Hearing Ian’s question, Drake didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he pointed to the X-shaped eye patch he wore over his eye and then began to speak. “It was about four years ago, I was around twenty-five or twenty-six. My appearance was becoming more and more like my father’s. Realizing this, to prevent anyone who knew my father from recognizing me, I started wearing this eye patch to cover my face as much as possible.”

“No one suspected me, so I passed the examination and joined the Naval Science Unit. The day after receiving the transfer order, a ship came to pick me up and took me to Punk Hazard Island…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ian’s eyes widened, and he suddenly stood up. “Wait a minute! Did you just say Punk Hazard Island!?”

Drake was puzzled by Ian’s strong reaction but still nodded to confirm. “Yes, Punk Hazard. Why?”

Ian realized his reaction was a bit much but quickly found an excuse and asked, “I heard that island was destroyed by a terrible accident, wasn’t it?”

“When I arrived there, the accident at Punk Hazard hadn’t happened yet,” Drake explained. “At that time, Punk Hazard was still the main research base for the Naval Science Unit. Because it was there, I saw Dr. Vegapunk!”

Ian’s pupils contracted, and he quickly asked, “Vegapunk!? The genius scientist? What kind of person is he?”

“Hmm?” Drake looked puzzled and asked, “Why are you so interested in him?”

Ian waved his hand dismissively. “You might not know this, but there’s a scientist in my pirate crew who used to be a colleague of Vegapunk’s. I’ve only heard about Vegapunk from him and never met the man himself, so I’m very curious.”

“Oh, I see. No wonder you can control the Pacifista…” Drake understood and then described, “Dr. Vegapunk is about forty or fifty years old, but for some reason, he looks somewhat aged. Maybe that’s common among those who use their brains a lot. He has a large head and likes to wear a checkered shirt under his research coat… But overall, I think he’s quite a gentle person, not the mad scientist type you might imagine. It’s the other scientist in the lab, someone named M. Caesar Clown, who made me feel very uncomfortable…”

Ian sighed. Damn, it’s Caesar, that guy… At that time, he must have still been working with Vegapunk.

“My job in the Science Unit was to provide security!” Drake spread his hands. “It was a position that allowed me to move around a lot, so within about six months of joining the Naval Science Unit, I roughly figured out what was being researched at Punk Hazard.”

“It’s the Pacifista project, right?” Ian asked.

“Yes!” Drake nodded. “When I joined, Dr. Vegapunk’s Pacifista project had already made significant progress, but that wasn’t what I was interested in. My father worked in the Naval Science Unit many years earlier, so I started looking for older records from Punk Hazard.”

At this point, Drake’s fists clenched tightly, and he spoke with a mix of anger and anxiety. “Then, I discovered something shocking. About twenty years ago, there was a massive incident at Punk Hazard!”

“Twenty years ago?” Ian frowned and asked, “What kind of incident?”

“An experimental subject escaped from Punk Hazard and destroyed most of the research facilities on the island, taking some research data with it…” Drake said. “Punk Hazard was almost completely ruined at that time, and the current facilities were rebuilt after that incident.”

“An experimental subject? What kind of experimental subject?” Ian suddenly had a vague premonition.

Drake looked deeply at Ian and finally spoke. “It was Kaido! The current Yonko, Beast Kaido! He was once an experimental subject at Punk Hazard!”

Wha… what the hell?!

Even though Ian had some premonition, hearing it directly from Drake still shocked him.

Oyaji had always said that he thought Kaido wasn’t a naturally born human, which is why he was called the “strongest creature.” Ian had previously suspected that Kaido might be a cyborg like Franky, but hearing Drake’s account now, it didn’t quite seem that way.

Drake was talking about something that happened over twenty years ago, around the time before Pirate King Roger’s death. At that time, the Pacifista project likely hadn’t even started yet.

“What exactly happened?” Ian frowned and asked Drake. “Don’t keep me in suspense; just tell me everything at once!”

Drake nodded and said, “In fact, I’m not entirely sure why Kaido became an experimental subject. I pieced it together from scattered information. It seems that the research on Kaido as an experimental subject started even earlier. It was a top-secret project by the World Government, but the progress of this research was slow. Until… until Dr. Vegapunk discovered the ‘Lineage Factor,’ the World Government immediately ordered the Navy to arrest Vegapunk, shut down his research facility, and buy out his research team. They then transferred Dr. Vegapunk to Punk Hazard to take over this research project…”

Ian suddenly realized, understanding why the World Government and Navy responded so swiftly based on Varua’s description. Back then, if the World Government and Navy hadn’t already had some understanding of Dr. Vegapunk’s discovery of the Lineage Factor, how could they have immediately recognized the significance of Dr. Vegapunk’s discovery?

In other words, even before Dr. Vegapunk joined the Navy’s Science Division, the World Government and Navy were already researching life forms…

“What exactly were they researching on Kaido?” Ian asked Drake with confusion.

“I don’t know,” Drake shook his head. “I just vaguely understood that at that time on Punk Hazard Island, there were many special races, and the Navy’s Science Division seemed to conduct experiments based on these races… Oh yes, I remember now, there was a very large giant, similar to the one you encountered on the battlefield, Little Oars Jr. at that time. That might have been another biological sample. However, during my time on Punk Hazard, that giant had long been dead, and his remains are still on Punk Hazard Island. You could probably still see them if you went there now.”

“A descendant of Oars!?” Ian couldn’t help but widen his eyes. “So, if Kaido was the final subject of these experiments, does he really have the bloodline of a descendant of Oars?”

Ian knew that the term “descendant of Oars” didn’t refer to a specific race; Oars himself was actually a branch of the giant race, but his body was much larger than other giants, and the term “descendant” only described his evil actions.

Hearing Ian mention this, Drake suddenly realized and slapped his thigh. “Exactly! That must be it. No wonder when I first saw Kaido on the live broadcast, I felt like I’d seen those horns on his head somewhere before—it was on Punk Hazard! The giant skeletal remains there also had similar horns! Oh, I remember now, in Punk Hazard’s research base, many entrances were marked with a skull pattern with curved horns, which strangely resembles Kaido’s pirate flag pattern…”

It seemed clear now. Kaido was undoubtedly one of the experimental subjects on Punk Hazard Island back then. No wonder Whitebeard had once said that before this, there had been no mention of Kaido, who emerged only after the death of Pirate King Roger, using his formidable strength to rival Whitebeard and others, thus becoming one of the Four Emperors.

“Damn, I finally figured out this guy’s background…”

Ian rubbed his chin, calculating the timeline. “So, this unnamed research project by the World Government began long before Vegapunk became the Navy’s chief scientist, but it was only completed after Vegapunk joined?”

“That’s right, but there’s something off about it too!” Drake said. “Because in the end, it seems like this experiment failed!”

“Huh!?” Ian frowned, suddenly recalling the enormous life force orb extracted from Kaido. He seemed to understand now. If the World Government’s research on Kaido was about achieving immortality or eternal life, then Kaido’s lifespan of over five hundred years might actually be considered a failure!

“Kaido managed to escape in the end!” Drake continued. “No one knows exactly how the accident happened. Although the research facility was destroyed by Kaido, Dr. Vegapunk himself was unharmed. After that incident, he apparently persuaded the World Government to abandon that research and instead focus on Devil Fruits and human modifications…”