"What is this?"
Inside Vegapunk's laboratory, the scientist had just concluded a research session. He was about to grab a drink of water when he saw Beltz walk in carrying the frozen Aaroniero.
According to the agreement between him and Beltz, while he would certainly listen to Beltz and research what he desired, he would also develop tools beneficial to people's livelihoods according to his own ideas. He simply wanted to use technology to change the world.
"A person possessing a singular power," Beltz said. "He possesses an infinite power of devouring; once he consumes someone's body, he can even plunder the opponent's abilities."
"Therefore, I'd like to entrust you with researching him."
"What? Such an ability actually exists?" Vegapunk was startled. "I've never even heard of it!"
"Actually, it's not just him. There is someone else in this world who can simultaneously obtain two Devil Fruits, or even more traits," Beltz stated. "I am preparing to go out to sea to find him, so I should be away for another period of time."
"Oh, then leave him to me. I need to draw his blood."
"Be careful. He is highly aggressive. If you're drawing blood or conducting other research while I'm away, you must have Rukia keep an eye on him."
Beltz thought for a moment and realized that wasn't enough, adding, "Be absolutely wary of him. After devouring someone, he can even obtain their memories and transform into any of you. I even considered killing him before letting you start your research."
"That absolutely won't do!" Vegapunk said hurriedly. "If he's dead, his research value drops significantly!"
"I thought so too, which is why I've kept him alive," Beltz said as he walked toward Aaroniero.
To be safe, he felt it best to use his abilities to ensure security. While Aaroniero remained frozen, Beltz directly activated his Subconscious Schrift, entering the vast ocean of Aaroniero's consciousness.
Moving from the surface-level subconscious sea into the deeper ocean of the psyche, Beltz implanted a seed of loyalty within his heart. With Beltz's strength, he could turn Aaroniero into a loyal believer, but that required slow guidance—using time to conduct hypnosis and subtly influence his will. For the start, he simply implanted some thoughts of loyalty toward himself.
After doing so, Beltz felt a slight dizziness in his brain. A Hollow's soul is too heavily polluted; as a Quincy, Hollow power is pure poison to him, even when just entering their mental consciousness. Fortunately, the power gap between him and Aaroniero was vast, so the impact wasn't particularly severe; he would be fine after a short rest.
He thawed a small portion of Aaroniero, let Vegapunk draw a vial of blood, and then, sensing the vibrations of the ice, slowly caused the thawed part to freeze over once more. The Azure Dragon power doesn't include the ability to control ice, but through frequent contact with Rukia, Beltz had slowly expanded his elemental manipulation to include ice. While he couldn't manipulate it as freely as fire or wind, mending a block of ice like this was no problem.
Afterward, he left Onigashima and went to Pirate Island.
Shiki had long since returned from his expedition. He was currently on Pirate Island drinking and eating meat, hosting a grand banquet with his subordinates.
"You're here too! Just in time—come, drink! Eat!" Seeing Beltz approach, Shiki, who was drinking to his heart's content, spoke happily.
"Boss Beltz! You haven't shown up in ages!" the surrounding pirates cheered.
Beltz didn't decline. It wasn't as if he lacked the time. He took a seat below Shiki, and soon someone brought him a jar of wine and a large platter of meat.
"Where have you been lately?" Shiki asked, tearing off a piece of meat and chewing as he spoke.
"I went out to sea for a bit," Beltz replied, pouring wine into a bowl and taking a sip. "Guess who I ran into this time?"
"Hmm... who?" Shiki's curiosity was piqued by Beltz's mysterious tone. Every time this guy spoke like this, it led to a surprise. He took a gulp of wine.
"Rocks' son."
Pfft!
Shiki nearly spat out his wine. He looked at Beltz in shock. "What are you joking about? That guy has a son? I've never heard a word about that!"
"You're just too obtuse. Women like Linlin and Stussy could all tell that Rocks had a wife and son long ago," Beltz said, face unchanged.
"That guy... didn't leak a single bit of news. Jihahaha! I admire him," Shiki laughed loudly. "How did you find out about these things? Never mind, it's useless asking you, you've always been a cryptic charlatan."
Although it was his old Captain's son, Shiki had little interest. He didn't even care about Rocks' death, so why would he care about a son? Furthermore, the Rocks Pirates had disbanded; discussing this was meaningless.
His eyes darted as he used the same tactic on Beltz: "Guess who I ran into out at sea this time?"
Beltz glanced at Shiki and let out a light chuckle. "Who else? Roger, of course."
"!"
"Are you following me? How did you figure that out!"
"I guessed."
"Tell it to the ghosts! Fine, it's pointless talking to you."
"I really did guess," Beltz shrugged.
He wasn't guessing blindly, though. On the sea during this era, there were only a few pirates Shiki acknowledged. Roger was one, Whitebeard was another; Shiki didn't care for the rest. While Linlin and Kaido would become great pirates in the future, they couldn't compare to those few in this period.
Shiki didn't argue the point, changing the subject: "The World Government seems to have become more active lately."
"Oh?" Beltz paused. "In what way?"
"Jihahaha! So there are things you don't know," Shiki couldn't help but laugh loudly. "You aren't a god after all!"
"Where would you find a god like me?" Beltz joked. "I told you I was guessing earlier."
"The King of the Giant Kingdom that Rocks was always pursuing has joined the World Government and is working for them," Shiki said, his tone dropping slightly. "Lately, they've been quite active."
Harald?
