On the Roger Pirates’ ship, sailing the waters from Long Ring Long Land towards Water 7, the atmosphere was heavy with suppression.
The Roger Pirates were never large in number, only around forty members in total, which was incomparable in terms of manpower to the Whitebeard Pirates and Golden Lion Pirates, both said to be on par with Roger.
However, they followed an elite path, quite similar to the future Straw Hat Pirates.
Yet, in the battle at Long Ring Long Land the day before yesterday, the monsters they encountered, while mere trifles to Roger, were incredibly difficult to kill.
A stab to the heart? A pierced throat? Useless!
Roger discovered that these monsters felt no pain. Regardless of the attack, as long as it wasn’t immediately fatal, they would continue their frenzied assault as if nothing had happened.
Moreover, they possessed the ability to regenerate wounds by consuming human blood. While Roger and Rayleigh were more than capable of handling them, not every member of the Roger Pirates was on their level!
Because he was entangled with several infected creatures, Roger couldn’t rescue his crewmates in time, resulting in five of them dying at the hands of the infected.
Furthermore, with the subsequent ambush by Garp, Sakazuki, Kuzan, and other elite Marine forces, the Roger Pirates, still recovering from their fight with the infected, were pushed to the brink of annihilation, losing a third of their total strength!
This was yet another instance where Garp cornered Roger.
Roger, whose composure was already shaken from failing to save his subordinates, was steadily pushed back by Garp’s relentless assault, almost meeting his end. It was only through the desperate sacrifice of two subordinates, who provided cover, that the entire Roger Pirates crew managed to escape Long Ring Long Land.
"What were those monsters?!" Shanks winced, touching his injured shoulder, letting out a yelp as he hit a sore spot.
"Those were probably something new the Marines cooked up! Good thing they weren’t poisoned, or our losses would’ve been even worse," the ship’s doctor, Crocus, said as he changed Shanks’s bandage.
Buggy was fortunate; having already eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit, the predominantly blade-like claws of the infected were ineffective against him. Thus, his injuries were minor, and he was bouncing around within two days. He rushed over to Crocus and asked, "Crocus-san, how’s the Captain doing?"
"Physically, he’s fine. At least his external wounds; those monsters were nothing to Roger on that front. However, this was our crew’s most severe loss yet. Roger must be deeply blaming himself right now," Crocus sighed.
Rayleigh then walked over and said, "I just checked the ship’s condition. In the previous battle with Garp and his forces, our ship sustained extremely heavy damage. We’ll likely need to switch ships once we reach the next island."
"Don’t worry about that. Our next destination is Water 7, arguably one of the greatest trade cities in the first half of the Grand Line. Their shipbuilding technology is beyond question," the navigator chimed in.
"I’m still most worried about Roger’s state of mind," Rayleigh sighed.
Meanwhile, at the Marine Headquarters Scientific Research Institute, although the lack of Alucard’s Blacklight Virus samples forced Vegapunk to pursue other research, his innate scientific obsession kept him preoccupied with that power.
The battle at Long Ring Long Land against the Roger Pirates yielded unexpectedly excellent results. It was a shame they were just one step away from completely defeating the Roger Pirates.
However, even if the battle itself was a tactical failure, the experiment was a resounding success!
The insane combat mode, devoid of pain, and the formidable regenerative ability gained by simply drinking blood, made the research-obsessed Vegapunk desperate to know when Alucard could finally be captured.
However, Vegapunk currently held little authority; he was merely a "genius scientist." The only thing he could do was wait for the World Government to provide him with results.
"Dr. Vegapunk! A strange sea stone has been discovered in a certain sea area of the New World! Devil Fruit users instantly lose all their strength upon contact, as if they’ve touched seawater!"
Just then, an assistant’s words caught Vegapunk’s attention. He quickly walked over, seeing an image displayed on the experimental instrument’s screen.
It was a rock that looked ordinary yet distinctly peculiar. The crucial point was its color: it was black, intensely black.
Generally, rocks were a mix of multiple colors, and rarely were they a single, uniform hue .
As Vegapunk examined the images of these rocks, the assistant continued to explain, "Because it has the same effect as the sea, stripping Devil Fruit users of their powers, the discovery team has provisionally named it ’sea stone.’"
"Oh, it has such an effect?" Vegapunk’s expression sharpened, and his attention instantly shifted to this so-called "sea stone." "Order for this material to be mined and sent to me at once!"
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