Chapter 274: Human Transformation, The Hope of Rebirth, and a Tokusatsu Squadron
Jinbe cracked his knuckles and stepped forward, standing firmly beside Otohime.
The greatest difference between Otohime and Fisher Tiger wasn't a slight divergence in ideology, but rather a catastrophic disparity in absolute physical constitution.
Otohime's physique was unbelievably fragile. It wasn't simply a matter of being "unsuited for martial arts"; she was fundamentally incapable of combat.
Her fragility defied common sense. Even if she were driven by absolute fury and tried to slap someone across the face, the only person getting hurt would be her.
Forces are reciprocal. It was uncertain what would happen to the person she slapped, but Otohime's hand would undoubtedly shatter from the impact.
If Otohime wanted to cultivate any semblance of combat power, she would first have to find a top-tier scientist to undergo extensive biochemical modifications just to reinforce her glass-like constitution before even attempting basic training.
Even the playful "sparring" between Yamato and Chloe was considered a highly lethal, life-threatening hazard to Otohime.
Because of this, whenever she was deployed on external diplomatic missions, she was always accompanied by a highly capable military attaché.
Currently, it happened to be the era where youths like Jinbe, Kawamatsu, and Namur were rapidly growing into their prime. Since Jinbe and Otohime had been in the exact same academy graduating class, he naturally became a core member of her diplomatic escort.
Jinbe had never been a pure "Mr. Nice Guy." In the original timeline, his mature, stoic personality was forged through a crucible of tragedies—the Sun Pirates' bloody voyages, the profound grief of Fisher Tiger refusing human blood, and countless other hardships.
While the current Jinbe was no warmonger, he certainly wasn't a pure, uncompromising pacifist like Otohime, either.
If people refused to listen to reason, he simply believed in beating them until they were willing to sit down and talk.
"I understand what you're trying to do... I leave it to you, Jinbe," Otohime said softly. "But these are ordinary civilians. Please hold back."
Otohime herself had undergone a profound transformation. She was no longer the Otohime of the original timeline. In that lost history, Fish-Man Island had possessed no clear path forward and completely lacked the absolute martial might to enforce its will.
That utter powerlessness had forced her into an extreme "non-violent" approach, relying purely on endless, exhausting pacifist speeches to achieve meager results.
If not for her unique ability accidentally awakening the dormant conscience of Donquixote Mjosgard—introducing a rare, dissenting voice among the Celestial Dragons—who knew how many decades it would have taken to see any real change?
But today's Otohime deeply understood a fundamental truth: to safeguard peace, one sometimes had to wield absolute force.
The current situation was teetering on the edge of a bloodbath. Flevance was a powder keg inches from a lit match. If they didn't immediately suppress both sides, a single misfire would detonate a catastrophic massacre.
At that point, it wouldn't just be a tragic clash; it would be total, uncontrolled slaughter.
"Don't worry," Jinbe rumbled. "I know exactly how to handle a crowd like this."
Jinbe leapt from the bow of the ship, his wooden geta clacking loudly as he landed on the wooden docks. Unlike Otohime, he didn't use a megaphone. Drawing a deep breath, he bellowed, his booming voice washing over the chaotic battlefield.
"Everyone, hold your ground and maintain your restraint! This disease is NOT contagious! You are not going to die here! We have brought a far better solution to resolve all of this!!
"This is your final warning!"
Jinbe didn't actually expect a single shout to magically halt a starving, terrified, rioting mob. If yelling worked, Otohime would have already solved the crisis.
But right now, Jinbe wasn't acting as a wandering vigilante or a lawless pirate; he was an official military representative of a World Government affiliated nation. Issuing a formal, final warning was a necessary, legally required protocol.
Seeing that neither the advancing soldiers nor the desperate citizens had any intention of stopping, Jinbe widened his stance, sinking into a low, immovable horse stance.
"Fish-Man Karate."
Jinbe extended his left palm forward and pulled his right fist back to his waist, assuming the most fundamental opening stance of his martial art.
"Karakusa Gawara Seiken (Arabesque Brick Fist)!"
He punched the empty air.
There was no earth-shattering explosion. There was no heaven-rending shockwave. It looked like a completely ordinary, unremarkable punch that struck absolutely nothing.
Several commanders of the surrounding national armies had been keeping a wary eye on Jinbe. But seeing him seemingly throw a fake punch at thin air, they scoffed and looked away.
However, in the very next fraction of a second, the people standing closest to Jinbe suddenly felt something utterly terrifying.
An invisible, irresistible force slammed into them, dragging their bodies backward against their will. The abdomens of the front-line rioters and soldiers simultaneously caved in, as if they had been brutally swept by a massive, invisible battering ram.
The Arabesque Brick Fist wasn't the most destructive technique in Fish-Man Karate, but it possessed a terrifying, delayed-action omnidirectional shockwave. Because Jinbe had meticulously controlled his output, the invisible force didn't shatter bones; it simply bulldozed the crowds backward, rippling outward like a tidal wave.
It was as if a colossal, invisible hand had violently wedged itself between the two explosive factions at the border, physically prying them apart.
