CHAPTER 277: [277] : ROWEN’S OBSESSION! THE HOPE OF CONQUERING LOGIA FRUITS!

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"SO GORGEOUS!"

"AMAZING!"

Seeing the structure Lilith pointed to, Franky and the others let out cries of astonishment.

"An escalator?"

Rowen looked at the entrance to Vegapunk’s lab, a nostalgic glint in his eyes.

The device used to enter the laboratory from its exterior was all too familiar to him. It was a common escalator, a sight seen everywhere on Earth.

"Eh? Rowen, have you seen one before?"

While such technology was commonplace for Rowen, for Nami and the others, it was a piece of high-tech they had never seen before.

People didn’t need to move—they just had to stand on it, and the stairs would continuously emerge from below, automatically carrying them to the upper levels.

The technology of the One Piece world was incredibly fragmented.

Due to the unique magnetic fields of the Grand Line, islands like Little Garden, still stuck in the age of dinosaurs, could exist. But even the most technologically advanced islands were quite primitive compared to Earth.

Even Marine Headquarters, directly under the World Government, capable of building the world’s most advanced warships, still used primitive cannonball fuses, let alone high-tech weapons like airplanes or missiles that could seize air superiority.

Communication in the One Piece world was also very primitive.

Although Transponder Snails existed for communication and live video broadcasts, their numbers couldn’t cover the entire population.

Most people could only learn about major world events through newspapers.

Furthermore, Transponder Snails were extremely easy to monitor and their signals easily jammed. Not to mention the World Government’s technological means of cutting off signals—many Devil Fruit abilities could directly sever all Transponder Snail signals.

For example, the String-String Fruit’s Birdcage, now in Rowen’s hands, could cut off all Transponder Snail signals within its range.

As for the humanoid weapons that were far more advanced than Earth’s, the Pacifistas, created based on the Glint-Glint Fruit’s ability and Kuma’s Buccaneer bloodline, and the even more advanced Seraphim, created using Lineage Factor to replicate Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities and combined with the Lunarian bloodline—

—These were all derived from the Devil Fruit abilities of the One Piece world and the bloodlines of various special races, completed with the technological data left behind by the Great Kingdom.

Though Vegapunk was a genius and a user of the Brain-Brain Fruit, possessing the world’s greatest mind, he was still, at present, following in the footsteps of his predecessors.

In general, the technological level of the One Piece world was not on the same level as the Earth Rowen came from.

And the most critical factor constraining Vegapunk’s research?

Lilith had already screamed it at the top of her lungs from the very beginning...

A severe lack of funds and resources.

Whether on Earth or in the One Piece world, both were ultimately material worlds. To achieve outstanding scientific results and promote these results to the world required terrifyingly large amounts of funding and resources.

For example, on this future island, Egghead, there was very advanced technology. This was clearly a winter island, but Vegapunk had already invented an island-wide climate control system, making this winter island as warm as spring.

Using this system, combined with the Seastone factors, he had even recreated the Island Clouds of Skypiea.

According to one of Vegapunk’s satellites, Atlas, who represented ’Violence’, if this system were implemented on a global scale, it could completely control the sea’s climate—making perpetually frigid winter islands bloom with spring flowers.

Like Chopper’s homeland, the Drum Kingdom, which was in a state of perpetual winter and blizzards.

Chopper’s adoptive father figure, Dr. Hiriluk’s lifelong dream was to make cherry blossoms bloom in the Drum Kingdom. The cherry blossoms represented not just beauty, but the spring warmth the Drum Kingdom longed for.

And it wasn’t just winter islands.

In the Grand Line, whether it was spring, summer, or autumn islands, they all had their inconveniences, most directly affecting agriculture.

On the various islands of the Grand Line, there was almost no change of seasons. Winter islands were perpetually cold and snowy—summer islands were perpetually hot and scorching.

Under such conditions, large-scale farming was incredibly difficult.

This could be seen from the diet here.

Whether pirates or marines, most of the food they ate came from hunted animals, fish, and even Sea Kings.

This wasn’t just because the animals in the One Piece world were incredibly large and their nutritional value far surpassed Earth’s, but also because in the special environment of the One Piece world, stably producing large quantities of food was infinitely more difficult than on Earth.

Many people in this world were still suffering from hunger.

On top of that, the sea routes between islands were incredibly dangerous, with almost no stable, established trade routes.

This also led to most islands, except for a few special ones, being self-sufficient with the resources on their own island.

Anything not native to an island was exorbitantly expensive.

