"Brother, can we really win?"
Inside the trenches of Kahat, a soldier huddled, watching the cloned army in front of him-the source of his endless nightmares.
His teeth chattered, and he trembled as he asked his older brother, a guard of the capital.
He wasn't as outstanding as his brother, so while his brother was selected to be a capital guard, he remained an unnoticed border soldier.
He was among the first soldiers to encounter Germa's cloned army.
He clearly understood how terrifying those fearless and strictly disciplined troops were.
Every one of them was incredibly strong, every one of them was unafraid of death.
No matter how bad the situation, those cloned soldiers remained in the highest, most fanatical state of morale.
He and his captain had once managed to capture a Germa clone whose arm and leg had been cut off, but the moment he was captured, the clone unhesitatingly detonated a bomb hidden on his person.
His captain, who had taken care of him for four years, was blown into pieces of scattered meat by the clone.
Terrified, he fled all the way home, only to be forced back to face these monsters.
"We can win, and we must win."
The guard clenched his brother's hand tightly, saying in a low voice, "We can't retreat. All the sea routes have been blocked by Germa. If we lose, Kahat will fall, and Antonhal will be destroyed. We will all lose our homes."
Germa's notoriety wasn't just because they participated in various wars as mercenaries.
It was also because the countries they ravaged were left in a miserable state.
As clones devoid of desires, Germa's soldiers would focus only on the latter part of looting and pillaging.
They implemented a scorched-earth policy in every country they attacked.
They took everything they could, captured everyone they could to sell as slaves, and finally, anything they couldn't take was burned down.
They earned the name 'Evil Army' not just from a comic book.
Germa 66 was more like a group of legally recognized 'pirates' approved by the World Government.
The cloned army had approached within ten kilometers of Kahat, nearing the outermost trenches.
Yonji, leading the main attack, seemed unable to contain his urge for violence.
The high-pressure air jets from his boots propelled him instantly into the trenches.
Then, he froze.
There was nothing inside the trenches, only disguised dummies.
"Cowards, trash who dare not face us directly!" Yonji kicked over a dummy disdainfully, but the next moment, a sensor device beneath his foot registered enough weight and activated.
A rapid beeping sound echoed in Yonji's ears.
He turned back, and along with two red flashes, a deafening explosion erupted.
The booming sound, combined with the expanding flames and shockwave, caught Yonji off guard and sent him flying into the air.
However, he managed to control his body and land.
His sturdy battlesuit only had some dust and dirt, and there were only a few minor cuts on his exposed face.
The cuts quickly healed under the action of the shape-memory metal that made up his skin.
A savage expression appeared on his face, and he roared.
"Bombs buried underground? What kind of joke is this? Charge! Detonate all the bombs!"
Germa's army did not have mine detectors.
After all, the warped warfare format of this world did not have a complete mine-laying system.
However, Germa had encountered similar tactics before.
It didn't matter.
They would just use people to clear the mines.
Germa's soldiers were the cheapest soldiers; their existence was meant to be used up as a strategic resource.
One Germa clone after another rushed fearlessly across the trenches, triggering one mine explosion after another.
The roaring explosions mixed with the billowing smoke and flames.
Limbs flew everywhere, and the smell of scorched flesh slowly spread across the battlefield.
The same situation occurred on Niji's and Ichiji's flanks; they also chose the same human minesweeping approach.
After about ten minutes of these explosions, they paved a 'safe' path over the ground littered with clone corpses.
"Charge along this route and break through those fragile weaklings!"
Yonji took the lead, stepping on a living clone and rushing into the forward trenches.
As the highest masterpieces of Vinsmoke, the three of them had been stripped of all empathy and pity before birth by their father.
They knew nothing of fear, nor did they know pity.
They were ruthless to others and even more ruthless to themselves.
Even if they or their family were dying, they would not shed a single tear or beg for mercy.
Their only goal was to pursue victory, to pursue absolute strength!
Stepping over the messy corpses destroyed by the minefield, the cloned army advanced another half kilometer.
"That's enough, they're close enough-"
The guard stared intently at the approaching cloned army, which had fully entered the minefield in the trenches.
His finger was pressed tightly against the red button of the launcher in his hand.
"Die, you artificial monsters!!!!!"
He yelled, leaning out of the trench, and threw the activated launcher.
Then, he grabbed his brother and ran toward Kahat city as if his life depended on it.
Beep-beep-beep-beep!!!
Urgent alarms and infrared beams sounded around the feet of the cloned army and the three brothers, lighting up in the places that were supposed to be 'safe.'
The next moment, the same booming explosions mixed with fire, but this time, the ear-piercing blasts were mixed with countless tiny sounds, like stones tearing through the air.
Screams of pain erupted among the fearless clones.
