As soon as Vegapunk finished speaking, the entire Dream Star seemed to come to life. Light slowly glowed within the walls, and then a door opened directly on the previously smooth surface.
The entire Dream Star was controlled by Vegapunk's original super-brain and could even be seen as a silicon-based lifeform. Its interior was constructed entirely of memory metal nanoparticles; those without authorization wouldn't even be able to find a door.
Leading Nico Robin and Hancock through the door, they entered a sci-fi-style laboratory. At the very center was a transparent pillar of light, and within it, a Blond Youth of about twelve or thirteen years old floated with eyes closed, appearing as if he were in a deep sleep.
This was the body Vegapunk had prepared for himself. He had invested massive resources, using the genes of the future Supernova, "White Horse" Cavendish, as the base, while incorporating the advantageous traits from the genes of Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, and even Garp, Kozuki Oden, and Blackbeard to create the ultimate physique.
The reason it appeared only twelve or thirteen was that this body had been conditioned since its earliest developmental stages.
An adult body is already in a state of gene expression; replacing the genetic chain would be like swapping out the low-level code in a complex program, which would only cause the program to crash.
Hancock, for instance, had also undergone genetic conditioning by Mino, but Mino could only optimize her existing genes, adding minor abilities like a degraded version of Steel Skin, rather than completely rewriting her genetic chain.
This body, however, truly fused the strengths of many of the sea's top powerhouses, making it an existence that approached the ceiling of natural talent.
The reason it was only "approaching" the ceiling was that Cavendish's genes, while exceptionally gifted, ultimately had limited capacity.
The talent of this body might not be inferior to the likes of Kaido, Whitebeard, or Garp, and it even possessed a unique constitution capable of hosting two Devil Fruits. However, it was still quite a distance away from the true ceiling that was Charlotte Linlin.
If Vegapunk had been willing to use Charlotte Linlin's genes as the base, he likely would have created a monster that surpassed the ceiling of the One Piece World. Unfortunately, he had no desire to become a woman.
While others were strong, their talents hadn't reached that truly incredible level. Coupled with the fact that Cavendish's own talent was arguably top-tier, Mino ultimately chose Cavendish for his superior looks and a body that better fit standard human proportions.
Walking up to this unconscious body, Vegapunk reached out and tapped lightly. Numerous projections immediately appeared in the air, detailing the various modification projects for the body.
"All physical indicators have stabilized. The abilities of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit have been implanted. The only thing remaining is the biological Quantum chip in the brain, which hasn't fully matured yet..."
Looking at the values before him, Vegapunk muttered to himself.
"Is this the new generation of quantum biological chips?" Nico Robin, standing beside Vegapunk, asked with curiosity as she looked at the projected image of the brain. "How does it differ from a normal biological chip?"
Biological chips were created by Vegapunk by combining scientific concepts from his past life with his own Brain-Brain Fruit. They had been successfully developed ten years ago, though they only possessed basic auxiliary calculation and memory functions at the time.
With years of research, the functions of these chips grew more numerous and their processing power increased. The quantum-level chip created this time, in terms of calculation power alone, was not inferior to the Brain-Brain Fruit.
"Quantum chips and normal biological chips are completely different things. To put it simply, a normal biological chip is just an auxiliary system, equivalent to a combination of a simple computer and a memory library."
"Whereas a Quantum chip enhances brain capacity across the board. Besides memory and calculation power, it also possesses Multi-threaded Thinking, potent Thought Acceleration, and a Fuzzy Memory Extraction Module."
"Furthermore, as a biological chip, it also possesses the ability to develop and evolve, ensuring that even if I transfer my consciousness to a new body, my scientific research capabilities will not decline."
Vegapunk explained his invention with a look of pride, though a biological chip of this level was naturally not easy to produce.
Specifically, Vegapunk used nanomachines and genetic programming to interfere with the body's brain, causing it to generate the biological chip automatically rather than manufacturing it externally. This made the task significantly more difficult, so slow development was to be expected.
"In other words, the effect of a quantum biological chip is equivalent to the Brain-Brain Fruit?"
Nico Robin's usually calm face finally showed a hint of astonishment. She truly hadn't expected Vegapunk to be capable of such a feat.
In fact, as Vegapunk's assistant, Robin had a certain understanding of his research. She had even been fitted with a normal biological chip herself. It was precisely because of this understanding that she knew what an epoch-making invention the Quantum chip was.
"Just thinking about how one Quantum chip was equivalent to a Brain-Brain Fruit—if this truly spread, wouldn't it be like the One Piece World suddenly gaining countless Vegapunk-level scientists?"
"Even if ordinary people couldn't reach Vegapunk's level—being hundreds or thousands of years ahead of the current era—due to talent limitations, as the saying goes, 'three simple-minded shoemakers can outwit Zhuge Liang.' If this technology were to spread, the technology of the entire One Piece World would likely experience explosive development overnight."
"More or less," Vegapunk said, not wanting to elaborate as he checked the time.
"In another 27 hours, the quantum biological chip will be fully developed and stabilized. At that point, we can proceed directly with the Soul Transfer."
"When I perform the Soul Transfer, I'll need you to observe, Robin. I'll hand over control of the Dream Star to you. If any issues arise, I'll be counting on you to handle them."
Although this Soul Transfer experiment had been performed many times and the technology was fully mature with no observed side effects...
...Vegapunk was no ordinary person. As a user of the Brain-Brain Fruit, his mental power was thousands or even tens of thousands of times that of a normal human. Naturally, transferring his soul would be far more complicated.
For instance, if the target of the transfer were an ordinary body, Vegapunk would either have to excise the majority of his mental power and memories or risk causing the person's head to literally explode. This was exactly why he had to develop the quantum biological chip.
Since a Soul Transfer of his magnitude was being attempted for the first time, he naturally had to be extremely cautious.