One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 253: Hebi (Snake), Sword God!

To celebrate Bonney's recovery, the bobbleheads decided to team up with the phantom beasts on the island to throw another banquet.

Collei and Baby 5 left with them.

After they left, Kuma turned his head to look at Hitsuji and Star Lord in front of him.

"Lords."

He did not say thank you—any superfluous words would seem hollow.

He only needed to express his determination through his actions.

So he just took a deep breath to steady his emotions, then said: "I have brought back Vegapunk's message."

His words indicated exactly the reason why he had left Neverland this time.

Yes.

Back then, to study 'Emeth', Vegapunk chose to stay on Egghead.

But just as mentioned before—it was naturally impossible for that genius scientist to not prepare a way out.

So he had long ago given Kuma a special contact method he had prepared in advance to communicate with The Zodiac.

And Kuma leaving Neverland this time was precisely to go to Egghead and make contact with Vegapunk after receiving his message.

"The situation on Egghead is very complicated now, and the defenses are extremely tight."

Kuma said in a deep voice.

As a legendary fruit obtained from God Valley, the effects of his Paw-Paw Fruit were extremely powerful.

By repelling the 'light' and 'sound' around his body, his infiltration ability was even more formidable than the top assassins'.

But even so, during his infiltration this time, he still encountered considerable obstacles.

"A 'Defense Tier' has been added between the Fabiriophase and Labophase of Egghead. It's full of guards and Sea Prism Stone gates everywhere—besides that... I also saw a large amount of surveillance equipment made from ancient technology."

"Right now they're still just in trial operation, so I was able to slip in. If they become fully operational, I'm afraid my ability won't be as effective."

Kuma was clearly somewhat worried.

But hearing this, Roy wasn't surprised.

This was to be expected—Vegapunk had long anticipated that his situation would be difficult.

"But..."

"With this level of security measures... Vegapunk's research must have made great progress?" Roy asked softly.

"Yes."

Hearing this question, Kuma naturally didn't hesitate: "I met Vegapunk. He said that thanks to you, his research is almost complete—after understanding the essence of the Lineage Factor, he has a lead on how to create that 'Infinite Energy', and will be able to perfect it soon."

"He has already decided to call it the 'Mother Flame'."

Speaking of this, Kuma was both gratified that his best friend Vegapunk's wish was coming true, but at the same time, somewhat worried.

And Roy naturally understood Kuma's concern.

Unlike the original story.

Because Kuma's fate was changed by him, the former had proactively torn up the agreement with Saturn.

So as the 'middleman' in this, Vegapunk, who couldn't escape involvement no matter what, would naturally be suspected and guarded against by Saturn—his research environment was far less lenient than in the original story.

And it seemed that due to Roy's intervention, the timeline for Vegapunk's development of the Mother Flame had also been moved up.

"Vegapunk feels it's time to leave?"

Therefore, Roy naturally guessed the reason for Vegapunk taking the risk to send a message this time.

"Mm."

Kuma nodded: "He said that in a month and a half, Saint Saturn will personally come to Egghead to check the progress of his research—by then, his research progress will definitely be impossible to hide."

"Even if he is unwilling to build it, Saturn will inevitably force him to manufacture the Mother Flame... that is something he refuses to accept."

This was inevitable.

Once the matter of the Mother Flame was discovered, Vegapunk would either be 'erased' by Saturn, or taken back to the 'Holy Land'.

"So he hopes that before then, the organization can help him escape Egghead... mm, ideally also giving him a little time to destroy his research data—right now he is no longer allowed to freely dispose of data; all research data must pass Saint Saturn's review and confirmation before it can be destroyed."

This was also the 'important news' Kuma had spoken of after returning to Neverland.

In fact, he had even considered taking advantage of the fact that Egghead's defense tier wasn't fully perfected yet to simply take Vegapunk away directly this time.

But the latter still refused—success was right before his eyes; he didn't want to fall short at the final hurdle.

"In a month and a half, Saturn will go to Egghead Island?"

Hearing his explanation, Roy pondered for a moment.

Beneath the mask, a distinct sharpness flashed in his eyes.

Then...

"I understand."

He nodded thoughtfully.

Subsequently, looking at Kuma who was still gazing at him eagerly, Roy calmly explained: "It just so happens that during that time, another Zodiac member in the organization will also be executing a mission—he will secure the opportunity for Vegapunk to evacuate."

"Another Zodiac member?"

Hearing this, Kuma was somewhat puzzled.

But clearly, after experiencing the matter with Bonney not long ago, he naturally wouldn't have any doubts about Star Lord.

"When the time comes, please let me be the one to pick up Vegapunk."

Kuma simply made this request.

"You can."

To this, Star Lord naturally had no objections.

As the conversation reached this point, Hitsuji finally turned his gaze towards Kuma: "Besides that... just like the Boss said earlier, I need a favor from you on my end."

Hearing this, Kuma finally remembered Star Lord's words from before.

He nodded without hesitation: "As long as I can do it."

"Don't make it sound like you're being asked to sacrifice yourself—we just want your blood."

Hitsuji said with a smile.

"Blood?"

Hearing this, Kuma was instead somewhat stunned.

"Yes—I need Buccaneer blood, and it must be fresh enough, so having your ability 'repel' it out is the best choice... Hey, what are you doing? You don't need to give that much..."

Half a moment later.

With a somewhat pale face, but completely satisfied, Kuma left with a smile.

And Hitsuji, remaining in place, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I guess this works—at least with this amount of blood, the Lineage Factor content is definitely sufficient."

He glanced at the direction Kuma had left, and then at the massive bucket of blood in front of him.

The next moment...

Stomp!

He raised his foot and stomped on the ground.

And exactly as this foot came down.

RUMBLE!

The entire Jade Greenhouse began to tremble violently.

Then he saw the scenery inside the Jade Greenhouse begin to shift abruptly.

The ground began to sink, and stairs continuously appeared, transporting Hitsuji and Star Lord downwards beneath the surface.

[Island-Island Fruit · Island Elevator]

Just a moment later.

The space in front of them suddenly opened up.

A massive laboratory appeared before them.

Inside the laboratory, highly precise instruments were continuously operating.

If Sanji were here right now, he would definitely be able to tell—these instruments were all created using Germa technology.

As for why these instruments appeared here?

It could only be said that Reiju truly lived up to being Judge's daughter—at least regarding the location of Germa's laboratories and the principles behind most of their research equipment, she was very clear.

And right now, in the center of these massive research instruments.

Inside two giant glass cylinders, two corpses were floating.

The one on the left looked like a skeleton wearing samurai clothing—that was the corpse of 'Shimotsuki Ryuma'.

The one on the right had a pair of wings on its back, white hair, and dark skin—that was the corpse of 'King'.

As Hitsuji and Star Lord stepped into the laboratory.

Those two corpses were slowly extracted from the glass cylinders by the instruments, landing on an operating table in front of the two.

"Then... let's begin."

Roy murmured softly.

Subsequently, at the bottom of his eyes.

The contents on the Fruit Encyclopedia began to change.

['Brain-Brain Fruit LV5' Equipped]

['Memo-Memo Fruit LV5' Equipped]

As these two fruits were equipped, Roy gently raised his hand.

A wisp of memory was directly placed into his mind.

And that wisp of memory was nothing else—it was exactly the memory Toratora had repelled out of Buckingham Stussy right before her death.

And after this segment of memory was placed into his mind.

Combined with the extraordinary learning ability of the Brain-Brain Fruit, Roy almost immediately mastered the technology that Buckingham had spent her whole life researching.

[Lineage Factor · Corpse Stitching Technology]

"Buckingham's corpse stitching technology can forcibly stitch together the corpses of different powerhouses, and can add the Lineage Factors of other powerhouses to obtain their corresponding abilities, then use 'Source Energy of Lineage Factor' to make the corpse 'come alive'."

"Whether it's the corpse or the Lineage Factor owner, their combat skills are mostly retained due to the body's 'instincts'."

At this moment, Roy naturally also understood the essence of Buckingham's technology.

In fact, whether it was Caesar, Judge, or Buckingham—the 'Artificial Devil Fruit Technology', 'Cyborg Technology', and 'Corpse Stitching Technology' they created were essentially all achieved by utilizing the 'Pillar of the World Tree Root' they had on hand.

But unlike Vegapunk, their research into the Source Energy of Lineage Factor didn't point directly to its essence.

So although they had achievements in their respective fields, they also had flaws.

For example, Buckingham's corpse stitching technology had a fatal flaw.

"The corpse that 'comes alive' after being stitched will experience extreme pain due to the sutures and stitching techniques, thereby generating a chaotic and completely uncontrollable 'soul'."

"So, if we want to ensure this flaw doesn't occur..."

As Star Lord's words fell, a new fruit was equipped by him.