When Beltz transmigrated, the manga had only reached the God Valley arc; he hadn't seen how Rocks died, much less subsequent events involving Harald. However, he knew Harald's ultimate fate, so he could guess that Harald did indeed end up serving the World Government. That guy was a powerhouse. Harald's strength was on par with Rocks, making him top-tier in this era.
Could the World Government's increased activity be related to being provoked by the Wandenreich? It seemed like the matter of restoring Liltotto's memory needed to be put on the schedule. He needed Liltotto to gather intelligence from the World Government's side, and incidentally...
He wanted Liltotto to do something for him. That was to find King—no, he wasn't King yet, he should be called Alber. This Alber was Kaido's future right-hand man and a survivor of the Lunarian race.
Since he wanted Vegapunk to create clones, he had to give them the best configuration. Lunarian genes were indispensable. This trait made the Seraphim even more durable than Kaido; he couldn't let it go. So, he thought about snatching Alber away before Kaido, while he was still young.
He only had about a year. If he remembered correctly, it was around next year that Kaido would be captured by the Navy, meet Alber, and take him away. He wasn't sure if it happened at Punk Hazard.
No, he had to tell Shiki now; he and Shiki would act separately. Thus, he didn't follow Shiki's lead regarding Harald, but said:
"Shiki, have you ever thought about recruiting a 'God'?"
"A God?" Shiki asked with a disdainful look. "You're not talking about the Celestial Dragons, are you?"
"Of course not. A much older god," Beltz said softly. "A long time ago, there was a Kingdom of Gods on the Red Line—the Lunarian race."
"Lunarians?" Shiki frowned. "I've heard of that race. They're wanted by the World Government. You know their whereabouts?"
"I only know that the World Government currently has one Lunarian in custody. If you can rescue him, you might gain his loyalty. A Lunarian subordinate would definitely bolster your strength significantly."
Saying this, Beltz felt he was being quite wicked. He was truly fleecing Kaido for all he was worth. He had eaten Kaido's fruit. He had let Shiki take Kaido's territory. Now, he was even instigating Shiki to steal Kaido's future subordinate.
What was next? Kaido's daughter? Eek...
He wondered if Kaido would still even become a Yonko. Though he lacked the Azure Dragon fruit, the territory, and the second-in-command, given his innate ability, it was still possible if he ate another powerful Devil Fruit.
"Now that is interesting." Shiki was seriously considering Beltz's proposal. He was indeed short on capable subordinates. Roger had Rayleigh and Gaban; Newgate's ship had Boro Gram; but Shiki had no real talents under him. Beltz was called the Vice-Captain, but he wasn't Shiki's true subordinate—the two were just partners. That was why Shiki kept trying to recruit Oden, hoping he would become a true right-hand man. But Oden was stubborn, much to Shiki's annoyance. As for the other samurai of Wano, their strength was decent, but none were qualified to be his second-in-command.
So, Beltz's suggestion was quite tempting. For the Lunarians to be wanted by the World Government, they had to possess extraordinary qualities. If he could recruit one, it would indeed enhance his power.
"Do you know where he is?"
"If I knew, I would have taken you there long ago," Beltz sighed. "It's because I don't know that I'm telling you. How about we have a little contest? Whoever finds him first gets him?"
"Jihahaha! Then you've already lost!" Shiki laughed heartily.
Apparently, Beltz didn't have the intel on this one, which was great. Although Beltz had a lot of information from unknown sources, he was just one person. Shiki had a massive intelligence network across the sea. If all else failed, he could go to Linlin, who was known as the Queen of Intel. He would definitely find the Lunarian before Beltz!
Beltz didn't care. Whether he found him or Shiki did, he only needed to borrow a vial of blood.
"Then let's set a one-year limit to see who finds him." Beltz goaded Shiki once more. "If you find him, I only need to borrow a vial of his blood."
Shiki raised an eyebrow. "Then you must also promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Next time, go on an expedition with me. I absolutely must take down that guy Roger!"
"...Let's forget that," Beltz sighed. "Even if I'm there, Roger has Rayleigh and Gaban."
"Cowardly as a mouse!" Shiki said sternly.
"It's not cowardice, it's wisdom," Beltz said calmly.
While the Roger Pirates often fought to a draw with so-and-so, or were pushed into a tight spot by someone, it didn't mean they were a soft target. It was just that Roger loved fighting, so he usually chose to duel the opponent one-on-one. Regardless of how they fell into "peril," they always ended up perfectly fine, didn't they? Garp pushed Roger into peril countless times, chasing him all over the world, and that chase resulted in a Pirate King. One could only say Garp and the Golden Lion were likely just part of the Roger Pirates' "play."
Rayleigh and Gaban both possessed Conqueror's Haki Infusion. A real fight would probably go like this: Shiki alone pushes the Roger Pirates into a corner! Shiki + Beltz push the Roger Pirates into a corner! Then the Roger Pirates just dust themselves off and leave, and nothing is achieved. It's a pure waste of time. While battle promotes growth, he was very busy lately.
Ignoring Shiki, Beltz's next move was to return to the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue. It had been two and a half years since they last met; he wondered how Kuma and the others were. The red-haired brothers should have grown quite a bit. Those two children were very important; their talent was the key to Beltz's future dominance in One Piece.
After a drinking session with Shiki, Beltz left Wano, transforming into the Azure Dragon and flying toward the Sorbet Kingdom. First, to retrieve his money; second, to retrieve Liltotto's memories. Then, he had to visit Skypiea to take the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the gold!