Chapter 82: Bane's Physical Condition and Fubuki's Visit
Though in reality, he'd sold the house to buy guns, if he hadn't spent so much money on that potion, he wouldn't have run out of money for weapons.
In any case, after getting the final answer from Dr. Genus, Bane felt extremely displeased.
"Alright, stop dwelling on that garbage. Your body is far more fascinating and valuable. While there hasn't been any real breakthrough progress yet, I've drawn some conclusions from my research. You mentioned before that your body also possesses an innate special ability - 'Physical Enhancement,' right? And it's this ability that's allowed your physical attributes to grow to their current level," Dr. Genus said with great interest.
"That's correct." Upon hearing about his own situation, Bane immediately became serious.
"I can now tell you definitively that the institution that tested you before was third-rate - no, not even that! Your ability is far more complex than their simple explanation!" Dr. Genus said with slightly excited enthusiasm.
"Oh?" Bane asked curiously, "Then what exactly is my ability?"
The original testing in the Empire hadn't been done by the current Bane - he only had fragmented memories of it. It had been a common testing facility there, comparable to a community clinic. They'd simply done a basic assessment and given their results.
Naturally, Bane trusted Dr. Genus's expertise far more.
"It's not simply 'Physical Enhancement' - it's an ability with evolutionary properties. Your current increases in stamina, strength, and other aspects are merely one manifestation of this ability. It's completely integrated with your body structure, including your digestive system and more," Dr. Genus launched into another lengthy technical description.
As Bane listened, he found himself increasingly lost.
So he quickly interrupted Dr. Genus: "Could you explain this in simple terms? I'm not educated - when you start talking about cells and mitochondria, I have no idea what you're saying, Doctor!"
Clearly, Dr. Genus, who had been eloquently expounding, was wounded by Bane's blunt admission of ignorance.
After a long silence, Dr. Genus said somewhat helplessly: "To put it simply, you haven't fully developed yet. You're still in a growth phase. During this stage, your body needs large amounts of nutritious food to grow. At the same time, it will adapt based on what you consume. For example, if you regularly eat foods containing toxins, your body might gradually develop resistance to various poisons. Do you understand now?"
Hearing this, Bane became excited: "So you're saying I have unlimited growth potential? As long as I adjust my diet, I can—"
"Of course not." Dr. Genus directly cut off Bane's fantasies.
"This growth has limits - you just haven't reached them yet. The example I gave works the same way. Even if you ate poisonous substances daily, you couldn't become completely immune to toxins - you'd just develop stronger resistance," Dr. Genus explained.
"Can these limits be broken?" Bane quickly asked.
"Breaking limits has always been my research and pursuit. Currently, it doesn't seem possible - I don't have that technology," Dr. Genus said with genuine regret.
After a brief pause, he continued: "But that's not the point. Now that you know, you can be more selective with your food. As long as you get enough nutrition, it will all promote growth in your strength and other attributes. So eating some mildly toxic but non-lethal foods and gradually building up tolerance would be beneficial. But the real value of your ability is its adaptability, Bane!"
"Adaptability?" Bane repeated, puzzled.
The doctor became even more excited, his voice taking on an almost manic quality as he breathed heavily: "Yes! Adaptability - that's the essential condition for evolution! Your body can gradually adapt to external influences. This is incredibly precious! You've seen many of our House of Evolution's creations - whether it's Carnage Kabuto or others. After incorporating genes from other organisms and undergoing modifications, while they retain some human characteristics, they've irreversibly deviated toward something else entirely. This is because they cannot adapt to these genetic changes! But you have that potential - to gain new power while avoiding significant mutation, maintaining human superiority while adapting to new abilities!"
After this lengthy excited rambling, the doctor enthusiastically invited: "So come back to the House of Evolution immediately! I can make you stronger - even gaining Carnage Kabuto's power isn't impossible..."
Hearing that unhinged voice, Bane's face twitched slightly before he said: "Wait, Doctor. If you want to perform these modifications on me, can you guarantee I won't have problems?"
"Of cour—" Dr. Genus instinctively started to boast, but considering that while Bane had a good temper, he wasn't someone to truly mess with, he hesitated and said more diplomatically: "Ahem, science requires accepting margin for error, right? You people who believe in power understand this too, don't you? How could gaining new power come without any risk?"
Bane had no desire to become one of those inhuman monstrosities from the House of Evolution. Besides, while Carnage Kabuto indeed possessed formidable strength, Bane could reach that level through his own growth without taking such risks. Why cooperate with dangerous experiments?
Moreover, he had far more ways to become stronger than the doctor imagined - there were many worlds yet to explore.
His reason for letting the doctor study him was simply to understand his own condition better. What he truly valued about the House of Evolution was their scientific technology.
Therefore, Bane ended the topic: "When you can guarantee zero risk, then we'll discuss this. What I need you to do now is mass-produce RC cells as much as possible."
"I already told you that's garbage - what do you want it for?" Dr. Genus said with some dissatisfaction.
"Just do it. Don't forget - I'm the supreme leader of the House of Evolution now!" Bane said in a low, commanding voice.
His tone carried an intimidating pressure. After a moment of silence, the doctor on the other end responded: "Fine, I understand. You're the boss - you call the shots now."
Indeed, after Carnage Kabuto's demise, Bane had reached a consensus with the doctor through sincere discussion - he was now the head of the House of Evolution.
Bane's idea for mass-producing RC cells was actually quite simple. In this bizarre world, RC cells might be garbage, but in the world of One Piece, they couldn't be considered worthless - they had definite value, possibly even surpassing artificial Devil Fruits.
Since Dr. Genus had confirmed the side effects were minimal, Bane could use them to create an elite combat unit for the New Navy in the pirate world.
Of course, the House of Evolution had other more powerful technologies, but they were too costly and prone to losing control. For mass-producing elite units, the enhancement couldn't be too good or too strong - just good enough and practical.
At least for Bane's current power level, this was sufficient.
When he grew to higher levels in the future, he could gradually unlock more of the House of Evolution's technologies.
While Bane was talking with Dr. Genus, someone knocked on Saitama's door, puzzling the TV-watching Saitama. Who could it be?
Bane had just finished his conversation with the doctor and casually instructed: "If you need more funding, contact me anytime. Get in touch again when you have progress or results."
"I have plenty of funds for now, so that's fine for now," the doctor replied.
Bane then hung up and looked curiously toward the door. Saitama opened it to reveal two men in black suits standing on either side of a woman with delicate features and what could only be described as a perfect figure.
Fubuki! More precisely, B-Class Rank 1 Fubuki of Hell.
"Who are you looking for?" Saitama asked with his usual casual expression.
"B-Class Rank 10, Thunder Swordsman Roronoa Zoro - he lives here, correct?" Fubuki asked softly.
Her tone was somewhat haughty, but her voice was genuinely pleasant to hear.
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