[Paramecia · Stitch-Stitch Fruit LV5 — Can produce sutures from the hands to stitch anything together. Can perform 'Blood Vessel Stitching', 'Nerve Stitching', and even 'Soul Stitching'. After Awakening, the existence of the sutures can be hidden, being stitched will not cause pain, and the sutures will not naturally break.]

That's right.

Before leaving Dressrosa, Star Lord had taken The Zodiac members to another place.

That was Green Bit Island, located within Dressrosa's territory.

Beneath that island was the country of the dwarves, named the 'Tontatta Kingdom'.

And this fruit came from the dwarf 'Leo' within that country.

At this moment, sutures began to surge out of thin air from Roy's hands.

They surrounded the two corpses on the operating table, while simultaneously being stained with the 'Kuma' blood beside Roy.

Using the corpse of 'Shimotsuki Ryuma' as the core, and King's corpse as the supplementary material, the two were continuously stitched together according to Buckingham's corpse stitching technology.

Ultimately, the two merged into one.

A brand-new corpse appeared on the operating table.

He looked almost exactly like Shimotsuki Ryuma, but the difference was... he had grown the unique double wings of the Lunarian race on his back, and his hair was the white hair unique to the Lunarians.

At the same time, even though the body was already withered and skeletonized, his physique still displayed an indescribable robustness unique to the Buccaneer race.

[Corpse Stitching · Lunarian Race · Buccaneer Race · Shimotsuki Ryuma]

At this moment, Roy raised his hand again.

[Fresh-Fresh Fruit · Corpse Restoration]

As the power of the Fresh-Fresh Fruit surged out.

That 'Shimotsuki Ryuma' on the operating table, his originally withered corpse began to become vibrant at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Flesh and blood refilled, muscles knotted once again.

In just an instant, that withered corpse became lifelike, as if it had come back to life.

And that powerful physique resulting from the fusion of Lunarian and Buccaneer bloodlines made his body as robust as a work of art.

However, this was still not all.

VMMM!

Only to see at this moment, from Star Lord's hand...

Invisible energy surged out, continuously injecting into that vibrant corpse.

That was the Source Energy of Lineage Factor.

And as the Source Energy of Lineage Factor flooded into that corpse.

Roy saw that corpse begin to move.

His originally tightly closed eyes gradually opened, but only hollow bewilderment flashed within them.

Just like the corpses stitched by Buckingham—he had come alive.

But the difference was...

"The stitching of the Stitch-Stitch Fruit causes no pain, so this resurrected 'Shimotsuki Ryuma' will only possess the combat instincts he had when he was alive, but will not possess a violent 'soul' like Edward Weevil."

Roy looked at the incredible masterpiece he had created before him.

"Next, only the final step remains."

As he spoke in a low voice, he once again equipped another fruit.

The next moment...

VMMM!

A brand-new clone slowly walked out from his body.

That clone paced over and arrived in front of 'Shimotsuki Ryuma'.

Then...

Zzt!

Accompanied by a crisp sound—like a snake shedding its skin, he abruptly pulled his body open, and then enveloped 'Shimotsuki Ryuma'.

[Jacket-Jacket Fruit LV5 — Can transform into a jacket for people to wear. After being worn, can gain control of the body, and the body's attributes receive a comprehensive boost.]

A moment later.

Hoo...

He exhaled a breath and stood up.

"Very good."

He clenched his hand, feeling the incredible power coming from within the body, as well as those instincts.

"But it's still missing something."

So he raised his hand and gently lifted it.

VMMM!

The next moment, black-red lightning rolled up that pitch-black sword resting on the ground not far away, and it landed in his hand.

That was the treasured sword belonging to Shimotsuki Ryuma—the 'Black Blade' Shusui.

And when that sword fell into his hand.

Feeling the familiar sensation etched into the body's instincts, he nodded slightly: "This is right."

While he murmured, Hitsuji on the side casually summoned a Dream Bubble from the air.

He took an object out from the Dream Bubble and tossed it towards the newly born swordsman.

The swordsman casually raised his hand, catching the object with the back of the blade—just this effortless movement alone already revealed his swordsmanship.

It was a Sea Beast Mask.

The appearance of the Sea Beast Mask faintly showed the head of a snake opening its mouth to hiss.

But at the same time, that Sea Beast Mask seemed to be constantly shifting, faintly turning into a human face.

It was Shimotsuki Ryuma's face.

But seeing this, the swordsman didn't find it strange at all.

He just smiled and placed that mask on his face.

"I am the top executive of The Zodiac, Hebi (Snake)."

"At the same time, I am the true 'World's Strongest Swordsman' of this era—[Sword God]!"

☆☆☆

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