Epilogue
Dr. Vegapunk
The man considered the greatest mind in the world hunched over the crowded desk. It wasn't his preferred way of working, but with the submarine being so small, he didn't have much of a choice. Sipping at his tea, Dr. Vegapunk began his report:
Ready Report on Project Ambience
Successes with project: Simulation worked as expected and designed. Emotional manipulation worked to successfully contain the subject that was suspected to be the most resistant to the simulation.
Flaws with project: Scenarios potentially require more research. At least one test subject rejected the scenario and attempted escape.
Vegapunk paused, wondering if he should include the project's one weakness: Observation Haki. Even with the glasses on the subject to attempt to blur or block out the unusual sense, if one concentrated their Haki enough, they'd be able to escape from the simulation. Taking another sip of his tea, Vegapunk decided to leave the weakness out. He often did that with his projects: leaving small, subtle failures in the designs. It allowed those who opposed the World Government a chance weakness to potentially exploit while innocuous enough that the World Government never suspected Vegapunk of a thing. The scientist smiled, remembering when Kuma had suggested such a request Vegapunk had been all too ready to grant. And the result of that request had just visited his island. It was funny how the world worked sometimes.
Unexpected results: Details in the simulation, based off of real-world information, will likely result in termination of Germa 66's plans for the East Blue.
This was an assumption on his part of course, but he was certain that Black Leg would be able to put the little hints Vegapunk had sprinkled in the simulation together to come to their logical conclusion: Judge was quietly planning to get a foothold in the East Blue. Given their reputation, Vegapunk had little doubt that if the Straw Hats crossed paths with the North Blue king again, they would throw a huge wrench into his plans.
Vegapunk paused before typing in the next entry: the discovery that despite his incessant whining about it, Straw Hat Luffy was actually an incredibly good Marine. He never hesitated to make decisions and had no trouble standing up to opposition, even from a personal direction. Smiling, Vegapunk skipped that particular discovery. It would only anger Garp and wouldn't sway Akainu from his vendetta against the young pirate in any case.
Finishing up his report on Project Ambience, Dr. Vegapunk began his damage assessment for New Vega. Most of it was fairly straightforward: simply using the island's inventory and project list to state what had been destroyed in the Navy's massive fire barrage and the Straw Hats' out of control destruction. When he reached the entry for Project Saturn however, he paused.
Unlike everything else on the island, Nico Robin had destroyed every physical and digital file on the project well before the fire barrage was underway. However, there was one thing she hadn't counted on.
Item and File Inventory: All physical and digital copies of Project Saturn completely destroyed.
Project Schedule: Project Saturn shall continue as planned, unimpeded.
With that entry, Vegapunk opened another file and began using his impressive memory. He worked for hours, hunched over the small desk, the submarine slowly making its gentle way through the ocean.
"Shall I get you anything to eat, Doctor?" his old assistant called from the door. Vegapunk paused.
"A sandwich perhaps. And some more tea, please," he answered. Another pause. "How far out are we?"
"We'll reach the nearest Naval base in about two more hours," his battered-but-alive assistant answered. Vegapunk nodded as if considering the information.
"That should be plenty of time," Vegapunk finally said. "Once we land and medical has assessed your injuries, you'll continue your previous research work on Project Ambience."
"Of course, Doctor," the old man replied. Vegapunk could practically hear the smile in his voice.
The old man closed the door and went to complete his task. Vegapunk basked in the silence for a moment, not even the sounds of the ocean getting through the Haki-blocking material the submarine was coated with. Then he hunched back over the desk and continued working. At some point his assistant returned with the promised sandwich and some fresh hot tea, but the scientist was so absorbed in his work he barely noticed.
Within those two hours, the man known as the most brilliant mind in the world had completely reproduced the Saturn battleship plans. Smiling, Vegapunk sat back and sipped his tea.
Author's Notes: Dun dun dun! Just when you thought it had a happy ending! Eh, happy enough for the Straw Hats for now anyway. And that's what really counts. And breadcrumbs for future tales, as all One Piece arcs seem to have.
-But all good things must come to an end. And here we are 40 chapters later! That's it! Begins with Vegapunk, ends with Vegapunk.
-Thanks for reading, all.
(This story as I more or less planned it is complete. But due to a reviewer request, I may potentially have a bonus chapter coming soon. Simply an alternate "what if" scenario where Luffy actually finds Law in Ambience. But I make no promises until it is finished!)