Dr. Vegapunk's research into the Lineage Factor had reached such terrifying heights that even the works of his former colleagues revealed only a shadow of his true brilliance.
And among those colleagues was one man, Vinsmoke Judge.
The biological father of that "idiot cook," Sanji.
Judge took Vegapunk's discoveries and twisted them to build his own kingdom of blood and steel. By manipulating the Lineage Factor, he created battalions of artificial soldiers, cheap, obedient, disposable.
He could wage wars across the seas at a fraction of the cost it took to maintain a regular army. Through these endless campaigns, the name Germa 66 spread like a plague, and the Vinsmokes carved their place in history as the most infamous war profiteers of the North Blue.
But Judge did not stop with soldiers. He turned his gaze to his own family.
Using the same technology, he cultivated five children who were less human, more weapon. Reiju, the eldest. Then the brothers Ichiji, Niji, Sanji, and Yonji. Four of them were born with bodies harder than steel, strength greater than giants, and powers that mimicked Devil Fruits, but without ever eating one.
Reiju wielded deadly poison, Ichiji fought with fire, Niji commanded lightning, and Yonji crushed foes with monstrous physical force. Even Sanji, the so‑called failure, would grow into his own terrifying gift, the flame of Diable Jambe.
Yet of all Judge's creations, the most horrifying was not their strength.
It was the way he tampered with their very humanity.
Through precise alterations of the Lineage Factor, he removed their ability to feel fear… and more than that, stripped them of compassion, pain, and weakness. It was no metaphor. They could stand on the edge of death and smile, because terror did not exist inside them. At Big Mom's wedding, facing execution, they laughed at their own graves.
And Judge went further still. Like carving words into stone, he embedded an unshakable command within their bloodline: obedience. Except for Sanji, every one of his children carried this brand. No matter what they desired, they could not rebel against their father's will. Even Reiju, who hated her father's cruelty, found herself unable to oppose him.
Judge had not only shaped bodies, he had reshaped minds. That was his true sin.
Vegapunk's own achievements in the Lineage Factor made Judge's horrors look crude in comparison. He had crafted artificial Devil Fruits that mirrored the abilities of real Zoan Fruits so closely that they were almost indistinguishable, nothing like Caesar Clown's broken imitations.
He had even discovered a way to grant lifeless objects the power of Devil Fruits, birthing strange creations like Spandam's sword, which devoured the Elephant Fruit and became the monstrous "Elephant Sword" seen in Enies Lobby. Vegapunk's genius gave weapons life, blurring the line between man and machine.
And then came the Pacifista.
Mass‑produced weapons of war, each one modeled after Bartholomew Kuma. It was almost impossible not to link them to Judge's toys of flesh and blood. But were the Pacifista enslaved by the same kind of "thought brand" Judge used to chain his children? No one knew.
Years ago, Liam had stumbled across Vegapunk's hidden notes in a snow‑covered research lab on Karakuri Island. At first, he pored over them with Robin, hungry for knowledge, but it didn't last. He had never been the kind to study back in school, so why would a new world miraculously turn him into a diligent scholar? Predictably, the data was soon tossed aside and stored in Stand B.I.B.'s memory banks, left to gather dust.
Now, on another winter‑shrouded island, Liam idly passed the research along to a certain hundred‑year‑old witch doctor, better to let someone else use it than let it rot.
After all, even without such resources, Chopper had already achieved miracles. He had harnessed the power of Zoan transformations, splitting his body into multiple forms, each granting him new strengths and abilities.
But if Chopper were to one day get his hooves on the secrets of Vegapunk's Lineage Factor research, its brilliance and its horrors…
What kind of monster could he create?
Liam's curiosity was endless.
But Dr. Kureha, true to her reputation, had no patience for it. Nor did she show the slightest interest in taking in a reindeer as her student.
"Kid," the old woman said flatly, eyes sharp despite her age, "the Bird Kingdom's medicine might be remarkable, worth a look even… but you think I need it? That you can bribe me with a few scraps of paper into handing over a lifetime of knowledge, all so your pet deer can play at being my apprentice? Hah! Isn't that insulting?"
