One piece : Armor of Justice

Ignoring the glances, Bill continued walking, examining his surroundings. The city of Marineford was enormous, and he hoped to explore it thoroughly in the future.

After walking along the straight streets for almost half an hour, Bill set his backpack on the ground and took out his documents. The Main Office of the Scientific Division was only one block away, and he intended to get ready.

With the papers in hand, he approached the entrance of the building and walked through the door. Naturally, Marineford was accustomed to giants, and nearly every government building had two entrances.

Inside, the building looked like a typical office, except with a very high ceiling. After looking around, Bill approached the empty reception desk and rang the bell twice.

After waiting a couple of minutes, Bill rang the bell again before deciding to look for someone.

"Hey, is anyone here?" he called out as he walked behind the counter. Bill saw that to the left was a staircase, and to the right, an entrance to a corridor.

He quickly decided to check downstairs first, as he assumed someone should be on duty, but after inspecting the corridor, he found most of the doors locked, and the only open room was empty except for a desk.

By this time, he was still calling out occasionally, but not as cautiously.

Quickly returning to the reception desk, Bill rang the bell again twice before going up the stairs.

On the upper floor, he was surprised to find not another office space, but a wide open area with a dozen tables.

On these tables lay various charts, gears, papers, and other tools.

But most of all, his attention was drawn to a young man standing behind the farthest table from the stairs.

The young man was of average height, but very stout, with green hair and wearing a simple white lab coat with unusual glasses featuring gears.

Even when Bill cleared his throat, the man remained focused on his work, so Bill slowly approached him.

As he got closer, he saw the man working on some equations related to a cube's blueprint.

"Excuse me?"

Now, surprised by Bill's voice, the plump scientist started before turning around.

"Just in time, just in time!"

Saying this, the man excitedly beckoned Bill to come closer.

"Look here! This is it!"

Approaching the table, Bill glanced around. The equations were unfamiliar to him.

Bill had been a school English teacher in his past life, so it was no surprise that anything beyond algebra seemed foreign to him.

"Well, what am I supposed to be seeing here?"

Seeing his confusion, the round scientist declared:

"This is PROOF that reality isn't what it seems! Can't you see?"

Not expecting such a reply, especially considering that the paper mostly had a cube drawn on it, Bill cautiously asked:

"Uh, no, I don't see. Could you explain?"

At this question, the man perked up. He drew a perfect cube and said to Bill:

"Alright, now tell me, which side of the cube is the front?"

Pointing first to the front and then to the side, the plump scientist said, "Okay, now close your eyes."

Doing as he was told, Bill replied, "Alright."

"Now show me which side of the cube you're looking at."

Pondering for a few seconds, Bill said, "Well, there isn't actually a cube. It was a drawing."

"Exactly!"

Enthusiastic, the round scientist exclaimed, "Our mind creates the image and projects it into reality! "You clearly saw the cube on the paper, saw its position—all of it was invented by your own mind to give you context!

But in reality, it wasn't real at all!"

Shaking his head, deciding that this young man might be crazy, Bill countered, "Well, it was a drawing. Look, I see you, I can feel you and hear you. You're definitely real."

"Yes! I am real, but what you see—the face, the body—it's just your perception of me!

These perceptions are real as perceptions, but they are not the fundamental reality."

Saying this, the round scientist paused for a moment before asking, "When you climbed up the stairs, what was behind you?

The answer is nothing. You couldn't perceive it, and therefore it wasn't real. It was so unreal that you didn't even think about it!"

Stunned, Bill thought this young man had played a word game with him. After a minute of silence, he was about to respond when he felt the intense gaze of a predator on him.

Turning with the intention to act, Bill saw only empty space.

Dropping his backpack, Bill was about to grab the round scientist and run, when suddenly he heard insane laughter.

"Shurorororo!"

Hearing the laughter directly behind him, Bill grabbed the round scientist and leaped forward to distance himself from the unknown danger.

Turning around, he saw a man appearing out of thin air.

He wore a white lab coat with the English words "Gas" printed on it.

But what struck Bill the most was the manic smile on this man's face.

Behind Bill, the round scientist whispered in a panicked voice, "Ce... Caesar Clown!"

As if not hearing this, Caesar delved into the papers the young scientist had been working on.

"What tastelessness!"

Throwing the papers aside, Caesar disdainfully exclaimed:

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