Chapter 823: I Never Expected You to Be This Kind of Vegapunk
While the Celestial Dragons were restless and the World Government, led by the Five Elders, was making moves, on the returning Revolutionary Army fleet's ship, Ian, Ace, and Sabo were quietly listening to the conversation between Vegapunk and Dragon.
After being successfully rescued, Vegapunk was clearly relieved. In the initial period, he had been greedily gazing at the sea scenery, breathing in the fresh sea breeze.
He didn't know how many years he had spent in that closed-off research environment. Now, suddenly gaining freedom, he found it incredibly precious.
"I wonder how my hometown of Baldimore is doing now... I've been away for so many years!" Vegapunk said.
Dragon walked over to him, leaning on the ship's railing, and said, "Baldimore has been under the protection of the World Government all this time. It has now become a scientific holy land..."
"Is it because of me, an old man?" Vegapunk smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "The people back home might think that me joining the World Government as the Navy's chief scientist is a glorious achievement for the family, but for me, it felt more like a prison... Although they provided me with the richest research resources, none of the research I did was what I truly wanted. Dragon, can you understand that feeling?"
"...Now that you're out, what are your plans?" Dragon asked.
"I don't know either!" Vegapunk said somewhat lost. "I can't do anything except research..."
Dragon suddenly turned back and glanced at Ian, his expression unreadable. Just as Ian was wondering what that glance meant, he heard Dragon say to Vegapunk, "If that's the case, I might be able to recommend a place for you!"
"What place?" Vegapunk asked.
"The Dragon Hunter Pirates!" Dragon pointed at Ian and said, "The one who rescued you, Ian's pirate crew!"
Hearing this, Ian was also stunned.
Vegapunk turned back to look at Ian, his eyes lighting up. Dragon explained beside him, "You might not know, but Ian is an Emperor, with enough strength to protect you. Moreover, under his command, there's a Skypiea ruins left by the Moon People. He has set up a research institute there. The Germa Group is also his ally, and in his research institute, there are some old friends of yours!"
"Is that so!?" Vegapunk was overjoyed and asked Ian, "Which old friends!?"
"Uh, Waldo, Gaji, and Caesar, the three of them!" Ian glanced at Dragon and answered, already understanding Dragon's intention.
"They really are all old friends!" Vegapunk laughed.
Although he didn't have much fondness for Caesar, who was dedicated to researching biochemical weapons, for Vegapunk, he didn't know many people to begin with, so Caesar, Gaji, and the others could indeed be called old friends.
Ian followed up, saying, "Dr. Vegapunk, if you're willing, my Dragon Hunter Pirates welcome you to stay for a while. You can do whatever research you want!"
Ian knew that Dragon wanted to settle Vegapunk with him for a time. Perhaps later, when the Revolutionary Army successfully revolts and overthrows the World Government to establish a new regime, they would definitely need a scientist like Vegapunk. By keeping Vegapunk now, Ian was essentially keeping him for the Revolutionary Army.
And conveniently, with Vegapunk's joining, the repair of the Pluton might become faster.
However, Ian felt that, given Dragon's personality, he might later let Vegapunk return to his hometown of Baldimore according to his wishes...
Vegapunk didn't say much, presumably accepting Dragon's arrangement. He turned to a new topic, pointing at the iron spike that Ian had carried back, and said, "You must keep this thing safe!"
"I've been wanting to ask for a long time, what exactly is this?" Ian crouched down curiously, looking at the 'iron spike' placed on the deck, and asked, "What important item is this, that you would risk your own safety to bring it out?"
Vegapunk said seriously, "This is a forced cooling device I specially made based on the characteristics of Uranus!"
"Hmm?" Ian and Ace, who were more familiar with Uranus's power, were both puzzled.
Ian asked, "A cooling device? Isn't Uranus's Demon Fruit power something that needs to cool down after each use? If this thing is used on Uranus, wouldn't it help increase its sustained combat capability?"
"No, that's not what I mean!" Vegapunk shook his head and explained, "To thoroughly study Uranus's power and attempt to replicate a new Ancient Weapon Uranus, the Celestial Dragons had me contact and study Uranus for a period. I discovered that Uranus's Demon Fruit power has actually never stopped for thousands of years! The special power it possesses can only be slowed down, not stopped!"
Ian nodded thoughtfully. It seemed to him that the chain reaction of a nuclear reactor was indeed like this. Once the reaction started, it couldn't be stopped unless the fuel elements were completely consumed.
But Uranus's massive body was made entirely of elements that could be used as fuel. If they wanted it to consume itself completely, how many years would that take!?
In this pirate world, the power of nuclear reactions was still being explored, and even a name for this power hadn't emerged. Only Ian, as a transmigrator, had some exposure to this kind of knowledge and could roughly understand what was going on.
