Chapter 1: Starting Out Stranded on a Deserted Island"Zzzzz..."The centrifuge hummed like the clingy sound of the tide, echoing and bouncing off the walls of the airtight laboratory.Adam, wearing a washed-out, wrinkled lab coat, kept his gaze pinned to the chemical molecular formulas dancing wildly on the computer screen.His fingertips hammered against the mechanical keyboard so fast they were a blur, but the corner of his eye kept uncontrollably darting toward the corner of the desk.Pasted on the corner of the desk was a neatly pressed poster. Beside the image of a silver-gray J-20 breaking through leaden clouds was a line he had traced three times with a black marker: To — Adam's pilot dream!"Tsk, Experiment Group 37, the gecko bioavailability still won't go up. Why is it like this? Why is it like this? Why is it like this?!"He yanked open the collar of his rumpled lab coat, the stifling fabric crinkling with a sound of despair as he bunched it up.He tore his bloodshot eyes away from the screen and grabbed his iced Americano, taking a huge gulp. The bitter liquid burned all the way down his throat to his stomach, and his face twisted into a knot, his features contorting in bitterness.His brain was stuffed with chain reactions, gene matching ratios, and DNA extraction data—like a tangled mess of headphone wires that only got messier the more he tried to sort them out."If I'm stuck even on animal testing, how do I expect to pass the pilot recruitment re-examination by using this physical enhancement serum to boost my stamina? I must be dreaming.""There's definitely one step missing somewhere. The fusion agent—is it a problem with the fusion agent?"He was a graduate student in pharmacology at a top domestic pharmaceutical university, considered by others to be a relentless academic genius nailed to the laboratory.But only he knew that the obsession carved into his bones since childhood was to fly a fighter jet into the high heavens.He had missed the cutoff for his dream flight academy by two points in the college entrance exam, so he had settled for second best and thrown himself into pharmacology.But the desire to soar into the clouds had never faded.Since his natural physical fitness was a cut below the pilot recruitment standards, he would formulate the medicine himself and forcibly bridge that gap.For the sake of this physical enhancement serum capable of breaking through human physiological limits, he had spent his four years in university pouring almost all his heart and soul into this project.Recently, he had even been working seventy-two hours straight in the lab. His advisor had urged him countless times to take a break, but he was the stubborn type who wouldn't turn back even after hitting a brick wall.According to his advisor, he could easily graduate early just by churning out two core research papers; there was no need to waste time obsessing over a project that seemed like a pipe dream.But what kept him gritting his teeth and pushing through was the set of impeccable theoretical data in his hands.An eighty percent success rate was enough to support his efforts to bring this serum from paper to reality, which was also the reason for his near-manic behavior.If there wasn't even half a chance of success, he would be more clear-headed than anyone else and would never waste a single second."One last set. I'll adjust the auxiliary ingredient ratio one more time. Whether it works or not depends on this one shot."Adam took a deep breath, forcing down the stagnant air that had been trapped in his chest for too long, and put on his safety goggles.The lenses glinted with a cold white light under the laboratory bench lamp as he reached for the bottle of highly active reaction reagent on the shelf.The moment his fingertips touched the cold glass of the reagent bottle, the bottle suddenly vibrated violently. The compounds inside surged and boiled like crazy, and a blinding white light exploded without warning."No, f***—!""BOOM!"The sound of the explosion, accompanied by a wave of heat, struck him like a giant hand, shattering him. The excruciating pain of bones breaking instantly drowned out his consciousness.The last thought that flashed through his mind before his consciousness faded was actually the pilot poster on the corner of the desk, along with an unspoken complaint.Damn it, I haven't even touched the control stick of a plane yet, and I've already blown myself to ashes?That night, a short news ticker quietly scrolled across the local news: Inside a certain biological research institute, a graduate student died on the spot due to a chemical explosion caused by an experimental error.He didn't know how long he had been submerged in darkness, but a salty, bone-chilling sea breeze suddenly rushed into his nostrils, and coarse sand grated against his cheeks, stinging painfully.The sound of endless waves crashed in his ears—swish, swish—like someone beating a broken drum repeatedly right next to him.Under this brutal