Chapter 271: Ancient Weapon!?
Seeing that the Thunder Roar Cannon could no longer be used, the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates gathered around, completely surrounding Waldo's cannon platform.
The rebel miners, intimidated by the sheer power of the previous blast, were hesitant and dared not approach.
Waldo knew that the cannon platform made of iron-sand could no longer protect him. The Dragon Hunter Pirates' ever-unfolding abilities could harm him even through the defensive layer. So he had no choice but to open the hatch and stand up.
Due to the sudden removal of Fujitora's gravity suppression, Waldo coughed up an extra mouthful of blood. His spirit was already waning. After climbing out, he stumbled and fell, rolling onto the ground.
He struggled to his feet, clasping his hands together, intending to use his Rip-Rip Fruit ability to continue resisting. But Ian shook his head, instantly appearing behind him, and kicked the back of his knee, causing Waldo to stagger and fall to his knees.
"Don't bother. With your half-baked physical combat skills, even if you still have your Devil Fruit ability, what can you do?" Ian said.
Waldo's Rip-Rip Fruit was indeed formidable—he had even awakened it. How could it not be powerful? But the problem was that such a mighty ability was wasted on Waldo.
Although he had only seen the Rip-Rip Fruit ability a few times, Ian had long noticed its weaknesses.
First, activating the ability seemed to require specific hand gestures—the tearing motion—to execute it. This reminded Ian of that rooster-haired Bartolomeo, whose Barrier-Barrier Fruit also required specific gestures. As long as Waldo wanted to use his ability, he had to make a tearing motion, making it easy to predict his attack trajectory and dodge.
The second weakness was stamina. Devil Fruit users consume their own physical strength when using their abilities. But Waldo, at his core, was a scientist. What physical training could you expect from him? This kind of science nerd was never strong in stamina. After just a few brief uses of his ability, Ian noticed he was already panting. Coupled with his age, his body had long passed its prime.
No wonder Waldo had pinned his hopes on using the Thunder Roar Cannon. He probably knew that relying on his Devil Fruit ability in battle was hopeless.
Hearing Ian's words, Waldo sneered at him and said, "Go ahead, kill me! This life of mine should have been lost many years ago."
Ian shook his head. He had no deep-seated grudge against Waldo, not to the point of killing him. Waldo's real enemies were the rebel miners who had lost loved ones because of him. Ian had no need to meddle.
He crouched down and asked Waldo, "Did you develop this Armstrong Cannon?"
"It's the Thunder Roar Cannon!" Waldo retorted irritably. "What the hell is this Armstrong Cannon you keep talking about!?"
"Don't interrupt!" Ian couldn't be bothered to argue over this. "This cannon is quite impressive. Is it powered by Thunder Stones?"
"Of course!" Waldo said with some pride. "The current Thunder Roar Cannon is just an unfinished product. Its true power will only be realized when it can be mounted on a ship!"
"So, what you really want to develop is a naval cannon?" Ian asked. "What do you plan to use this weapon for? To conquer the world? Or to become the Pirate King?"
The muscles in Waldo's face twitched from pain. His face was already covered in dense scars, and Ian's Thousand Cherry Blossoms initial release had added countless new wounds. Waldo looked quite terrifying now.
"Conquer the world?" Waldo sneered. "That kind of lowly ambition is an insult to me!"
"Oh!?" Ian said with amusement. "Conquering the world is lowly? Are you planning to conquer the solar system instead?"
With just a few words, Ian ignited Waldo's anger. He roared, "I told you, it's not about conquering! What would a pirate like you understand!?"
"Then what do you want to do? Spill it!" Ian said with a smile. "Studying such a powerful weapon must have a reason, right?"
Waldo's emotional outburst triggered a violent coughing fit. When it subsided, he suddenly deflated and said, "I originally wanted to use this Thunder Roar Cannon to take revenge on the World Government for nearly killing me back then. But now I suddenly realize that maybe this isn't what I truly wanted..."
Ian exchanged glances with Konenai and the others. After saying this, Waldo seemed to have aged considerably. He was already in his fifties, and now he appeared to have lost his spiritual pillar.
Would he suddenly feel that life was meaningless and just drop dead, like in some cheesy movie?
So Ian cautiously asked, "Then what is it that you truly want?"
Waldo looked up at Ian, gave a bitter smile, and said, "Why ask so many questions? You've caught me. Do with me what you will."
"Curiosity!" Ian said seriously. "I've seen the power of this cannon. To create such a weapon, you must be a brilliant scientist, right? So I'm curious—what exactly do you want to do?"
Waldo leaned his head back against the base of the Thunder Roar Cannon, sighed, and began, "You're right. I was indeed a scientist back then. I worked in a research institute with like-minded scholars. But one day, because of a miraculous research breakthrough by a colleague, the World Government treated us like a major threat. They declared our institute illegal, shut it down, and blew up our lab. They arrested my colleagues. I barely survived the explosion, but my face was completely disfigured. In the end, I had no choice but to become a pirate."
Here it comes. Ian had been pressing him precisely to draw out Waldo's story. Ever since Konenai had identified Waldo, Ian had been very interested. He wanted to know what had happened back then and what kind of person Vegapunk was.
Vegapunk was a mysterious figure. Ian had only heard of him but never seen him. This genius scientist served the Marines, but from what Kuma had shown, Ian always felt there was something off about it. After all, Kuma was a Revolutionary Army officer and a former Warlord. There was no reason he would willingly cooperate with Vegapunk's modification experiments. Even if he wanted to obtain the technology for artificial humanoid weapons for the Revolutionary Army, once the modification was complete, Kuma would lose consciousness. How could he still obtain the technology? And since Kuma knew this, he still agreed to the modifications...
That was the suspicious part. Ian thought it over and felt that the key might lie with Dr. Vegapunk. So now that he had finally caught a former colleague of Vegapunk, Ian wanted to learn about him through Waldo.
Fortunately, Ian's efforts had triggered Waldo's nostalgic reminiscence mode, so he listened carefully.
"I originally harbored hatred for the World Government. I studied Thunder Stones to build the Thunder Roar Cannon, planning to bombard Mary Geoise to avenge my dead colleagues..." Waldo rambled on, but Ian and the others couldn't help but feel a chill.
Bombard the Holy Land Mary Geoise!? This old man was even more ruthless than Ian! Ian had only set a fire in Mary Geoise back then, but Waldo wanted to use a weapon like the Thunder Roar Cannon to bomb it!?
How many Celestial Dragons would die!?
Ian silently gave Waldo a thumbs-up in his mind but said nothing, letting him continue.
"But now, I realize that my true intention in building the Thunder Roar Cannon wasn't just revenge!" Waldo said bitterly. "My real wish was probably to complete a concept my research institute colleagues once had—to create a weapon that could rival the Ancient Weapons..."
Boom! Ian felt as if he had been struck by lightning upon hearing this. He immediately whispered to Walnut beside him, "Set up a sound barrier! Don't let Ariens and the others hear what comes next!"