The inability of resources to circulate, the difficulty of transportation between sea routes, resulted in costs that could not be reduced.

The cost of shipping in the world of One Piece was astronomical.

To truly change this world, Rowen believed, he had to break the bizarre magnetic fields of the Grand Line. The sea lanes had to be fully developed to lower costs and allow the people to live better lives.

After all, even on Earth with its highly developed aviation industry, sea transport remained the cheapest method, the one that allowed industrialization to reach its full potential.

And the first obstacle to all this was the Grand Line’s special magnetic field. Without completely breaking this special magnetic field, the cost of sea transport in this world could not be reduced.

As the Strongest Emperor who had brought the territories of the Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates under his command, ruling over more than half of the New World, Rowen naturally hoped for the resources between his affiliated countries and islands to circulate.

Only through circulation and integration could costs be minimized—the very basis of industrialization. Only then could the full potential of his territories be unleashed.

To achieve such resource integration, Vegapunk’s research ability was something Rowen had to obtain.

Rowen’s gaze was not just on the World Government, but also on the starry sea.

"You’ve seen it?" Lilith was stunned.

"It’s very common in my hometown," Rowen said with a calm smile. With his current strength and status, he had no need to hide the fact that he was not from this world.

It was just that his comrades and the women he loved had never pressed for details. Rowen knew why. To them, it didn’t matter where he came from.

And he felt the same way, so he had never explained.

"Hometown? Where? A device like this is common there??" Lilith was instantly filled with immense interest. Her eyes turned into Beri symbols.

For Lilith, she wasn’t concerned about the technological level there.

In Lilith’s view, even if such technology was common in Sky Sovereign Rowen’s hometown, the technological level couldn’t possibly exceed Egghead’s.

But Lilith was very interested in the hometown Sky Sovereign Rowen spoke of—

To be able to make such technology common, without mastering the technology of the Great Kingdom—the wealth of Sky Sovereign Rowen’s hometown must be astonishing!

If possible, they could cooperate, and surely produce more amazing results!

"I can’t go back to my hometown for now. To get there, I need your help, Dr. Vegapunk,"

Rowen said, looking at Lilith, his eyes serious.

"Can’t go back??" Lilith frowned slightly.

Though she was Vegapunk’s "Evil" side and often acted impulsively, she wasn’t a fool. Thanks to the Brain-Brain Fruit, she could share knowledge and experiences with the other satellites and the main body.

Sky Sovereign Rowen was a user of the Door-Door Fruit, a man who had completely controlled space. He had the ability of the Azure Dragon Fruit, which could travel through the clouds. He even had Kuma’s Paw-Paw Fruit ability.

In this vast sea, this vast world, where could this man ’not’ go?

The unknown...

Lilith’s eyes shone brightly.

For a scientist, what was most fascinating?

The unknown, of course.

Sky Sovereign Rowen had always been an enigma.

Devil Fruits—except for a few special bloodlines, one person could only eat one. But even those special bloodlines had a limit to the number of Devil Fruits they could eat.

But Sky Sovereign Rowen... seemed to have no limit at all! He could consume countless Devil Fruits.

And he had even trained multiple fruits to the point of Awakening.

This had never happened before in the history of these seas.

For Vegapunk, who was closest to the truth of Devil Fruits, who had researched the Lineage Factor, even creating artificial Zoan Devil Fruits and the Green Blood that could replicate Paramecia Devil Fruits—he knew even better how unbelievable this was.

Devil Fruits were the manifestation of human desires.

After eating a Devil Fruit, the user’s inner desire would continuously move closer to the desire contained in the fruit. Eating another one would cause a conflict between the different desires.

This conflict was not something the user themselves could control—it was inevitable, unless a special bloodline allowed the desires of different Devil Fruits to coexist.

But even those special bloodlines had a limited capacity. They couldn’t possibly allow someone to eat countless fruits like Sky Sovereign Rowen.

Especially... the numerous Logia Fruits he possessed.

Logia-type Devil Fruits were the one category Vegapunk had yet to conquer. He could partially replicate even Mythical Zoans, but Logia fruits were a complete dead end.

And Sky Sovereign Rowen possessed the Ice-Ice Fruit, Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Flare-Flare Fruit—these, even among Logias, were the absolute top-tier Devil Fruits, and he had brought them all to their Awakened state.

The reason Vegapunk was so eager to meet Sky Sovereign Rowen...

Was because he saw in this man the hope of finally conquering the secrets of Logia Devil Fruits.

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