Kuzan handed the newspaper covering his face to Oran, then removed his blindfold. He was now thoroughly embracing paid slacking off and had developed quite a few common topics with Borsalino.
After all, due to their abilities, they were assigned to work in two different laboratories, or rather, to serve as experimental subjects.
"What's wrong? Why is the Warring States general in such a hurry this time?"
"He's probably been angered by Mr. Garp again. Anyway, he can just report any progress. This thing will take many years, right? I think the Sengoku-sho just wants a moving target."
From a newcomer's perspective, Garp's freedom is enviable, but from a boss's perspective, Garp is a real headache.
Having studied under Garp for a long time, Kuzan was able to understand Sengoku's thoughts.
"It will indeed take many years, but it's not like there's been no progress at all. Oh well, I'll talk to Sengoku myself when the time comes."
"Doctor, it seems to me you've gone on vacation. Does your lab have a secret passage leading to a resort?"
From Oran's expression, Kuzan had a strange intuition that the other person didn't seem to be researching, but rather just playing around.
"Indeed, it's a swimsuit party."
"Doctor, your humor isn't very good. This joke is boring."
"I'm not joking, believe it or not is up to you."
Oran was telling the truth. Dream worlds are ever-changing, and not all dream worlds have practical value. Some can only provide emotional value, such as the world of Pool Party.
That world had no heroes, no monsters, only a group of ordinary residents vacationing on the beach.
"Uta, Perona, stop playing around. How about we have a party tonight and make an octopus feast?"
After glancing at the newspaper in his hand, Oran didn't have the complicated thoughts that others had. Instead, he felt that it was all perfectly normal, and that it was only natural for Leliana to be able to do this now. He then turned to ask Uta and Perona for their thoughts.
"I can be a dad."
"Dad Oran, me too."
Uta is different from others in how she addresses others; she adds Oran's name as a prefix. She learned this from Kate. At first, she preferred to call him by his name directly, but Kate taught her to do so later.
"Kuzan, what about you? Want to come along?"
"Then I'll gladly accept. But why an octopus? Is there a particular reason?"
"If I had to give a reason, this thing has been bothering me a bit lately."
Huh?
The octopus is related to Oran's recent research. Bionics has made great contributions to human research, and the biological evolution armor that Oran is researching is theoretically a product of the void.
In his dream in ancient Shurima, he came into contact with some Void things with the people of Shurima. To be precise, he saw the research notes of the Ascended scholars. At that time, the Void was too dangerous, and it was too dangerous for other scholars to come into direct contact with it except for the Ascended.
At the time, some Ascended Warriors even came here specifically to act as experimenters, but that was just a concept. In the real world, some species actually have similarities to the Void - octopuses.
The genetic code of these creatures is extremely complex, but genes are not necessarily better the more complex they are. Even in the history of biological evolution, the octopus is an anomaly.
Take digging as an example. Humans need to dig, and through a long process of evolution, they have developed skillful hands and the ability to make and use tools.
If this were applied to octopuses, they would evolve a shovel on their bodies. If they felt they weren't fast enough, they would evolve more shovels. Then, finding they couldn't control them all, they would evolve more brains, ultimately shaping the octopus's unique characteristics.
During this period, Oran was looking for inspiration from octopuses. Overall, he gained some insights, but not much.
"Daddy Oran, hug me~"
As they were preparing to leave, Uta walked up to Oran and grabbed his trouser leg. When Oran bent down and picked her up, she felt a pull on the other side of his shirt. Perona didn't say anything, but her eyes and actions said it all.
In the end, Oran carried one of them in each arm as he left the royal city. This amount of weight was nothing; if necessary, Oran could also carry Leliana, though the proportions would look rather odd.
At noon, in the harbor where Laboon was staying, Terra used her abilities to create a huge earthen oven, next to which lay a giant octopus as big as Laboon.
Just as there are island whales, there are also deep-sea octopuses of this marine mammal class. These octopuses are one of the main food sources for island whales, and they also prey on island whales smaller than themselves.
Thanks to the unique nature of this sea, even this giant octopus doesn't taste strange. After being sliced, crushed, and cooked, it tastes no different from ordinary octopus.
