Chapter 354: The Artificial Devil Fruit Ambush
"Wait," Eric called out to Erza, who was about to untie the rat.
"What is it?"
Eric moved the surgical light away, his loose clothes barely covering his muscular frame. His teeth were unevenly set in his jaw, and his face was rough with layers of flesh, looking like someone who had "villain" written all over it.
"You're not an ordinary person, are you?"
"You… how did you know…" The man blurted out before casually explaining, "I just look a bit scary, but I'm really a kind-hearted person…"
Akame pointed at his clothes and asked, "Then why are you wearing a prisoner's uniform?"
"…" The prisoner's body stiffened, and his lips closed repeatedly, but no words came out.
"You're a prisoner from Impel Down, aren't you?" Eric stared directly into the man's eyes.
"That's right—" Like a deflated balloon, the man replied weakly, lying on the table.
Eric continued questioning, "Is this a human experiment? Are you the lab rat?"
"Yes—"
Hearing his answer, Erza's face showed anger.
The prisoner desperately twisted his neck, trying to turn his eyes as far as they could go, trying to include everyone in his line of sight: "You're not from the World Government, who are you really?"
"We? We're pirates attacking Punk Hazard."
"Don't joke around!" The prisoner sneered at this answer, "Punk Hazard has always been guarded by a Marine Admiral!"
"Do you know where the scientists who did these experiments on you went?"
"…" The prisoner furrowed his brows as he recalled, "Those white-coated bastards had just strapped me to the operating table. After injecting me with some sedative, they left in a hurry, looking panicked."
At this point, the man incredulously asked, "You… really attacked Punk Hazard?!"
His Adam's apple moved up and down, swallowing repeatedly.
"You're quite lucky," Eric grinned, "What crime did you commit outside?"
"…" After a brief silence, the man replied, "I'm just a pirate underling, unfortunate enough to be captured by the Marines and brought here."
"You've only mentioned two things," Eric frowned, "You've massacred a lot of innocent people, right? Or you wouldn't be treated as a lab rat."
"Heh…" The man sneered, arrogantly replying, "For pirates, that's hardly a crime, right? And you do admit you're pirates, don't you?"
"…"
Erza coldly replied, "At least the Marines have one thing right, and that's capturing pirates."
"This… boss," The man tensed the muscles in his neck, trying to lift his head from the operating table as he spoke to Eric , "You're the captain of the pirate crew, right? If you let me go, I'll serve you from now on!"
"Sorry, I never recruit crew members with serious criminal records."
"Eh? What does that mean?"
"It means—your job application has been rejected," Eric 's fingertips crackled with electricity, and the lightning released in a thunderous blast turned the man to ash.
"I don't oppose the World Government using pirates with serious crimes for human experiments," Eric turned to Erza and said, "I might do the same in the future."
"As long as it's not done to innocent people," Erza nodded in agreement, "These pirates deserve to die a thousand deaths!"
Just then, a dark shadow nearby began to move slowly, and a Kurumi clone emerged from the shadow:
"I found a very interesting room, does anyone want to come take a look?"
Kurome spoke up, "Kurumi, when did you send out a clone?"
"When we entered the experimental base," Kurumi winked playfully, "It's a woman's duty to help men relieve their troubles~"
The Kurumi clone led the way, and the group walked through the long corridor until they reached an iron door at the end.
"This is the place~" The Kurumi clone lifted her skirt gracefully, "I'll continue exploring the other rooms of the base."
"Thanks for your hard work, 'me.'"
"Eh~ It's all for 'me.'" With that, the Kurumi clone slipped back into the shadows.
"Porche, open the door~"
"Got it~" Porche stepped forward and opened the door with her ability. A blast of cold air greeted them immediately.
"So cold!" Porche trembled as she hid behind the group, "Is this a cold storage? Why is it so cold?!"
"…" Eric narrowed his eyes and stepped into the dark room, with the others quickly following behind.
"!" The group's eyes widened in shock as they looked around, seeing many giants frozen in blocks of ice. Not only were the sides full of giants, but the ice layers beneath also contained the remains of even more giants!