Whether it was the heavily armed foreign armies forming the blockade or the desperate citizens of Flevance charging the razor wire, every single person was violently repelled by Jinbe's shockwave.
It was a necessary show of force. The foreign armies outside the perimeter could only maintain their restraint as long as the Flevance citizens stayed on their side of the quarantine zone.
They firmly believed this was a highly lethal plague, and that razor-wire fence was their absolute bottom line. If the rioters breached it, the soldiers would absolutely open fire, and the situation would become unsalvageable.
"Now," Jinbe said, crossing his arms. "Are you all ready to sit down and listen?"
"We have brought ample food and fresh water!" Otohime's voice rang out again. "Please, endure just a little longer! The doctors will arrive shortly!"
Following that single, overwhelming punch, the temperature of the battlefield plummeted drastically. The foreign soldiers, nursing their bruised stomachs, cautiously retreated toward their secondary blockade lines, entirely ceding the immediate border to the Ryugu Kingdom's forces.
Judging by their frantic gestures, they were hastily contacting their respective high commands to report this massive complication.
Before the Amber Lead Syndrome outbreak reached its terrifying peak, the Royal Family of Flevance had already colluded with the World Government to secretly flee the country. Those left behind were universally condemned as "highly dangerous biohazards." If the surrounding nations truly began a massacre, they wouldn't have felt much moral hesitation.
But the sudden intervention of the Ryugu Kingdom fundamentally altered the geopolitical calculus. As an internationally recognized, top-tier powerhouse operating in the Grand Line, the nations of the North Blue were forced to heavily weigh the catastrophic consequences of accidentally shooting Fish-Man Island's diplomats.
The citizens of Flevance similarly calmed down. Jinbe had just physically proven that even if all of them charged him at once, they wouldn't stand a chance.
The distribution of food and fresh water provided temporary relief, but it couldn't sustain peace for long. The people still capable of rioting at the borders were the ones whose symptoms hadn't yet fully progressed; they were the relatively healthy fraction of Flevance's population.
Those with weaker constitutions had long since been paralyzed by excruciating, unspeakable agony. Neither local anesthetics nor heavy painkillers could suppress the horrific torment of Amber Lead Syndrome.
Food and water couldn't provide salvation; they merely offered fleeting comfort. If Fish-Man Island failed to produce a genuine cure soon, a massive, suicidal riot was utterly inevitable.
Fortunately, Vinsmoke Judge moved with terrifying efficiency.
The Germa Kingdom wasn't just unique in its geography; its societal composition was equally unprecedented. Aside from the Vinsmoke Royal Family and top-tier scientific personnel, ninety percent of the nation's population consisted of mass-produced, genetically engineered clone soldiers.
These clones matured to the biological age of a twenty-year-old elite soldier in a mere five years. They were Germa's ultimate, expendable instruments of war.
While these clones possessed basic self-awareness, their genetic programming mandated absolute obedience to Judge's commands. The moment the Supreme Commander issued his decree, the entire Germa Kingdom operated with ruthless, mechanical efficiency.
While the massive laboratories mass-produced the Amber Lead antidote based on Wobbegong's formula, the entire fleet of giant snails was simultaneously mobilized, accelerating toward Flevance.
By the early morning of the second day, a massive armada of colossal snail warships loomed ominously on Flevance's horizon.
"It's Germa 66!!!"
"What the hell is the Germa Kingdom doing here?! Report this to His Majesty immediately!"
The sudden appearance of the Germa Kingdom triggered a massive wave of panic among the surrounding blockade armies. After all, this was the North Blue, and currently, there were only two legendary stories that absolutely dominated this sea.
One was the centuries-old fairy tale of Noland the Liar.
The other was the terrifying horror story of Germa 66.
Ignoring the ancient era when Germa's ancestors had militarily conquered the entire North Blue, even in recent history, shortly after Judge reclaimed the throne, he had famously assassinated four sovereign kings, re-establishing Germa's absolute terror through the "Slashing of the Four Kings."
Although the Doyle Kingdom had also suffered a catastrophic downfall recently, the other North Blue nations recognized the cause and effect there: the Doyle Kingdom had foolishly provoked Fish-Man Island first.
Furthermore, since that incident, the Ryugu Kingdom hadn't committed any radical acts of aggression in the North Blue. In fact, they had actually maintained a significant degree of maritime security.
Compared to the bloodthirsty Germa Kingdom, the nations of the North Blue were infinitely more willing to trust the Ryugu Kingdom.
However, there was an upside to this terror. Upon hearing that Germa 66 had arrived solely to deliver medicine, the surrounding blockading armies didn't dare impede them. They scrambled to clear a wide path.
After all, the security guards at a corporate office might not recognize a random board member, but they absolutely recognized the terrifying head of security.
"This serum was synthesized exactly according to Wobbegong's formula," Judge declared, standing before the Ryugu Kingdom's delegation. "The chemical composition is flawless. However, whether it is actually effective in vivo, I cannot guarantee. Germa 66 did not possess any suitable human test subjects to run clinical trials."
