Chapter 120: The Sudden Appearance of Perona

After the great battle, a banquet was naturally indispensable. With the tense atmosphere gone, everyone’s spirits lifted significantly.

Encouraged by Crocus, Shanks took the initiative and asked Buffon to re-suture the wound on his left eye.

"Buffon, leave one of these three scars for me! I want to keep this pain as a constant reminder, a force that prevents me from ever slowing down."

Hearing this, Buffon’s brows furrowed tightly.

"That’s a tall order. It’s like being told to stop halfway through popping a pimple. This..." Nevertheless, Buffon fully respected Shanks’s wishes and, suppressing his own discomfort, completed the stitching.

Once he checked the rewards, Buffon quickly forgot his unease. The swordplay proficiency gained from Shanks had brought him within a hair’s breadth of reaching Level 6.

There was also an unexpected gain that completely overturned everything Buffon had previously known about Shanks...

After everyone had their fill, the two crews set sail. The task of returning the Snow Colt was left to Shanks, while Buffon had Laboon bring out the *Juventus*.

Before leaving, Crocus handed Buffon a Vivre Card. He told him that if he ever encountered a difficulty he couldn't solve on his own, he could seek out this person, who might be of some help.

Buffon glanced at the name on it, and a warmth instantly welled up in his heart.

With no current pursuit from the Navy, Buffon preferred to sail in the sunlight. Standing on the lighthouse, Crocus watched the departing figure of Laboon and could not help but shed a tear of heroic sorrow.

Buffon and his crew’s destination was Long Ring Long Land. He had previously sent Brook there to handle initial preparations, and it was unclear what the situation was like now.

It would take several days to reach the island, and Buffon decided to use this time to complete the lineage factor modification for Reiju.

Aside from delivering the Raid Suit to Buffon, Yonji also needed to make a trip to Drum Island, so it was only natural that he traveled along with Buffon and his crew.

His damaged Raid Suit had also been taken to the laboratory and repaired by Buffon.

Looking at the suit, restored to its original condition, Yonji stared at Reiju in disbelief and asked, "Big sister, what is the deal with this Buffon? Could it be that Father, during his trip to the Florian Triangle, taught all our technology to this guy?"

Reiju had long since grown accustomed to Buffon’s eccentric abilities. She smiled at Yonji and said, "Didn't Father tell you? All that Wapometal he brought back later was obtained from Captain Buffon."

"I heard about that, but didn't Father also perform a lineage factor modification on him? Then why does it seem like he has no respect for Father at all?"

Facing Yonji’s question, Reiju thought for a moment and smiled. "Think about it—we were modified from childhood, while Captain Buffon has only experienced it for about a month. He probably still needs a period of adjustment."

As for how Buffon repaired the Raid Suit, he naturally used the power of the *Baku Baku no Mi* (Munch-Munch Fruit). While repairing it, the fruit also recorded the recipe for manufacturing the suit.

"It’s a pity that Wapometal cannot be synthesized from just any material. Otherwise, building an entire army of warriors wouldn't be a big deal," Buffon muttered to himself before calling Reiju into his laboratory to begin her lineage factor modification.

Although Reiju had been looking forward to this day for a long time, when it finally arrived, she felt an inexplicable nervousness—perhaps due to the fear of failure or some other unknown reason.

Reiju was already well-versed in the process, so without waiting for Buffon’s instructions, she lay down in the tank.

Seeing herself covered in IV tubes, Reiju asked with some trepidation, "Captain Buffon, what are the odds of success?"

Buffon answered calmly, "Fifty-fifty. Even if it doesn't succeed, it won't cause you any harm."

Before Reiju could respond, Buffon activated the instruments and began pumping the prepared modification serum into her body. Moments later, Reiju drifted into a deep sleep.

In her own consciousness, she entered a dream—a sequence of memories. It started from her childhood lineage factor modification, through Sanji’s birth and her mother’s death, replaying every experience of her life. Especially the time after meeting Buffon—a life free from her father’s absolute control—felt precious and beautiful to her.

During the 24 hours of Reiju's modification, Buffon did not leave the laboratory for a single moment. While monitoring her, he sorted through the gains since leaving Alabasta.

The Devil Fruit gains were minimal, having only obtained the blood of Eric, the Sickle-Sickle Fruit user. However, the boosts to his physique and swordsmanship from Laboon and Shanks were unprecedented. His experience points in both skills were now infinitely close to Level 6.

"I really want to know what kind of power comes after Level 6!"

The medical knowledge gained from Crocus had also boosted his progress from Level 5 to Level 6 by a third.

Beyond that, there were the rewards from stitching the Millennium Dragon, which Buffon hadn't had time to review until now. After checking, aside from standard gains, what surprised him most was a notification that hadn't appeared in a long time.