"What is this…?!"
Kurome frowned, her delicate brows knitting in regret as she said, "Too bad they're all corpses..."
"These are the failed products of the giantification experiments…" Eric muttered, "The ancient giants created by Vegapunk were abandoned here."
…
The battle between Borsalino and Esdeath raged on, the light flashing and ice fragments flying.
"Yo~" Borsalino's sharply defined features shifted in the light of the Amatsukami sword, his shadows changing constantly.
Borsalino glanced over at Scáthach , "Without that little girl's help, you'd lose, you know?"
"Don't worry about it." Esdeath smiled excitedly, "Now that we're far from the port, you can start showing your true strength, right?"
"I really must thank you for this…" Borsalino raised the Amatsukami sword again and fiercely slashed at Esdeath, "For sparing my subordinates' lives!"
"Clang!"
The light sword collided with Esdeath's rapier, and Borsalino sighed, "Such a headache~ I came to this island to vacation with a happy mood..."
"Then Marine Headquarters should thank me." Esdeath smirked, "Let a tax thief work hard for them."
"Calling me a tax thief is going too far~" As they spoke, their swords collided again dozens of times, Borsalino Speaking in a light tone, "I've caught quite a few pirates myself..."
Before he finished Speaking, Borsalino transformed into a streak of yellow light, leaving a trail of light as he bounced off surrounding obstacles, landing behind Esdeath. The Amatsukami sword swept horizontally at Esdeath, aiming to cleave her in half at the waist.
"Ice Wall!" A hard ice wall formed, blocking the path of the Amatsukami sword.
The light sword easily sliced through, one layer, two layers, three layers—no amount of ice walls could stop the blade.
"Ha!" With a light exhale, Esdeath's leg shot forward and she nimbly jumped, pulling her leg back and pressing her calf against her thigh, narrowly dodging the Amatsukami sword's blade.
"Ah~" Borsalino leisurely remarked, "That was close. Aren't you going to use your time-stop ability?"
"Not yet!" Esdeath's rapier shot forward like a rainbow, the tip of her sword sizzling with freezing air.
Borsalino, now fully elementalized, shot backward in the air, moving with no resistance.
"Not bad," Esdeath complimented, "As expected of the king of speed."
"You haven't seen my full speed yet~" Borsalino stopped and, with both hands in front of his abdomen, began to gather a light as mirror-like as possible. The beams of light refracted around nearby buildings, forming a light band that reached above Esdeath's head: "Yata no Kagami!"
In the next instant, Borsalino moved like a flash, appearing above Esdeath and bringing his glowing right foot down like a meteor!
"Boom!"
The tremendous kinetic energy from Borsalino's speed transferred through Esdeath's legs into the ground, causing the solid earth to cave in, with cracks appearing all around the crater.
Borsalino's light-speed kick was blocked by Esdeath, who responded, "As expected, you're not that easy to deal with, Ice Queen."
"Hmph!" Esdeath snorted coldly. The overwhelming freezing air surged, like several cold poisonous snakes biting at Borsalino.
"That's dangerous!" Borsalino retreated, and the freezing air struck in the air, creating waves that formed a giant ice block, which then plummeted toward him.
Without Haki wrapped around the ice block, it passed through Borsalino, the yellow light flickering within the crystal-clear ice mist.
"Without Haki, you can't touch me~"
Thunder sounded at that moment.
"Whoosh—" A tall, slim figure turned into a white thunderbolt and charged into the ice mist.
"Cold Thunder Flow Blade!"
The extraordinary speed of Esdeath, with her extreme freezing air, combined with red-white thunder, gathered all her strength into this strike.
Facing Esdeath's intent to kill, Borsalino wiped away his relaxed smile, his pupils contracting like needles. He clasped the Amatsukami sword with both hands, raising it above his head and finding the perfect point to meet Esdeath's slash.
The light sword wrapped in Armament Haki perfectly blocked Esdeath's sword, which was like thunder.
"Clang!"