After officially linking up with Otohime's team, Judge presented the massive crates of vials. Producing a drug inevitably required clinical trials, and human experimentation was an unavoidable, critical phase.
"But given Flevance's current apocalyptic state, we don't exactly need to ask for volunteers," Judge added coldly. "For people who are already dead walking, they don't have the luxury of choice."
The core members of MADS possessed staggering scientific intellect. Any single one of them was a top-tier genius on the global stage.
Even Caesar Clown, though most of his inventions were highly volatile and defective, was still miles ahead of ordinary scientists who couldn't even successfully pirate Vegapunk's outdated blueprints. Each MADS member had their own terrifying specialty.
But when it came to moral standards...
If you combined Queen, Caesar, and Judge, you couldn't scrap together the moral compass of a single decent human being. It was only because there were no Amber Lead patients outside of Flevance that Judge hadn't immediately kidnapped a few civilians to forcibly test the serum's efficacy.
Ultimately, Judge's cold logic held true. The dying patients of Flevance possessed no other options. Abandoned by their own Royal Family and forsaken by the World Government, this unproven serum was their sole beacon of hope.
Surrounded by friends and family who had died in unspeakable agony, even if the doctors told them the serum had a 50% mortality rate, countless patients would eagerly gamble their lives on it.
The miraculously good news was that the serum—derived from ancient, forgotten historical records—was incredibly effective.
For patients with relatively strong baseline constitutions and mild symptoms, a single injection was enough to rapidly reverse seventy to eighty percent of their condition.
For the rest, the required dosage varied wildly. The most severe, terminal-stage patients required simultaneous administration of the serum alongside external hemodialysis machines to violently flush the broken-down toxins from their bodies.
Because Flevance was once a spectacularly wealthy nation, they actually possessed an abundance of advanced hemodialysis equipment in their hospitals.
In the past, Amber Lead toxins acted like gangrene clinging to bone, stubbornly binding to the blood and internal organs; conventional dialysis had been utterly useless.
Now, with the antidote successfully breaking down and unbinding the toxins on a cellular level, hemodialysis became an incredibly effective supplementary treatment, drastically accelerating the purging process.
The mass administration of the serum and subsequent medical care were primarily handled by the Ryugu Kingdom's medical teams and the surviving local doctors and nurses of Flevance.
Judge didn't deploy many of his own clones to assist in the medical relief. He knew perfectly well that the Ryugu Kingdom was currently executing a massive "reputation investment" operation in Flevance.
If Germa forcefully intervened and stole the spotlight, it might trigger a negative backlash, fundamentally contradicting Judge's true objective. As a nation deeply rooted in the Underworld, Judge's primary goal was to forge a highly favorable relationship with Nereus.
However, Judge didn't do absolutely nothing. He actively deployed his young children, dressed in custom-tailored, miniature Germa Raid Suits, to walk through the streets of Flevance.
"Mr. Judge," Otohime asked, watching the Vinsmoke siblings walk through a medical camp. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you have your children dress like that?"
Otohime didn't deeply understand Judge as a person. But based on their brief interactions, she didn't sense any overt malice.
Judge was an exceptional actor; when dealing with the Ryugu Kingdom's appointed North Blue Governor, he naturally displayed the utmost aristocratic courtesy and diplomatic grace.
"Governor Otohime, do you happen to read 'Picture Books'?" Judge asked smoothly.
"Surface-world comic strips? I've read a few," Otohime smiled. "I'm quite fond of Seven Monkey Orbs."
Serialized comic strips were incredibly popular across the seas, functioning much like modern manga. As a mermaid intensely fascinated by surface culture, Otohime naturally had access to popular literature.
"Then you must have also read the comic strip Sora, Warrior of the Sea," Judge said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "The primary villains in that Marine propaganda piece were designed entirely using our Germa Kingdom as the archetype.
"The Marines naturally paint themselves as the absolute incarnations of justice, constantly thwarting our 'evil schemes.' I simply wish to prove that Germa 66 can be heroes as well."
Judge cared deeply about titles and legacy. After the "Slashing of the Four Kings," he had proudly hung a massive painting of the conquest in his palace to flaunt his military might.
He couldn't steal the Ryugu Kingdom's glory here, but taking the opportunity to alter the public's heavily biased perception of Germa was highly beneficial.
Although the vast majority of ordinary citizens didn't even know the "evil Germa 66" actually existed in reality—assuming they were purely fictional villains—Judge knew the truth.
Seeing that comic strip published daily in the World Economy News Paper, constantly glorifying the Marines while repeatedly humiliating "Germa," deeply infuriated the proud Supreme Commander.
However, what Judge completely failed to realize was that, compared to the boring Marine protagonist, the "villainous" Germa 66 was actually far more popular. Those vibrantly colored, high-tech battle suits had sparked a massive "Tokusatsu" (Super Sentai) craze across the entire North Blue.
It was said that owning a replica Germa transformation suit was the ultimate dream of countless children in the North Blue—and even many adults.
Consequently, when the Vinsmoke children appeared before them wearing the authentic, high-tech Raid Suits, it actually caused many of the sick, terrified children in the Flevance medical camps to burst into genuine, ecstatic tears of joy.
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