Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

Thinking of this, Yann continued teasingly, "What? Is being an idiot contagious? One becomes two?"

Sanji and Reiju refuted Aon in unison.

"I will definitely find 'ALL BLUE' and become the best chef on the sea."

"That's right, I'll prove you wrong."

Unbeknownst to Sanji and Reiju, their fear of Arn had largely disappeared.

And as Sanji and Reiju's gazes inadvertently swept across the surrounding sky, they suddenly realized how vast and boundless the starry sky was outside the Germa 66 Kingdom.

'Is this... freedom? The freedom to freely discuss dreams and pursue them...'

For a moment, Sanji and Reiju's eyes shone brighter than ever before, and an unprecedented sense of anticipation for tomorrow welled up within them.

'Perhaps, there really will be a tomorrow...'

……

Time flew by amidst the banter and casual conversation between Aon, Reiju, and Sanji.

Just as the first rays of dawn began to fall upon the sea where the horizon met the horizon, the deserted island where the laboratory was located was already visible in the distance.

"Finally back home."

As they drew closer, Yann stopped his eloquent talk that had lasted for most of the night, and his eyes revealed an undisguised weariness and unease.

"Whoosh!"

A sound of air being cut rang out, and Yann landed in front of the laboratory's hidden entrance.

At this moment, Luo was already standing at the entrance with some medical personnel, waiting.

"Ah..."

Luo was about to speak when he noticed that Yann was wearing a mask, so he paused and then spoke directly instead.

"All preparations are complete, and the surgery can begin at any time."

"it is good."

Yan nodded, then released the Shikai of "Hyōrinmaru", revealing Reiju and Sanji behind him, and spoke.

"In that case, I'll leave the two of them to you."

"Yes, sir, don't worry."

Law nodded, his gaze then falling on Reiju and Sanji. The look in his eyes, which was no different from that of a mad scientist, instantly evoked fear in Reiju.

Immediately, Luo raised his hand and spoke to the medical staff behind him. "Stabilize them to the operating table and then take them to the medical room."

Upon hearing this, Reiju and Sanji couldn't help but take a step back in unison.

"Hyō... Lord Hyōrinmaru, didn't you say you only needed us to do a small favor and wouldn't treat us as research guinea pigs?"

Alan, who was already quite exhausted, replied, "Don't worry, this is just a small favor you need."

Immediately, Reiju and Sanji, who had misunderstood each other, turned pale, a sense of humiliation at being toyed with welled up in their hearts.

'Fine... I finally chose to trust someone, and you actually...'

As the surgery was about to begin, Aon, who was filled with anxiety and mixed feelings, did not notice Reiju and Sanji's condition and directly urged them to hurry up.

"Go, Reiju, lie on the operating table and don't move. Sanji too."

Suddenly, Reiju's body began to move as if out of control, a sight that piqued Law's curiosity.

Sanji tried to resist, but unfortunately, he didn't possess the same power as his brothers Reiju and Ichiji, and was quickly strapped to the operating table.

Before Sanji and Reiju could say anything, the prepared medical staff gave them both a sedative injection and then quickly rushed them to the operating room for various preliminary examinations and preparations.

As the others left, Yann removed his mask, revealing deep dark circles under his eyes and a tired face.

Despite the long journey, Arn's spiritual pressure might still be quite abundant, but the energy his body had expended was already reaching a point where he couldn't keep up.

After all, this trip took Yann from this deserted island all the way to the Grand Line, and then he circled back to the Calm Belt before finally finding Germa 66. Not to mention that after a difficult negotiation, he crossed most of the North Blue again without stopping to return to the deserted island.

On the way back, if it weren't for the fact that he could tease Reiju and Sanji along the way, Yan suspected he might have fallen asleep halfway through.

"Lord Yann, are you alright?" Luo asked with concern.

Yaen shook his head, then asked in a serious tone, "Luo, tell me honestly, what is the approximate success rate?"

Luo answered in a resolute tone.

"Lord Yone, just as you rescued me from darkness and despair back then, I will definitely rescue Sora and Hikari from their illnesses."

"Absolutely certain! Of course, it's 100%!" (To be continued)

[Chapter 407: A Truly Near-Perfect Modified Body]

Then, Luo nodded to Ya'en, and with his still somewhat thin body, he strode into the operating room with considerable strength.

The various examinations of Reiju and Sanji are now being carried out in an orderly manner.

The sedative, strong enough to knock out an ordinary Sea King, had put Sanji into a deep sleep. On the other hand, Reiju showed a strong resistance to the drug and was able to keep her eyes open, watching as she was connected to various medical devices.

That feeling... was utterly despairing!

"Bastard... bastard..."

The next moment, a blinding surgical light filled Reiju's entire field of vision.

"Hmm? You can still maintain consciousness? As expected of a human modified by 'bloodline factors'." A calm voice entered Reiju's ears.

As Reiju struggled to move her gaze, she saw the boy called "Luo" standing beside her.

