Summary:
Vinsmoke Yonji reveals to Sanji that the people held in the bottle-like tanks are Germa 66 soldiers, and a shocked Sanji notes that they are all identical, wondering if they are even alive. Yonji tells Sanji that the Germ Kingdom has always been a kingdom of science, and reveals that their father, Vinsmoke Judge, was hailed as a great scientist even before they were born. Judge was once part of an illegal research team in collaboration with Vegapunk, and the two discovered the Lineage Factor of living organisms, giving them the blueprints for life itself. When the World Government found out, they decided it was too much power for them to have; they arrested Vegapunk and dispersed the other researchers. Judge continued this research in secret, eventually leading to the creation of clones to serve Germa 66 as her pawns. Yonji states that the other nations not only fear the Germa, but envy them for possessing an extremely loyal and easily replenished military force (a 20-year-old clone can be grown in five years).
Sanji tells Yonji to stop, stating that the revelation makes him sick, he sits down and lights a cigarette. Vinsmoke Ichiji and Vinsmoke Niji then enter the room and say that when the family first learned that Sanji had spent his recent life as a pirate, they hoped that it might have hardened him, but everything they saw indicated that Sanji was as disappointing as ever . When Sanji saw Niji, he became enraged at what he had done to Cosette and kicked him in the face, but Ichiji reminded him that they could easily kill Zeff in response to any resistance from Sanji. Niji then moves extremely quickly behind Sanji and grabs him around the neck, mocking him for his helplessness before kneeing him in the back. Niji’s knee is electrified and the attack causes Sanji to cough up blood as Niji slams him into the ground with an electrified fist. Niji tells Sanji that if he knew he cared about Cosette so much, he would beat her up even more and then arrange for a crippled Cosette to serve on Sanji’s personal staff. Ichiji welcomes Sanji “home” and reminds him that he is at the bottom of their family’s hierarchy.
As Sanji listens to his brothers’ taunts, he remembers other parts of his childhood. As children, he and his siblings stood before a judge when their father informed them that these were his greatest scientific achievements; through his scientific discoveries, Judge genetically enhanced their bodies to overcome normal human limitations. He instructs them that if they train, they will be able to develop superhuman abilities and lead Germa 66 to achieve Judge’s ambitions. However, when the training regime began, Sanji quickly began to fall behind his siblings in their routines, much to their irritation. Sanji faced Niji in sword training, but his wooden sword broke when he came into contact with Niji; Niji then easily beat him with his sword to the point where the Germa 66 soldiers had to pull Niji off of Sanji to prevent further damage. Later, aide Germa 66 informed the Judge that Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji were all developing rapidly, both physically and intellectually, but Sanji’s genetics had not changed since his birth and he remained a normal human being. An enraged judge soon discovers Sanji in his room, having just cooked a plate of food for a rat. The judge berated Sanji for serving others, stating that Sanji’s mother had long since died and that there was nothing to be gained by following the legacy of the dead. The judge warned Sanji that since he did not have the abilities of his siblings, he would have to train much harder to contribute to the Germ Kingdom. The judge then broke the window and the rat and Sanji’s bowl fell to the ground and Sanji cried.
As their training continued, Sanji was once again beaten by his brothers while Vinsmoke Reiju looked on and laughed; later, Reiju treated Sanji’s injuries and confided in him that she was only laughing at their brothers’ actions so she wouldn’t be bullied herself. Judge and his assistants continued to see no progress from Sanji, and Judge eventually decided to hold a state funeral to mourn Sanji’s “death” in the accident. As they watched, Sanji’s brothers expressed a mixture of surprise and joy at the news of his death, while a nervous Reiju smiled at their conversation. In reality, Sanji was being held inside the palace while the other Germa 66 soldiers held his face in an iron mask; then he was imprisoned in a dungeon and started screaming for someone to talk to his father. One of the soldiers then revealed to Sanji that they were acting on the Judge’s orders because the Judge wished to start over in a world where Sanji was never born. Sanji began to cry in his cell as he yelled at his father to let him go and apologized for being born weak.