Mordred clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within his body.
A faint layer of stratum corneum appeared on the surface of his skin. This was the passive defense gained from merging with 'Deep Sea Carapace Hardening'. Although it wasn't as hard as Armament Haki, its advantage lay in being passively active and consuming no physical strength. More importantly, it could continue to evolve, and sooner or later, it would become even harder than Big Mom's Iron Balloon.
"It's not over yet."
Mordred turned his head and looked at the mutated moray eel circling submissively by his side.
This big guy looked excellent now.
Its entire body was pitch black, covered in jagged bone spurs, and it exuded a suffocating aura of tyranny.
If he rode this thing and burst out of the sea, he wondered what kind of expressions the Marines above would make?
"However, you're still not strong enough as you are now."
Mordred swam to the top of the mutated moray eel's head and thrust both hands into its flesh.
Since it was his mount, it had to be the best.
He took the excess biological energy he had just obtained from absorbing the giant crab and fed it back to this moray eel without reservation.
"Evolve."
"Become the... nightmare of these deep seas."
"Gurgle..."
A large number of bubbles erupted from within the moray eel's body.
Its size began a second explosion of growth.
One hundred and twenty meters... one hundred and fifty meters... two hundred meters!
Its originally streamlined body became even sturdier, and two pairs of sharp hooked claws grew from its belly, making it look more like a deep-sea dragon.
Especially its head, where bone hyperplasia had formed a ramming horn like a crown, emitting a metallic luster.
Mordred patted its cold scales with satisfaction.
"From today on, you shall be called 'Leviathan'."
Leviathan let out a low roar, seemingly responding to its Master's naming, and the surrounding seawater vibrated violently from the sound waves.
Mordred stood on top of Leviathan's head with his arms crossed, looking up toward the distant surface.
Although his vision couldn't penetrate thousands of meters of seawater, he could feel the presence of more and more powerful experts gathering above.
Marineford moves fast.
The icy seawater rushed past him, forming vacuum-like riptides.
Mordred sat cross-legged on Leviathan's broad head, his black stratum corneum keeping the seawater out.
This giant moray eel, which had mutated into a deep-sea monster, was shuttling through the seabed at an incredible speed.
Wherever it passed, the originally peaceful marine ecosystem suffered a devastating blow.
He raised his right hand, and a slit opened in his palm.
Thick, mercury-like black-red blood slowly seeped out. It wasn't diluted by the seawater; instead, as if it were alive, it condensed into countless tiny particles and spread rapidly with the ocean currents.
In the water, its activity would be somewhat inhibited, but its infectivity grew exponentially due to the movement of the medium.
A school of colorful deep-sea fish happened to pass through this contaminated area.
They obliviously inhaled the seawater.
The next second.
The school of fish, which had been swimming in an orderly fashion, suddenly fell into chaos.
Crack, crack.
The tooth-aching sound of bones bursting echoed dully in the water.
These small fish, only the size of a palm, instantly doubled in size. Their scales fell off, revealing the bright red muscle fibers underneath. Their fins turned into sharp bone blades, and their originally docile eyes now held only a crazed, bloodthirsty red light.
They no longer avoided predators; instead, they charged frantically toward a nearby sea turtle.
A few seconds later, that hard-shelled sea turtle was torn to pieces by the school of crazed little fish.
After devouring the flesh, the size of these mutated fish exploded again, splitting off even more virus bodies.
"This is the chain reaction."
Mordred watched this scene with satisfaction.
The ocean is the best petri dish.
There are countless organisms here, with inexhaustible biomass energy.
Given enough time, he could even turn the entire North Blue into his own ranch.
Leviathan let out a low growl, seemingly longing for slaughter.
Mordred patted its hard skull.
"Don't be in a hurry, the blockade line is just ahead."
Through Leviathan's perception, he could clearly 'see' the densely packed hulls of warships on the sea surface.
Those steel-forged behemoths were nothing more than floating tin cans in his eyes.
"Since they've come, I have to give the Marines a little greeting gift."
With a thought from Mordred...
Those newly mutated crazed fish schools, as if receiving instructions from the hive mind, turned around and charged like countless living torpedoes toward the blockade line above...
...
North Blue, the sea area surrounding Iron Fang Island.
The sky was so gloomy it seemed ready to collapse, and the sea breeze was laced with a faint, foul stench.
Dozens of Marine warships were connected end to end, forming a tight steel defense line.
Searchlight beams crisscrossed the sea surface; any ship attempting to approach or leave would be blown to bits in an instant.
On the flagship's deck.
Smoker had two cigars in his mouth. Amidst the swirling smoke, his brow was tightly furrowed into a deep scowl.
"Captain, the support fleet from Headquarters has arrived!"
Tashigi ran over quickly, holding Shigure, her tone carrying a hint of excitement.
Smoker turned around and looked toward the distant horizon.
At that gray junction of sky and sea, a massive fleet was cutting through the waves.
The sea breeze howled, kicking up waves several meters high that slapped against the steel hulls.
Smoker spat out the chewed-up cigar, pulled out a new one and lit it. The flame flickered in the gloomy light.
At the edge of his vision, the grand fleet was rapidly approaching.
Leading them was a super-giant warship capable of holding a thousand men. The huge seagull emblem on the bow looked exceptionally oppressive under the thunderclouds—it was the symbol of Marineford's highest combat power.
"A scale like this..."
Tashigi adjusted her glasses, which had been blown crooked by the wind, her palms sweaty as she gripped her sword hilt.
"A Buster Call wouldn't be much more than this."
The leaden-gray clouds hung very low, almost within reach.
The gale whipped up salty, fishy-smelling waves that constantly battered the steel-forged gunwales.
The waves of the North Blue were much colder and harsher than those in the first half of the Grand Line.
Smoker stood at the very front of the deck, his white Marine coat flapping loudly in the wind.
The giant warship slowly came to a halt.
The draft of this flagship from Headquarters was staggering. The densely packed cannon ports on both sides of the hull were like a hive, exuding a cold metallic luster.
The gangway was lowered.
Accompanied by the heavy thud of military boots, a tall, thin figure was the first to appear in everyone's sight.
The man wore a white Marine coat over a dark blue shirt. A green sleep mask hung on his forehead, and his curly black hair was a bit messy. He exuded a lazy aura from head to toe.
Marine Admiral, Aokiji Kuzan.
"Arara, the weather in the North Blue really makes it hard to get motivated."
Kuzan scratched his head and exhaled a puff of white frost. His gaze swept over the soldiers standing ready on the deck, finally landing on the grim-faced Smoker.
"Yo, Smoker, long time no see."