 The straw hat's upgrade is here. And so is vagapunk. And vagapunk has boobs. It's vagapunk now. The much anticipated mad lad turned out to be a sass lass. Or is she? Yes, it's the moment that's left us all scratching our heads. And there are already so many speculations about what is really going on behind this voluptuous reveal. But the real question is, do these two bouncy bobs come equipped with nipple lights? But in all seriousness, the real question is, what is vagapunk doing here? Well, since this is actually technically vagapunk's island, the real, real, real question is, what's the straw hat crew doing here? The reason why vagapunk's appearance is filled with a slew of questions is because for so long, the mad scientist had been hinted to be an old man by those who knew him personally. But in traditional Oda fashion, our expectations were subverted again. But, but, the topic that will take priority today is what vagapunk's direct contact with the straw hats will mean for our beloved crew. And remember, if you want to hear more One Piece discussions, remember to subscribe to this channel. To be honest, I did not expect vagapunk's eventual reveal to be in the presence of the straw hats. Instead, I thought the infamous scientist would be initially shown with the Marines or those affiliated with the world government or in his lab, which is the familiar environment I picture when I think of vagapunk. So it was a very pleasant surprise for vagapunk's first appearance to be with those on the opposing side, as vagapunk put it herself, pirates. So personally, this is another way my expectations were subverted. But in turn, my curiosity is now filled with wildly imaginative scenarios on how Dr. vagapunk's appearance will have a positive impact for the straw hats. With all the things linking the crew to this most infamous scientist in the world, one glaring connection points to the positive side of things, which is vagapunk granting Kuma's last wish to program the warlord to guard the sunny until the straw hats return from their individual adventures, where they came back with, yes, you guessed it, fresh new power-ups. So it's no question that vagapunk is at least aware of or has some knowledge about Kuma's actions and true intentions behind sending the straw hats to the different islands where they could all return fit enough to tackle the challenges that they would go on to face in the new world. And vagapunk agreeing to Kuma's request gives me hope that the person that the straw hats are currently facing right now has some sense of morality that aligns with our main characters. And so that this encounter will result in vagapunk helping the straw hats to get closer and closer to reaching their full potential as combatants. Although I will have to admit that vagapunk's dialogue in this latest chapter does bring this hope of mine into question. It wasn't an outright hostile greeting, but it also did suggest the scientist acknowledging that they were on opposing sides with the crew being pirates. But perhaps once the crew's identity as the straw hats become apparent, this is when the magic can begin. I can only imagine that is why out of all the islands all the potential developments that Oda could have taken us, he chose to bring us to this genius scientist. In particular, right before we up the ante with the final saga where the crew will have to face all the remaining big guys. And as we have recently seen the new terrifying inventions we will be eventually coming up against, getting equivalent power-ups or at least answers is no doubt a part of the latest development. We could also say that Wano had been setting us up to see vagapunk so soon after the latest arc, which I did speculate that we would be getting very, very soon when we didn't get to see vagapunk in Wano. So this comes at the most perfect time because we just finished an arc where devil fruit awakenings were a great focus, which had gotten us all questioning about how these actually work, especially in the case of one monkey D. Luffy. Luffy's devil fruit, which was also more recently revealed to be something more than just simply a rubbery ability. With Luffy being totally unaware of the nature or the extent of the powers associated with how his devil fruit works, nearly telling Bonnie that his awaken state is when he feels fully free. We have now been introduced to perhaps the only person in the story who can give a more detailed and complete explanation on this phenomenon, which can be nothing but helpful for our straw hat captain. Or at least for us, because who knows how interested Luffy will actually be in a complex explanation. Luffy fully understanding his devil fruit is the logical next step in his progression as a fighter because it still hasn't been confirmed where the gif fifth is something that Luffy can now utilize freely. The question is still up in the air as to whether it was the result of Luffy being pushed to his absolute limit, thus making it a very risky ability to achieve, as in whether Luffy needs to be in a near-death situation in order for it to happen, or now that he has achieved it, he can freely summon his awakened form again as he pleases. And whether Vega Punk can actually shed some light on Luffy's devil fruit isn't definite. Especially Luffy's devil fruit awakening is more special than that of others because of his connection to Joy Boy and Nika and so on. But apart from Shanks, who Oda has made a point in showing us that the mentor and mentee will not be reuniting anytime soon, I can't think of a better individual to share this sort of information with us. Plus, I do believe that Vega Punk will be well-equipped to do so. The man was said to have discovered how devil fruits function and how exactly their powers are transferred to the users to the point of passing on devil fruit powers to inanimate objects and even artificially creating a functioning devil fruit. Don't believe me? Let Oda himself tell you. And this very big brain scientist is here to share all of this information with us. And since we're in the discussion of devil fruits, we also do have three other devil fruit users in the crew who could also benefit from this encounter with Brooke, who took 50 years to understand how his fruit works, realizing that there is more usage to the yomi yomi no mi that he didn't know pre-times kit. At the moment, outside of the soul, essentially keeping him alive, Brooke is currently able to generate a freezing aura which he uses masterfully in combat. What I personally want to see is the answer to do devil fruits have souls, because if it does, can Brooke potentially interact with them? Wano showed us that Robin is able to turn into a giant demon whilst no explanation was provided as to how she achieved this. We could solidly assume that this is an ability that she was only able to achieve due to a devil fruit, which we have seen grants her partial identification, whereas in Chopper's case, the most powerful ability he has in his arsenal is his monster point, which he has recently improved in terms of extending its duration, but we know that this form comes with a major drawback. But what if we could extend this further and even eliminate the