Time flew by quickly. An hour later, inside the lab on the hill, Qingcheng sat on the sofa with a smile, holding two ID cards in his hands. The cards read:
Name: SengokuPosition: Navy Rear AdmiralID Number: 08407
Name: Monkey D. GarpPosition: Navy Rear AdmiralID Number: 084081
As expected, it was those two. In fact, when Qingcheng first saw Garp's face on the hill, he had already guessed their identities. It wasn't until now, looking at the IDs, that he fully confirmed he had been right. He just didn't expect to run into the two of them here. And Sengoku had almost died too.
Still, the relationship between Garp and Sengoku was incredibly strong. To save Sengoku, Garp didn't hesitate to overexert himself carrying him from the sea to this place. Overexerting oneself like that could easily cause permanent damage. And to think Garp even agreed to become a test subject for Sengoku's sake—his brotherly affection was truly overflowing.
Thinking of this, Qingcheng suddenly came to a realization:"No wonder in One Piece, even though Garp's son and grandson oppose the World Government, he's still safe in the Navy. If Sengoku hadn't helped, who would believe that?"
"Ugh…"
"Where am I?"On the bed, Sengoku let out a groan. He slowly sat up, looking around at the white room with confusion."Right… my injuries…"
"This is… impossible."Sengoku's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at his body, now only bearing scar tissue. He could feel that his body was in a completely healthy state. He had even suffered internal injuries—this was just too unbelievable.
"Right… where's Garp?"He quickly opened the door and saw a room full of scientific equipment—and the silver-haired young man smiling at him.
"You saved me?" Sengoku asked the young man.
"You can call me Qingcheng. It's true that I healed your wounds, but this was a transaction. More accurately, it was your friend who saved you."
"A transaction?"A sense of unease crept over Sengoku.
Qingcheng chuckled."Yes, the price for saving you was that he willingly became my test subject. You should thank him. Without him, you'd be long—"
Aaaaahh!!
Boom.
Bang bang.
Crack…
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the lab. Under the high-frequency shockwave of the scream, all the lab equipment shattered instantly.
"Ahh!"The scream rang out again. Sengoku's face turned pale as he immediately rushed to a room in the corner. He didn't even need to think—the scream came from Garp. Knowing Garp well, ordinary pain would never make him scream like that.
Qingcheng muttered as he walked toward the room:"He couldn't hold it in after all. But I didn't expect him to break even the reinforced chains I made…"
Garp's experiment had basically succeeded. His cell regeneration rate now far outpaced his cell destruction rate. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to survive. The fusion process was nearly complete—he just needed to endure for another twenty minutes.
Inside the room, it was chaos. Sengoku's face darkened as he saw Garp writhing on the floor, covered in blood. His fists clenched tightly.
Bloodshot, Garp managed to force a smile and say,"You're awake, huh? I told you I wouldn't give up… heh heh heh…"
"Impressive perseverance," Qingcheng walked in and added, "But do you know that one scream of yours just now destroyed all my lab equipment? Do you know how much that costs? Billions of Berries!"
"Heh heh heh…"
"Bastard!"Sengoku grabbed Qingcheng and roared,"What the hell did you do to Garp?! If anything happens to him, you'd better watch your head!"
"Oh no! Is Rear Admiral Sengoku trying to break our deal? I'm so scared," Qingcheng mocked.
"You—!"
"Le… leave him. This was… our deal…"Garp spoke weakly and intermittently.
"Hmph."Sengoku shoved Qingcheng away, then rushed to Garp's side.
"Dammit, Garp, if you dare die on me, I'll make you pay!"
"Heh, you still owe me thousands of rice crackers. How can I die before collecting?" Garp grinned.
Sengoku: "Then you better stay alive. Otherwise, it'd be a waste of money buying them if you can't eat them."
…They hadn't even had a drink, yet listening to their conversation, Qingcheng felt drunk:"Are rice crackers really that good? I'll buy a bag next time and try them."
Time passed quickly. As expected, twenty minutes later, Garp's gene enhancement was complete.
"Ha ha! I really am lucky! I survived. Damn, that hurt like hell."Garp slapped Sengoku's shoulder and laughed."Now go buy me some rice crackers. I'm starving!"
"Hmph."Surprisingly, Sengoku didn't retort this time. He actually left the room. Garp was puzzled—normally, Sengoku would say something like,"When did I agree to buy you rice crackers?"
"How strange," Garp muttered.
"Congratulations!"Qingcheng tossed him a knife."Rear Admiral Garp, try testing your new ability."
Garp took the knife and slashed his hand.Strangely, the vicious wound instantly healed.
"It consumes stamina," Garp muttered.
"Even Devil Fruits consume stamina. Yours doesn't even fear Seastone or seawater!" Qingcheng said, then sighed."Too bad… you're a rare case. If anyone else tried this, there's a 99% chance they'd go boom and die. Not even I could save them. Looks like I still have to optimize the formula. After this experiment, I finally realized—I was too arrogant. If not for Garp's unique constitution, even I couldn't have saved him. And even so, I used up all of my spiritual energy."
"Guess I really am lucky. Oh right, where's the bathroom?" Garp asked.
"There," Qingcheng pointed outside."It's outside. Go find it yourself. I need to clean this place up. Can't believe you trashed my room like this."
"Sorry," Garp muttered and quickly ran off.
"Sigh…"Qingcheng sighed and began cleaning up by himself.
A while later, after tidying up both the lab and the room, Garp returned from his bath. But Qingcheng was stunned—Garp was wearing his white trench coat. And what the hell happened to his already messy wardrobe?
"Garp, I bought the snacks!"Sengoku squeezed through the door carrying countless bags of rice crackers.
"Whoa! My crackers!"Garp immediately lunged, tearing open a bag and munching happily.
"Hey, where'd you get that coat? Looks good on you," Sengoku asked.
"Found it in the wardrobe," Garp said while eating.
"I see."Thinking about Qingcheng's messed-up wardrobe and his pissed-off expression, Sengoku's mood improved.
"Since the deal is done, you two should leave now. You're not welcome here," Qingcheng said coldly. Of course—if Whitebeard came back and saw these two idiots, a fight would break out for sure. And who knew when Whitebeard would return?
"Sorry, we still have to stay for a week."Sengoku looked at Qingcheng and explained,"I contacted the nearest naval base in town, but it'll take a week for them to get here."
"Hmph."Qingcheng snorted, then walked over and grabbed a bag of rice crackers to eat.
Crunch."Not that great," Qingcheng said after biting into one, giving an honest opinion.
"Whew."In the next moment, a massive fist loomed before Qingcheng's eyes—but it never landed. It was Garp's fist. His face looked like he'd just seen his worst enemy.
"If it's not good, then fine…"Startled, Qingcheng stiffened, pointing at his head,"What, you want to break our deal? Come on, hit me—right here!"
"Hmph."Garp withdrew his fist and sulkily continued eating his rice crackers.