"You want to kill me? I still have unfinished research!"
Indigo flung out both arms, unleashing a barrage of glowing green fireballs toward Caesar like ghostly flames of vengeance.
He didn't know why Caesar had suddenly turned on him.
But whatever the reason—he couldn't die here.
"Shurororororo! Such pitiful, outdated tech!"
Caesar raised both hands and clenched them tightly.
From the sidelines, Franky suddenly felt something vanish from the air.
In the next moment, his heart pounded wildly, his breath came in gasps—as if he'd been dropped into Skypiea for the first time all over again.
His knees buckled. He collapsed to the ground, utterly powerless.
His mouth moved, but no sound came. "Lack of oxygen?"
"Vacuum World!"
The fireballs flickering near Caesar fizzled out, extinguished one by one into the dead air.
Indigo's eyes widened. Even the massive fireball charging over his head wavered, destabilized.
His powers—completely neutralized.
"Shurororororo! This is the invincible power of my Gas-Gas Fruit!"
Caesar roared with laughter at Indigo's stunned expression.
He raised his right hand, a blade of blue flame forming, and brought it down with force.
"Skypiea was attacked. You hesitated in battle. The Boss has sentenced you... to death!"
A wave of fire erupted in the blade's wake, devouring everything in its path.
"I served the Boss! All the IQ data—we compiled it because of me! You can't do this—I demand to see the Boss! I need to see the Boss!"
Indigo's panicked shouts rang out. At the same time, he flung the fireball overhead in a desperate attempt to stop Caesar.
He could live with Caesar hating him.
But if Doflamingo—who killed Shiki—wanted him dead too... then what?
BOOM!
The green fireball was obliterated by Caesar's fiery slash. The explosion engulfed Indigo entirely.
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
His scream was bloodcurdling.
Then there was only ash.
"Shurorororo! Damn, that felt good!"
Caesar, riding the wave of inspiration, spun around and darted back into the lab.
...
"Phew!"
Wiping sweat from his brow, Franky took a deep breath of the now-normal air and finally relaxed.
So it was fear of combat that got him executed... not failure in research. Good to know.
"Alright, kid. Don't just stand there—get your info registered."
Judge stood in front of a large screen and beckoned him over.
"Starting today, you're officially part of the Donquixote Royal Laboratory. Codename: 66."
...
A moment later.
Judge shook a test tube gently.
Inside was a sample of purified Lunarian bloodline factor, shimmering with iridescent hues under the lab's bright lights.
"Caesar, what do you think will happen when Pica integrates this bloodline factor? Will he become a lava-producing Paramecia, or something... like the Boss—a unique type of superhuman?"
"Huh? How the hell should I know?"
Caesar was hunched over a piece of precision equipment, practically pressing his eye into the microscope lens.
He was busy analyzing the properties of the Heat-Heat Fruit's bloodline factor.
"These bloodline factors are like raw code—with infinite combinations. What Pica ultimately becomes... only fate knows."
Judge thought back to the MADS days, recalling something Vegapunk once proposed.
"Caesar, what do you think of Vegapunk's idea about creating a perfected artificial human? You think it's actually possible?"
"No way! Absolutely not!"
Caesar jerked upright, snapping.
If he couldn't do it, then neither could Vegapunk!
"Judge, think about how much trial and error we've been through just to merge bloodline factors successfully. Even your own bloodline selection took a ton of iterations!"
"You're way too sensitive when it comes to Vegapunk, Caesar. What I meant was— what if we made it happen? We could ask the Boss to give us Baccarat's ability for unrestricted use."
Now that he'd gotten a taste of the fast lane, Judge wasn't about to slow down.
"Shurorororo... you know, that's not a bad idea."
Caesar's eyes flickered with calculation as he started scheming how best to pitch it.
Knock, knock!
A knocking sound echoed from outside the door.
"You think... the Boss is here?"
Caesar and Judge exchanged a look—and their daydreaming stopped instantly.
"Come in."
Several family members entered, wheeling in a mobile medical bed.
"Judge, Caesar—we need to administer nutrient support to this comatose patient. Here's her photo."
"Oh? Another new subject from the Boss?"
Judge stepped forward and looked at the woman lying on the bed. She seemed oddly familiar.
Caesar took the photo and nearly choked.
"Isn't this MISS Bakkin?!"
"Wasn't she the one Vegapunk cloned that dumb kid from?"
A lightbulb went off in Judge's head.
He'd always thought Weevil looked familiar—and now he knew why.
"Of course! That big idiot is definitely Weevil!"
Caesar shook his head. "If Weevil's here, then where's the Bakkin clone?"
"What's Bakkin's real name again?"
"Buckingham Stussy!"
They looked at each other, clapped their hands, and shouted in unison:
"Stussy, Queen of the Pleasure District!!"
"That's it. No doubt about it," Judge nodded.
"Bakkin was once on the same ship as Big Mom. That's why Stussy's connected to her too."
He stroked his pointed goatee thoughtfully.
"But... does the Boss know all this?"
"Of course he does! The Boss can see the future!"
Caesar was already fully indoctrinated into Doflamingo's gospel.
"You sure you didn't bash your head pretending to be younger when the World Government took you in, Caesar?"
Judge yanked the photo out of his hands.
"Even if he can see the future, it's only glimpses—and only of the future.
MADS happened in the past. Back then, the Boss was still a kid! Even if he's a freak, he wouldn't have had Observation Haki yet!"
"HAH?!"
Caesar burst into gaseous form, glaring furiously.
"What do you know, Judge? That was the only way I could survive in the government's hands!"
Pretending to be younger? What choice did he have?
He didn't have Judge's or Queen's combat power—there was no way he could've escaped.
"Heh."
Judge slapped his waist, and his combat suit began to activate, slowly covering his body.
Hearing that smug laugh only made Caesar angrier. His gas started swirling violently.
Just as the two were about to come to blows...
"Please, sirs! Calm down and take a look at the patient first!"
The family member who'd brought in the bed was sweating bullets.
It was supposed to be a simple delivery—how had he ended up in the middle of this disaster?
"Hmph."
Judge turned sharply.
"I'll go report the MADS information to the Boss."
-----------
Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg