Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 212 Melvieu's Elite Ghoul Squad: Blaze!

A few days later, Bann's fleet also arrived in Melvure.

Zoro and the others were also visiting this place for the first time, and everything was new and exciting to them. As soon as they arrived on the island, the group disbanded and each of them started their own 'exploration' mode.

After navigating through the chaotic construction site, Bane arrived at the research area, where he encountered Binz, who was waiting for him.

"General Bane," Binz greeted him very respectfully.

"Binz, it's been a long time. How have you been, Professor Zephyr?" Bane asked with a smile, patting Binz on the shoulder.

"The teacher is very good," Binz replied with a smile.

Bane nodded and then asked, "Has Kuzan arrived yet?"

"I arrived four days earlier than you and am currently visiting Dr. Genus's elite troops for training with my teacher. Shall I take you there?" Binz replied while asking.

"An elite unit? I'm very interested too. Let's go take a look." Bane said with great interest.

Along the way, Bane and Binz talked constantly, and Bane learned about some of the current developments in Melville.

Professor Zephyr's abilities are indeed outstanding; he has arranged everything in Melville perfectly. Dr. Genus is also quite capable, having already accomplished many of the envisioned plans.

When Bane saw Zefa, he was standing with Kuzan in front of a large screen, which was showing a live broadcast of elite troops' combat training.

"Bane?" Zephyr heard the noise behind him, turned around, and said with a joyful smile, "You're back?"

"Teacher," Bane greeted him cheerfully, then looked at Kuzan and said, "Since you decided to come and see, why didn't you wait for me?"

Kuzan, clearly already part of the group, couldn't help but tease, "Isn't it true that we can only see the truth of this place by conducting a surprise inspection while you're away?"

"Hahaha, that makes sense." Bane laughed and then asked, "So, how does it feel here?"

"Very good, excellent, very energetic, and very promising," Kuzan praised without hesitation.

Just as Bane was about to say something, Zephyr spoke up: "It's starting."

As a result, everyone's attention was drawn to the live stream screen.

Inside was the ruins of a destroyed town. Binz, standing nearby, explained, "This was the area originally planned for demolition, but Dr. Genus halted the project halfway through and chose this place as a training ground."

Soon, Bane and the others saw a group of strangely dressed naval soldiers appear on the screen.

What makes them strange is that their style is completely different from that of ordinary naval soldiers. If it weren't for the naval insignia printed on their tactical vests, Bane would have thought they were playing live-action CS!

They all looked like the three silly brothers from CrossFire.

Their tactical helmets completely obscured their faces, each carrying a submachine gun, a string of grenades hanging from their waists, and daggers and pistols strapped to their legs—in short, they gave off a very elite vibe.

This live broadcast divided elite troops into two sides for a live-fire exercise.

Soon, the two sides began to engage in urban warfare, with paintballs used in training flying everywhere. Then the environment began to change, with large amounts of smoke filling the battlefield. However, due to their tactical helmets, it did not seem to affect their vision much. The two sides continued to exchange fire, with neither gaining the upper hand.

"This individual firepower configuration, coupled with their tactical skills, is indeed a great improvement. I don't even dare to imagine how the elite soldiers of the main navy would be defeated in front of them," Kuzan remarked.

He had heard from Zephyr that these elite members of Melvure's unit were all selected from ordinary naval soldiers below the rank of lieutenant, but their current performance was completely different from what Kuzan had in mind when he thought of naval soldiers.

In particular, the physical fitness of these people is on a completely different level.

Could an elite naval soldier, in the general sense, really jump from a standing position and leap directly onto the ruins three stories high? Impossible!

Only officers at least at the lieutenant level, possessing considerable strength, could accomplish this!

But these people are all capable of doing it, and they are extremely mobile!

As soon as Kuzan finished speaking, seemingly because they had run out of ammunition, the elite troops engaged in combat simultaneously changed their fighting style. Their originally highly organized and coordinated combat suddenly turned into a reckless charge.

These men threw down their submachine guns, pushed off with their feet, and charged toward the enemy. In the process, their bodies underwent a 'mutation'.

"An ability user!?" Kuzan asked in surprise.

"No, this is called 'Kagune.' It's not a Devil Fruit ability, but a biochemical agent developed by Dr. Genus. It can greatly improve the physical fitness of ordinary people and build a completely new organ in their bodies, just like they do," Zephyr explained.

"I see." Kuzan said with a somewhat shocked expression, "It's kind of like the artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruit users of the Beasts Pirates that were rumored before, right?"

