Exactly—what Beltz had in mind was engineering an early Edd War!
In the original timeline, the massive naval battle prepared by Shiki and Roger had completely alarmed Marine Headquarters. To prevent any contact between these two great pirates, both Sengoku and Garp had been mobilized. Sengoku was specifically tasked with keeping an eye on Shiki, while Garp would set out the moment there was any word of Roger's movements.
Therefore... if another Edd War were to occur now, the two strongest individuals in the Navy would be absent! As long as those two were gone, the rest of Marine Headquarters was nothing but a motley crew of "clay chickens and pottery dogs." Beltz truly didn't hold them in high regard. In such a state, wouldn't snatching Alber be a simple task?
"What kind of devious scheme are you cooking up now?" Shiki raised an eyebrow upon hearing Beltz's words.
Beltz laid out his thoughts. When Shiki heard that he was intended to fight Roger just to lure Garp and Sengoku away from Marine Headquarters, he couldn't help but snap: "You brat, you're treating me like cannonball fodder, aren't you!"
According to Beltz's plan, Shiki would clearly have to engage in a decisive battle with Roger; simply having a few people contact him wouldn't be enough to draw the full attention of the Navy. But Shiki wasn't fully prepared for an all-out war with Roger yet.
"Eh, how can you say that?" Beltz gave a wry smile. "Haven't you always wanted to fight Roger? I'm just giving you the opportunity. Once I bring Alber out, I'll head over to support you immediately."
"Jihahaha..." Shiki laughed with his hands on his hips. "This Alber guy probably isn't of much use to you, is he? You just want to hand him over to that Vegapunk fellow for research, right? Once the research is over, hand him to me. Consider that the payment for this naval battle."
"No problem." Beltz truly didn't care much about Alber. As long as he could obtain the Lineage Factor of the Lunarian tribe, he could even use Vegapunk to mass-produce Lunarians.
Shiki was still too young; he didn't understand Vegapunk's true value and failed to realize the vital importance of science and technology. Furthermore, Beltz really didn't need Alber. Even if Alber eventually became King, his peak was only during the battle against Zoro under Kaido in the future. He was merely a Calamity-level officer. While impressive, if Beltz wanted, he could pull out several powerful Captain-level figures as helpers—he naturally wouldn't fuss over one man.
Moreover, his reasoning was sound: if things went as expected, Vegapunk would still be able to create the Seraphim. The combat power of a Seraphim was far beyond that of a Calamity-class officer; after all, they were the "strongest humanity in history" created by Vegapunk.
"Fine, let's plot the details for this later."
Starting a war with Roger wasn't something that could be done on a whim; first, they had to find him. Unlike the remnants of the Rocks Pirates, the Roger Pirates had no interest in vying for territory; they were merely "violent travelers." They were nomadic and had no fixed base, making it no simple feat to locate them in the vast ocean. That task, of course, was left to Shiki.
Beltz returned to Onigashima and headed to Vegapunk's laboratory. The red-haired brothers had been taken to their room by Rukia and were currently sleeping. Enel had been picked up by Shiki's men; given Enel's personality, he was never going to be a "good guy," so he might as well settle in as a pirate on Shiki's side.
"Vegapunk." Beltz pushed open the laboratory door.
The interior was a stark contrast to the rough pirate aesthetic outside—it felt like a fragment of misplaced time, as if a laboratory from the future had crashed into this era. The cold metal walls had a matte finish, and countless screens displayed waterfalls of green data. The air smelled of ozone and some sort of cryogenic fluid. Precision instruments hummed in the background, sounding like the rhythmic breathing of a sleeping colossus.
As Beltz pushed through the airtight door, the first thing he saw was a back. The person wore a heavy black tactical helmet with a prominent yellow "01" painted on the side. On the dark blue jumpsuit, a "Caution" warning and the character for "Logic" (正) on the back were exceptionally clear in the cold light.
"Has the experiment been successful then?" Beltz said upon entering. "Your clone? Should I call him..." Looking at the character on the back, Beltz added, "Sei?"
"I am called Shaka," Logic Shaka replied. "Correct, my satellite experiment was successful. Now there are seven of me, and the efficiency of our work has increased tremendously!"
"Where are the rest of you?" Beltz looked around but only saw Shaka.
"The Stella is currently performing maintenance on them; I am the only one currently deployed for normal work," Shaka explained. "However, my capabilities are no different from the main body."
"I'm aware of that." Beltz thought for a moment, recalling the rebellion of the Vegapunk representing Greed in the original story, and cautioned: "The other clones don't matter much, but if you intend to split off your Greed, I suggest you don't."
"Hmm?" Shaka frowned imperceptibly. "Greed... what about it?"
"Because greed is difficult to control," Beltz said seriously. "Don't you have the desire to become a Celestial Dragon deep within you?" Seeing Shaka about to protest, Beltz continued immediately: "Don't be quick to deny it. In truth, everyone has the thought of wanting to be a Celestial Dragon in their heart, but the biggest difference between us and those beasts is the ability to restrain our desires. But if there is a version of you that represents nothing but desire, can it truly be controlled?"
Shaka fell into deep thought. He didn't actually resent the World Government—after all, the World Government's propaganda for years claimed they represented Justice. However, Vegapunk truly looked down on the Celestial Dragons. If anything, he only respected the Navy. It could only be said that the truth of this world was held firmly in the hands of those who controlled the propaganda.
"So... you mean, don't separate greed?"
"It's just a suggestion. If you think it's fine, I won't stop you," Beltz said. "It's just that when the time comes, I might impose some minor restrictions."