stimulation, his sleeping brain was dragged back to the world bit by bit, and his bodily functions rebooted frantically."Cough... cough, cough!"Adam coughed violently, spraying out a mouthful of seawater mixed with sand. He struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, but the blinding sunlight slammed into his face, so white it was dizzying, and he instantly squinted shut his eyes.Before him was neither the familiar ceiling of the laboratory nor the pale walls of a hospital, but a sky so blue it was almost transparent, so clean that there wasn't a single scrap of cloud."What's going on? Where is this?"He propped himself up on the scorching sand and sat up bit by bit. His bones felt like they had been dismantled and haphazardly put back together; every movement sent a wave of dislocated, aching pain. His back burned, as if a layer of skin had been rawly abraded by rocks.He looked down; his lab coat was long gone, leaving only his T-shirt, soaked and wrinkled by seawater, clinging tightly to his body, and his jeans, worn through at the cuffs.His calves were covered in scratches of varying depths, with sand grains embedded in the wounds, making them sting and ache.Based on his limited geographical knowledge, he must have been washed up here after drifting at sea.But no matter how he thought about it, it was absurd.The city he lived in was deep inland; where could such a boundless ocean have come from?The level of absurdity was comparable to Mount Everest sprouting out of thin air on the North China Plain.He pushed himself up against a reef, and the moment he looked around, he froze in place.Behind him were jagged, pitch-black reefs polished by the crashing waves; in front of him was the endless ocean. The deep blue, almost black surface of the sea churned with heavy waves that stretched as far as the eye could see.And the place he was standing on was nothing more than a palm-sized patch of fine sand. Behind that was a mini landmass covered with dozens of twisted, ancient trees and low-lying shrubs.No, this thing couldn't even be called an island.Adam swallowed his dry saliva, hobbled up toward higher ground while leaning on the reefs, and kept muttering to himself to boost his morale."Don't panic, don't panic. Adam, you are a highly educated graduate student. Sort out the situation first.""First, the explosion didn't blow me to ashes. I'm still alive.""Second, this is the seaside. The probability of having plants and fresh water is not low. I won't die for now. As long as I don't die, it's not a big problem."He struggled to climb up to the thickest branch of an ancient tree. He looked around, and his heart, which had just lifted, sank straight to the bottom with a "thud."In every direction, there was only the vast, boundless ocean. Forget about seeing a ship; he couldn't even see the outline of another island.And this so-called "land" beneath his feet was no more than three hundred meters long from north to south and two hundred meters wide from east to west—at most, it was about the size of three standard football fields put together."You've got to be kidding me..."Adam's mouth twitched violently, and he grabbed his hair, nearly tumbling straight out of the tree.
This isn't a damn deserted island; this is just a big rock platform sticking out of the water! Which uninhabited zone of the Pacific was I blown into? No phone, and no ghost of a rescue team is ever going to find me here!"He leapt down from the tree, landing unsteadily and stumbling onto the grass.His knee struck a stone, making him gasp in pain, and he immediately roared at the vast ocean, "Hey! Is anyone there! Is there anyone at all!"The only response was the howling sea breeze and the waves incessantly crashing against the shore.After shouting until his throat was hoarse, Adamfinally deflated, plopping down on the ground. He stared blankly at the boundless sea, muttering to himself, "It's over. I didn't become a pilot, but I've become Robinson Crusoe—a shrunken version of him, at that. At least he had a proper island; all I've got is this pile of rocks."Over the next three days, Adam turned this mini-island upside down.He picked up a sharp seashell, holding it like a scalpel, and measured the island's boundaries inch by inch. With every step, he muttered to himself, as if writing the sloppiest of experimental logs:"South side: reef area. Exposed at low tide. If I'm lucky, I can find small crabs, but the waves are too big to stay long. North side: cliff. Twenty-meter drop. The bottom is full of hidden reefs; if you jump, you're basically booking your own funeral. East side: beach. That's where I woke up. It can collect rainwater, currently my only source of fresh water. West side: bush. Full of thorny things and a bunch of unknown insects."He squatted by the bushes, watching a palm-sized colorful crab scuttle past and slowly wander into the grass. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and let out a long sigh of relief: "Fine. Lucky in my misfortune—no large predators. I don't have to worry about being snatched away by tigers or leopards. At worst, I'll get a few mosquito bites. Dying of itchiness is better than being eaten."Over these three days, he was most grateful that there were no deadly predators on the island capable of swallowing him in one bite.The most desperate part was how small the island was—so small that resources were pitifully scarce.Searching the entire island, the only source of rainwater was a small puddle in a rock crevice, barely enough to keep him alive. Other than that, there were only fist-sized, greenish-yellow wild fruits hanging in the bushes."Fresh water is barely enough, but the food situation is truly life-threatening."Adam squatted by the puddle, cupping the water in his hands and swallowing it in small sips. The cold water slid down his throat, but it couldn't suppress the hollow, twisting pain in his stomach.He looked at the three crooked tally marks carved into the seashell, his brow furrowed tightly: "If I can catch one crab a day, I'm lucky. It's nowhere near enough to fill my stomach. These fruits... heaven knows if they're poisonous."He was a legitimate pharmacy graduate student, born with a deep-seated, instinctual wariness toward unknown natural compounds.Back in the lab, any high-performance liquid chromatograph could figure out the components in ten minutes. But now, other than his own two hands, he had no instruments—he couldn't even prepare the most basic saline solution.If he accidentally poisoned himself, he wouldn't even have a chance to regret it. Compared to that, starving might be better. "But I can't just starve to death."Adam scratched his greasy hair, stood up, and picked a few wild fruits to weigh in his hand. The amount of seafood was already pitifully small, and it had become harder to catch over the last few days.On the other hand, these fruits were round with extremely thin skin; a gentle squeeze revealed they were full of juice. When brought close to his nose, they had a faint, fresh fragrance with no pungent or strange odors.He first squeezed out a bit of juice and applied it to the inside of his wrist, muttering to himself: "Skin contact test: observe for irritation or allergic reactions. Start timer for thirty minutes."Half an hour passed. His wrist was clean, with no redness, swelling, or itching. He squeezed a few more drops of juice and fed them to a small ant he had caught, whispering: "Acute toxicity animal test: observe for two hours. If this little guy is fine, then we'll move to the next step."Two hours later, the little ant was still crawling around on his fingertip, lively and active. Adam let out a breath, but his heart was still pounding. This extremely primitive test couldn't detect alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, or any of those toxins that could kill you in an instant."I need to build a shelter first. Otherwise, if it rains tonight, I won't even have a place to hide. I'll end up soaked to death before I'm ever poisoned." He stuffed the wild fruits into his pocket and turned to pick up dead branches from the ground.Relying on the dead branches and vines he'd gathered, and leaning against two ancient trees growing very close together, Adam managed to build a crude shack. It was just over ten square meters, but enough for him to curl up and find shelter.While he called it a wooden house, it was actually just a drafty branch shed. The roof was covered with thick dry grass and leaves, barely enough to block the sun and light rain. Leaning against the sturdy tree trunks, it was at least stable.He moved the mountain of wild fruits he'd picked over the last few days into the shed all at once. Looking at the pile of fruit, he collapsed onto the dry grass and let out a long sigh, talking to the air: "Not bad, Adam. You couldn't even change a lightbulb before, and now you can build your own house. I just don't know if this crappy house can hold up until someone comes to rescue me."He gazed at the dappled sunlight leaking through the gaps in the shed, remembering the hum of the centrifuge in the lab. He thought of the poster he'd stuck to the corner of his desk, and that fighter jet he'd never had the chance to touch in his entire life.His voice grew quieter, tinged with a bitterness he didn't even realize was there: "I always used to think that pulling all-nighters to do experiments was miserable. Now, thinking back, being able to sit safely and securely in the lab was practically a heavenly life.""My dream of being a pilot hasn't even started yet. I can't just end it all on this crappy rock."Two more days passed. The crab shells in Adam's pocket had long been rubbed white and were empty enough to whistle in the wind. The puddle in the rock crevice had also bottomed out, leaving only a layer of wet mud mixed with sand.His stomach growled loudly, the sound surging up through his abdominal cavity, making his eardrums ache. His vision went black in waves, and