Several chefs hired from the island were busy preparing the giant octopus in various creative ways.
However, Laboon is not here now; it has taken Brook on a tour. This giant octopus was actually brought up by Kuzan and is currently frozen.
"The Devil Fruit's ability is really convenient. It's not easy to stuff such a big thing into an icebox. It's a pity that Princess Lyliana hasn't returned yet, and Laboon is out too. I guess we can't finish eating such a big one."
The ocean in this world contains a terrifying amount of resources, and Firefly Island has several big eaters, so frozen goods are not usually stored there.
Even if people can't finish eating, there are still whales and lobsters, but most of the island's big eaters aren't here now.
"Don't worry, don't worry, Riley isn't here but I am. This guy will definitely be finished, since I'm going to eat two servings now."
Ginny was very confident about this. Only she and Xiong knew what they had done in private. Anyway, the results of this month's physical examination showed that Ginny was pregnant, but her figure had not changed yet.
Kuma and Blitz were busy by the oven. Kuma's recent fieldwork had all been canceled. At most, he would use the Paw-Paw Fruit to send things over remotely. Anyway, nothing much was happening around him lately.
With Kate and Absalom each in their own territory—one in the first half and the other in the New World—and with the support of Leriana and Frankenstein, they can generally manage to keep things going.
Zach activated his maid mimicry again, setting the table; it looked like a family gathering with a few members missing.
But halfway through the family gathering, a passenger ship docked at another port.
Since its status as a member state was confirmed, Piltover has become an important link between member states, with tourist ships passing through it from time to time.
While communication between islands along the Grand Line is difficult, member states still maintain some contact, albeit at a low frequency. Every year, a large number of tourists from all over the world travel to the Sabaody Archipelago, and the perilous Grand Line has not been exaggerated to the point of completely severing communication.
"Attention, tourists! We have arrived at Firefly Island. This country is a newly joined member state. As a nation on the Grand Line, it also has many unique features."
Fireflies can be seen at night during this season. Also, be careful of the cats on the island; they may be public officials, so don't bother them.
As an emerging technological powerhouse, the souvenir shops here reportedly sell items from all over the world. Please remember to abide by local laws; this tour group will not be responsible for any serious consequences resulting from violations of local laws.
After the boat docked, the tour guide did not lower the ladder, but instead emphasized the relevant matters once again.
Those who can afford to travel in this era generally have some financial resources and understand the importance of these things, but there are always exceptions.
"You're blocking the path of this country's future princess! Guards! What are you all standing there for? Get these people out of here! I am Prince Olek's woman, the future princess of this country!"
"Future princess? Miss, what are you talking about? The hospital is in that direction; it's seven tram stops away."
Piltover currently has three ports: Whale Harbor is a privately owned royal port, and there is also a special military port. This is the most complex port, where goods and tourists arrive and depart, and sometimes the Power Gear also stops here.
The port was filled with security guards wearing exoskeletons, who were originally just maintaining order when they suddenly heard a woman's arrogant commands.
"You idiot! Don't you understand what I'm saying?! I am Prince Olek, the woman of the future heir to this country, a member of the royal family, understand?"
As she spoke, the woman pulled out a photo of herself with a pink-haired man. However, upon hearing her say this, several members of the security team on duty couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at? You guys..."
"Ahem, miss, don't misunderstand, we have received professional training and we don't usually laugh."
"Let me confirm, do you mean you're this man's wife, and he told you he's the prince of Piltover, is that right?"
"That's right, look at that hair, it's just like your king's, and he's very knowledgeable."
"Ahem, sorry, please forgive me."
Upon hearing her words, the people beside her could no longer contain themselves and turned their backs in unison, seemingly unwilling to laugh at her in person. However, the trembling of their exoskeletons indicated that they were all trying their best to suppress their laughter.
"I'm going to fire you all! You can forget about working here from now on!"
"My number is 107899, the captain of the seventh field team. Remember this number if you want to file a complaint. But miss, I must remind you, King Oran only has daughters, no sons."
"What did you say?!"
"What I mean is, Piltover only has princesses, no princes. Didn't you do any research before you went out?"
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