As the most genius scientist in this world, Vegapunk had studied the cause of Uranus's power, so Ian didn't say much and quietly listened to Vegapunk's explanation.
"Uranus's body is constantly undergoing this special power reaction, so its body continuously emits that deadly radiation!" Vegapunk said seriously. "The Celestial Dragons are well aware of the harm of this radiation, so during the time it was controlled, they kept Uranus in a huge space inside the Red Line, a cavity made of platinum lead. This platinum lead can absorb the deadly radiation from Uranus's body."
"At the same time, the Celestial Dragons also try to keep it in a dormant state! In this state, Uranus's special power reaction slows down to a minimum!"
Having said this, Vegapunk suddenly asked Ian, "I heard that you've fought against Uranus before?"
"Yes!" Ian nodded. "It was on Amazon Lily. That time, Ace and I took out the Celestial Dragon controlling Uranus from the inside!"
"Since you've fought it, you should have noticed a problem!" Vegapunk said. "Uranus's body size expands and contracts during battle!"
Ian was surprised. "Right! We were wondering at the time, what exactly was going on?"
"The expansion of its body represents an intense reaction of the power inside it!" Vegapunk explained. "It increases its surface area to dissipate heat. This is an instinct it gained after eating the Demon Fruit and obtaining this power. But you should also understand that although Uranus's body properties have changed, it is still a living creature. So this ability to expand and dissipate heat is limited. It can't infinitely expand its body. When the power reaction inside it reaches a certain level, this expansion and heat dissipation can no longer keep up with the rising internal temperature. If it doesn't want to be melted by the high heat, it must stop to cool down!"
"Is this why Uranus needs to land periodically to cool down?" Ian asked thoughtfully.
"Yes, and this cooling requires a large amount of water!" Vegapunk said. "It needs to drink a massive amount of water!"
Ian turned to Ace and asked, "Ace, during the Amazon Lily incident, did Uranus drink a lot of water after landing?"
"Didn't see it!" Ace shook his head. "But don't forget, Uranus was being controlled by the Celestial Dragon at the time. To avoid exposing this weakness, that Celestial Dragon might have secretly controlled Uranus to drink water beforehand..."
Ian nodded. That wasn't impossible.
"These aren't the key points!" Vegapunk shook his head. "I know that Uranus's power is extremely dangerous for the entire world. You're probably thinking of ways to kill Uranus, but what I want to say is, before you implant this cooling device I made into Uranus's body, never kill it!"
"Because according to my calculations, the power reaction inside Uranus's body has always been under its conscious control!" Vegapunk said very seriously to everyone. "When conscious, Uranus can control the speed of the power reaction. But if it suddenly dies and loses control of its consciousness, the uncontrolled power reaction will instantly reach its maximum peak, melting Uranus's entire body in an instant. At that point, Uranus's body will become a super bomb, with enough power to instantly level the entire Blue Sea. Whether it's the Grand Line, the Red Line, or the four seas of East, West, South, and North, all will be affected. That would be the true destruction of the world!"
Vegapunk's words made everyone on the ship break out in cold sweat. Especially Ian and Ace, who realized at that moment that Uranus's escape on Amazon Lily was actually a good thing. If Ian and Ace had recklessly killed Uranus back then, wouldn't this world have already experienced a nuclear apocalypse!?
"Understand now?" Vegapunk finished, crouched down, patted the 'iron spike,' and said, "Only by implanting this forced cooling device into Uranus's body first can it activate at the moment of its death, forcibly lowering the temperature inside Uranus's body. As long as the temperature doesn't reach the critical point, this melting phenomenon won't occur. At that time, Uranus's body will at most become a super fireball, but it won't cause a violent explosion."
"Understood!" Ian carefully picked up the cooling device and said, "We'll make good use of it!"
"Not only must you use it well, but you also need to protect it, because I can't make a second one in a short time!" Vegapunk said. "So if you take action against Uranus, be very careful. If this device is damaged, immediately abandon the plan to kill Uranus and let it leave!"
"Mm!" Ian nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "How do we implant this spike into Uranus's body? Dig a hole in it?"
"No need for that trouble!" Vegapunk shook his head. "Uranus's scales are too hard. There are other places on its body where this spike can be driven in."
"Through its mouth? Or its nostrils?" Ian asked. "Or through its eyes?"
"None of those!" Vegapunk laughed. "If you stuff it in through its mouth, are you sure Uranus won't bite it off?"
"Then where exactly?" Ace asked from the side.
"Hehe!" Vegapunk suddenly showed an excited expression like a child, winking and said, "Uranus's body has another place, right there!"
Ace still didn't understand, but Ian suddenly realized and his face turned green!
Holy crap! They were planning to use this thick iron spike to insert it from behind and pop Uranus's ass!?