Alpha wilted under her sister's scolding and her friends' mockery, but her stubborn streak wouldn't allow her to back down. She rubbed the spot where Kalifa had struck her and retorted defiantly:
"What's so impossible about it? Since Vegapunk has already developed the technology to transfer Devil Fruit powers into rings, how much more difficult could extracting them from a human body be?"
Kalifa slapped her forehead in exasperation. Her sister's reasoning was so absurd that it was genuinely testing her patience. What were they teaching agents at CP8 these days? The fact that this simpleton had risen to a mid-level position in the organization was truly baffling.
Everyone at the table seed to share Kalifa's sentint, finding Alpha's logic completely outlandish. Gion and her drinking companions even treated the ridiculous statent as an excuse to down three more cups of wine in quick succession.
Luffy sighed, making a concerted effort to remain patient as he attempted to explain.
"It's not as simple as you're making it out to be," he said gently. "These two processes might seem similar on the surface, but they're fundantally different. Even for soone like Vegapunk, developing such a technique would require decades of research, if it's possible at all."
"I don't believe that!" Alpha insisted, her neck stiffening with determination. "Vegapunk is acknowledged as the world's greatest scientific genius. Just because you can't imagine it doesn't an he can't accomplish it!"
Luffy regarded Alpha's stubbornness with amusent. "Really? How about we call him and ask right now?"
Yamato imdiately perked up, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Yes, do it! I want to hear Vegapunk himself tell Alpha she's an idiot!"
Mansherry and Koala tried to intervene, showing rcy where others wouldn't.
"Co on, let's drop this," Mansherry suggested. "Alpha was just joking around."
"Who said I was joking? I'm completely serious!" Alpha declared, planting her hands on her hips. With unwavering confidence, she retrieved her Den Den Mushi and tossed it to Luffy.
"Go ahead, call him right now! If Dr. Vegapunk says it's possible, you all have to apologize to ," she announced. "And you have to say three tis: 'I'm sorry, I was wrong. Miss Alpha is a genius.'"
"And what if you lose?" Violet interjected, clearly intrigued by the developing wager.
"If I lose, you can make do whatever you want!" Alpha declared boldly. "But I won't lose."
Her confidence was so absolute that even Kalifa and Luffy, who had initially intended only to tease her, were taken aback.
"Fine," Luffy conceded with a slight shake of his head. "Since you're asking for trouble, don't bla for the consequences. But I'll make it fair—if I lose, I'll grant you any one request, no questions asked."
Convinced that Alpha was digging her own grave, Luffy accepted the Den Den Mushi and dialed Vegapunk's number.
On Egghead Island, Vegapunk had just concluded a heated argunt with Dragon that had left him in a foul mood. When the Den Den Mushi rang, he answered without checking the caller's identity.
"Hello?" he answered flatly.
"Hello, Dr. Vegapunk?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Vegapunk's deanor instantly transford. His entire body seed to perk up with renewed energy.
"Luffy-kun?! You called ! Have you finally had a change of heart about collaborating with to advance scientific progress?"
Back at the dinner table, under the curious gazes of the won, Luffy's expression darkened as he firmly crushed the scientist's unrealistic hopes.
"Don't even think about it. I will never agree to such a thing!"
"Please reconsider!" Vegapunk pleaded. "I could create false mories for Lilith. We could prevent her from uploading her experiences to the Punk Records database."
"Well..." Luffy hesitated montarily. If Lilith weren't given access to Vegapunk's mories, perhaps...
"No, that's not what I'm calling about," he said, catching himself. "Doctor, we can discuss that matter later. I have a different question for you right now."
On the other end of the line, Vegapunk didn't imdiately respond. He had detected a flicker of uncertainty in Luffy's voice, which gave him hope. Perhaps he didn't need to pressure Luffy into having a child with his clone after all. He could simply transform Lilith into a robot that shared only his knowledge, not his mories.
That might be acceptable to Luffy while still allowing Vegapunk to explore an intriguing research question: What could a robot with pure knowledge but no personal mory accomplish? Could anyone replicate his research capabilities without his lifeti of experiences?
This could be another fascinating research direction, Vegapunk mused silently. I'll need to make so adjustnts to Lilith's programming...
After this brief ntal digression, he finally responded to Luffy. "Of course, feel free to ask your question."
Luffy frowned, sensing that Vegapunk seed distracted, his mind clearly occupied with so other sche. However, he decided not to press the issue and instead posed the question that had sparked their debate.
"Doctor, given your extensive research on Devil Fruits, I was wondering: Is there any way to extract a Devil Fruit power from soone who already possesses it? Could it be transford back into a fruit, or directly transferred to another person?"
As he asked this, Luffy couldn't help glancing toward Alpha, whose expression remained smugly confident.
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