Drop Some power stones! If you like the chapter! It helps to keep me motivated to upload more!đź’Žđź’Žđź’ŽÂ
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Aaron received word that Wapol would be coming to the Donquixote Auction House to see a Devil Fruit, and his mood improved noticeably.
Still, he didn't leave right away. Instead, he continued to observe Pica and Lao G from a distance, using both Observation Haki and lip-reading, hoping to gather more intelligence.
Even if he couldn't get any information on the Munch Munch Fruit, intel on the Donquixote Pirates alone was valuable enough.
Such information could be traded with Doflamingo's enemies or used to set up obstacles for Doflamingo himself—perhaps even used to negotiate directly with him.
After all, Doflamingo was a Celestial Dragon—the very type Aaron despised the most.
If Doflamingo hadn't been dragged out of Mary Geoise by his father, he would have become just another worthless Celestial Dragon—perhaps even worse than the rest, and a greater threat to the world at large.
In Aaron's eyes, all Celestial Dragons were detestable.
Yet ironically, Aaron also hoped that Doflamingo would continue to live on.
As an abandoned Celestial Dragon, Doflamingo harbored immense hatred toward his own kind and even held one of the World Nobles' greatest secrets—one that gave him immense power to destabilize their rule.
It might sound absurd, but that was the reality: Aaron's greatest future ally might very well be this "fallen Celestial Dragon."
As long as it meant dragging the Celestial Dragons down from their divine pedestal, Aaron would cooperate with anyone.
"But cooperation requires equal strength," he muttered.
Through his Observation Haki, Aaron gazed at the Devil Fruit locked deep within the fortress—a fruit that resembled a man-eating flower's gaping maw—and his eyes gleamed with fiery desire.
Unfortunately, Pica had just been punched hard and scolded by Lao G earlier. Irritated and sulking, the two didn't speak a word to each other during dinner that evening.
After eating, they went about their usual duties, taking turns to guard the Devil Fruit.
Seeing this, Aaron lost interest in continuing his surveillance and quietly withdrew.
Both Pica and Lao G were utterly loyal to Doflamingo. They followed his orders to the letter, ensuring that at least one of them guarded the fruit around the clock.
Moreover, they never left the Donquixote Auction House, leaving Aaron with no opportunity to strike.
It was worth noting that their sleeping quarters and dining area were only seven or eight meters away from the room where the Devil Fruit was kept.
"We'll see if Wapol can stir things up in three days. These two guard that fruit too tightly—there's not even a sliver of opportunity. Without an unexpected distraction, stealing the Munch Munch Fruit right under their noses is almost impossible," Aaron sighed.
As usual, after observing Pica and Lao G during their mealtime, Aaron made his way to his own territory's underground laboratory.
He had never halted his research on the Frenzy Drug—not even for a day. In fact, once he established his base, he had increased his investment, hiring top-tier chemists at high salaries and pouring vast resources into the project.
With Shuma successfully stealing key materials from that mysterious underground pharmaceutical lab, the Frenzy Drug had finally been completed.
However, one of its key components was extraordinarily rare—a new type of synthetic compound never revealed to the public.
It was the core of the formula; without it, the Frenzy Drug would be nothing more than a regular stimulant, incapable of burning one's life force in exchange for temporary power.
Without question, this synthetic compound was the project's technical barrier.
Even if someone deciphered the Frenzy Drug's formula, they still couldn't reproduce it without this critical material.
Originally, Aaron's lab had been located in a basement somewhere in the slums. But after he took control of District B of the impoverished area, he established a new, larger lab beneath a newly built clinic adjacent to his base.
This clinic was ostensibly meant for treating the wounded.
In truth, it also provided affordable medical care and medicine to local residents, appearing outwardly as an ordinary medical facility.
Instead of entering through the front door, Aaron used a hidden passage guarded by his trusted subordinates. From there, he moved unhindered into the underground Frenzy Drug research facility.
Through continuous secret expansions, the lab had grown quite large—over a hundred square meters—equipped with various advanced machines used for pharmaceutical research.
The Drum Kingdom was known as a medical superpower, and many of its cutting-edge research instruments could be purchased from the black market—if one had enough Berries.
Inside, numerous people in white lab coats were busy working. Among them were members of the Frosthorn Gang tasked with security—men utterly loyal to Aaron and tight-lipped.
Their families lived comfortably in housing provided by Aaron and held respectable jobs arranged through his connections.
Ventilation systems ran constantly, and the occasional explosion from a testing chamber made the entire underground facility roar with noise.
"You're here, Lord Aaron,"
greeted a young man in a white lab coat as soon as Aaron entered, his face lighting up with excitement.
This was Nobes, a prodigy from the Drum Kingdom's most prestigious medical institution—the Royal Academy of Drum Kingdom—who had already earned his doctorate at a young age.
Nobes was a textbook example of a scholar and a research fanatic. Even during his university days, his mind overflowed with radical ideas—his greatest dream being to develop a drug that could rapidly enhance human strength.
In his youth, Nobes had been a patriotic idealist.
He foresaw the crisis looming over the Drum Kingdom and repeatedly published papers urging the government to strengthen the military and develop combat-enhancing drugs.
Unfortunately, the ruling elite treated his proposals like wastepaper, ignoring them completely.
The nobles of Drum Kingdom continued to wallow in luxury, oblivious—or indifferent—to the fact that their wealthy but militarily weak nation was teetering on the brink of danger.
"Live for pleasure today, for tomorrow we may die."
That was the prevailing philosophy of most of Drum's aristocracy in those chaotic times.
Nobes had grown disillusioned but, lacking power to change anything, had continued his research in secret.
He once worked for a state-run pharmaceutical factory, but due to his low rank, he was treated as little more than an errand boy—his brilliance wasted.
Eventually, Williams lured him away with high pay and the freedom to conduct independent research on new drugs.
During the development of the Frenzy Drug, Nobes played a critical role, leading Aaron to appoint him as head of the research laboratory.
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