"They are somewhat similar," Zephyr nodded.

"What about side effects? Does this kind of enhancement have no side effects?" Kuzan couldn't help but ask again.

"The side effect is that their appetite becomes extremely large, and they have a strong preference for meat, with an extreme aversion to vegetarianism." Zephyr rubbed his temples, feigning helplessness, and said, "So the logistical pressure will become very high."

Kuzan paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Teacher, when you're pretending to be helpless, could you please not have the corners of your mouth turned up?"

Compared to the increase in performance, this side effect is practically negligible, right?

Soon, a fierce live-fire exercise came to a close.

A short while later, Dr. Genus arrived. Upon seeing Bane, he greeted him first, saying, "You're back?"

"Hmm, you've done a good job lately," Bane praised.

After a brief exchange, Dr. Genus looked at everyone and said, "How is it? Is this configuration sufficient for an elite force?"

"That's pretty impressive. How many Berries would this whole thing cost?" Zephyr asked, confirming the question.

"From equipment to potions, it'll cost three million Berries in total," Dr. Genus quoted.

"Three million." Zefa pondered for a moment, and compared to the combat power just now, it didn't seem unacceptable.

After discussing it, the group decided to use these as models to begin building an elite force.

"Our initial estimate is around 10,000 people," Bane said after a moment's thought.

"Ten thousand people?" Zephyr looked at Binz.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Binz instantly understood his teacher's look and reported, "Including the troops that General Bann brought back this time, the entire Melvure currently has a basic force of 36,724 men."

"So, you're going to make less than a third of the troops elite? That's not bad," Zephyr said after thinking for a moment.

First, "evolve" the most elite soldiers. This will put pressure on the others, and seeing their former colleagues become such elites will give them enough motivation to build cohesion and spirit.

"Aside from the first batch of elites selected from the best, ordinary soldiers who want to be promoted to this level will need to have enough merit to prove themselves. This way, they will feel that their achievements are hard-won," Kuzan suggested.

Although Bane is not short of money, he can't just keep giving it away for free. He has to fully mobilize the initiative of these people!

"If we calculate it this way, three million Berries per person, and a force of ten thousand men would be..." Zeff was doing the calculations when Dr. Genus immediately said, "Three hundred billion Berries."

"Only 30 billion?" Zephyr exclaimed in surprise. "Not even a tenth as expensive as that battleship?"

"But none of these calculations have taken into account the value of human beings. These elite naval personnel are the most expensive assets in this plan. The medicines are secondary. The firearms and equipment are already on the production line. Once mass-produced, they will be very cheap," Dr. Genos said.

People can become instantly stronger by injecting drugs, but tactical skills and other related qualities don't appear out of thin air. To create an individual elite, you only need to inject drugs, but to achieve the overall elite status of the army, you need rigorous training and development, and these costs are not included.

The Navy's daily operating expenses and maintenance costs have already been covered.

"Well, we can't just keep calling it an 'elite force' all the time. We need to give this newly formed force a special title," Kuzan suggested.

"I suggest we name it Asura!" Dr. Genus immediately raised his hand and said.

Although he appears to be a serious and proper scientific researcher on the surface, Bane actually knows that he has a strong chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) spirit, which can be felt from the various bizarre names he has in his family of evolution.

Things like Asura rhinoceros beetles, beast kings, and sickle mantises.

"Wouldn't it be too loud?" Zefa said tactfully.

"A strike force?" Kuzan hesitated for a moment before asking.

Dr. Genus vehemently objected, "Isn't it too mediocre? Assault troops—you can't hear anything special about it, can you?"

Bane, completely uninterested in their discussion, turned to Binz and asked, "Isn't Nicole Robin already here? Where is she?"

"They seem to be very busy in the archives these past few days, apparently helping the Doctor decipher some strange script," Binz said.

"Let's go take a look," Bane said immediately.

Without caring what kind of name these people would come up with, Bane had already slipped away.

About ten minutes later, Dr. Genus successfully defeated Kuzan, the "newcomer," and Zeff, the "old fogey," with his technological dominance.

"Bane, what do you think? The name 'Flame Force' is pretty good, isn't it? It's not too flashy, and it doesn't seem... Hmm? What about Bane?" Dr. Genus looked around in bewilderment.

A junior researcher behind him said somewhat awkwardly, "General Bane left more than ten minutes ago."

"Damn it!" Dr. Genus cursed under his breath, feeling somewhat embarrassed and annoyed that no one shared in his joy of victory.

(End of this chapter)