"Hello there, head of the Germa Family, Vinsmoke Judge! Let me greet you first!"
"Ah... I wouldn't dare presume how to address you, Your Excellency?"
Faced with those standing at the absolute peak of the world, Judge was walking on thin ice, exercising the utmost caution. If he were to accidentally provoke a Celestial Dragon, the consequences would simply be unthinkable.
Therefore, when the World Government contacted him yesterday to say that a great Celestial Dragon wished to speak with him, he felt as though the sky were collapsing upon him.
Toward these notorious Celestial Dragons—who possessed a reputation even worse than his own—Judge felt a deep sense of aversion. In his view, no matter what the matter was, it could never lead to a good outcome.
Without a moment's hesitation, he went into overdrive, summoning the core members of his family to discuss countermeasures.
Then, for the first time in his life, he felt as though he had been struck by lightning, realizing that all the enemies and troubles he had faced in the past were mere trifles compared to this current problem with a Celestial Dragon.
In the past, he had always relied on his own resolute will to determine the direction of Germa. Yet this time, he panicked, discussing the matter with the children he had engineered to be cold and ruthlessly emotionless.
To his shock, those cold-hearted sons of his bluntly declared, "Well then, it looks like Father isn't going to survive this!"
"Is Germa finished?"
...
In short, every single word was like a sharp blade piercing straight into Judge's heart, making him realize far earlier than in the original timeline that his research had developed a severe flaw.
Fortunately, while that daughter of his had also been engineered and obeyed his every command, she had not been stripped of her emotions. Her words offered Judge a glimmer of comfort.
"Father, this person is likely a reasonable, elite Celestial Dragon. As you know, the important positions within the World Government are all held by elite Celestial Dragons; they tend to be somewhat more humane in how they do things. If it were one of the lower-tier Celestial Dragons, they probably wouldn't have bothered using a Den Den Mushi to notify us and arrange a specific time."
Well, this was purely a magnificent misunderstanding, because Eleco's waking hours were extremely limited each day, and his prior reputation had actually placed him squarely in the worst tier of Celestial Dragons!
It was precisely these words that allowed Judge to calm down and begin arranging for his connections to be mobilized to gather information on the Celestial Dragon who wished to make contact with him.
Generally speaking, as a member nation of the World Government, they had to travel to the Holy Land every few years for meetings. They routinely gathered intelligence on the Celestial Dragons living in the Holy Land to avoid causing trouble during these gatherings, meaning the vast majority of information on Celestial Dragons was publicly accessible to member states.
Father Fildro Rolt: a Celestial Dragon holding real power within World Government institutions.
Mother Fildro Rossiefiel: one of the current instructors of the God's Knights, likewise an elite among elites.
Younger sister Fildro Stephie: completed elite education, has a daughter with him...
Daughter Fildro Livina: 8 years old this year, interested in medicine, has already begun elite education...
Fildro Eleco..................
The preceding family information was all rather normal, letting Judge know that Eleco came from an elite family where his parents held both real power and extensive connections. However, the ensuing series of Eleco's atrocious deeds directly made Judge's vision go black.
There's no saving this...
Thus, waiting with a trembling heart until the agreed-upon time, Judge finally bit the bullet and answered the ringing Den Den Mushi.
"Let's get straight to the point. You've probably investigated my background pretty thoroughly by now. I hope you're a sensible fellow. I won't say much more—I plan to invest in you. Are you interested?"
"Invest in me?"
The cold male voice coming from the other end and his words caught Judge completely off guard. After all, his personality was precisely that: someone who fled from powerful figures and could only act cowardly in their presence. Eleco's words left him utterly bewildered.
"That's right. Although I know my reputation is terrible, I've still received a proper elite education, and I have some understanding of your Germa. You're simply trying to restore the glory of your ancestors and rule the entire North Blue once again, aren't you?"
"I-Indeed..."
"Hah, that's never going to happen, is it? You should have realized that ages ago! What kind of delusions are you still holding onto?"
Listening to the cowardly voice from the other side of the Den Den Mushi, Eleco directly mocked him.
"Th-That's not a delusion! My clone army and cyborg technology can, can..."
"Enough, stop deceiving yourself!" Eleco scolded angrily.
"I..."
"Let me put it down this way: this Saint's patience is limited. I simply took a fancy to the technology you control, which is why I want to invest in you."
To emphasize his genuine impatience, Eleco not only heightened his tone but also referred to himself as "this Saint." (Note: Male Celestial Dragons usually append "Saint" to their names, while females append "Princess.")
"How about this? In your view, what truly constitutes ruling a country?"
"Lord Eleco Saint, it must be military might...?"