his field of view was filled with flickering spots of light.He hadn't eaten anything for nearly two days; apart from two small sips of rainwater to moisten his throat, nothing had entered his stomach. He curled up on the dry grass, his eyes fixed dead on the pile of greenish-yellow wild fruits on the floor of the shack. His fingertips reached out and pulled back countless times. The pile of fruit was right before his eyes, within arm's reach."No, I can't wait any longer."Adam clutched his stomach, curling up like a shrimp. It felt like a rusty Iron Hand was inside his stomach, mercilessly twisting his stomach lining with every movement. The sharp pain shot up his spine, and cold sweat dripped from his temples onto the dry grass, forming small, damp stains. His body's alarm was at maximum capacity; if he didn't eat something, he was really going to starve to death in this godforsaken place.
Chapter 3: Pirate King? Yaku Yaku no Mi!With his life gone, all that talk about being a pilot or studying pharmacology was just nonsense.Right now, for him, staying alive was the only thing that mattered."If I keep waiting, even if the fruit isn't poisonous, I'll starve to death first.""Might as well treat a dead horse as if it were alive; at worst, I die, which is still better than starving to death!"He gritted his molars, dug his fingernails into his palms, and forced his numb body to sit up. With trembling fingertips, he fished out the roundest fruit from the pile, rubbing it repeatedly against the corner of his shirt until the skin gleamed."Adam, you're a pharmacology graduate student. What are you afraid of in such a small situation? Even if it's poisonous, you can use your professional knowledge to induce vomiting. You won't die!"With that, he closed his eyes and took a huge bite.With a "crunch," the thin skin broke, and sweet juice exploded on his tongue. A hint of light bitterness followed, spreading from the root of his tongue. It wasn't amazing, but it was a hundred times better than the bitter herbal decoctions he had been forced to drink.Adam opened his eyes abruptly, chewed twice, swallowed, and froze in place for three seconds.His tongue wasn't numb, he wasn't dizzy, and his stomach wasn't churning. Aside from that slight bitterness, there were no adverse reactions at all."Holy crap! It's edible!""Does this mean I've been starving for the past few days just because I was an idiot?"Adam's eyes lit up brighter than two lamps. He gripped the doorframe of the wooden hut and roared at the churning ocean outside."Damn it, there's always a way out!""My name is Adam, and I will survive on this damn deserted island!"He couldn't hold back anymore and started devouring the fruit. He finished one in just a few bites. The burning pain in his stomach subsided slightly, but the ravenous hunger surged up even more fiercely, like floodwaters breaking through a dam.He reached for a second one, crunching it down in a few bites.The third one went down, still with that sweet yet bitter taste. A warmth spread from his stomach, flowing through his limbs and bones, and the dizziness before his eyes eased significantly."Awesome!"Adam wiped his mouth and looked at the remaining half-pile of fruit. His heart, which had been hanging for nearly a week, finally settled."With food and water, I can at least survive. Maybe in a few days, a ship will pass by..."As he muttered to himself, he randomly grabbed another fruit from the pile and, without thinking, bit into it.The moment his teeth broke the skin, an indescribable stench slammed into his nose and mouth!It wasn't just ordinary rot; it was the smell of raw meat rotting in mud for half a month, mixed with fermented swill and the thick juice of crushed rotten eggs.Fishy, rotten, sour, foul—every scent that could make a person's stomach churn was shoved into his throat all at once, searing his esophagus like a red-hot branding iron."Blech—!!!"Adam didn't even have half a second to react. He hunched over and lunged outside the door, vomiting up all three fruits he had just eaten, along with the sour, bitter stomach acid.He retched until it felt like his heart and lungs were coming out. Tears and snot smeared his face, and the foul taste clung to his tongue. He wished he could rip his tongue out and scrub it eight hundred times with seawater."What the... what kind of monster thing is this... blech..."He leaned against a tree trunk, coughing until his lungs felt like they were about to explode. When he finally managed to catch his breath, he looked down at the fruit clutched in his right hand, and his entire body froze instantly.The fruit in his hand was definitely not the greenish-yellow wild fruit he had been eating before.Its base color was still greenish-yellow, but it was covered in eerie, spiral-shaped, dark green patterns. They wound around the peel like they were alive, glowing with a faint, oily sheen in the damp sunlight filtering in.He had been so starved earlier that he'd just grabbed it