One minute later.

The ceiling of the temporary lab had been blown wide open, leaving behind a gaping hole as smoke billowed through the air.

Kaidou stood there, kanabō resting on his shoulder, his silhouette crackling with fury. Over a dozen Beasts Pirates members were huddled in a corner, trembling, not daring to breathe.

Queen lay flat on his back, limbs sprawled, his face swollen with bruises and lumps.

"...Keep the virus research going."

Kaidou glanced at Queen, who was groaning in pain with swirls in his eyes, and snapped.

"Really?!"

Queen shot up from the ground like a spring, his eyes gleaming.

Kaidou paused, then said slowly, "If you need a stronger test subject, just let me know."

He was about to continue when a voice suddenly cut in.

"Maybe I can help with that."

At the sound of the voice, Queen froze. His expression twisted in shock as he spun around and stared at Daren, who had somehow appeared without anyone noticing. Gritting his teeth, he shouted,

"You again!?"

Then his gaze shifted to the long-haired, long-faced, tattooed man behind Daren. His pupils shrank, and he yelped in disbelief,

"You again too!?"

Daren had long since become a regular on Onigashima.

As for Dragon, he had clashed with Kaidou more than once, always making a big scene.

Queen looked between the two and suddenly remembered something. He quickly turned to Kaidou, raising both hands and blurting,

"Kaidou-sama, this has nothing to do with me!"

"He came here on his own!"

Daren chuckled, lit a cigar, and said,

"He's right. This time, it really has nothing to do with him."

Hey, hey, hey—why did you have to say "this time"?!

Queen clenched his teeth, his round face flushed with rage.

But Kaidou didn't seem to hear it, nor did he fly into a rage at the sudden arrival of Daren and Dragon. Instead, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he examined the brutal injuries covering both of them.

After three seconds of silence, he suddenly asked,

"Did you two attack Mary Geoise?"

Daren smiled.

"Something like that."

With a wave of his hand, a three-meter-long metal box slowly descended from the air and landed on the ground.

"This is the test subject you've been looking for—or rather, a perfect one."

Queen glanced at Kaidou. Seeing that he wasn't immediately charging into a fight with Daren and Dragon, Queen muttered under his breath and stepped forward.

The lid of the metal box opened slowly, revealing a corpse with pale skin.

Even after being soaked in seawater and slightly bloated, the man's features were still strikingly handsome. One look, and it was clear—this was no ordinary person.

"A... corpse?"

Queen barely glanced at it before losing interest. He muttered discontentedly,

"It's already dead. What research value could there possibly be..."

"Even if there is, it'd probably be a waste of time."

But what he didn't notice was that Kaidou's pupils had contracted the moment he saw the body.

"What if I told you," Daren said with a faint smile, "that this man was a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit user... and had already awakened his fruit?"

Queen froze, then blurted out in disbelief,

"No way. Mythical Zoan types are already insanely rare, and they're way harder to develop than regular Zoan types... Even Kaidou-sama couldn't fully awaken his Uo Uo no Mi—uh, I mean, it's impossible!"

He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth.

...You idiot.

Kaidou's eye twitched uncontrollably.

He stared down at the corpse in the metal box, took a deep breath, and after two seconds of silence, suddenly let out a laugh.

"You've really pulled off something incredible, brat..."

"Saint Jaygarcia Michael, leader of the God's Knights. The man they called the 'Strongest Celestial Dragon.' And now he's lying here, dead... killed by you."

His laugh was dry, filled with a strange mix of bitterness and awe.

The look he gave Daren was layered with indescribable complexity.

"...The leader of the God's Knights!?"

As Kaidou's words landed, Queen screamed in shock, staring wide-eyed at the corpse with his jaw practically on the floor.

The God's Knights were the World Government's most revered enforcers, with authority to judge even the Celestial Dragons—shrouded in secrecy and feared across the world.

And their leader, said to be the "strongest" of the Celestial Dragons, was easily among the top-tier powers on the seas!

Even Kaidou-sama wouldn't necessarily hold the advantage against someone like that.

And yet this kind of legendary figure... was killed by that brat Daren—no, this monster!

Wait a second!

Queen suddenly snapped back to his senses.

Even if it was just a corpse... it was the corpse of the leader of the God's Knights!

"...Ahem, since you're being so sincere—and even delivered the test subject right to my door—it'd be rude of me to refuse."

The fat man in suspenders gave a couple of dry coughs, speaking with a straight face as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Kaidou turned his head away, pretending he hadn't seen this idiot.

He slung the kanabō over his shoulder, turned around, and strode out of the lab.

"Queen, take care of their injuries."

Just as he reached the exit, Kaidou paused, then glanced back at Daren. A blazing fighting spirit surged in his eyes, intense enough to almost ignite.

"Daren, once you've recovered... let's have another fight."

Daren narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Anytime."

Satisfied with the answer, Kaidou grinned and left the research facility with an easy air.

"...They actually didn't fight. That's... weird."

Queen muttered with a puzzled expression, clearly thrown off by how peacefully things had gone.

Especially since Kaidou wasn't even drunk right now.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the corpse of the God's Knights' leader. His expression grew manic with fascination.

Sure, corpses generally didn't offer much research value—but that depended on whose corpse it was!

If it were Kaidou-sama's, it'd be a goldmine for research!

And this was the body of the God's Knights' captain... Maybe it didn't have something as rare as an Indestructible Body, but it was still a priceless treasure!

Queen stroked his chin, practically drooling.

"Wait—hold on!"

He suddenly froze, as if he'd just sensed something, and whipped his head around to look at Daren.

"Your body... something's off!"

Queen's expression turned serious.

"What the hell did you do?!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.