Enel looked a little helpless as he said, "A friend of mine at HQ... I don't know what got into him, but he volunteered to go undercover. That guy's too soft, and his combat ability... let's just say it leaves a lot to be desired. I'm going to prepare something to help him defend himself."

"I see..." Vegapunk nodded slightly. "Wait a minute."

He turned and walked into his personal laboratory.

A short while later, he emerged holding a sword and handed it to Enel. "Take this. The rest of the weapons I've developed are too advanced and dangerous to be casually handed out, but this one is fine. It's easy to carry, too."

Enel glanced at the weapon in his hand. "Uh... does it have anything special? That guy's not much of a swordsman either."

Vegapunk chuckled. "This is a sword that has eaten a Devil Fruit. Though progress with the clone project has been slow, that doesn't mean we've made no breakthroughs. This is one of the results from the Lineage Factor research. A technique that allows objects to eat Devil Fruits."

He reached out and took the sword back from Enel.

"Funkfreed."

Oooonnnggg!

A loud elephant trumpet echoed and the sword in the scientist's hand began to transform, growing larger until it turned into a huge elephant.

Its front legs landed firmly on the ground, while its rear remained a long, stretched-out sword body. The hilt was still gripped in Vegapunk's hand, and its original trunk had become a proportionally massive blade.

As Vegapunk swung it around, the enormous elephant's body moved as if weightless, slashing left and right.

Noticing Enel's puzzled look, he explained, "The sword maintains a fixed weight regardless of its form, so even as an elephant, it doesn't become heavier. Compared to a normal elephant, it's far faster and its defense is like steel. And as long as you're holding the hilt, you'll be able to connect with its will. The tip of the blade can form into the elephant's head, and the trunk-blade can also extend. Not bad, right?"

He then let go of the sword, the hilt dropped to the ground and transformed into the elephant's hind legs.

A massive war beast stood fully revealed, pure white in color, with a gigantic blade as its trunk.

Witnessing this scene, stars sparkled in Enel's eyes. "Cool!"

Vegapunk smiled. "Now then, this is its full beast form. If your friend isn't good with a sword, he can at least use this to escape when needed. While this blade isn't anything extraordinary, it still qualifies as a Skillful Grade Blade. Its hardness is reliable. I've named this elephant 'Funkfreed.' When you want to use him, just call his name. Right, Funkfreed?"

Oooonnnggg!

The white elephant affectionately nuzzled the scientist.

Enel beamed with excitement. "Funkfreed, come here!"

The elephant hesitated for a moment, but Vegapunk patted him gently. "From now on, listen to him. He's going to take you to find your new master. You'll go on an adventure across the sea."

At the mention of adventure, the elephant's eyes lit up. It nodded eagerly and walked to Enel's side. Then it placed its tail in his hand and slowly transformed back into a sword.

Enel gave it a swing; it really did have the weight of a normal sword.

"Funkfreed!"

When his intent shifted, an elephant head formed at the blade's tip, the trunk morphing into a sharp, elongated blade that extended forward.

"This is amazing." Enel grinned. "Return, Funkfreed."

Oooonnnggg!

With a cheerful trumpet, the elephant head vanished, returning once more to sword form.

Enel looked at Vegapunk and said, "Thank you, Teacher. Haha, with this, things just got a lot easier. I've thought of another plan. I'm heading over to the Third Research Institute to have a chat with Caesar. The equipment's already connected. Please take a look first, Teacher!"

With that, he dashed out. Vegapunk shook his head. "Go on, but don't use your powers."

Enel's voice echoed from afar. "Yesss... siiir..."

Vegapunk couldn't be blamed for the warning. It was just that Enel had always been disgusted by Caesar's human experimentation. Yet strangely, the two still had something in common: their obsession with developing weapons of mass destruction.

Enel believed in sheer firepower. Caesar worshipped poison and gas warfare.

Their paths were different, but they could still exchange ideas and occasionally inspire each other. It wasn't impossible for them to hold a decent conversation.

But there was that one time... when things got out of hand. After emotions flared, bolts of electricity sparked from Enel's body, and that was when disaster struck.

It was common knowledge that Caesar had eaten the Gas-Gas Fruit and turned into a living gas-man. His entire body was like a walking gas tank, constantly surrounded by flammable vapors.

And at that distance, just a single spark was enough to cause a huge explosion. Because of that, half of the Third Research Institute was blown sky-high. Caesar himself was left unconscious for over half a month.

Ever since that day, he had been terrified of Enel. Not just fear, but pure, pants-wetting terror. His Devil Fruit ability was completely countered. One wrong twitch from Enel, and it was lights out.

For the first time in his life, Caesar regretted eating that fruit...

* * *

Punk Hazard, Third Research Institute.

Enel had barely set foot near the place when the alarms blared.

He stopped dead in his tracks, his face darkening as he watched lab staff in hazmat suits rush out to block the entrance.

"Oi, oi... isn't this a bit much? It's not like I did it on purpose last time. How was I supposed to know Caesar couldn't control his own powers and kept leaking gas everywhere? If it weren't for that, nothing would've blown up!"

Just then, a sharp, raspy voice barked out, "You bastard! You're the one who lost control! And what the hell are you doing here again, Enel?!"

Then came Caesar Clown, shorter than Enel but taller than most of the scientists. He stormed out, eyes glaring.

Enel replied with a grin, "Caesar, you got anything that can take down someone strong with poison? Give me some. Oh, and the antidote too."

This is what he suddenly thought of before: Funkfreed's true form was a sword, right? Swords can't get poisoned!

If things got dicey, just throw a poison gas bomb on the spot. Funkfreed could turn into an elephant, grab Rosinante, and run. Perfect.

Say what you will, Caesar's toxins were effective.

Caesar waved impatiently. "No, I don't. Now get the h—"

Bzzzzt!

Electricity crackled around Enel, dangerous energy radiating off him. "Oh? You were about to say… get the hell what? Caesar?"

Caesar swallowed hard. 'Damn this lunatic…'

"N-Nothing. I'll... I'll get it right away..."

* * *

First Half of the Grand Line, Alabasta, Rainbase.

In the Rain Dinners casino, already taking the form of its future grandeur, Crocodile sat behind a lavish desk, face dark as stormclouds, eyes fixed on a Den Den Mushi that had just started ringing.

It was Sakazuki calling...

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