without noticing how different it was from the others."What... what is this thing?"Adam frowned and brought the fruit closer to his eyes. As soon as his nose got near it, that rotten stench drilled in again, and he quickly turned his face away, almost vomiting again."That's not right. When I picked them, they were all exactly the same. How did one with patterns get mixed in?"Just as he was distracted, an indescribable power suddenly exploded from deep within his throat!Like warm magma, it surged through his blood vessels, drilling into every single cell in his body.It wasn't pain, nor was it burning; it was a feeling of power so full it was about to overflow, bubbling out from the gaps in his bones.His palms, which had been rubbed raw and bloody from building the wooden hut, were now healing at a visible speed. The raw, red cuts scabbed over and fell off, revealing smooth, intact skin in the blink of an eye.His limbs, which had been soft as noodles after two days of starvation, were instantly filled with endless strength. Even the wounds on his back, rubbed raw by reefs and aching for days, had their pain vanish in an instant.Even more absurdly, a massive amount of information flooded his mind, as if someone had forcibly carved the entire collection of a library into his cerebral cortex.He closed his eyes subconsciously, and the information became crystal clear—it was all the DNA sequences, molecular structures, and active ingredient ratios of everything in the world, clearer than the lab reports he had spent over a decade working on.Paramecia-type: Yaku Yaku no Mi ability.Can extract any active ingredient from all living things, plants, minerals, and even non-living matter in the world to formulate, synthesize, and catalyze any medicine with corresponding effects.From minor effects like wound healing and physical enhancement to major ones like cell manipulation and life alteration—as long as the component logic can be parsed, it can be formulated without limits.Side effect: The user will be forsaken by the sea, becoming a non-swimmer for life. Contact with seawater or Sea Stone will cause total loss of strength, and the ability will become completely ineffective.Adam opened his eyes abruptly, standing frozen in place as if struck by lightning, forgetting even how to breathe.Pirates? Devil Fruit?!When he was in college, he had watched One Piece three times over and was so familiar with the setting he could recite it backward! Those fruits with strange and peculiar powers, that Grand Line hiding freedom and adventure, that Straw Hat kid shouting about becoming the Pirate King!The only regret was that he had only watched up to Luffy attacking Onigashima to fight Kaido; he never had time to catch up on the later plot because of his non-stop laboratory work."I... I wasn't blown to an uninhabited area in the Pacific Ocean. I traveled through time? I traveled into the world of One Piece?!"Adam's voice was trembling uncontrollably. He looked down at his intact hands, then at the Devil Fruit with the strange patterns in his hand, and suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, laughing until tears streamed out."Hahahaha, holy crap! I'm not dead! Not only am I not dead, but I've traveled into the One Piece world!""And I ate a Yaku Yaku no Mi that never even appeared in the original story!"He jumped up in place, doing it several times in a row, feeling as if his strength would never run out.All the despair and anxiety from before vanished into thin air at this moment.Desert island survival, starving to death in the wilderness—it had all become a joke.What he held in his hand was a top-tier trump card that would allow him to walk sideways across this great ocean!From this moment on, this ocean, named for adventure and freedom, would also have a place for him, Adam!
Chapter 4: The Power of the FruitThe dizzying hunger from before was completely gone, and even his vision had become incredibly sharp; he could clearly see the seabirds skimming the ocean surface a hundred meters away, every single downy feather on their wings visible in clear detail.He could clearly perceive a brand-new power hidden within his body.Just by closing his eyes, he could sense the various active ingredients hidden within the trees, wild grasses, and even the gravel beneath his feet.Hemostatic flavonoids, analgesic alkaloids, energy-replenishing monosaccharides—he could even extract high-purity disinfectant salt directly from the seawater nearby.This was the power of the Yaku Yaku no Mi!"Isn't this just like having a top-tier mobile biological laboratory carved directly into my bones?"Adam raised an eyebrow, reached out and gently grabbed a handful of wild grass, a faint green glimmer flashing across his fingertips.The blades of grass withered instantly as their active ingredients were fully extracted, condensing into a single drop of crystal-clear, pale green liquid at his fingertips."Physical enhancement potion? Is that it? As long as the materials