drawback completely? Vegapunk's involvement could allow the devil fruit users in the crew to fully maximize the most powerful abilities that they can unleash with their fruit. I mean, overall, awakenings for all of our devil fruit users could be made possible with Vegapunk's help. But even for the non-devil fruit users, Vegapunk's knowledge of feeding a devil fruit to inanimate objects could serve great purpose to the overall strength of the crew. Nami, Usopp and Frankie are the first to come to mind with the three relying on weapons. Frankie's looking to be the biggest beneficiary of the crew landing on Egghead Island, especially due to his position in the crew, as well as his previous history with Vegapunk's work, having been sent to Baltigo Island by Kumar, the birth island of Vegapunk. Frankie has already seen firsthand what Vegapunk is capable of as an inventor and is in the best position to speak and form a positive bond with Vegapunk. Seriously though, Vegapunk's reaction to Frankie using what he learned on Baltigo to add nipolites is a must-see. And the only thing that would make an interaction like that better is actually if Vegapunk added that to one of his inventions as well. We were all expecting Frankie to upgrade General Frankie since his Sasaki battle, especially potentially using elite elements found at Wano, and we don't yet know whether he's already done this or not. But now, with Vegapunk, we could potentially see the most elite mecha we have ever seen to date. And it seems like mecha experimentation is a keen interest of Vegapunks as well, so I have high expectations as to what sort of power up Frankie's going to get. Frankie was able to upgrade his arsenal using technology that Vegapunk left behind on his home island. But we are currently on an island that is 500 years ahead of the times. This same technology could upgrade Nami and Usup's weapons as well and possibly even feed their weapons a devil fruit or two. I mean, could Zeus eat a devil fruit? Who knows what's the limit? We are currently in the presence of someone who has all the knowledge about all of these questions and possibilities. I mean, even the sunny could potentially have a devil fruit by the end of the arc. We are in the island of the future where anyone who steps forward here can only acquire knowledge way ahead of their time, including Luffy's three top officers. While Zorro is also a weapon wielder, I didn't include him just now in the discussion of devil fruits in inanimate objects because while I do admit it would be a fun idea for one of Zorro's swords to be fed a devil fruit or even all three, someone actually drew this. I don't think that he would agree to such a thing. But what Vegapunk could instead provide to Zorro? Our resident workout junkie is an advanced training facility where Zorro can train to his heart's content beyond traditional means. Imagine the gravity machine or even the hyperbolic time chamber seen in Dragon Ball. Now, these things may or may not exist in our series, but even if they're not exactly the same, we know that Vegapunk created the seraphims recently and they must have undergone extensive testing and training. Those same seraphims could even serve as Zorro's training partners with one of them just being immediately sure that he would be a fun opponent to face up against. So really, the possibilities are just endless. But apart from Luffy who could gain a greater understanding of his fruit and Frankie who could see a big improvement in his tech, the other potentially biggest benefactor of this meeting is Sanji. The Vince Moeke son who has recently experienced a change in his body due to his genetic modification, finally awakening, and has now to become a modified human due to the manipulation of lineage factor. The lineage factor, which is a blueprint for all of life itself and is something that was discovered by Vegapunk alongside Vince Moeke judge. While I'm sure that Sanji will want nothing more than to reverse this modification, Vegapunk can instead help Sanji to understand and control his new body to tap into this insane ability where necessary. You know, gaining the abilities of the race suit on command without the actual use of any canister. Jinbei on the other hand is someone I've always viewed as an already strong seasoned and experienced combatant who just hasn't been given a chance to showcase his full ability as a part of the straw hats. So while a power-up may not be necessary, he could still benefit by being in an advanced environment to hone his skills further than just beyond mastering the martial arts. And by that, the biggest potential upgrade for Jinbei in this arc that I'm speculating is that it could come in the form of his role as helmsman. Whilst Jinbei is also a seasoned traveler of the seas, Jinbei noticeably said at the beginning of this arc that it is near impossible to steer through the recent tumultuous weather conditions. But what if Vegapunk could improve the condition and durability of the ship enough so that they won't face this problem in the future? Vegapunk is, after all, the one responsible for discovering a way for the marine ships to pass by the calm belt without any issues by covering marine ships with sea stones. So this is something that Vegapunk can assist the crew with, allowing Jinbei a much easier job of traveling through the calm belt in the future and also taking on the roughest waves that the wide ocean has to offer. And aside from all of these truly exciting power-ups, Vegapunk may also prove to be a trove of information when it comes to all the deep lore and secrets in the series. The source of Devil Fruits itself is a big mystery that could tie into the Void Century and the Great War against Joy Boy and the Ancient Kingdom. Not to mention Vegapunk's work on Kaido, the Lunarians, and even the Ancient Giants. Even the new mystery that Oda has posed about Vegapunk's true identity, whether you believe that the young woman we were presented with is a clone or a cyborg or a relative or any other wild speculation, it was strongly suggested throughout the series and even in the latest chapter that Vegapunk is an old man. But we don't know just how old. To what extent did he witness all the historical events with his own eyes? And how much of that will he divulge to us and the crew? And again, we can't say for sure that Vegapunk will be a willing volunteer in helping the crew, whether that be power-ups or through information, but with or without Vegapunk's direct involvement. This new island we're in means that the crew will be surrounded by the genius scientists' inventions, as well as it seeming to be where the seraphims are currently stationed. It just screams power-ups and information dumps, in which case I could not have asked for a more exciting start to the final saga. But those are just some of my thoughts and I would love to hear what you have to say, so please let me know in the comment below. Please do subscribe for more One Piece discussions. You can also join our Joyfleet Discord server or even become a Patreon or channel member. And I do wanna thank all our executive officers for their continued support. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.