Liam gestured at her hands. "If you're going to look down on scraps of paper, could you at least put down Dr. Vegapunk's notes first?"
Her fingers tightened instinctively on the stack she had snatched up earlier. So, the Bird Kingdom's texts were "worthless," but Vegapunk's work, that was different.
Kureha's eyes narrowed. Then, almost without realizing it herself, her tone shifted. "…Hmph. Looking after your little reindeer isn't impossible." She lingered on the research notes in her hands for another long moment, before meeting Liam and Robin's eyes with sudden seriousness. "But you'll have to handle Wapol as part of the deal."
"Deal," Liam said instantly, grinning as his hand slapped against the papers she clutched.
And just like that… Chopper became Kureha's apprentice.
Though Liam had a nagging suspicion the cranky old hag simply wanted an extra hand to brew her tea and carry her bags.
"Giorno, what's a pirate?"
The question came from Chopper, who had been more confused by their strange introductions than excited by the word "doctor." When Kureha had mentioned Liam's crew, the reindeer tilted his head, ears twitching. "Are you pirates?"
"Well…" Liam rubbed at his chin in thought. "That's kind of… complicated."
Robin, as always, broke into a quiet smile. "Why don't we go up and show him?"
"Good idea," Liam said brightly, scooping up the bewildered reindeer and leading him upstairs into the higher levels of Stand City Castle.
Behind them, Kureha was already lost in her nest of books and research papers, ignoring the rest of the world.
Upstairs, the air opened into a spacious chamber. There was little inside except a medium‑sized sailing ship silently docked within the white hall. Its canvas sails were tightly bound, and from the mast drooped a black flag, limp and lifeless.
At Liam's thought, the living walls of Stand Castle began to stir. White liquid threads seeped from the ceiling, weaving like webs, winding up the mast until they reached the flag. With a subtle tug, they unfurled the black cloth wide, as if the wind itself had blown through the room.
Looming over Chopper, bathed in the dim glow of the castle, the pirate banner revealed itself. A skull in JOJO‑flair design stared down, bold and strange.
"This," Liam said, grinning, "is a pirate flag. Anyone who sails under it… anyone who answers its call… is a pirate."
"Wooah…" Chopper's mouth hung open, his big blue eyes sparkling. "I… I see…"
Robin smirked, her voice lilting. "Didn't you just say you don't acknowledge yourself as a pirate?"
"Shhh." Liam reached out, pinched her cheek gently, and grumbled. "Don't kill the mood."
...
From that point onward, Chopper studied medicine under Dr. Kureha.
She started him from the ground up, tossing him a thick beginner's tome without ceremony. "Read it. Don't bother me unless you're stuck."
Chopper accepted it without hesitation. To not be driven away, to not be treated as a monster, for him, this life was precious. On top of that, he had begun to warm to Giorno, to Jolyne, even to the sharp‑tongued Kureha. And so he studied with all the determination his small body could muster.
When he dropped the book back onto the table days later, Kureha finally looked up from behind a fortress of papers. Her expression was… honestly surprised.
"You finished it already? Has a whole month really passed?"
She blinked, realizing she hadn't stepped outside Stand Castle in some time. Its strange halls, the crew's restless energy, it had swallowed her days without her noticing.
Chopper shook his head quickly. "Nope. But I read for four days straight. I finally finished!"
For a long silence, Kureha stared at him. Then, surprisingly soft in tone, she said, "Hmph."
Chopper's eyes shone with excitement. "Dr. Kureha, this knowledge is amazing! If I learn it well, I'll be able to help people too, won't I?"
"…Help people?" she scoffed. "You're the one who gets chased through forests by men with rifles. And you're still worried about helping them?"
Chopper froze, stunned. His mouth opened, but no words came. And then, almost without realizing it, he grew solemn, narrowing his eyes, rubbing at his chin, just like Liam did whenever thinking deeply.
For the first time, the little reindeer began to grapple with the contradiction of his dream.
(To Be Continued…)
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