"This?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Bullet's face. He glanced at the black shackles clamped around the wrists of the dark-haired Marine and frowned.
"Seastone shackles?"
"Exactly," Daren replied, lowering his gaze to the dark, ocean-like shackles. They radiated a chilling, vast presence, and a knowing smirk crept up on his lips.
"Seastone is basically the solid form of the sea—it emits the same kind of energy and has incredible hardness, making it perfect for neutralizing Devil Fruit users."
"When a Devil Fruit user comes into contact with Seastone, it doesn't just cut off their powers—it also severely weakens their physical strength and condition, pushing them into a weakened state."
"Queen might have mastered Observation Haki, but that only senses aura…"
"And thanks to the Seastone, our auras are being suppressed to the bare minimum. Naturally, Queen can't detect the boost in our physical strength."
At this point, Daren's expression turned oddly amused.
"If that fat guy found out that his 'torture' didn't wear us down, but instead quietly made us stronger..."
"...and the only reason he failed to notice it was because he slapped high-purity Seastone shackles on us..."
"He'd probably blow a fuse on the spot."
Bullet twitched at Daren's explanation. He opened his mouth, but in the end, couldn't find any words.
This... is even possible?
"...He really is a genius scientist."
After holding it in for a while, Bullet finally forced the words out.
Daren chuckled, rising to his feet. The heavy shackles clinked crisply as he moved.
He rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck, producing a sound like popping beans.
His movements were smooth and fluid, a far cry from the sluggish, drained state he'd been in when first shackled seven days ago.
"How well have you adapted to the Seastone?"
Bullet let out a savage grin.
"It still feels off—like I'm constantly drained—but it doesn't get in the way of normal movement anymore."
As he spoke, he stood up too, his eyes gleaming with fierce battle intent as he looked at Daren.
Despite losing an arm, he hadn't grown dispirited—instead, the aura he radiated had become even more wild and intense.
And after spending the past few days together in this cell, Bullet had come to a realization.
This so-called "scum" of a Marine actually matched his personality almost perfectly—his obsession with growing stronger, his iron will in the face of hopelessness, his terrifying pain tolerance, and that deep-seated madness buried in his bones.
Kaidou was right. Compared to the rule-abiding Marines, Daren was more like a pirate who lived without limits.
Most importantly, Daren was the only person Bullet had ever seen whose intensity in training and savagery in combat could rival—no, even surpass—his own.
Without realizing it, Bullet had started to accept Daren as a true equal.
Daren grinned, clearly satisfied.
"Good."
Seastone could suppress a Devil Fruit user's powers and restrict their movement.
But physical strength varied from person to person.
Depending on one's physique, the weakening effect of Seastone differed. Some people would collapse the moment they touched it, while others could move just fine even when shackled.
That's the point of Seastone "resistance training."
Both Daren and Bullet had long since trained their bodies to monstrous levels.
And after several days of "injection therapy," their physical resilience had only grown further.
Even under the pressure of high-purity Seastone, they were beginning to regain some combat capability.
It might only be a fraction of their full strength, but it was still far better than lying helpless like dead dogs, waiting to be slaughtered.
"So... what about Armament Haki?"
Bullet slowly raised his hand and suddenly shouted.
"Armament!"
A visible streak of pitch black instantly spread across his palm, but it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared—gone in less than a second.
He grunted and staggered slightly, his dry lips paling.
Daren shook his head at the sight.
"Seastone suppresses our stamina, and using any form of Haki consumes a lot of it."
"Damn it!"
Bullet gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath.
A flicker of thought crossed Daren's eyes.
His condition wasn't much better than Bullet's. Even though his physique had noticeably improved over the past few days, he was still far from being able to break through the Seastone shackles using only brute strength and Armament Haki.
Among all the Devil Fruit users on this sea, the only one who might be capable of that... was probably Kaidou.
Kaidou had been captured by the Marines many times, and thanks to his indestructible body, he'd been sentenced to death forty times.
Beheadings, axes, lightning, fire, poison, alcohol... none of it left so much as a scratch on him. During every execution attempt, the equipment would break down, shackles would shatter...
That's why Kaidou was known as an immortal monster.
Looking back now, it seemed more likely that Kaidou's "indestructible body" had been forged through cruel experiments after being captured by the World Government—perhaps in the hands of someone like Vegapunk.
That thought made Daren clench his fists.
He looked down at his scarred, bloodstained hands—thick with scabs—and a thought slipped into his mind.
How far am I from achieving a body like Kaidou's?
"Hey, stop spacing out. Let's begin."
Bullet's voice snapped him out of it, sounding eager and charged with energy.
"We've only got three days left until our final chance. Time's running out."
His battle-hardened eyes locked on the black-haired Marine before him, his pupils slowly tinged with crimson madness and violence.
Daren grinned, shaking off the clutter in his head.
"Let's go."
The instant the words left his mouth...
The two of them lunged like wild beasts, dragging their Seastone shackles as they clashed head-on!
...
Meanwhile, at the edge of the desolate island—the Beasts Pirates' base—along the coastline...
"Careful with that! Break any of my equipment and I'll butcher the lot of you!"
Queen leapt down from his beast-drawn chariot like a rolling ball, cigar clenched between his teeth, shouting orders.
A pitch-black pirate ship bearing the Jolly Roger of the Beasts Pirates was docked at a crude makeshift port. Pirates in animal skins and horned helmets were carefully unloading heavy crates from the deck.
"What's in this one? Meat? Good, send it to my place."
"And this? Slaves? Male or female? Males go to the factory as labor. Females... hmm, save a few for me."
"These are lab supplies, right? Get them to the lab. All of them!"
Queen barked out orders as he puffed on his cigar, arms folded, strutting around the unloading site.
In less than thirty minutes, everything had been offloaded from the ship.
Satisfied, Queen climbed back onto his chariot and sped off toward his lab, leaving a trail of dust across the brown earth.
The Beasts Pirates crew, tense and exhausted from their days at sea, finally let out a collective sigh of relief. They scattered back to their quarters to rest, leaving only a few low-ranking crew members behind to guard the ship.
But no one noticed...
At the stern of the pirate ship, the wooden wall of the cabin rippled softly, like waves on the surface of the sea.
From the liquid-like wall, a young man with slicked-back hair and a refined suit slowly emerged, his expression cold and unreadable.
"Infiltration... successful."
...
(70 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake