Chapter 34: New Era, Marine's Monster (Part 2)
Near Marine headquarters, inside a laboratory owned by a pharmaceutical company.
A group of terrified researchers knelt on the floor, surrounded by pirates. Their eyes darted nervously at the notorious man in front of them, Blackbeard, whose menacing grin revealed gaps where teeth should have been. Thick, unkempt hair framed his face, and his fingers sparkled with gaudy rings.
"Hahaha! So, have you managed to get hold of the Marine's body-strengthening energy liquid and Foundation Building Pill?" Blackbeard's voice was sharp, his gaze fixed on the lead researcher, an elderly man with trembling hands.
"L-Lord Blackbeard," the old man stammered. "Refining these elixirs is extremely complex. The age and quality of each ingredient, the order of their combination, the heat required—everything must be exact. Without the formulas, it's nearly impossible to recreate them accurately just by studying the finished products."
Boom!
A gunshot rang out, and one of the researchers dropped to the floor, a blood-red hole between his brows. His colleagues screamed, fear etched on their faces as they glanced at Blackbeard, who held a smoking pistol with an unsettling smile.
"Hee-ha-ha!" Blackbeard chuckled, pointing the gun at the lead researcher. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "You've got two more weeks, old man. If you can't produce results by then, the men here will be killed, and the women… well, let's just say their fates will be even worse."
The elderly researcher's face went pale, but he managed a weak nod, promising to try harder.
Just then, Poison Q, Blackbeard's gaunt ship doctor, approached on his sickly horse, coughing weakly. Catching Blackbeard's gaze, Poison Q shook his head in resignation. "I've tried every method I know, Captain. We can identify some of the ingredients in the liquid, but creating it ourselves? It's beyond us."
"Chiba's added a ton of misleading ingredients. Yet the final potion is so potent—it's incredible. The guy's a monster," Poison Q wheezed.
Blackbeard's laugh grew louder. "Hee-ha-ha! So, only Chiba can make this stuff?"
Poison Q nodded, and Blackbeard's eyes sparkled with ambition. "Perfect. I want that Chiba on my crew."
"Captain, we've already tried, but he's never left Marine headquarters," another pirate interjected. "We can't just storm their base to kidnap him, can we?"
"And he's now an alternate Admiral. That means he must be powerful; he won't be easy to capture."
"Hehehe," Blackbeard snickered. "I've got reliable info from within Marine: Chiba isn't as strong as they're making him out to be. His rank is honorary—just a World Government tactic to keep him loyal."
"But if the World Government's about to make their move, then our window's closing," another pirate warned. "Once they have him, we're out of luck."
"Right," Blackbeard said. "Rushing into Marine HQ is suicide. But we can draw him out."
"Draw him out? How?"
"Hehehahaha… Ace is Chiba's brother, right? And Ace has been hunting me down for ages now. I think it's time we let him find me."
…
Meanwhile, on the Sabaody Archipelago…
Situated in the middle of the Grand Line, the Sabaody Archipelago lay just before Mariejois, the seat of the Celestial Dragons. The island was composed of seventy-nine massive mangrove trees, their enormous roots forming a sprawling landmass. From the ground, countless steam vents spewed grease-smoke, creating an otherworldly landscape.
Each mangrove tree on the island served as the foundation for a town, and all of the trees were connected by bridges, each section marked with a number.
This unique island fascinated Luffy and Usopp, who were busy exploring every nook and cranny. Usually, Chopper would be out there with them, but he'd been holed up on the ship lately, buried in an experiment. From time to time, loud curses and cries of frustration echoed from the ship, like "Damn it!" "Baka!" and "Why doesn't this work?"
Boom!
An explosion sounded from within the ship. A few moments later, Chopper emerged, looking singed and disheveled. He slumped onto the deck, his face a picture of despair.
Robin, quietly reading nearby, glanced up with a sympathetic smile. "What's wrong? Still haven't cracked it?"
Chopper jumped up, waving his hooves in exasperation. "Luffy's brother is insane! He mixed in tons of useless ingredients with the body-training liquid and pills. There are hundreds of different herbs in there, and I can't figure out what he's using!"
Robin chuckled softly. "Then just use all of them."
"That's the thing!" Chopper moaned. "Some of the ingredients need to be boiled first, then others are added to dilute them, and after that, they're mixed. Who can figure this out? Argh, that b*****d, baka yarou…"
Robin's smile grew as she watched him. "Don't worry; it's easy to solve. Chiba is Luffy's brother, after all. They're bound to meet sooner or later. When they do, we'll just have Luffy ask him for the formulas."
Chopper's eyes lit up, filling with excitement. "I'm going to find Luffy right now! He's got to bring his brother here!"
---
𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼:
• 𝙅𝙘𝟭𝟮𝟬𝟮
• 𝘼𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝
• 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗯 𝗠𝗼𝗲𝗲
𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟴𝟱+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!
👉 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬: 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