are there, I can whip one up with a wave of my hand!"He brought the drop of liquid up to his eyes, the light in them growing brighter and brighter.In the past, he had dreamed of wearing a flight suit, piloting a fighter jet, and flying across the vast blue skies of his homeland.But now, laid out before him was the boundless Grand Line, hiding countless adventures and freedom—a true vast sea and sky!It was a world where he could push everything he had learned in his life to the absolute limit!Adam turned around, dashed a few steps to the edge of the northern cliff, and spread his arms wide, facing the whistling sea breeze.The salty, fishy sea breeze poured fiercely into his collar, blowing his hair into a wild frenzy. Below him was the churning, roaring ocean, and in the distance, the horizon merged with the sky into a dazzling blue.Looking at this endless ocean, the hot blood in his chest was instantly ignited, exploding with a roar!"Before, I wanted to fly planes and soar across the entire blue sky!""Now, I have this Yaku Yaku no Mi, and I have this ocean!""I will concoct the strongest medicine in the world, train the toughest body, and I will board a ship to traverse every corner of this ocean!""The world of the Pirate King! Adam is here!"The young man on the cliff stood straight against the sea breeze, the light in his eyes even more scorching than the blazing sun above.Surviving a desperate situation on a deserted island, the accidental awakening of a Devil Fruit—this was the beginning of an unprecedented maritime epic belonging to a top-tier pharmacist.On the first morning after awakening the Yaku Yaku no Mi, Adam was jolted awake by the frantic, rumbling growls in his stomach.The dry grass made his back itch, and with a mop of messy hair, he scrambled up from the pile of straw in the wooden hut.The ground at his feet was littered with gnawed-clean fruit pits, which made a crisp clattering sound when he kicked them.The corners of his mouth twitched, and he muttered to the empty forest in a low voice."Damn it, I was too excited yesterday and ate half the tree's fruit. Does this fruit not only give me abilities but also stack a 'bottomless pit' buff on me?"Despite saying that, the bright light in his eyes didn't diminish in the slightest.The fruit's power that had flooded into his mind yesterday had turned into a warm current, flowing slowly through his limbs and bones.Whenever he closed his eyes, the molecular structure and active ingredients of every blade of grass and tree around him would clearly appear in his mind; the entire array of precision laboratory analytical instruments had been welded directly into his cerebral cortex.He casually grabbed a handful of foxtail grass at his feet, a very faint green light shimmered at his fingertips, and he recited the laboratory operating procedures under his breath."Extract flavonoid compounds, active polysaccharides, trace alkaloids... separate, purify, condense."In the blink of an eye, the fresh grass in his hand withered instantly into powder that crumbled at a touch.A drop of clear, pale green liquid hovered at his fingertip, carrying a crisp, herbal scent that seemed to slow even the passing wind.Adam brought the liquid to his nose to sniff it, raised an eyebrow, and laughed out loud."Hemostatic and anti-inflammatory agent, perfect. The purity is even higher than what you'd get after boiling it in a lab extraction tank for eight hours. This ability is basically a god-tier cheat."He raised his hand and applied the liquid to the scrapes on his body that hadn't fully healed; the moment the cool sensation touched his skin, the wounds quickly tightened, soon forming a thin protective film, and even the stinging pain subsided by more than half.In the days that followed, Adam completely turned this palm-sized mini deserted island into his own mobile laboratory.From the smallest grain of sand on the beach and the beetles crawling in the bushes, to the two ancient, intertwined century-old trees and the sea fish and shrimp washed ashore by the tide, he had "analyzed" them all, one by one.He would squat on the scorching beach, pinching a swimming crab that had just been washed up by the waves, staring at it and studying it for half a day, muttering continuously."Chitin can be extracted to make sterile wound dressings, high-quality protein from the shrimp meat can be used to make high-concentration physical energy supplements, and even the calcium in the crab shell can be made into a bone density enhancer...""Good grief, when I used to eat barbecue, I only knew crab tasted good. How did I not realize this thing is a treasure trove?"The first thing he modified was the greenish-yellow wild fruit that had once nearly starved him to death.He held a sour, unripe fruit, a flash of green light appearing at his fingertip as he precisely stripped away the tannins that caused the astringent taste.He then optimized and purified the fructose content inside, while simultaneously extracting