Immediately afterwards, Reiju saw Law take a large stack of reports from his assistant and start flipping through them one by one.

"A body structure so different from that of ordinary humans, in a sense it is indeed close to perfection, uh? It also has a special body structure for releasing and digesting poison gas?"

"It's really superfluous. This kind of redundant body structure is just a burden. Every structure of a living organism should be designed to perfectly adapt to the environment. Given the current living environment of humans, under normal circumstances, this kind of body structure is not needed at all."

"and many more……"

The next moment, to Reiju's somewhat terrified gaze, some strange pink substance suddenly appeared on Law's back and connected to her body.

'What...what is this?!'

Luo frowned slightly and murmured something.

"It feels like the 'bloodline factors' that form this body structure didn't originate from one person, but rather are a fusion of the ideas of several people, creating a disharmonious effect..."

"The skill levels are obviously uneven, but fortunately the main body structures are close to perfect and will not have an adverse effect on the subsequent surgery."

"but……"

Luo looked at Reiju as if she were looking at a work that was almost perfect but had been embellished with a few unnecessary strokes, and asked.

"Reiju, right? Do you need me to cut off all the extra stuff for you in a bit? Consider it payment for your cooperation."

Reiju spoke slowly and deliberately. "Don't... touch... me..."

Luo said with a hint of regret.

"You don't want to? What a pity. Without this extra organ to absorb nutrients for your body's growth, your body would be more perfect, and your growth potential would be higher."

Immediately, Law put down the stack of reports in his hand and asked his assistant, "Where is that boy named 'Sanji'? Where is his report?"

Upon hearing this, Reiju's pupils constricted slightly. She gritted her teeth and said with difficulty, "Monster... don't touch... Yama... Hei..."

Luo stared at Reiju's expression for a few moments, then asked, "You two seem to be siblings, right? You seem to have a good relationship."

Reiju, overwhelmed by her intense emotions, was rapidly adapting to the tranquilizer, and her speech gradually became fluent. "You...you bastard...don't touch Sanji! You can do whatever you want to me...don't touch Sanji!"

Seeing Reiju's desperate attempt to protect Sanji, Law inexplicably thought of his own silly little sister. A rare warm smile appeared on his usually calm expression as he spoke.

"You seem to have misunderstood something, but this is truly a touching sentiment..."

After a pause, Luo picked up a scalpel from the side and began to speak.

"However, I've taken note of what you just said, so I won't stand on ceremony."

At that moment, in Reiju's eyes, Law's unnatural, warm smile, under the light reflected from the scalpel, appeared to be a devil's grin.

The next moment, Reiju felt something suddenly gushing out from the pink substance connected to her body.

"Um?!"

After a muffled groan, Reiju felt her mind go blank, her eyes quickly went blank, and then her body went completely limp on the operating table, unable to move. Her consciousness slowly faded into darkness, and a calm voice faintly entered her brain at the very end.

"Get a good night's sleep. When you wake up, it will all be over..."

After that, Law ignored Reiju and began browsing through Sanji's various reports and data.

"Ok?"

Law's eyes darted quickly across Sanji's report, but his brows gradually furrowed.

Sanji's stats... are too low. Apart from his healing ability and stamina, which surpass those of his peers, his other stats are almost no different from those of an ordinary human.

"Is this guy really modified by 'bloodline factors'?"

Luo subconsciously had this question, but out of trust in Yann, he quickly dismissed it.

Immediately, Law hurriedly walked to Sanji, who was lying on the other side, and the pink substance behind him quickly connected to him.

A moment later, Luo's expression suddenly changed from surprise to delight, and he said excitedly.

"This guy... is the truly near-perfect 'bloodline factor' modified body. All the special abilities originating from the 'bloodline factor' are hidden in his body in a latent state..."

"It's not like Reiju, who was born with all her powers awakened so violently, which put a huge burden on her body. Coupled with the burden of those extra organs that can be considered a hindrance, her potential has greatly decreased, almost to the point of being locked up."

"As for Sanji, once his body grows to the point where he can normally withstand those latent 'bloodline factors,' then as the abilities of the 'bloodline factors' manifest, he will become a truly near-perfect human being."

"That's a really good idea. Instead of forcibly evolving the modified creature, it increases the creature's potential, allowing it to undergo explosive self-evolution while adapting to the environment?"

As he finished speaking, Luo's eyes gradually brightened, as if he had finally found a truly feasible approach to the research project he had been pursuing.

If evolution is forcibly accelerated, far too many factors will cause the evolutionary process to become distorted.

"No, the most important thing right now is the surgery..."

Luo's eyes quickly regained their calm, and he murmured something.

"However, the problem is that if we use Sanji as a template to modify Ku's body, those hidden 'bloodline factors' simply cannot be copied to Ku."

"Forget it, this isn't something to worry about. With Sora's innate Conqueror's Haki, even if his body is a little weak, it won't be a big problem." (To be continued)