In truth, not much would change. The laboratory was currently within his shadow. The shadow was completely isolated from the outside world; even if Vegapunk managed to analyze his shadow power and escape, it would be impossible for "Greed" to pull off such a major move without the others knowing.
And besides... even if the World Government found out, so what? Could they actually storm Wano? That was impossible. Unless Imu personally set out, Beltz really didn't fear the World Government. He, Shiki, and the future Oden—any one of them could hold their own. Even if Oden and Shiki weren't of one mind, Oden would surely step up to resist a World Government invasion. If the World Government didn't dare storm Wano when Kaido was there, would they dare when all three of them were present?
"Let me think about it some more." Shaka really couldn't make a quick decision; desire was indeed a massive distraction for their experiments.
"By the way, here is some research material I brought back. See if anything interests you." Beltz took a document from his pocket. He had copied some of Kurotsuchi Mayuri's experimental data from the monitoring room during his last trip back to the Silbern.
Shaka grabbed the file and began reading intently. He was instantly captivated by the very first page—it was the research data for the Superhuman Drug! Yes, the very drug that could accelerate a person's reaction speed by millions of times. Taking this would truly turn one into a "superhuman." Of course, if the body couldn't withstand that level of reaction speed, that would be the end of it.
Shaka wondered... if his brain's processing speed could be increased by millions of times... Heavens... it was hard to even imagine. His research efficiency would skyrocket, and he could create even more!
"Where on earth did you get this research data?" Shaka grew curious again. "This person must be a genius no less than myself! Can you arrange for me to meet him?"
"This..." Beltz coughed. "There will probably be a chance in the future."
Meeting Kurotsuchi Mayuri was likely out of the question; they were on completely opposing sides. One was a Soul Reaper, the other a Quincy—and Mayuri was the type of Soul Reaper who performed horrific human experiments on Quincies! As a Quincy, Beltz's bloodline made it impossible to reconcile with a war criminal like Mayuri. However, Urahara and Aizen were also top-tier scientists; maybe there would be a chance for them to meet.
"Right, that blood sample I gave you earlier..." Beltz thought of Yhwach's blood. "How is it? Can it be replicated?"
If they could extract and replicate Yhwach's Lineage Factor... that would be truly terrifying. One Yhwach was enough trouble; two would be a nightmare. After all, they were natural sons of war who needed constant conflict and soul-devouring to sustain themselves.
Shaka shook his head. "It's difficult. That blood is different from anyone I've ever seen. I've used all sorts of instruments, but let alone extracting the Lineage Factor, even analyzing its basic properties is incredibly hard."
"Whose blood is it, exactly?" Vegapunk was extremely curious; he had never seen anything like it.
"If I had to say..." Beltz wasn't disappointed. He simply replied, "Perhaps it is a fragment of a 'God' left behind in the mortal world."
"A God?" Shaka was shocked. "Does a God really exist in this world?"
"Maybe they do, maybe they don't." Beltz sighed. "Anyway, I've brought you quite a bit of funding this time, enough for the next few years of research." Beltz generously dumped all the gold and treasure from his shadow. While other pirates sailed for wealth, wealth was useless to him unless converted into progress. "You can research whatever you want, as long as you don't fall short on the things I need."
Seeing the mountain of gold, Vegapunk was stunned. "Did you rob the Celestial Dragons' vault?" Even though Beltz had mentioned he had money, the sheer scale was still surprising. This was exactly why he enjoyed working under Beltz—the man was truly loaded! He felt that even if he joined the World Government, he wouldn't receive this much financial support. Most importantly, Beltz didn't force him to focus purely on weapons; he could research whatever he wanted!
"Don't worry, whatever you need, I'll make sure it's done better than you imagined!"
"How is the Azure Dragon fruit coming along?" Beltz asked. He had previously given Vegapunk his own Lineage Factor, wanting to create another Azure Dragon fruit. That fruit was incredibly powerful, and since Vegapunk had managed to create another one in the original story, there shouldn't be a problem doing it here. His Hollow-clone would need that fruit to boost its stats!
"Give me one more year. In a year, I guarantee it will be finished!"
A year... the timing matched up well. By the time he brought Alber back, the clones would be ready for production.
The Hollow-clone would be made using Aaroniero's brain fluid, the Azure Dragon Fruit, the Munch-Munch Fruit, and the Lunarian Lineage Factor.
The Soul Reaper-clone would be made using Blackbeard's Lineage Factor, the Op-Op Fruit, the Lunarian Lineage Factor, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri's artificial Soul Reaper technology.
Thinking about it, he just hoped Blackbeard's DNA wouldn't ruin the Soul Reaper-clone's looks. While it might be different in One Piece, good looks were a legitimate standard for combat power in the Soul Society! Hmm, while Blackbeard was a bit ugly, his mother Erebus was a beauty.
Beltz suddenly thought of something terrifying. If his clone ended up looking like Blackbeard, he really wouldn't be able to stand it. Wait... maybe the Soul Reaper-clone should be female. Beltz frowned slightly, feeling his plan could be refined. To maintain balance, he needed a "Yin" force. This way, he wouldn't have to worry about the Soul Reaper-clone looking like a black hog.
As for his own main body... he planned to take a gamble. In a year, he would see how far Vegapunk had gotten in analyzing Yhwach's blood. If any useful results came up, he decided he would also modify his main body! Of course, there was no rush. He was worried about being noticed by Yhwach, so he could save the modification for the very end, right before the clones and the main body were set to merge!