When consuming the third Rumble Ball, the user will lose consciousness, and their ability will begin to spiral out of control, turning them into a "monster."
Chopper didn't know what this was—he only knew that this ability was terrifying. However, Bat-Man understood. This was clearly the power of a Zoan-type awakening, or rather, just a fraction of its power.
One example was those people in Impel Down, who had failed to awaken properly and ended up as Jailer Beasts. To Bat-Man, the pill Chopper ate was the path to his promotion.
If even someone as weak as Chopper could achieve this kind of awakening through external means, then what about those within the Beasts Pirates...
In addition to the abilities granted by Arceus and the artificial Devil Fruits, the Beasts Pirates also had many ordinary Zoan users. This drug was practically tailor-made for them—a stimulant designed for war.
If this is truly useful...
Bat-Man had already begun fantasizing about standing on the awards stage, receiving praise from Kaido.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Bat-Man patted his own face to refocus.
"Boss Mandrell was right. As long as you work hard, luck will come your way sooner or later."
Although this thing seemed to have considerable side effects, they had Queen and Nightin. When it came to pharmaceutical research, these two were genuinely skilled. Bat-Man believed that as long as he delivered this drug back to them, everything else would no longer be a problem.
But before that, he had to take care of this rampaging beast first.
For Bat-Man, this wasn't too difficult. The monster form Chopper took after consuming three Rumble Balls was in an uncontrollable state. A clumsy beast like this stood no chance of catching a flying Ability User.
After putting in some effort, Bat-Man successfully took down the rampaging reindeer. However, following this, a new question came to his mind.
This drug was compatible with some of the Beasts Pirates' Ability Users. If they had previously encountered Ulti, there was a chance they had already used this power.
Having this drug could explain why Luffy wasn't missing an arm or a leg, but it didn't explain why Chopper was still with them.
With Ulti's personality, she should have taken him away with her.
At that moment, Hercules flew back out from the forest, and even Serperior's towering figure appeared. It had been drawn here by Chopper's enlarged form, and Serperior was also the key reason for Bat-Man's confidence.
It was the strongest guardian here. Seeing the Heracross next to Luffy, holding its head in exasperation, Bat-Man felt he had realized something—this group might have already caught the attention of an even higher-ranking officer. He just wasn't aware of it yet.
Since the last ranking battle ended, the single-digit Numbers had only undergone internal reordering. For anyone else to challenge them was nearly impossible, which meant that their positions were now firmly secured.
Competing with a leader like that for contributions...
Bat-Man shook his head, imagining some rather unpleasant scenarios, and ultimately made his decision.
He took away all the Rumble Balls from Chopper, then filled out an emergency contact form on his Rotom Phone. After that, he sent both the Rumble Balls and his report letter to Onigashima via Chubby Express Courier.
As for these people, he decided to take a relatively lenient approach to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future.
…
"Only 1.8 million Berries, and you can't afford it??"
Doubling the entry fee was already a very generous compromise, yet Bat-Man had overestimated the Straw Hat Pirates' financial situation.
Unlike ordinary pirates who plunder for wealth, these people roamed around like an adventuring party, constantly exploring. Their income was inherently unstable.
On top of that, Luffy's stomach was a bottomless pit, consuming an enormous amount of food daily. Without finding treasure, their finances were always tight.
"Well... our situation is a bit special."
Seeing Bat-Man's shift in attitude, Nami wasn't sure what had caused it, but at least it was a good thing.
When faced with overwhelming power differences, most crewmates would choose to compromise.
Take, for example, the crew of the infamous Eustass Kid. Before challenging Shanks, they were brimming with confidence. But the moment Shanks defeated Kid with a single Kamusari, they immediately dropped to their knees and begged for mercy, surrendering their copies of the Poneglyph without hesitation.
The pirate world was cruel. Having to pay a mere fine after a defeat was already an incredibly merciful outcome.
As for the Rumble Balls…
According to traditional pirate rules, everything that belonged to the defeated now belonged to the victor. So Bat-Man had no intention of using them to offset the debt.
Originally, the amount was 1.6 million Berries, but Luffy insisted that Heracross was a comrade, not a pet, meaning he had to be counted as a person. That bumped the total to 1.8 million.
This logic nearly made Nami punch him to death, but in the end, she realized it didn't really matter.
Whether it was 1.6 million or 1.8 million, they couldn't afford it anyway.
"Rules are rules. Since you don't have money, you'll have to stay and work. Though you're weak, it won't take long for you to earn enough to pay the entry fee."
There were no mines to dig on Skypiea, but there was plenty of work to do. As a result, the Straw Hat crew was forced to stay much longer than expected. Cricket, who had arrived with them, was also dragged into working alongside them. Only after repaying their debt were they finally allowed to leave Skypiea.
After leaving Skypiea, the overwhelming difference in strength made Luffy realize that he needed to become even stronger. Thus, he began a new round of training. However, while focusing on getting stronger, they were also thinking about where they could obtain a large amount of money.
The Going Merry, which had accompanied them all this way, was in need of repairs—a cost that was anything but small.
…
Meanwhile, certain events were unfolding in Water 7. Due to the long delay on Skypiea, their journey to Water 7 had been significantly postponed.
But CP9's operations would not be delayed just because they were late.
The undercover agents stationed in Water 7 had always been after Pluton; capturing Robin in the original timeline had been more of a coincidence than an intended goal.
Now, with Robin's circumstances completely different—and with her never having arrived here—CP9 simply continued with their original mission as planned.
Back then, after Tom was taken away, he went into hiding and erased all traces of his identity. Even his own disciples had no idea where he had gone.
Some time later, the severely injured Franky reappeared before Iceburg in his newly modified cyborg form.
Iceburg handed Franky the blueprints for Pluton and urged him to leave Water 7, change his name, and start a new life elsewhere.
But Franky refused. He chose to remain on the island, keeping the name Franky.
Tom's disappearance was like a thorn in his heart. He wanted to stay and wait, hoping for the chance to see his teacher again.
In the years that followed, he took in many starving outcasts from the backstreets and established the "Franky Family", a group specializing in dismantling ships.
However, some things simply couldn't remain hidden forever.
And now, after so many years, he had finally been discovered by the agents of the World Government. Late one night, they secretly arrested him.
Unbeknownst to them, however, all of this was witnessed by Tom, who had secretly returned to Water 7 to check on his disciples...
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