"It can be. Just like your Germa Kingdom, which is famous for its military might. But it goes beyond that: culture, language, economy, heritage... don't all of these exist even in your Germa Kingdom?"
"So why obsess over controlling every piece of land and kingdom in the North Blue?"
"Take the comic *Sora, Warrior of the Sea*, which is modeled after your Germa—isn't it famous throughout the entire North Blue just the same?"
"As long as you control the culture, economy, language, and military... and act as the invisible king who rules the North Blue from the shadows, making all the kingdoms of the North Blue subservient to you, how does that sound?"
"This..."
"What I can promise you is to use my family's connections to back you up, securing at least the return of the territories you lost back then. I hope you know what's good for you."
"Lord Eleco Saint, what do you need me to do, then?"
"I want you to build the strongest cloned cyborg body for me. I need to undergo consciousness transfer, and you must also craft a matching Raid Suit."
Following that, Eleco laid out his requirements to Judge: his desire for a cloned cyborg body that combined the advantages of various demi-human races.
"That's impossible! Current technology simply cannot achieve that, not even if Vegapunk himself were to step in. Although I don't know how you learned about the Lineage Factor, your understanding of it is probably still insufficient."
"Even with my current technology, we've only managed to make a cyborg simultaneously compatible with three Lineage Factor modifications: steel bones and skin, strength far exceeding ordinary humans, and a single special ability."
"Given your requirements, if multiple superior racial Lineage Factors are fused into a single body, with current technology, that body is bound to collapse due to Lineage Factor incompatibility."
Hearing Eleco's idea, Judge felt a wave of relief. If it were merely about building a clone body for consciousness transfer and a matching Raid Suit, it wouldn't be a big deal. Using this to trade back the former territory of Germa, with a Celestial Dragon backing them from the shadows afterward, was a profitable deal no matter how one looked at it.
Yet as a professional, he still felt compelled to dissuade Eleco from his outrageous demands.
"Is that so? Don't you worry about that; I have my own ways."
"Eh? Is Vegapunk coming out with some new technology again?"
Although Judge hated Vegapunk, he had to admit that Vegapunk possessed the highest scientific research capability among them all.
Eleco knew Judge had misunderstood. This was his informational advantage: Lineage Factor collapse? That was a joke in front of the Munch-Munch Fruit.
That's right—it was the Paramecia-class Munch-Munch Fruit belonging to Wapol, the king of the Magnetic Drum Kingdom in Chopper's homeland.
This power could not only create shape-memory alloys, namely Wapol Metal, but also fuse things together, including merging humans with humans, and even devouring Devil Fruit users to make their abilities his own.
Such a bug-rated fruit was something even Marshall D. Teach coveted.
With this fruit assisting him, Lineage Factor collapse? Impossible.
Furthermore, that Wapol Metal could be used to enhance the Raid Suit. Well, well, Wapol was definitely going to be one of Eleco's upcoming targets.
"Never mind. In any case, you only need to know that this Saint has a brilliant plan. So, when do you plan to visit the Holy Land to begin your research for me?"
"Well... um... I... I still have numerous matters here that require urgent attention recently. Besides, as the ruler of a nation, if I am away for too long, I fear it might not be appropriate..."
Deep down, Judge felt a total aversion to traveling to the Holy Land. Who knew if he would ever return safely? Seeing that Eleco was so reasonable, he wanted to haggle a bit. Who knows, right?
"Heh, very well then. Why don't you dispatch one of your children to my place to handle the technological handover? Wait, hold on. I hear that daughter of yours is quite fair of face. I happen to be lacking a head maid here—why not send your daughter to me?"
Heh heh, with power and influence, one could act as one pleased. For a beauty like Reiju, whose figure and appearance were top-tier in the world, Eleco felt it was time to dance, leap, and drink to his heart's content. Besides, given his original body's notorious reputation, standing out wasn't strictly necessary, was it?
"Reiju? Could it be that Lord Eleco Saint has taken a liking to Reiju?"
For Judge, he now had yet another reason to persuade himself. He concluded that Eleco had sought him out precisely because he had taken a liking to Reiju. Although this would cost him a capable engineered daughter, the benefits he would gain in return were more than sufficient.
Moreover, Reiju had been engineered to obey him unconditionally. As long as Reiju remained safe by Eleco's side, he would have even more room to maneuver.
"Think what you like. Just remember to lift your control over Reiju; from now on, Reiju must obey only this Saint's commands."
Eleco was naturally well aware of Judge's methods for controlling his children. It was identical to Vegapunk's Seraphim—there were always designated objects of obedience, and Judge had simply set the object to himself alone.
This concluded the transaction agreed upon by Eleco and Germa before Stephie set off for the North Blue.
Returning the timeline to the present.