As the air door opened, everyone ducked inside. The flames were extinguished, and the space fell back into darkness. But only for a few minutes.
Six or seven minutes later, a click sounded, and a dim green light rose from below, illuminating this icy world.
An old man emerged from another passage. He was hunched over, with graying white hair, and stood only a little over a meter tall, almost like a dwarf. He wore a pointed hat and carried an oil lamp in his hand.
Behind him followed four creatures two to three meters tall. Their upper bodies were light blue, their lower bodies dark blue, and their whole bodies looked like giant chicks, with black skull markings painted on their heads. Resting on their shoulders was a huge ice coffin, inside which lay a giant creature frozen solid, half hippopotamus and half human.
Under the old man's direction, the creatures set the ice coffin down in place. After taking a look and letting out a sigh, the old man left with them, and the whole space sank into darkness once more.
Seeing this, Yemu immediately said to Kuromu, "Carefully follow them..."
Inside the pitch-black tunnel, the old man used the faint glow of his oil lamp to light the way ahead.
Before long, a huge stone door appeared at the end of the tunnel.
As the four creatures stepped forward and pushed it open, brilliant light spilled out from inside through the widening crack.
After the old man entered, the four creatures shut the stone door again and left.
Inside the Door-Door Space, Yemu looked at the others.
"It looks like all the answers are behind that stone door. Lillilu, spread your Realm of Death. It's time to uncover the truth..."
...
In the bright world beyond, what appeared before them was a steel fortress straight out of some futuristic sci-fi world.
Everywhere they looked were all kinds of precision instruments and chemical reagents.
At the very center stood a huge boiler-like device, with a dense network of pipes connecting it to every machine around it.
And standing at the control platform in front of that massive boiler-like machine was Nicholas, the Warden of Impel Down. Looking at the old man who had just walked in, he spoke with clear disappointment on his face.
"Another failure, Dr. Furumi? If this keeps up, you're making things very difficult for me. Zoan Devil Fruit users aren't that easy to find among the prisoners."
The old man known as Dr. Furumi looked back at Nicholas with open disdain, showing no fear at all.
"What do you think Devil Fruits are...? That's technology mastered only by the race of gods. Do you think I'm a god? That I can just unravel their secrets whenever I want?"
"But I heard that brat much younger than you can already manufacture Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits. You two both came from Mecha Island, and you're so much older than he is... It's pretty embarrassing to be surpassed by a junior."
"That's only how you see it. Science has no seniority. That child Vegapunk has gone farther than anyone else. As his elder, all I feel is happiness."
"Hey, Dr. Furumi, that attitude won't convince me to release you from prison and give you your freedom."
At Nicholas's words, Dr. Furumi's face darkened.
Seeing that, Nicholas pressed harder.
"I've already given you everything you wanted. Whatever you asked for, I provided. I even did everything I could to get you a copy of the research materials Vegapunk left behind on Mecha Island. And now you're telling me you can't do it? Do you want to go back to your cell?"
Hearing this, Dr. Furumi sighed.
"It's not that I'm incompetent. As a former Celestial Dragon, you should understand just how profound the technology contained in Devil Fruits really is. Even the Celestial Dragons, as descendants of the race of gods, only possess a crude imitation of that ancient technology when it comes to making Devil Fruits. What you create are merely inferior fruits modeled after the Devil Fruits left behind by the race of gods. And now you want me to reach the level of the race of gods from the past. Even if you killed me, I couldn't do it..."
Hearing Dr. Furumi's words, Nicholas frowned deeply. In the end, as if reluctantly compromising, he asked, "Then just how far can you go right now...? When exactly will my dream of eternal life come true...?"
Dr. Furumi sighed again, thought for a moment, and said, "At present, I've already confirmed the theory that Zoan Devil Fruits possess their own consciousness. But deciphering their life blueprint and determining what that consciousness truly is remains a very distant goal. Not to mention the question of where that irrationally powerful strength comes from after a Zoan awakens. You've seen it yourself. We already have plenty of test subjects, but the ones who truly awaken are extremely rare. And even those who do awaken all lose their minds. Those two points are the key to realizing your dream... As long as we can solve that mystery, every answer will reveal itself..."
It wasn't as though Nicholas failed to understand that. But waiting was the hardest part to endure. Especially now, when the number of Zoan Devil Fruit users available for use was only getting smaller and smaller.
There were still some on the sixth level, but the ones imprisoned there were the most vicious criminals under the World Government's strict watch. Even as the warden of this prison, he did not dare touch them.
"What if we used Paramecia users as test subjects? Would that work?"
Dr. Furumi shook his head.
"Although the three categories of Devil Fruits are fundamentally the same, they represent three stages in how the ancient race of gods transformed our world. First came the creation of primitive life, which is the Zoan type. Then came the use of tools, which is the Paramecia type. And finally came the challenge and alteration of nature, which is the Logia type. Throughout that process, Devil Fruits kept evolving, and the life blueprints they contained became more and more complex. If we can't even understand Zoan, then Paramecia and Logia are even further beyond us. Of course, it's not as though there's absolutely no way..."
At that point, Dr. Furumi looked at Nicholas.
But Nicholas shook his head immediately.
"Forget it. Ever since the God Valley Incident sixteen years ago, after I leaked information about the existence of Uranus, they stripped me of my surname. Now I can't even leave Impel Down, much less go to Mary Geoise and get close to Uranus. And Poseidon still hasn't been born yet... What a pity. Rocks really had rotten luck, running into Roger and Garp of all people... Otherwise, I would've replaced that old monster long ago and become a true god myself..."
"Then there's no other way. As the two primordial lives born from the original energy of this world's twin trees, the Treasure Tree Adam and the Sun Tree Eve, Uranus and Poseidon gave birth to everything. They hold the answers to every mystery..."
"What a waste. If I'd known, I never should've given that hard-hidden portion of primordial energy to Rocks... I wonder where he hid it after he died..."
At the thought, Nicholas's face filled with regret.
But that thought also seemed to remind him of something. His expression changed as he looked at Dr. Furumi and said, "I recently heard some news... A new Devil Fruit has been born, one not under Uranus's control, just like that Nika from ancient times... Do you think it might have something to do with the gift I gave Rocks?"
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