One Day Ago – Flevance
More and more tree-like figures wandered through the white city, bringing a touch of green life to the pale town of Flevance.
At the site of the former royal palace, inside a temporary laboratory, several freshly created tree-men stood in a transparent observation chamber. As sunlight streamed in, they instinctively swayed their branches.
Judge, wearing a gas mask, noticed something off. Despite the sacrifices of these volunteers, their progress in lineage factor transplantation had improved significantly. However, the success rate seemed too high.
Turning to Caesar, who was fidgeting nearby, Judge asked, "Don't you think the success rate of these experiments is unusual?"
"Shurorororo! You just realized that? You really are a fool, Judge!" Caesar sneered, moving closer to Judge, his smirk full of mockery. Seeing Judge's visible irritation, Caesar felt satisfied and backed off, shaking a vial of the latest serum in his hand.
"You remember the theory that lineage factors carry a will of their own, right?" Caesar said smugly.
"Of course, I remember! But I already proved that theory wrong," Judge replied, his expression dark. "I implanted multiple lineage factors into Reiju."
"Shurorororo! What you did was more like bloodline factor filtration—only your lineage can utilize it properly!" Caesar floated around, giddy with the joy of surpassing his rival.
"However, your experiments do confirm that lineage factors don't contain a full consciousness—only an innate instinct for abilities," Caesar admitted before continuing his explanation.
"That's why I prefer to call it exclusivity! And extremely high erosion! The stronger the lineage factor, the greater its erosion effect. In fact, the outer shell of a Devil Fruit is what enables the human body to perfectly harness its power.
"Right now, we've improved the fusion between lineage factors and flesh, but the erosion effect itself can only be resisted by the test subject."
Judge muttered to himself, "So..."
"So, I must be a prime example, right, gentlemen?"
A voice came from the doorway.
Judge and Caesar turned their heads, eyes widening in shock.
There stood Rosinante, leading someone—no, something—inside. The figure had green-tinted skin and hair, with a budding flower sprouting from their head.
It was the ideal transplantation form they had envisioned.
Caesar rocketed forward, circling the figure in midair as he shrieked,
"Eh?! You're that doctor! How did you do this? Can you still use your abilities?!"
Bone—now Green Bone—smiled slightly as the flower on his head slowly bloomed, ready to explain.
"It's exactly as you said, Mr. Caesar—Amber Lead disease."
"When Amber Lead enters the body, it binds to it. But rather than completely losing activity, the affected areas merely sever their connection to the body's nervous system, rendering them unresponsive."
Bone pointed to the serum in Caesar's hand.
"This serum integrates into every inch of the body. When it encounters Amber Lead within, a battle ensues—erosion, destruction, and consumption."
"No, no! I already know that! That's the key to the increased success rate!" Caesar waved his hand dismissively, shaking his head before posing his biggest question. "But how did you retain your consciousness? And..."
"It still comes back to Amber Lead!"
...
Four Days Ago
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A visibly weakened Bone staggered out of a makeshift lab run by the town's remaining doctors. As he watched the fireworks explode in the night sky, his expression darkened.
Even Rosinante couldn't stop his brother from doing what he wanted.
The concentration of Amber Lead in the air was steadily rising.
In the end, they were all becoming test subjects, step by step.
Returning home, Bone had dinner before embracing Law and Lami, whose white patches of sickness were becoming more pronounced. Then, he locked himself inside his personal laboratory.
After skimming through the Donquixote Family's publicly shared research records, he slumped onto his desk in despair.
"This problem is too damn hard! I can't solve it!"
He gasped for breath, exhausted. Due to the experiments and the worsening environment, his expected time of death had moved up yet again.
Click!
Lina entered after putting Law and Lami to sleep. She gently patted Bone's head and whispered, "Bone, let's begin."
"It's impossible, Lina. We don't have enough time. We're all going to die."
"Bone, at worst, we'll just become tree-people." Lina gestured to a tree-person playing with children outside their window.
"If we all turn into trees, at least our family will stay together for many years."
Bone let out a string of hollow laughter, sitting up abruptly. He grabbed the ten vials of serum Rosinante had given him and raised them as if he were about to smash them.
"Compared to the dead townspeople, how many have actually survived?! This serum's erosion rate is too high! Even the second-generation serum extracted from tree-people is the same. If we lose our consciousness... are we really still us?!"
"Don't give up, Bone!" Lina caught his arm. "You already discovered that the Amber Lead content in the body is the key to the success rate! We still have hope!"
"Amber Lead, Amber Lead... Amber Lead is everywhere!" Bone roared, his mind suddenly flashing with images.
On test subjects, the white patches of sickness shifted between green and white.
Amber Lead... activity?
Bone's eyes lit up.
"Lina, let go! I have a new idea!"
...
Hours later, Lina glanced at the vials, now turned either black or white, and urged, "Bone, tell Rosinante about this! Let them take over!"
A certain eerie smile flashed through Bone's mind—Doflamingo's knowing smirk.
He shook his head violently. "No! Absolutely not, Lina!"
"If we report this and succeed, our family might be spared, but everyone else will still become experiments."
"In front of Doflamingo, we must prove our value!"
"I must succeed!"
Bone held up a carefully cut piece of Amber Lead, now mixed to a recalculated ratio.
"This time... it will work!"
...
Back in the present, Judge and Caesar's eyes widened even further after hearing Bone's explanation.
Had Lady Baccarat just used her abilities from afar?
"You actually dared to use it directly?! Tell me the exact ratio now!" Caesar demanded.
Bone, exuding a rare sense of ease, simply shrugged.
"Both versions of the serum had a chance of failure. I'd rather die by my own hand."
"What?! That's completely unscientific!"
"..."
Moments later, Rosinante interrupted their heated argument, fixing Judge and Caesar with a gaze eerily reminiscent of Doflamingo.
"Now, can I have my Den Den Mushi back?"
"Of course!" Caesar replied quickly, shuddering under Rosinante's stare.
"The Boss will be very pleased."
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