Caesar Coulant

In a new world, in the Punk Hazard, in a large room, Locke and Quin were sitting on a sofa, engaged in casual conversation.

"By the way, Quin, you spent some time with Kaido's pirate crew before joining my pirate crew, right? What were your thoughts on that?"

"......."

Upon hearing Locke's question, Quin fell silent instantly. "Hahaha, Locke, my man, what thoughts could I possibly have? 

Kaido, that guy, is no match for you in terms of strength and influence now, and I enjoy conducting research, unlike that penniless Kaido.

"Moreover, I happened to run into you, the boss, at that time, so it made perfect sense to follow the one with a brighter future, don't you think? After all, the saying goes, 'A wise bird chooses its tree,' and I'm quite wise."

Quin made some comical gestures as he explained himself. He thought that Locke had long forgotten about this little matter.

"Don't be nervous, Quin; I'm not suspecting you of anything. I just suddenly remembered something. Well then, go fetch that guy called Caesar Clown; I also want to meet him."

Locke interrupted Quin's comical antics, ending the previous topic of conversation.

Quin discreetly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly left to find Caesar Clown.

"Phew, that really gave me a scare. Why would Locke suddenly bring up the past like that?"

As Quin exited the room, he leaned against the wall and muttered to himself, somewhat terrified. His chest was heaving heavily due to nervousness.

"Never mind, since Locke said it's nothing to worry about, I won't dwell on it. Caesar Clown, that guy, seems to have been spending a lot of time in his laboratory lately."

After calming his nerves, Quin quickly headed towards Caesar Clown's laboratory. In the room, Lox sat on the sofa, legs crossed, and his chin rested on his hand.

"Kaido, it's about time to send someone to Wano and make contact with him."

"Anyway, Wano is a strategically located country, and it's conveniently close to the Atawal Sea area."

"Especially the Sea-Prism Stone deposits on the island, those are valuable strategic resources. Giving them to Kaido would be a waste. But, to conquer Wano, we'll have to wait a bit longer."

While Locke contemplated maximizing their gains from Wano, Quin had already reached Caesar Clown's office.

"Hey, Caesar, you punk, get out here!" As soon as Quin entered the laboratory, he shouted. His booming voice penetrated the laboratory, reaching the ears of everyone inside.

In an instant, the busy personnel in the laboratory stopped what they were doing and looked at Quin in curiosity.

"What's going on with Quin, and why is he so angry?!"

"Quick, go get Dr. Caesar!"

"We can't let Quin cause a scene here!"

"Hehehe, isn't that Quin? What's going on? What does this genius want?" As the people in the laboratory panicked, a distinctive laughter echoed in the room.

A figure turned itself into gas, with long black hair, horns on its head, over 3 meters tall, wearing purple lipstick, and makeup around its eyes. It had a flat nose, long eyebrows, and elongated limbs. 

This figure wore a light blue coat with "GAS" printed on the sides and an orange-yellow striped suit underneath. 

It had purple-black gloves with "CC" printed and a hairstyle resembling a hedgehog. This was Caesar Clown, who floated down from the air.

"Caesar! You scoundrel, Locke, the boss, is here, and he wants to see you. Hurry up and come with me!" Quin completely ignored Caesar Clown's nonsense and spoke straightforwardly.

"Locke, the boss? He's here? And he wants to see me right away? It seems that my genius reputation has reached Locke, the boss's ears!" Upon hearing Quin's words, Caesar Clown started dancing excitedly and twirling around.

"Don't get too full of yourself, Caesar. Hurry up, Locke, the boss, doesn't like waiting!" Quin didn't pay much attention to Caesar Clown's antics and yelled impatiently before turning to leave.

"Hehehe, Quin, you're such a buzzkill. Don't be in such a hurry, wait up for me." Caesar Clown followed Quin quickly, continuing to boast and prance around him.

In no time, Quin arrived with Caesar Clown at Locke's room. "Knock, knock." Quin gently tapped on the door and, upon receiving a response, opened the door, ushering Caesar Clown inside.

"Locke, the boss, I've brought Caesar Clown with me, "Hahaha." Locke looked up at Caesar Clown standing beside Quin. How should I put it? Locke's first impression of Caesar Clown was that he was quite eccentric.

But having read the original work, Locke knew that although Caesar was an eccentric, cowardly, and opportunistic guy, he was also a ruthless and brilliant mad scientist.

"Are you Caesar Clown?"

"Hehehe, that's right, that's right, this genius is indeed Caesar Clown. Nice to meet you, Locke, the boss, please take good care of me in the future!"

Caesar Clown clasped his hands together in front of his chest, wearing a flattering expression as he looked at Locke.

"Well, since you're already a member of our Locke Pirate Crew family, taking care of you is only natural."

"I heard you've created artificial Zoan Devil Fruits. How are they performing?" Locke sat back on the sofa, chuckling as he asked.

"Hehehe, thanks for your concern, Lox, the boss. As for the artificial Zoan Devil Fruits, there are still some flaws, but we've achieved a success rate of about 50%."

Hearing Locke's question, Caesar Clown replied with great satisfaction. Although he had relied on Bege's lineage factors to create the artificial Zoan Devil Fruits, he still managed to do it independently.

"A 50% success rate, not bad. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, thank you for your praise, Lox, the boss. I will continue working to improve the success rate of the artificial Devil Fruits." With Locke's approval and praise, Caesar Clown became even more elated.

"So, Caesar, how many of these artificial Zoan Devil Fruits can you produce in a month now?"

"Ten! And whether these ten can grant abilities to the person who consumes them is about a fifty-fifty chance."

Upon hearing Locke's question, Caesar Clown answered without hesitation. "I see. Well, it doesn't matter. Quin, I have a task for you."

Upon hearing Locke's words, Quin immediately became serious. "I need you to go to Wano and find Kaido. He's currently assembling a legion of Zoan Devil Fruit users, right? Try to pitch our products to him."

"Muhahaha, no problem. But, will Kaido want our products, considering their flaws?"

Quin looked curiously at Locke.

"Well, I think he won't refuse."

"Hehe, understood. I'll head out right away." Quin responded with a smile and then left the meeting room.

"Caesar Clown, you go about your business too. I need some rest."

"Hehehe, I got it, Locke, the boss." Once Caesar Clown had also left, Locke slowly got up and walked to the large floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the vast blue sea in the distance.

"The next sea... It's time for some peace and quiet for a while.