Chương 41: 41
The sound of the waves greeted me when our ship returned to the sea. I stood on the deck of the Leviathan, watching as the silhouettes of clouds slowly replaced each other on the horizon. After a moment, my gaze slid to the watchman.
–Heading for Totland," I said casually, as if I were talking about something insignificant. The order echoed in space, and the team, without asking any questions, set to work. I leaned on the railing, watching the sailors scurry away. There was something comforting about it, an order that didn't need to be reminded of its place.
Three days of travel ahead. What else can you expect? I stepped into the cabin and closed the door behind me. The table was littered with documents–ancient, yellowed pages with a chronology of Vano. Looking at them, I thought that I needed to ask my subordinates about the story.
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The lamplight picked out the lines, crooked, as if the authors of the texts themselves were obsessed with the fear of time. I flipped through page after page, trying to isolate the facts from the chaos of half-truths and speculation.
Huishu knocked before entering. His footsteps sounded heavy, and he clearly had a good opinion of me.
– What do you know about politics or the history of world government? I asked, without taking my eyes off the notes.
- hm. Just what they drummed into CP9," he grinned, bowing his head slightly. – Half of this is outright nonsense, the rest is a hidden lie.
I looked up.
"Go on."
He paused, as if deciding how many words the conversation deserved.
"The government has always been afraid of an Empty Century,– he began, and his voice sounded flat, almost lazy. – But you know, many people knew the truth about the empty century.
I was silent, feeling that this question was rhetorical for him.
– They are afraid of the difference itself. Races, cultures, forces they can't control. Considering that the heavenly dragons were humans, I thought they only wanted to keep humans.
I squinted, sliding my finger along the corner of the page.
–And how far have they gone?" - I asked.
Huishu chuckled, shaking his head.
– Very far away. Have you ever heard of the Buccaneers?
The word caught something in the back of my mind, but there were no details. I made an inviting gesture.
"This is one of the last races they've set their claws on. Too dangerous, they thought. Then I just joined the ranks of CP9. Our squad was sent to clean up one of their settlements.
He fell silent, but did not drop out of the dialogue. He began to look at the office as if he wasn't interested.
– And what did you understand then? I asked, ignoring the antics.
– Do you understand? He snorted, the corner of his mouth twitching. – I realized that they are afraid of the wrong thing. Their fear is ridiculous. They wanted to break what they couldn't bend. But even we agents understood that they simply couldn't beat some of them. Giants, for example. Or the fishmen.
I leaned back in my chair, steepling my fingers.
"We tried anyway. Even knowing that it won't work. Are they fools, or do they see things that are hidden from others?
He thought for a moment, choosing the right words.
– Maybe they played too much. – he shared his assumptions. - They are afraid of their own lies, so they commit more and more ridiculous acts every time.
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I invited a lot of high-ranking people, but they didn't know much about the past. The next one who was really helpful was King. His tall figure almost reached the ceiling of Kaido's former office.
–Lunarians," I began, "are these your race?" What do you know?
King looked up, his empty eyes searching for fragments from his memory.
"I'm one of them." The Lunarians were given the ability to create flames. They once ruled the world eight hundred years ago, but about forty years ago they began to exterminate us.
"Do you know why?" I leaned a little closer, thinking that I had finally caught something interesting.
He continued in the same monotone.
- no. Perhaps it's related to our powers, or because of our backstory with the empty century. Or the high level of development of our technologies
– Technology? I squinted, trying to catch a glimmer of an answer in his eyes.
His face remained impassive.
– I remember them blurrily. They were more successful than the current one, but I'm not able to give an accurate description.
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Later, when the conversation with King had dried up, I moved on to Quinn. He was a puppet, but even in this state he was able to maintain an appearance of research passion. I knew he didn't know much about history, but his knowledge of science was much more useful. I pre-ordered him to prepare a presentation.
–Show me what you know about genetics," I said, sitting down across from him.
He nodded silently, pulled out some roughly drawn diagrams, and spread them out in front of me.
"After you eat the devil's fruit," he began, pointing to one of the diagrams... It changes you.
– How? – I carefully studied the lines and symbols that he drew.
– The fetus integrates at the molecular level. His voice sounded flat, like he was giving a lecture. – The genetic code of the user and the "core" of the fetus are intertwined.
He pointed to an image of two DNA strands, one of which was surrounded by strange, alien structures.
– These elements work like a virus. They "rewrite" your genetic material by introducing changes. As a result, new proteins, enzymes, and sometimes structures necessary to activate abilities appear.
– And what happens to ordinary DNA? I looked up, searching for something beyond explanations.
Without hesitation, Quinn switched to another chart.
– It's more stable. He traced a long double helix with his finger. – All the key data – about height, hair color, body shape – are encoded here. We know this thanks to Jerma and Vegapunk. They have deciphered most of the structure, including the functions of the chromosomes.
He pointed to several marked areas.
– Here, for example, there is data on the bone structure. It's about metabolism.
He sounded like he was saying something obvious, but for me, these explanations were more than a lecture. It was important for me to understand if I was able to change my structure by circumventing the limitations of the system
– Can you do my dna analysis and compare it with the usual one? I leaned my elbows on the table, and also to determine the difference in their structure?
Quinn nodded dumbly. He skillfully continued to draw the following diagram, giving me in-depth lessons.
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