Then again, since heading out to sea, Buffon had rarely encountered corpses, as he was usually stitching and treating the living. Out of curiosity, Buffon clicked on the Millennium Dragon's "Last Wish."

To his surprise, the wish was to return to the Dragon's Nest after a thousand years. Returning was simple enough, but the thousand-year timeframe left Buffon bewildered.

"It's not even certain if I'll live for a thousand years. This task is a bit of a trap."

Since he was already dealing with a corpse, Buffon returned to his old trade. He took out the Celestial Dragon corpse from the cold storage and began to stitch it. The previous one under Reverse Mountain had been impersonated by Bon Clay; now, he needed to create an actual Celestial Dragon zombie, which would be of great use for his future plans.

The only reward worth noting was the "Control over Pluton." The rest were essentially useless to him.

Still, what exactly was Pluton? Buffon remained deeply skeptical. Even on the day he maxed out his experience points, where would he even find such a thing? As one of the few unclear settings in the original lore, Buffon was curious about what kind of world-destroying object Pluton could be to earn its place as one of the three Ancient Weapons.

And that "Lost Century"...

Perhaps once his experience was maxed out, it would provide clues for him to seek it out. Facing such slow progress, however, Buffon pushed the matter to the back of his mind.

Twenty-four hours later, Reiju woke up as hoped. The moment she opened her eyes and saw Buffon, she felt a sense of rebirth. The feeling of being suppressed by an overbearing presence within her body was gone. She also felt that this modification had not only helped her break free from her father’s control but had also enhanced her various physical skills.

"It seems even better than Father's modification!" she thought, climbing out of the tank.

"How do you feel?" Buffon asked, unsure.

"Unprecedentedly good. I used to feel as if I were chained. No matter how far I went, I always felt like I was about to be dragged back. But now, I feel like no matter how far I run, there will be no more restraints."

Hearing her description, Buffon showed a satisfied smile. However, whether it was truly successful still required personal verification. After all, such psychological sensations could be elusive.

Thinking of this, Buffon said, "Do you want to test it?"

Reiju nodded, took out a Den Den Mushi, and dialed her father. When the call connected, she spoke calmly, "Father, the Raid Suit from Buffon has arrived."

"Hmm, how is the performance?"

Facing Judge’s emotionless voice, Reiju replied, "The combat power displayed is astonishing. I feel it’s a grade higher than the four of ours."

This wasn't an exaggeration; she had witnessed Buffon’s battle with the Snow Colt. Aside from the raw power gap, Buffon’s use of the suit’s details far exceeded her imagination. The skills granted by the suit—flight, acceleration, and the like—seemed naturally designed to amplify his existing abilities.

"That’s good. Is there any change in him?"

Facing this question, Reiju answered truthfully, "Same as always, no change at all."

Hearing this, Judge’s brows furrowed on the other end of the line. "Hand the phone to Buffon. Let me test him myself."

At this moment, something Reiju couldn't believe happened. Almost instinctively, she blurted out, "He is currently treating Yonji. I'll have him call you back once he's finished."

Had this been the past, she could never have told a lie to her father. It seemed the modification was indeed a success.

"What? Yonji is injured? Who did it?"

Reiju suppressed the ecstasy in her heart and continued calmly, "Admiral Kizaru."

"Hmph, damn Navy! Once our subsequent plans are completed, I will make them pay this debt tenfold."

Judge hung up the phone.

At this moment, Reiju’s ecstasy was uncontrollable. She turned to Buffon, trembling slightly with excitement. "Captain Buffon, thank you. I don't think I will ever be controlled by my father again. I wonder if you could..."

Before she could finish, Buffon interrupted firmly, "Your brothers' situations are different from yours. If I were to perform a second modification on them, I'm not sure if it would be what they want. Furthermore, if I did that, your father and the entire Germa 66 army would become my enemies. I’m sure the World Government would seize the opportunity to exploit that. You wouldn't want to see that, would you?"

"Captain Buffon, are you considering this for my sake?" Reiju thought, but she said, "That is true, Captain Buffon, I still wanted to..."

Before she could finish, Buffon interrupted again, "Just call me Buffon from now on!"

"Buffon, then..."

Just as she was about to say more, there was a knock on the laboratory door.

"Captain Buffon, come out quickly! We’ve spotted Absalom’s ship ahead."

Hearing Saul’s shout, a bad premonition slowly rose in Buffon’s heart. He didn't spare another glance at Reiju and rushed out of the laboratory, leaving her standing alone inside.

Watching his receding back, she couldn't help but sigh, "Oh, Reiju! Why are you so useless!"