a bit of fresh, sweet, aromatic substance from the wild chrysanthemums on the shore and blending it in.Taking another bite, the tongue-numbing astringency was completely gone. Sweet, clear juice burst onto his tongue—sweet but not cloying, with a lingering hint of chrysanthemum fragrance in the aftertaste, and even the wind seemed to be wrapped in sweetness."Holy crap, this is amazing!"Adam's eyes went wide; he devoured one in a few bites and hugged the fruit tree, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up."Back in the lab, it took dozens of attempts just to adjust a flavoring agent, but now I can do it with a flick of my wrist. If this were back home, wouldn't it be an understatement to say I'd win a Nobel Prize in Food Science?"He didn't stop there; he extracted highly active plant auxins from the ancient tree's branches and buds, combined them with the cytokinins from the fruit pits, and concocted a small bottle of pale green ripening nutrient solution.He waded through the thorny vines in the bushes, walked up to the branch laden with unripe fruit, and raised his hand to sprinkle the nutrient solution over it.In just over ten minutes, the fist-sized, unripe fruit began to swell, turn yellow, and ripen with sugar at a speed visible to the naked eye.They hung heavy on the branches, the sweet fragrance drifting dozens of meters away on the breeze, even attracting the seabirds in the forest, which chirped and circled around the branches.Adam stood there with his arms crossed, whistling proudly."What agricultural experts? In front of the Yaku Yaku no Mi, they're all amateurs. I'll never have to worry about going hungry again."It was also at this moment that a thought so crazy it was almost absurd suddenly drilled into his mind.Staring at the chlorophyll and photosynthetic enzymes in the leaves that he could perceive with his fingertips, his heart pounded wildly in his chest, vibrating so hard his eardrums rang.
Chapter 5: Clash of Ideals and Shipbuilding"What if...""If I were to extract the photosynthetic system from plants and integrate it into my own somatic cells, I could synthesize energy just by basking in the sun. I would never have to eat again, and I would never have to worry about going hungry?""I might even be able to heal wounds using sunlight."Once this thought emerged, it spread wildly and instantly took root in his mind.His fingertips trembled incessantly; as a researcher who had been immersed in pharmacology and biological genetics for many years, the temptation to rewrite the underlying logic of life was almost fatal.But the next second, he shook his head violently, raised his hand, and slapped himself hard across the face.A crisp "slap" rang out, exceptionally clear in the quiet forest."Adam, are you fucking crazy?!"He leaned against the trunk of a rough, ancient tree, panting heavily. His back ached where the bark dug into his skin, but he forced that crazy thought back down into the depths of his heart, gritting his teeth as he cursed at the empty forest."Stop it, absolutely stop.""If you dare to install a photosynthetic system in your body today, tomorrow you'll dare to splice Sea Kings genes into yourself, and the day after that, will you be fusing Sea Stone into your bones? Will you even be human by then?""What would be the difference between you and a hodgepodge monster? This is Pandora's box; you must never take the first step."Adam clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. The fanaticism in his eyes faded, leaving only clear-headed determination.His goal had never been to become some inhuman monster, but to break through the physiological limits of humanity itself.Just as he had once wanted to use self-developed physical enhancement agents to make up for his physical shortcomings and fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot, now, what he needed to do was develop a serum capable of unlocking the human genetic code, and rely on his own body to stand at the pinnacle of this vast ocean.Not by transforming himself into a monster that had lost its human form.In the world of the Pirate King, the one thing that was never in short supply was miracles.Adam squatted on the cold reef, watching the churning dark blue ocean beneath his feet. The salty, fishy sea breeze stung his cheeks, but his eyes shone with a burning light."To concoct a true genetic unlocking serum, I need top-tier biological materials.""Ancient dinosaurs on primitive islands, giant Sea Kings in the deep sea—those creatures that have lived in this ocean for thousands of years, that is where the true power lies hidden in their genes."With the general direction set, the most urgent matter at hand was to leave this godforsaken mini desert island.Before that, he set a non-negotiable, mandatory curriculum for himself: physical conditioning.He dug into his memories for the Five Animal Frolics, a routine he had cobbled together and improved upon back when he studied traditional Chinese medicine.In his