Chapter 1060: Showing Mercy

Chapter 1060: Chapter 1060: Showing Mercy

Inside the prison, dozens of fully armed guards arrived alongside two Wolf King Type-4 mechanical beasts. They systematically hauled away the multiple injured personnel, carrying them off to the medical bay.

At the same time, they administered a heavy dose of muscle relaxants to Copra and locked him back inside his cell. It wouldn’t be long before this guy would be dragged out again for further study by Dr. Dalt.

Originally, this fellow named Copra had been gambling in a casino when he lost fifty million Berries in a single sitting. Consumed by blind rage, he accused his opponent of colluding with the Palace Entertainment City’s croupier to cheat. A massive brawl ensued in which he slaughtered the croupier and over a dozen casino guards, only to be jointly subdued by several elite warriors with Doriki exceeding five hundred and thrown into the Chris Grand Prison to perform hard labor.

Later on, when Dr. Dalt required subjects for human experimentation, he handpicked 20 death row inmates, 30 external troublemakers, and various spies from the Chris Grand Prison, having them shipped directly to the Alvis Island laboratory.

Through numerous experiments, Dr. Dalt discovered that Copra possessed an abnormal regenerative capability that rivaled even those who had awakened Zoan-type Devil Fruit powers. Not only did he survive multiple experiments without suffering catastrophic gene-splicing explosions, but the repeated genetic enhancement trials actually sent his strength skyrocketing, which earned him a permanent cell in the specialized Seastone Prison.

Never did they expect that this guy would become the only inmate besides Otto to voluntarily enter a "Orc Transformation" state while retaining complete clarity of mind, an anomaly that instantly piqued the deep curiosity of both Dalt and Aeridar.

Originally, Dalt had believed that Otto was able to become an "Orc" entirely due to the infusion of Calamodus’s genes, assuming that with a sufficient supply of Calamodus DNA, an entire army of "Orc" could be manufactured.

However, after Aeridar brought Calamodus back, Dr. Dalt realized that Calamodus’s genes were far too potent for just anyone to assimilate. Otto had only succeeded due to a unique constitution paired with a freak alignment of coincidences, an unrepeatable, one-in-a-million accident. Consequently, Dalt had been forced to take a step back, pivoting his research toward developing gene-amplification drugs like the SS and XT formulas, which guaranteed a hundred percent human genetic enhancement rate.

Now that a brand-new "Orc" had emerged, Dr. Dalt was undoubtedly going to dive into a thorough round of research.

"Thinking you could bust out without even taking off your Seastone hand and foot shackles? You’re severely underestimating the security down here," Gin said coldly, casting a disdainful glance at Copra locked inside Cell 41.

Given the Chris Pirates’ resounding victory over the Big Mom Pirates, the defensive forces on Alvis Island had been fully recalled. Had they tried escaping during the previous window when defenses were thinned out, there might have been a sliver of hope; but now, it was outright impossible.

Of course, to Aeridar, this was nothing more than a minor interlude. He strolled over to the door of Luffy’s cell, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked down at the captain inside. "Straw Hat, do you regret coming to the Clifford Kingdom?"

"Golden Ring Aeridar! Give Robin back to me!" Luffy glared daggers at Aeridar, looking as though he wanted to lunge forward and tear a chunk out of him with his teeth.

"Still full of fire, I see!" Aeridar chuckled derisively. "Too bad you and your crew are already my prisoners. If I felt like it, I could execute one of your friends every single day right in front of you. Who would you want me to start with?

"This swordsman of the Three-Sword Style, Zoro? Or this long-nosed fellow, Usopp? How about that lovely Nami? Or maybe we can start with your ally, let’s execute Trafalgar Law first!"

Aeridar stretched out a hand, a calm smile resting on his face as he pointed sequentially at the neighboring cells.

"Don’t you dare lay a hand on my crew! If you want someone, come at me!" Luffy’s expression shifted drastically as he roared in fury.

"Is that so? Then I think I’ll..." Aeridar feigned amusement, pausing deliberately for dramatic effect before a cruel, menacing smirk spread across his face. "...I won’t start with you at all. I’ll start with your crewmates first, and let you watch with your own eyes as every single one of them dies right before you because of your foolish choices!"

"Bastard!"

Gritting his teeth, Luffy pressed his face flat against the iron-grated window, glaring fixedly at Aeridar as if he could squeeze through the tiny opening just to land a punch on that smug face.

Yet trapped inside this cell, with his bare feet planted on the Seastone-laced metal floor and his face pressed against the Seastone-infused metal door, his Gum-Gum Fruit powers were completely neutralized. Squeezing through that tiny window was an absolute impossibility.

Law suddenly piped up from the side, speaking in a low, steady voice, "Golden Ring, you’ve just become a Yonko. You shouldn’t have enough idle time to come all the way down here just to mock us!"

At those words, Aeridar chuckled, stepping over to Law’s cell. "You’re still as sharp as ever, Law. Care to join the Chris Pirates?"

"Hmph~ If you hand me Doflamingo’s head on a platter, I might actually consider it!" Law sneered deliberately.

"I can choose to stay out of your personal grudge with Doflamingo. If you have the capability to kill him yourself, I couldn’t care less," Aeridar replied casually, spreading his hands in indifference.

"As expected, you’ve got your eyes on the secrets of the Op-Op Fruit as well!" Law noted with a solemn tone.

"Think whatever you like. Anyway, take your time considering it!" Aeridar didn’t pressure Law further; with that single remark, he turned right back around and walked back to Luffy’s cell.

"Man, I really hate to let a troublesome bunch like you lot go, but what can I do? A promise is a promise, and I gave my word!" Aeridar shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he looked intently at Luffy.

"What do you mean?"

Luffy blinked, completely missing the implication behind Aeridar’s words.

Aeridar shrugged with a helpless air. "It means I’m not going to kill you guys. In fact, I’m going to let you walk out of here!"

"Let us go?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"There’s such a thing as getting off lucky? Why?!"

"..."

The members of the Straw Hat Pirates were utterly dumbfounded, pressing their faces frantically against the windows in a desperate bid to catch a glimpse of Aeridar.

"I invited Robin-san to join the Chris Pirates to translate the Poneglyphs. As a condition of our agreement, I promised to spare your lives if you came to rescue her," Aeridar said smoothly, giving a casual flick of his hand. "In truth, if you had actually managed to pull off rescuing Robin-san, I would have taken the loss on the chin. Too bad you couldn’t pull it off and wound up in my hands instead!"

"Robin!"

"Robin-san!"

Instantly, the Straw Hats looked utterly hollowed out, their spirits crushed. Luffy slumped weakly back against the cold stone wall, murmuring Robin’s name under his breath.

"So, starting right now, Robin-san officially severs ties with the Straw Hat Pirates and joins the Chris Pirates! Of course, Trafalgar Law is excluded from this arrangement," Aeridar announced cheerfully.

"Tch~"

Law gritted his teeth, curling his lip in utter disgust.

Paying no mind to the despair-stricken Straw Hat crew, Aeridar grinned and added, "In a couple of days, I’ll arrange for Robin-san to meet with you all, and she can take you on a tour to experience the prosperity of the Clifford Kingdom firsthand!

"That said, I’ll be fitting Straw Hat, Dr. Chopper, and Brook-san with low-purity Seastone anklets, just enough to suppress your powers.

"As for the non-ability users, I’ll make sure you get bracelets or anklets rigged with explosives. Try anything out of line, and those hands of yours are blowing right off!

"After that, you’re free to crawl as far away as you like. If you want someone to blame, blame yourselves for being too weak, too weak to even protect your own crewmates!"

With those final, merciless words, Aeridar’s tone hardened with lethal finality.