"You lost!"
Foxy the Silver Fox looked at the kneeling, dejected members of the pirate crew who had lost the match and burst into loud laughter.
Davy Back Fight was a cruel game passed down among pirates.
The competition consisted of three rounds. The losers would be forced to swear lifelong loyalty to the winners.
The winners had the right to pick any crew member they desired from the losing side.
If no one from the opposing pirate crew was chosen, the winners could also take their Jolly Roger.
"Tch, you bunch of weaklings, hand over your Jolly Roger."
Foxy looked down on this unknown pirate crew. Not a single member caught his eye.
Navigator and cheerleader Porche giggled in a cutesy voice, "Aww, Captain, that man over there is kinda cute."
"What use is a weakling?"
Foxy glanced disdainfully at the man Porche had pointed out.
Hmph, indeed cute.
A man in his thirties with a baby face, somehow more popular than him. Utterly useless!
"Pfffttt..."
Hamburg, the combatant, covered his mouth and laughed, immediately seeing through his captain's jealousy.
Just as Foxy was about to explode in anger, a door suddenly opened in the air behind him.
"Ca—"
Porche was the first to notice and screamed a warning in panic.
But it was already too late.
A fist coated in Armament Haki shot toward the back of Foxy's head with a fierce roar.
At the moment the fist was about to land, Foxy reacted instinctively and, without hesitation, activated his ability, firing a Slow-Slow Beam at himself.
The speed of the fist suddenly slowed by 99%, inching sluggishly toward Foxy's head.
"Sa...ve... me..."
Foxy's voice also came out at an extremely slow pace, his expression gradually shifting from anger to terror.
This wasn't the first time he had been ambushed.
But it was the first time he had encountered such an absurd ambush.
A door had appeared in midair!
"Captain!"
Porche was the closest to Foxy. Seeing that her captain had cleverly slowed both himself and his attacker with the Slow-Slow Beam, she rushed forward, trying to pull Foxy away from the approaching fist.
Hamburg and the other members of the Foxy Pirates breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, another door opened in the air behind Porche.
Another fist, also coated in Armament Haki, shot toward the back of Porche's head at an unimaginable speed.
"Be... care...ful..."
Still slowed down, Foxy saw Porche being ambushed, his terror growing more pronounced.
"Huh?"
Porche blinked in confusion.
The next second, a heavy blow struck the back of her head. Her eyes rolled back as she was sent flying, crashing through the railing of the pirate ship they had just defeated and leaving a massive hole.
Hamburg and the others were stunned, watching as four identical clones stepped out from the door.
Including the one who had ambushed Foxy, there were now five people who looked like they had been stamped from the same mold.
They froze in shock, even forgetting to save their captain.
"You... bas...tards..."
Foxy was both furious and terrified, but his slowed speech was agonizingly drawn out.
One of the clones threw a punch, hitting Foxy squarely on the back of the head.
Foxy's expression changed slowly, but he didn't get knocked out.
Even the clone instinctively glanced at its own fist, a question mark appearing over its head.
The other three clones, however, didn't hesitate. Their fists rained down on Foxy like a storm.
After a full twenty seconds of beating, the clones finally stopped, their expressionless faces showing a hint of confusion.
Foxy still hadn't been knocked unconscious.
Then, four more clones stepped out from the air door one after another.
These were the newly created Shadow and the others.
If clones could clearly express emotions, they would probably be thinking—This guy is tough, let's all go all out.
"Wai..."
The thirty seconds were up. Foxy hurriedly tried to speak, but all the accumulated attacks from his slowed state erupted at once.
Foxy only managed to utter one syllable before the piled-up strikes instantly turned him into a pitiful wreck.
"Captain!"
The other Foxy Pirates cried out in horror.
Their captain... was done for.
Soon, Foxy lay on the ground like a limp rag, eyes rolled back, foam bubbling from his mouth, completely unconscious.
One of the clones stepped forward and slapped a pair of Seastone handcuffs onto Foxy's wrists.
"Save the captain!"
Most of the Foxy Pirates' crew members had been taken from other pirate crews through Davy Back Fights.
Bound by their oaths, they had no choice but to try and rescue Foxy.
Reddy stepped out of the door, hands in his pockets. "They have principles. Take them all back as test subjects along with their captain."
The order given, the clones immediately moved to carry it out.
Moments later, the Foxy Pirates were completely wiped out.
The other pirate crew, the original losers of the match, had witnessed the entire scene and were now trembling in fear.
"He... he's the Fifth Emperor of the Sea, the Evil Scientist Reddy!"
The captain swallowed hard, sweat pouring down his face like a waterfall, quickly forming a small puddle beneath him.
The staggering bounty of 3 billion Berries filled him with overwhelming terror, nearly making him faint on the spot.
The other crew members were even worse off.
To small fries like them, even pirates with bounties over 100 million were figures they could only worship from afar.
Let alone someone with a 3 billion bounty, the Fifth Emperor of the Sea.
Reddy glanced at this pirate crew and casually decided to take them too. "We're running low on test subjects lately. Take them all."
Even he was frustrated by the researchers' insatiable demands.
Especially after setting the current goal of developing and perfecting the clone soldier production line, the underground prison's remaining prisoners were being used up at an alarming rate.
This time, when sending the newly created Shadow and the others to Long Ring Long Land to hunt for the Slow-Slow Fruit ability, he had also planned to replenish the test subject pool.
The results were ideal.
Aside from the Foxy Pirates, there was another pirate crew as well.
Reddy was particularly satisfied with the effects of the Slow-Slow Fruit ability.
Once hit by the Slow-Slow Beam, the target's movements would be slowed by at least 99% for a full thirty seconds.
Without a doubt, this was another powerful ability that met his standards.
It absolutely deserved top-tier allocation!
...
In the laboratory.
Reddy summoned all his main combat forces, lining them up in front of him.
His gaze swept over the clones as he signaled the maids and secretary to stand behind him.
Eight clones with a genetic rating of LV13!
A fiery gleam flashed in Reddy's eyes.
After capturing Foxy on Long Ring Long Land, there weren't many Devil Fruit abilities in the remaining stretch of Paradise that particularly interested him... though not entirely.
For example, the Munch-Munch Fruit.
With that ability, he could break free from the limitation of needing to consume food for energy, expanding his options infinitely.
More importantly, this ability could be used to synthesize special alloys.
Right now, he wasn't lacking in swordsmen among his clones—almost all of them were equipped with max-level swordsmanship modules.
However, Reddy still couldn't materialize Devil Fruit abilities at will. Besides, he had an even more important target in mind.
"Golden Lion Shiki, long time no see!"