The huge sound of clashing metal echoed through the air, and the two immense forces collided. Esdeath's Haoshoku Haki burst forth, several white electric arcs shattering and freezing the surrounding ground.
"Seriously~" Borsalino muttered, "There are just too many pirates in the Dawn Pirate Crew who have awakened Haoshoku Haki..."
"I'm also curious," Esdeath smirked, "How is it that a man of your strength hasn't awakened Haoshoku Haki? Have you gotten used to being a dog for the World Government, grinding down all your ambition?"
"…" Borsalino twitched his lips, "That's a bit insulting..."
During their conversation, their swords collided again and again, sending loud, powerful sparks flying.
Nearby stones were crushed into dust by the sword energy, and the surrounding dust was blown away by the violent shockwaves of their battle.
…
"Those are giants created using the Ancient Giants' [Bloodline Factor]," Eric explained, "The raw material was death row prisoners from Impel Down."
Akame asked, "Why do their prison uniforms also grow with them?"
The group: "…"
Eric helped Oda come up with an explanation, "Maybe they thought being naked wasn't proper? So Vegapunk specially made clothes for them."
"Then…"
"Alright, Akame ," Kurumi smiled, rescuing Eric from the awkward situation, "Eric isn't a researcher here, how could he know everything?"
"By the way, Eric , you've taken several parts from the Ancient Giants. Are you planning to conduct giantification experiments?"
"Yes," Eric nodded, "The Ancient Giants could reach over 60 meters tall, much bigger than the current giants."
"But according to you, they have low intelligence, are uncontrollably barbaric, and can't be transformed into a qualified fighting force."
"We have Kurome…" Eric turned to ask, "Kurome, you should be able to control them with your Emperor Tools, right?"
"Of course," Kurome said proudly, "Even the super dangerous species that can't understand human speech, I can control them freely!"
Eric chuckled, pulling out the Jack Compass and continued leading the way until the needle slowly pointed to the room on the right.
"This should be the place…"
The dark room was illuminated, and in the center of the room was a purple apple, its surface marked with double-layered circles.
The knowledgeable members instantly recognized it: "A Devil Fruit!"
The group gathered around the Devil Fruit under its glass cover, and Akame asked curiously, "What type of Devil Fruit is this?"
"This is the first artificial Devil Fruit made by Vegapunk, using the [Bloodline Factor] extracted from Kaido."
"Vegapunk can already create artificial Devil Fruits?!" Reiju was shocked.
"Yes," Eric glanced at Reiju, "Vegapunk's technology has been improving steadily."
"…"
"The World Government once demanded that he hand over this fruit, but Vegapunk refused, considering it a failure."
"Intentionally offending the World Government to attack Punk Hazard and finding this Devil Fruit after much effort clearly means it's not a failed product." Artoria said calmly, "At least Eric , you don't think it's a failure."
Eric laughed, smashing the protective glass and reaching for the artificial Devil Fruit. He turned and asked, "Gin , would you be willing to eat this artificial Devil Fruit?"
Gin paused for a moment, then immediately responded, "I will!"
"Think carefully," Eric said indifferently, "Eating a Devil Fruit means you'll become a 'Dumb Duck,' and this fruit's type is…"
"I'll eat it!" Gin grabbed the Devil Fruit and quickly devoured it.
"Ugh—"
Gin stood up, the rest of the group watching him curiously.
Kurome encouraged him from the side, "Quick, use your ability and show us."
"Yes." Gin focused, and with a loud "Boom," he transformed into a dark gold giant dragon.
"Too cramped!"
The abandoned room couldn't accommodate Gin , now a giant dragon. The walls collapsed as everyone scrambled together.
"Quick, quick, change back!"
"I'm so sorry!" Gin apologized, kneeling before everyone.
"Forget it," Eric waved his hand, "It's my fault for not stopping your transformation."
"Primary mission accomplished, time to complete the secondary one."
…
Esdeath's chest was slashed, forcing her to retreat temporarily.
Borsalino, looking frustrated, said, "After 'Ice Queen,' am I up against 'Magic Spear' next?"
"Don't look around, watch the spear!"
(END CHAPTER)
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