This time, it wasn't just pure explosions.
Mixed in the blasts were countless steel balls shooting out!
Ichiji instantly activated the jets on his boots and flew into the air, using the metal wire cape of his battlesuit to block a large volley of steel balls.
As Vinsmoke's highest masterpieces, they certainly had the ability to react and dodge damage instantly, but the clones lacked this capability.
"Damn it, what the hell is this!"
Ichiji, Yonji, and Niji watched with enraged expressions as the cloned soldiers who had rashly entered the detonation zone were instantly wiped out.
The remote-controlled bombs, which weren't pressure-sensitive, engulfed the entire position the moment they exploded.
Most importantly, the steel balls shot out essentially turned all the cloned soldiers into beehives!
The ground was covered with shattered corpses or bodies that made those with trypophobia nauseous.
Clones who had lost the ability to move were moaning on the ground.
There was no Haki of the strong, no mystery of Devil Fruit abilities here.
In an instant, hundreds of lives were extinguished.
The only things left were the bloody stench and the smell of gunpowder, displaying the most cruel and efficient slaughter.
"M18A1 Claymore mines."
Seeing the first recommended weapon on the list do its job, Shin, controlling No.
6, introduced the weapon to the VIPs on the other end of the projection Den Den Mushi with a pleasant tone.
"It has two types, tripwire or cable control. The moment of the high explosion causes shrapnel to fly out in a specific direction. Combined with the internal steel balls, it can cause immense damage with very few units. The M18A1's kill radius is a 50-meter, 60-degree wide fan-shaped area in front. The height is 2 to 2.4 meters. The maximum range of the steel balls can reach 250 meters, including a medium kill radius of about 100 meters."
The Claymore mine, developed by the US military during the Vietnam War, was a nightmare for infantry.
Just one Claymore mine could cause an entire infantry platoon to lose combat capability.
"Just one Claymore mine can completely incapacitate a pirate crew or a densely packed unit. It might not kill everyone, but it will definitely fill the 200-meter radius of the blast with wounded soldiers who cannot continue fighting."
On the battlefield, wounded soldiers are a much greater burden on an army than dead soldiers.
Unless it's an extreme military force like Germa, if you wound a hundred people, you need at least thirty people to take care of them.
"Fufufu-fufu-fufu, interesting, very interesting!"
Doflamingo, enjoying the slaughter on the battlefield while sipping his red wine, burst into laughter.
He wasn't against Germa; he was excited and pleased by the efficient killing.
Many prominent figures in the underground world's eyes lit up.
This heinous killing weapon was very much to their liking.
Even a Supernova-level pirate might fall victim to such an insidious weapon.
There weren't many people with Observation Haki on the seas, and most Haki could only identify hostility to avoid attacks.
Mines, however, have no hostility.
"Damn it!!!!"
Yonji looked at his left leg, which had been practically turned into a beehive.
Although the shape-memory metal was rapidly repairing it, he was still consumed by anger.
If he couldn't pass on the ground, he would go from the air!
The jets on Yonji's boots shot out high-pressure air, propelling him toward Kahat from the air.
Ichiji raised his hand and yelled to stop his reckless brother, but it was too late.
From the distant trenches, more than thirty mortars popped up and fired thirty black shells toward Yonji.
Yonji sneered, his speed increasing several times, like a green blur of impact, and punched the shells in midair.
"Cannon shells? I grew up taking these hits!!!!"
The green impact instantly shattered the incoming shells, opening a path for Yonji to the rear.
However, the moment the shells exploded, they didn't release flames.
Mixed in the explosion were billowing clouds of a pale yellow gas.
"What-poison gas!"
The moment the pale yellow gas diffused, a gas mask appeared on Yonji's face.
He had never seen or smelled this poison gas before; it had a scent of rotten fruit.
Just as he thought he was safe, a strong feeling of dizziness and nausea spread through his brain.
He had to turn back and retreat.
When he landed, he could barely stand.
"G3 Sarin Gas Shells.
It contains highly compressed G3 Sarin gas, which can be absorbed through the respiratory tract and skin.
It inhibits acetylcholinesterase activity, causing acetylcholine (Ach) to accumulate in the body, leading to dysfunction of the cholinergic nervous system, respiratory paralysis, pupil constriction, severe gastrointesHinal cramps, and serious nervous system disorder, eventually resulting in a painful death as the body's functions completely spiral out of control."
No. 6 unemotionally introduced the next weapon.
This was the only non-modern Earth weapon he had sold in this batch.
G3 Sarin gas, or G3 gas, was the nerve agent used by the Zeon army against the residents of SIDE 2 during the British Operation in the Gundam UC universe.
It was also the nerve agent used by the Titans to massacre Space Colony 225.
Developed based on Sarin gas, it was a more efficient and lethal nerve agent.
