Golden Lion Shiki eyed the massive baboon mimicking his every move, a grin spreading across his face. Let's see how much of my power this beast can copy!
The baboon leader swung its twin swords, unleashing a barrage of golden slashing waves straight at Shiki. It was his own Thousand-Cut Valley technique, mirrored perfectly.
"Not bad! I gotta admit, you've got some talent to pull off my move like that!"
Shiki met the baboon head-on, countering with an even fiercer Thousand-Cut Valley. His golden sword aura obliterated the incoming attack, proving the original was still king.
"Gurarara! Brook, these human mimics are something else! They're tougher than the beasts on Merveille—real potential for training up a solid crew!"
Whitebeard Newgate was impressed. The baboons' knack for imitation was unreal—almost like they could churn out mid-to-high-tier fighters in bulk, assuming they'd follow the Hell Pirates' orders.
"You think I came here just for kicks?" Brook chuckled, his skeletal grin gleaming. "These human mimics are my target. If we can tame their leader, we've got a good shot at winning the whole pack!"
Brook watched Shiki duel the baboon leader. The beast's mimicry was spot-on, but raw power told a different story. No matter how well it copied, it couldn't match the original's strength. Against a weaker or evenly matched foe, the mimics might win, but against a titan like Shiki? Defeat was inevitable.
Sure enough, Shiki's blades, infused with Ryuo Haki, shattered the baboon's ordinary swords. The fight was a one-sided thrashing.
Seeing their leader fall, the baboons erupted in panicked roars, unable to believe their mighty chief had been bested.
"Jahaha! So, how 'bout it? Wanna join us and see what real strength looks like?"
Shiki, ever the showman, saw potential in these mimics. They were warriors worth recruiting—perfect for bolstering his airship fleet's mid-tier ranks.
"Roar! Roar-roar-roooar!"
The baboon leader flailed and gestured wildly, unable to speak human language. Its frantic motions left Shiki scratching his head, clearly lost.
"Parrot, go translate!"
Brook, seeing the communication breakdown, sent the Hell Pirates' chief translator to sort things out.
With Parrot's help, the baboon leader made its demand clear: if Shiki wanted their loyalty, he'd have to bring the entire baboon forest along. Only then would the pack follow.
And so, the baboon forest was relocated to a corner of Merveille. Shiki even gifted the leader two swords, prepping the mimics for his airship fleet.
Brook ordered his crew to scour Kuraigana Island for anything worth looting, but the ruined kingdom yielded little of value.
...
The crew didn't rest long. Merveille set sail immediately, having sneaked into the Grand Line. The New World's defenses were stretched thin, ripe for pirate invasions.
Luckily, the World Economic News, under Brook's control, wouldn't spill the Hell Pirates' location. The Peace Dove News rarely reached the New World, so their position stayed under wraps a bit longer. Plus, with the Wind-Wind Fruit boosting their speed, they were a tough target to track.
Next stop: Boin Archipelago. Final destination: Omatsuri Island. If they got spotted early, they'd have to hightail it back to the New World to guard their turf and wait for another chance.
For now, Vegapunk had plenty to work with: ES drugs, IQ evolution agents, lunar lightning storage devices, artificial Devil Fruits, cyborg tech, and even the ancient weapon Pluton. One scientist, even a genius like Vegapunk, couldn't handle it all. Despite Dr. Kutu from Ohara's library introducing a slew of scholars to assist, they still lacked top-tier scientists to match Vegapunk's pace.
Brook had no solution. Finding talent like that wasn't easy, so Vegapunk would just have to take it slow.
...
Boin Archipelago, known as the Forest of Gluttony, was no ordinary place. It was a cluster of massive carnivorous plants, each one as big as an island.
These plants grew food-like flora to lure animals and Sea Kings, only to snap shut their island-sized leaves every so often, funneling their prey into a central maw for digestion.
As Merveille approached the archipelago, the crew spotted three such "islands": one massive and two smaller ones, forming the Boin Archipelago.
"Brook, my Float-Float Fruit can't lift living things!" Shiki called out. "I can only float myself and inorganic stuff!"
"No worries," Brook replied. "We're just here to grab some of those killer plants and food plants."
Brook was fascinated by the food plants—flora that sprouted actual food! He'd never heard of or seen anything like it. They had to cultivate some.
The "islands" were too massive to move without Shiki's fruit, so relocating them was off the table.
"Captain Brook, what if the Archipelago have seeds or saplings?" Shakky suggested, eyeing the nearby plants. "Plants reproduce, right? There could be smaller ones under the sea."
"Brilliant! If you're right, you're getting a big reward!"
Brook's eye sockets lit up. Why hadn't he thought of that? He sent Fishman Tom and Tiger to search the ocean floor around the Archipelago for saplings or seeds.
Sure enough, they found four juvenile growing underwater. With their strength, Tom and Tiger managed to uproot the two smallest ones. The other two, though still below the surface, were over a hundred meters tall—far too big to move.
Two saplings were better than none. They could plant them near Elan Island, turning them into new "Hell Islands." The only question was how long they'd take to mature.
After looting a haul of unique plants, Merveille slipped away, racing toward the fabled Island of Life and Death: Omatsuri Island.
What kind of mysterious plant grew there? One that could spawn leaf-people with memories and even their original strength—more mythical than any Mythical Zoan!
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+300 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg