"Huh?"
Hogback, trailing behind Luffy and Moria, paused in confusion before quickly responding, "Luffy-sama, the Tailed Beast Project is not going well at the moment.
The cellular vitality of the last batch of corpses was too weak, making the body fusion process extremely difficult.
So far, we've only managed to piece together less than 300 meters, which falls far short of your goal of a thousand meters."
Hogback lowered his head and trembled slightly, as if afraid Luffy might scold him.
But Luffy wasn't nearly as petty as Hogback imagined.
In truth, he was already amazed by Hogback's skill.
He had never heard of the possibility of fusing cells from entirely different genetic species and still having them sustain each other with active nutrient exchange.
It made him feel like his three years of high school biology were a total waste.
Then again, this was the anime world. Not only would Newton be turning in his grave, but most scientists wouldn't dare touch their own coffins anymore.
Ever since witnessing Hogback's terrifying talent, Luffy had come up with a rather interesting idea:
The Tailed Beast Project, the very thing he had just brought up aloud.
Seeing how nervous Hogback looked, Luffy waved his hand casually. "If it's that difficult, shelve it for now. The main priority is to prepare a good stockpile of standard Sea King corpses. I'm going to need a lot of them soon."
No matter how grand a plan, leveling up came first.
The Tailed Beast Project was more of a fun side venture, it could wait.
Besides, Sea King shadows strong enough to control those giant bodies were rare and hard to come by.
"Yes, my lord."
At that moment, neither Moria nor Hogback had any idea that when Luffy said "a lot of consumption," he meant literal destruction.
"If possible, maybe try using Sea King parts to reinforce the outer shell of the fusion bodies. That should speed things up."
"I'll push the research forward, my lord."
"Mhm. Start with Shukaku and see how it performs."
The group chatted as they made their way back to the castle to prepare for the next phase of their plans.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
Half a month later.
Per Luffy's request, a grand new castle with subtle architectural influences had been completed, more majestic than the one before.
Outside the castle was a spacious open area reserved as a training ground.
Robin stood in the center of the field, eyes closed.
Suddenly, a stone whistled through the air toward her.
Her ears twitched slightly. With a graceful sidestep, she dodged the incoming attack with ease.
The stone hit the ground, leaving behind a small crater.
Another ripple shimmered in the air, and another stone appeared from thin air.
It was like a signal, one stone after another came flying from the empty space, bombarding Robin like a hail of cannon fire.
Robin's lithe form twisted and danced like wind through petals, dodging each incoming strike with an elegance that bordered on the surreal, untouched amidst a storm.
Elsewhere on the training ground,
Brook, his skeletal hands gripping a pitch-black longsword, defended against a flurry of ghostly attacks from Perona.
The sword aura formed a spiked defensive dome around him, intercepting incoming strikes from every direction.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, a deafening explosion erupted from the far end of the field, shaking the very ground beneath them.
"Shadow Master!"
A dark silhouette shot into the sky, snatching a Sea King shadow attempting to return to its original owner.
Moria clenched his jaw as he watched Luffy descend from the air.
He couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Luffy-san, that was the fifth corpse today," he said, his voice thick with grief. "Yesterday, Hogback said that was the last usable one."
His tone was filled with regret and pain, but he couldn't defy Luffy. All he could do was watch, again and again, as Luffy destroyed the zombies he'd worked so hard to create, shedding silent tears in his heart.
"Huh? We're out of corpses?" Luffy said, looking disappointed, completely oblivious to Moria's feelings.
Moria, drenched in cold sweat, quickly confirmed, "Yes, just one left. And that one's already reserved as a vessel for this shadow."
"Alright then..." Luffy cast a reluctant glance at the massive dark shadow in Moria's hands. "Tag that shadow for later. I'll want to reuse it."
"Understood." Moria let out a breath of relief.
He was terrified Luffy might get carried away and destroy all the bodies, rendering the shadows useless. After too much time, the shadows would return to their original owners.
Luffy, still catching his breath, glanced at his experience bar and sighed.
[EXP: 65864 / 70000]
Just one more zombie and he could level up.
His eyes drifted once again toward Moria's black shadow, filled with regret.
He had over 100,000 gold coins now, but still not enough to do anything substantial.
At least he'd finally gained some mastery over the X-Gloves Ver. V.R, allowing him to freely wield the "Storm Flame" in battle.
By his estimate, once he had about a million coins, he'd be able to fully control the flame's release.
Which would be perfect, time for another evolution.
But remembering how violent that last evolution was, Luffy figured he'd better think twice.
The Sea King shadows he'd captured so far were weak, comparable only to pirates with bounties in the tens of millions.
Only that last one was slightly stronger, it alone had yielded over ten thousand gold.
"Sigh..." Luffy let out another helpless sigh.
Guess he'd have to wait until they reached the Calm Belt.
Once he could wipe out a few islands and stockpile corpses...
Then the era of endless zombies would truly begin!
Just the thought made Luffy want to laugh out loud.
Moria was such a great guy!
Meanwhile, Moria, who had just been dubbed a "good guy" in Luffy's mind, was staring at the charred remains of his carefully cultivated corpses, on the verge of tears.
These were the fruits of years of effort, and now they were all burned to ash.
He just wanted to find a quiet place to cry.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
"Robin! Brook! Take a break!"
Luffy, feeling a bit bored after returning to the castle alone, wandered past the training grounds and shamelessly dragged others down into his lazy mood.
"Whew, "
At his voice, all four in the training field stopped instantly.
Robin smiled and jogged over first. "You're back early today, Luffy~"
"Ugh, we're out of corpses. Gotta wait until the next island to restock. So annoying~" Luffy pouted and grumbled.
"I see." Robin nodded softly, then silently added in her mind:
"We'll just wipe out everything on the next island. Then Luffy won't be upset."
Under Luffy's overwhelming influence, Robin had fallen deeper and deeper, fully transformed into a cold-blooded queen who viewed the world only through Luffy's eyes.
What happened to the world didn't matter.
As long as Luffy was happy, that was all that mattered.
That, perhaps, was the truest reflection of Robin's heart now.
==========
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