With such a treasure stolen by Kozuki Hiyori, Stella was naturally furious. However, with Kozuki Hiyori's own strength, coupled with that Devil Fruit, after only one or two years of training, she already possessed strength close to a Shichibukai.
For such a strong person, even Stella, without Vegapunk as her backing, couldn't do much against her. Unless Stella herself took action, most of her subordinates certainly couldn't defeat Kozuki Hiyori.
Even if there were those who could defeat Kozuki Hiyori, they were Vegapunk's trump cards left for Stella. The usually calm Stella ultimately chose not to pursue Kozuki Hiyori, but merely used her influence in the World Government to cause Kozuki Hiyori some trouble and place a considerable bounty on her.
After listening to Stella's smiling narration, Kozuki Toki's face showed a mixed expression of joy and bitterness.
Her daughter was not only alive but also doing very well, which naturally made Kozuki Toki very happy.
But the key was that she was now in the hands of Vegapunk and Stella, and could even be said to be completely manipulated, unable to even commit suicide... However, a mother pays for her daughter's debts. Although Kozuki Toki felt bitter, she didn't blame her daughter at all; instead, she felt quite gratified by her actions.
At most, she would sacrifice this body. Anyway, she had already prepared herself mentally after being controlled... Vegapunk stroked his chin. It was also his first time hearing Kozuki Hiyori's detailed experience. Before that, he had only received news of Kozuki Hiyori's defection from Stella, and he was already mentally prepared for it.
But that little girl actually ate the Artificial Paramecia-type Devil Fruit I made? That's really unexpected... It seems this experimental subject also has some necessity for retrieval... "Stella, where is Kozuki Hiyori now?"
Hearing Vegapunk's question, Stella's lips curved into a slight smile:
"That's a good question. As far as I know, Kozuki Hiyori should be in the Dark Triangle region now!"
"I don't know what that little girl is thinking, but she seems to want to cause trouble for Gekko Moriah!"
Kozuki Hiyori looking for trouble with Gekko Moriah? Vegapunk felt a sense of displacement after hearing this. How did these two completely unrelated individuals get together?
If there was any common ground between them, it should be Black Blade Shuusui and the Swordsman Ryuma! Perhaps also hatred for Kaido?
Thinking of this, Vegapunk vaguely seemed to have thought of something. Could it be that Kozuki Hiyori wanted to retrieve Black Blade Shuusui and Ryuma's remains from Moriah? Or did she want Moriah's help to deal with Kaido together?
"In that case, Stella, you rest for a bit. Then we'll go to the Dark Ghost Zone together to find Kozuki Hiyori!"
Hearing Vegapunk's words, Stella was somewhat surprised. When did her boss become so proactive?
"It's a good opportunity to bring Kozuki Hiyori back. She's the only rare experimental subject who has eaten an Artificial Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. Perhaps the future development of Artificial Paramecia-type Devil Fruit will depend on her!"
"Compared to bloodline transplantation, the development of Artificial Devil Fruit is much more difficult!"
What Vegapunk most yearned for was not actually imitation Devil Fruits, but to develop a true Devil Fruit with his own abilities.
Devil Fruits are crystallized desires condensed from spiritual power. Although this conclusion had long been reached, Vegapunk still didn't know how Devil Fruits were formed.
This was the real reason Vegapunk had been tirelessly researching Devil Fruits. Otherwise, simply researching Devil Fruit bloodline potions would be much simpler, and there wouldn't be such a high failure rate.
So that's how it is, Stella thought to herself. This was her boss, only interested in various researches, rarely wasting time on unprofitable things like hunting down enemies.
However, after hearing Vegapunk's words, Kozuki Toki's face instantly turned pale. She looked at Vegapunk in horror, knelt down directly, and pleaded bitterly:
"My lord... Hiyori is ignorant, please spare her this once!"
Perhaps she didn't deeply understand the strength of Vegapunk, Hancock, and others, but after seeing Vegapunk's triple-strike on the Red Line, Kozuki Toki also deeply understood their power. She didn't think her daughter could contend with these monsters!
Vegapunk glanced at Kozuki Toki and said indifferently:
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