This battlefield poison gas was completely different from most biological toxins in the One Piece world; it was more similar to Caesar's H2S gas.
However, G3 gas was different.
It took effect extremely quickly, unlike Caesar's toxins, which were slow to take effect and could be neutralized.
As expected, Yonji, who had suffered a frontal exposure to G3 gas, lost control of his body shortly after landing, collapsing to the ground and foaming at the mouth.
Around him, almost all the surviving cloned soldiers had collapsed on the ground.
Even if these soldiers were equipped with gas masks, the toxins penetrating their skin were impossible for them to eliminate.
"Shurororororo, I like this guy! Look, the most powerful weapon in the world is poison gas!!!"
At Punk Hazard, the mad scientist Caesar Clown laughed and slapped his thigh.
What Evil Army? They were no match for poison gas!
"Excellent. This poison gas shell is very good. We can buy a lot of it!!!"
"Contact Mr. Poltorto. I want half of the next batch of Sarin gas shells-no, I want all of them!"
On the other end of the projection Den Den Mushi, various major figures of the underground world praised the weapons endlessly.
They loved and appreciated this weapon.
They had to purchase these weapons, otherwise, if their competitors bought the new weapons, they would be the ones getting eaten.
"Yonji, quickly call Reiju for help!"
Seeing his brother completely lose his fighting capability, Ichiji, the eldest brother, shouted anxiously.
This desperation likely held no concern for his brother's safety.
"Yonji, hang in there. I'll get the poison out right away!"
Reiju, who rushed over from the central garrison, dragged the twitching, foaming Yonji away.
Taking a deep breath, a pair of dark purple butterfly wings appeared on the back of her battlesuit, and she began to use her special ability to try and absorb the toxin from her brother's body.
"Ptooey, what is this taste!!!"
Reiju spat out a pool of brown-yellow liquid, disgusted.
The Lineage Factor modifications gave her a body resistant to most poisons and the ability to absorb and release toxins.
Furthermore, toxins usually tasted like various 'delicacies' to her.
But this poison gas tasted extremely nauseating.
It was similar in nature to a pufferfish's neurotoxin, but this taste-
Reiju's face suddenly changed.
A numb feeling spread through her body.
This was-the feeling of being poisoned?
How was that possible? With her Lineage Factor modified abilities, how could she be poisoned?
"A friendly reminder, Miss Vinsmoke Reiju."
No. 6 cleared his throat, picked up a large megaphone from the side, and amplified his voice.
"G3 Sarin gas is a G-class nerve agent. It is not a natural alkaloid toxin. Your ability should only be able to absorb alkaloid toxins. This kind of 'interference agent' that directly acts on the human nervous system is something you cannot digest."
The scope of 'poison' is very broad.
Compounds that can kill people are poisons, alkaloids that cause specific reactions with substances in the human body are poisons, and agents that directly interfere with the nervous system are also poisons.
There is no such thing as a truly 'poison-immune' body in this world unless you can transform your body to completely reject all external substances and not undergo chemical reactions with any other substances.
Even Superman gets his cells rapidly broken down by Kryptonite.
Why would a modified Vinsmoke claim to be immune to all poisons?
Reiju's face instantly turned ashen, just like Yonji's.
Her hands and feet were cold and numb.
Ichiji and Niji, seeing the situation had deteriorated so much, gritted their teeth and could only drag their siblings back to Germa's position.
The next moment, thunderous cheers erupted from Kahat city.
Every soldier cheered loudly; they had defeated the Evil Army-without even losing a single soldier.
The Foreign Minister excitedly shouted, wanting to pursue, but No. 6 mercilessly poured cold water on him.
Pursuit was impossible.
The equipment Antonhal purchased was designed for defense and trench warfare.
Using those infantry weapons to attack Germa's main camp would result in their painful deaths.
King Rabbit III also jumped up happily, but his happiness was mixed with a bitterness only he understood.
In this battle, the mines that exploded, the Claymore mines, the thirty-plus Sarin gas shells, and the large number of mortars-all added up to a cost of 390 million Berries.
He had already spent nearly 5 billion Berries on equipment, which was more than the entire national tax revenue and foreign trade income of Antonhal combined.
And, this was just the beginning.
This was merely a skirmish.
The real bloodbath was yet to come.
He deeply realized for the first time that war meant burning money.
But he had no choice but to keep burning money until he didn't know the end.
⚔️ Level Up This Fanfic! ⚔️
Every 500 Power Stones = 2 BONUS CHAPTERS! 🚀
Want faster releases? Show your support—drop those Power Stones, leave a review, and light up the comments! Your engagement keeps this story going strong!
Let's make this novel unstoppable—Power Stones, comments, and reviews are the ultimate power-up! 💥