[Pokémon Breeder in One Piece] Chapter 346 (Patreon)

Dak had previously considered whether Palkia could enter Earth and directly bring back Kayaba Akihiko.

However, he quickly dismissed this idea himself.

While Palkia could indeed travel between different worlds, appearing in the underwater depths of the One Piece world one moment and in the skies of the Ninja World the next, it required one condition: Palkia needed to perceive the existence of that world.

The current situation, however, was different.

The system had linked Pokémon Island to Aincrad, a constructed virtual world, not Earth. Thus, in Palkia's perception, only Aincrad existed, not Blue Star.

As a result, bringing Kayaba Akihiko to Pokémon Island was beyond Palkia's abilities. Another method would have to be found.

"Do you think your 'consciousness' is here, or with your original body?" Dak asked, pointing at the avatar of Heathcliff.

"Here," Kayaba Akihiko answered without hesitation.

He had observed the life signs of testers after they entered the game. Their bodies outside were akin to living zombies, sustained by instinct without their souls. The difference was that these bodies hadn't decayed.

If the player stayed in Aincrad long enough without receiving nutrients, their external bodies would eventually deteriorate to a zombie-like state.

If the body outside died, the 'consciousness' within the game would dissipate as well.

The brain serves as the engine that allows 'consciousness' to operate within the game.
This was a certainty for Kayaba, as it was the foundation of his original plan.

"My idea is to transfer your consciousness into a body on Pokémon Island. But how to achieve that…" Dak explained after confirming Kayaba's findings.

However, Dak had no clue how to make this idea a reality.

Even Vegapunk, who was far ahead in scientific research, had not delved into virtual reality. His assistance in this matter might be limited. If Vegapunk had Kayaba's technology, Dak wouldn't have approached Kayaba in the first place.

Essentially, Dak's proposal was akin to transferring someone's soul to another body. Whether or not the person remained the same after the transfer was a matter of perspective.

Some might reject such an idea, fearing that transferring their consciousness would mean they were no longer themselves.

However, for a scientist like Kayaba, there was nothing unacceptable about it.

It wasn't much different from the 'soul transfer' concepts often seen in novels, except this was deliberate rather than forced.
In fact, transitioning from the real world to the virtual world was already a form of 'soul transfer.'

"A body on that side?" Kayaba asked.

"Yes. Vegapunk's research institute has the technology to create bodies. They could even make you a very powerful new body."

"... It seems this Dr. Vegapunk is more extraordinary than I imagined," Kayaba mused, nodding. "Could you arrange for me to communicate with him first? That might make things easier, allowing us to experiment with several approaches."

"Of course. I can bring Dr. Vegapunk here."

Dak returned to Pokémon Island and immediately headed to Vegapunk's lab, explaining the entire situation.

Upon learning about the virtual reality technology, Vegapunk was intrigued. He decided to bring along one of his Pokémon assistants, Porygon-Z.

The Porygon species was always a unique existence among Pokémon. They were not only artificial Pokémon but primarily operated in virtual worlds.

Initially, Porygon was simply a piece of ordinary code. However, once it evolved into Porygon2, it began exhibiting behaviors that humans couldn't comprehend—acts not found in its programming—and even developed a mysterious language understood only by its kind.

Pokémon scholars believed this was evidence that Porygon had developed self-awareness and could engage in self-learning.

Once a Pokémon living in a virtual world could learn on its own, its intelligence and knowledge would grow exponentially. However, Porygon2 also retained unnecessary information.

As for Porygon-Z, opinions were divided.

Some researchers argued that Porygon-Z was 'a Pokémon so intelligent it could no longer be understood by ordinary people.' Others claimed it was simply a Porygon2 infected with a computer virus or suffering from a programming glitch, resulting in bizarre, seemingly meaningless behavior.

"Anything involving virtual worlds, Porygon-Z is a sure bet!" Vegapunk trusted his Pokémon companion completely.

In fact, Porygon-Z was responsible for a third of the institute's research, and even Vegapunk sometimes sought its advice on areas he didn't understand.

For Vegapunk, Porygon-Z was the most brilliant research Pokémon in the world.

"Right, I nearly forgot about Porygon!" Dak exclaimed, clapping his hands.

Porygon was practically a god in the realm of data and virtual worlds. Perhaps tasks in Aincrad that even Kayaba found impossible could be accomplished by Porygon-Z.

Aincrad, 22nd Floor.

Kayaba Akihiko waited for about half an hour while observing the fluctuation of data streams within the game.

Suddenly, there was a sharp spike in the data flow, and the total volume increased slightly.

"They're here."

Kayaba immediately realized that Dak must have brought the doctor into this world.

The next moment, two figures appeared beside him.

Kayaba turned to look and was momentarily stunned, standing up in surprise.

It couldn't be helped—Vegapunk's appearance was quite beyond the bounds of normalcy.

"Vegapunk is a Brain-Brain Fruit user, so… well, I don't know why he looks like this. But as you know, with three worlds in play, all kinds of people exist," Dak explained, attempting to justify Vegapunk's appearance.

Then he gave up. "A brain-fruit user shouldn't have such a long tongue or legs. Maybe it's part of his genes from the Long-Tongue and Long-Leg tribes," Dak thought to himself.

"Haha, greetings! I'm Vegapunk, Deputy Director of the Pokémon Alliance Research Division," Vegapunk said cheerfully, extending a hand toward Kayaba. He gestured to the strange creature floating beside him. "This is Porygon-Z, my research partner."

Kayaba quickly regained his composure, just as he had when he accepted the fact that Dak came from another world. He examined Porygon-Z curiously—this was the first Pokémon he had ever seen.

With its eyes filled with data streams, Porygon-Z piqued Kayaba's interest.

"Alright, Kayaba, let's get straight to the point. Discuss your needs directly with Dr. Vegapunk," Dak said.

"Got it."

What followed was a highly technical encrypted discussion between the two scientists. Though Dak could understand each word individually, he couldn't grasp their meaning when put together.

During this time, Porygon-Z joined the discussion, projecting its thoughts onto a screen for Kayaba to read.

Kayaba was repeatedly astonished by Porygon-Z's proposed solutions. Eventually, the conversation became primarily between Kayaba and Porygon-Z, with Vegapunk eagerly absorbing knowledge about virtual worlds.

By the time their discussion ended, night had fallen in the game.

"Hey, Dak, we have a solution," Kayaba announced.

"What? How did you know I caught a 36-pound Magikarp?" Dak replied, feigning surprise while holding a massive fish.

In reality, he had created the fish using admin privileges—it didn't naturally exist in the lake.

"..."

The three fell into silence.

"Haha, alright. As long as there's a solution, that's what matters!" Dak laughed awkwardly, tossing the digital fish back into the lake. "How long will it take?"

"I estimate at least two weeks, considering tests and potential failures. However…" Kayaba glanced at Porygon-Z. "It claims it'll only take two days."

"Two days? Fantastic! Once you're here, Kayaba, I'll need you to start a new project immediately," Dak said, his excitement growing.

"What project?" Kayaba asked, puzzled.

"Allow Pokémon consciousness to enter Aincrad and become companions for the players. For this, we'll need to adjust some game mechanics," Dak replied with a grin.

(End of Chapter)

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