original world, this set of exercises was at most a health routine for loosening muscles and clearing meridians, with minimal effect.But in this world of the Pirate King, where human potential was limitless, it directly opened a brand-new door.Every day before dawn, Adam's figure could be seen on the dew-covered beach.Tiger Raise, Deer Run, Bear Carry, Ape Lift, Bird Stretch—he performed every movement to the extreme.His muscles would tense and tear from the soreness, then, with the help of nutritional serums concocted using his Fruit ability, they would quickly repair, reshape, and grow stronger.Every time he finished a routine, an overwhelming sense of hunger would completely submerge him.Often, as soon as he finished his practice, he would squat on the beach, clutching a dozen ripened sweet fruits and devouring them. He could finish half a fruit tree in one sitting—a full ten pounds of produce—forcing him to concoct new ripening nutrient solutions every day to water each tree.Yet the results were outrageously visible.When he first arrived on the island, he had to strain until his face turned red and use every ounce of his strength just to move a hundred-pound boulder half a step.After just over a month, he could grab that same boulder with one hand, casually swing it, and throw it over a dozen meters away, smashing it into the beach and creating a half-meter-deep crater, sending sand and gravel flying everywhere.His running speed, reaction time, and endurance had all multiplied several times over.Even his lower back, which used to ache after pulling a few all-nighters, now didn't even cause him to break a sweat after three consecutive hours of the Five Animal Frolics."Damn, the physiques of people in this world are just too monstrous."Adam shook his sore arms, looking at the smooth, rock-hard muscles on them, and couldn't help but laugh out loud."I always thought having poor physical stamina was innate, but now I know it was just Earth limiting my potential."He looked down at his pant legs; the jeans that used to fit perfectly were now too short, and he had even undergone a secondary growth spurt of three centimeters.On the distant horizon, the rising morning sun dyed the sea molten gold. He stood on the beach facing the wind, gazing at the boundless ocean, the light in his eyes brighter than the morning sun.His previous clothes had long since been shredded by the waves, not to mention that his height had shot up to two meters, and his shoulders had nearly doubled in width.The T-shirt and jeans that used to fit him couldn't even be put on now, and the slightest exertion would cause the seams to burst open.He had no choice but to gather the toughest bark and long-fibered leaves, crush them, soak them in seawater to remove the bitterness, and then fish them out to beat them repeatedly.After drying them until semi-dry, he twisted them into fine hemp ropes, then used his Fruit ability to extract tough fibers from plants, mixed them into the hemp threads, and slowly wove them into a set of coarse linen short-sleeved clothes.The linen fabric felt rough and scratchy against his skin, but it was breathable and durable. When the sea breeze blew, it could pass through the weave, making it much more comfortable than his previous tattered clothes.With his physical training mostly on track, the shipbuilding plan was officially put on the agenda.On this island, the only things suitable for building a large ship were the dozen or so century-old trees that stood over fifty meters tall. Their trunks were thick enough for two adults to wrap their arms around, and the wood was hard and dense—excellent material for shipbuilding.Adam first picked up a piece of the densest basalt he could find and spent two full days grinding it on the reef.The reef became searing hot from the grinding. The blood blisters on his palms would burst and reform, but he would just casually smear on some homemade styptic and grit his teeth to keep grinding.He stubbornly ground an irregular rock into a stone axe with a razor-sharp edge.He then used his Fruit ability to extract silicon from the rock and condensed it onto the axe blade as a hardening treatment, making it even handier for chopping trees than a regular iron axe.When he chopped down the first tree, he even bowed solemnly to the ancient tree, which was thick enough for two people to embrace, muttering to himself."Old tree, oh old tree, I'm sorry.""You've grown on this island for hundreds of years, enduring the wind and sun. Why not come to sea with me and see what the Grand Line really looks like? It's better than rotting away on this pile of rocks, right?"Old Tree: So?As soon as he finished speaking, he swung the stone axe and hacked down hard.With a muffled "crack," wood chips flew, the trunk snapped on impact, and it crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, shaking the entire beach.Over the next ten days or so, Adam chopped down all the dozen or so century-old trees on the island.