In the monitoring room, only Caelan, Monet, and Caesar were left.
Monet kept glancing cautiously at Caelan, still concerned about her young master.
Caesar Clown, meanwhile, looked at Caelan with a flattering smile, his expression full of awkward charm.
"What… what are you planning to do with me?"
Caesar rubbed his hands together, asking cautiously.
It was clear that this man didn't come here with good intentions. There was no way he came all this way just for a few Devil Fruits.
Caelan stared at Caesar and fell into thought.
This guy was indeed a top-level scientist, but his approach to research was completely wrong.
Poison gas weapons are useless against powerful enemies. They can only kill weaker targets—and even then, the collateral damage is enormous.
After their use, the surrounding environment is turned into a dead zone.
Even in war, weapons like that are useless.
After all, isn't war fought for territory and people?
If you use poison gas and kill all the people while rendering the land uninhabitable, then what's the point of fighting?
No wonder Vegapunk shut down Caesar's research. Even the World Government doesn't want to fund him anymore.
Caesar's only real value lies in the artificial Devil Fruits he developed.
But even those have serious flaws. The Marines already possess Vegapunk's high-end, perfected artificial Zoan Devil Fruit models.
Compared to that, Caesar is practically useless.
And as for Caesar's self-proclaimed scientific prowess? Also worthless.
On the Marine side, Vegapunk is researching the "Mother Flame," which looks like nuclear fusion, and he's already created Seraphim with vice admiral-level strength.
Not to mention whatever other inventions have yet to be revealed—just the value of the Pacifistas alone leaves Caesar in the dust.
Caesar's artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruits can raise a user's strength to roughly that of a rear admiral at best—and that's under ideal conditions.
They're slow to produce, expensive, and have serious side effects.
Meanwhile, Vegapunk's Pacifistas already have power comparable to the lower-tier Seven Warlords of the Sea. Just one beam attack from their mouths could probably wipe out two artificial Zoan users.
In comparison, Caesar loses instantly to Vegapunk.
"As expected of the world's number one scientist…"
Thinking about how amazing Vegapunk was, Caelan couldn't help but sigh.
That man alone is worth more than the entire Marine force, including the admirals and fleet admiral.
What an incredible talent!
I must steal him for myself one day!
"The world's number one scientist?!"
Caesar was stunned when he heard this.
He beamed with pride, his smile stretching from ear to ear as he raised his chin slightly.
"I was talking about Vegapunk. Not you."
Caelan rolled his eyes and spoke bluntly.
How can this guy be so shameless?
Compared to Vegapunk, Caesar isn't even worthy of being called a hair on his head.
"You!"
Caesar's face turned red with rage and humiliation.
A man can be defeated, but not insulted!
Caelan had just openly slapped him in the face!
Enraged, Caesar let out a cold snort and turned his head away, ignoring Caelan.
Monet, standing beside him, finally let out a breath of relief. Although Caelan clearly looked down on Caesar, at least the Donquixote Family wasn't being dismissed altogether.
"Tch, what a temper."
Seeing Caesar still acting so arrogantly, Caelan sneered and kicked him hard.
He's a prisoner. What right did he have to act tough?
Caesar rolled on the ground and scrambled back up, now covered in dust. "I'm sorry, I offended you just now."
It was clearly Caelan who had humiliated him, but Caesar still had to be the one to apologize.
If it had been anyone else, they might have chosen to fight to the death right then and there.
But Caesar wasn't that kind of person. He didn't care about dignity. He only cared about staying alive.
Even though he felt incredibly wronged, Caesar still forced a smile at Caelan. "Caelan-sama, how do you plan to deal with me?"
"I'm going to auction you off."
Caelan looked at Caesar, deep in thought.
"Auction me?! Caelan-sama, you're joking, right?!"
Caesar shrieked in disbelief, stunned beyond words.
Monet also froze on the spot, completely dumbfounded.
"I'm not joking. You'd fetch a decent price."
Caelan looked at Caesar and confirmed his intentions.
Caesar Clown's research was like chicken ribs—tasteless to eat but wasteful to discard.
Even if he were allowed to keep making Devil Fruits to sell, the profits would come in slowly and require far too much effort.
It was better to sell him off for a large sum of Berries.
Since he can mass-produce artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruits, the underground world would be very interested. Even the Revolutionary Army and the World Government might bid for him.
Sure, the World Government already has Vegapunk and more advanced technology—but they won't want to let Caesar fall into someone else's hands.
Getting more than 2 billion Berries for him shouldn't be a problem.
As for helping the enemy?
That's not even worth worrying about.
More importantly, only the Tontatta Tribe can grow the raw materials needed to produce artificial Devil Fruits.
As long as Caelan controls the Tontatta, anyone else trying to manufacture artificial Devil Fruits will still be under his thumb.
He could even become a supplier of raw materials and make some passive income.
Just thinking about it made the plan sound great!
Of course, all of this would happen after he conquered Dressrosa.
So, Doflamingo, that's one more reason for me to crush you.
Caelan's eyes hardened, as if he could already see through the walls of the lab and gaze upon Dressrosa in the distance.
At this moment, Monet and Caesar finally recovered from their shock.
"Caelan-sama, if you do this, Kaido will definitely come after you!"
Monet looked at him nervously.
She didn't really care whether Kaido would beat Caelan or not. In fact, she kind of hoped Kaido would kill the guy.
The real issue was that Caesar was a critical partner for Doflamingo and the linchpin of his cooperation with Kaido. Losing him would be disastrous.
"Let him come. I'll be waiting."
Caelan curled his lips slightly, exuding overwhelming confidence.
In the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh had taught him the theory of Conqueror's Haki Entanglement and the flow of Armament Haki, Ryuo.
After training, he had already mastered Ryuo.
If Kaido came, it would be the perfect chance to experience the style of the world's strongest creature firsthand.
"So domineering…"
Monet felt her heart grow bitter as she stared blankly at Caelan.
There really was nothing she could do against a man this overbearing.
She had tried everything to shake him, but when even Kaido couldn't scare him, what more could she do?
At the same time, Caesar was starting to feel more determined. He absolutely refused to accept being sold like cargo.
If he were sold, he'd be locked away in some dark, cramped room and forced to mass-produce artificial Devil Fruits day and night.
Forget about relaxing or squandering research funds on personal indulgences. That kind of life was unthinkable.
Looking at Caelan, Caesar's fighting spirit was reignited.
He had to show Caelan his worth.
Make this short-sighted guy take back everything he said!
(To be continued.)
***
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