyes on Caesar's expression. "If we give you one more test subject, can you guarantee you'll solve the problem?"
"Without question!" Caesar thumped his own chest. "I'm right at the finish line. One more push and it's done."
Saint Mars held the pause for a moment, his gaze still level. Then he gave a single nod.
"Very well. We'll send you one."