Under the intense beam of the lights, everyone finally saw the enormous figure hidden behind the trees.
It was a gigantic octopus. Its thick tentacles were more than twice as thick as a human thigh.
"How is there such a huge octopus on land?!"
"It looks so vicious."
The blinding light thoroughly enraged the giant octopus. With a forceful sweep of several tentacles, the trees blocking its path were shoved down to the ground, and it lunged forward.
"Let me handle this!"
Tant leapt off the ship and completed his Lion-Man transformation midair. At that moment, the octopus whipped out two tentacles toward him.
"Lion Bullet!"
Bang! Bang!
The skin of the tentacles was far tougher than expected. Tant had thought his Lion Bullet would sever them completely, but instead they only cut a third of the way in.
Boom!
Underestimating his opponent, Tant was smashed straight into the sand by a tentacle.
"I'm joining too!"
Dice jumped out as well, grabbing onto one of the tentacles and wrestling the octopus in a tug-of-war. His inborn monstrous strength made it impossible for the octopus to pull that tentacle back.
But the octopus had many limbs. When one couldn't break free, it used the others to lash at Dice in a frenzy.
A rapid series of smacks rang out. Dice was beaten until his nose was swollen and his face bruised, yet he still clung tightly to the tentacle. Anyone else would have shown agony under such blows—but Dice wore an expression of pure enjoyment.
"That's it, ohhh~~ So comfortable! Give me more~~"
Bonez had originally planned to step in and help, but seeing Dice's unusually blissful expression, he didn't know whether he should interfere.
"Leave this octopus to the two of them. It's just right for them."
Not too strong, not too weak—perfect for sharpening their skills.
The appearance of this octopus made Vane even more certain that this island had been dropped here by the Golden Lion.
After disappearing from the world, that man had actually been researching, along with his subordinates, a drug capable of turning animals savage.
Create a drug to drive animals into frenzy, then release those beasts along with the drug into the East Blue to destroy it.
It was revenge against the Marines and the World Government—and at the same time revenge against the Pirate King Roger. After all, the Pirate King's hometown was in the East Blue.
"Vane-sama is smiling. Did you think of something pleasant?"
"Yes. I just remembered an unlucky old man."
In Vane's eyes, the Golden Lion was the most unfortunate movie boss. After painstakingly scheming for over twenty years, just when his research finally showed results, he was taken down by Luffy.
He achieved nothing in the end. Zephyr blew up two volcanoes in the New World. Douglas Bullet battered the Worst Generation and lost with style. Only the Golden Lion spent over twenty years in hiding, only to be utterly ruined in a single move… The earlier you appear, the less presence you seem to have.
On the shore, Tant climbed out of the sandy crater and joined Dice in surrounding the giant octopus.
If he fought seriously, Tant wasn't necessarily weaker than the octopus. With the two of them ganging up on it, the octopus quickly found itself struggling. Perhaps due to the drug's influence, however, it showed no intention of fleeing even while at a disadvantage.
Even after its tentacles were smashed to pieces and its head was split open, killing it, the nerves in its severed limbs continued thrashing wildly for quite some time.
"This octopus is strong, and there's plenty of meat. How about we eat this tonight?"
Tant reverted to human form. Several suction marks could be seen on his body—courtesy of the octopus.
"Don't eat it. There might be toxins in its body."
Vane stepped onto the shore. Two streams of Netherworld Mist flew out and wrapped around the octopus. It quickly turned into a frozen block of ice.
"Toxic?"
"Based on my observations, the animals on this island are likely experimental subjects of some scientist. Eating their meat carries risks. You can fight them to improve your strength—but as for eating them, forget it."
Vane froze the octopus and had Meowth store it in the castle space. If they ever encountered someone with scientific expertise, they could study the residual drug inside its body.
"The savage animals on this island will serve as whetstones for all of you. Every Combat Squad member must participate. Work hard to improve your strength."
On his ship, there were elite units and there were ordinary ones. Some might spend their entire lives unable to reach the innate level of strength that Dice was born with.
Devil Fruits were incredibly precious. If it was just an ordinary Zoan, giving it to them wouldn't matter. But anything rarer required careful consideration as to whether it was worth letting them eat it.
If they wanted to grow stronger—or eat a Devil Fruit—they would have to earn it with their own effort.
Just as his words fell, another massive disturbance came from the forest. A one-eyed giant bear, three to four times larger than a normal bear, lumbered out.
"This one's mine too!"
Dice was once again the first to charge forward.
Of course, the other Rocket Team grunts skilled in physical combat also launched their assault. The animals they couldn't handle would be left for officers like Tant and Bonez.
"Lena, aren't you going to take a look?"
Lena was tinkering with Lassoo—the Dog-Gun Lassoo that had eaten the Dog-Dog Fruit. The gun was extremely powerful; whatever it fired carried immense impact and even had a certain explosive effect.
She was trying to apply her Through-Through Fruit ability to the gun.
"For me, physical training is only supplementary. Right now, I'd rather focus on training my Observation Haki."
Lena knew her limitations in terms of physical talent. Even if she worked her whole life, she might never surpass the level Dice was born with.
It would be better to first master Observation Haki and efficiently boost her strength, then later consider developing her body and Armament Haki.
...
After the one-eyed giant bear was dealt with, no more creatures emerged to attack that night. The Rocket Team members did not venture into the forest after dark either, choosing instead to rest for the night.
Early the next morning, they officially began exploring the island.
"It's not just mutated animals—there are mutated plants too."
With his ability to fly, Vane surveyed the island from above.
Insects, beasts, birds, venomous snakes—and even plants resembling man-eating flowers could be seen.
None of the animals were stronger than Bonez, so they were suitable only for training the crew, not for tempering Vane himself.
Taking advantage of this time, Vane planned to spread the Breathing Techniques among his team. On their own, the techniques were unlikely to produce world-destroying powerhouses—their upper limit might not even surpass Rokushiki.
Their advantage lay in being easier to learn than Rokushiki. They might not create beings capable of destroying the world, but they could certainly train elite grunts.
He hadn't popularized them before because the Breathing Techniques had once been a major pillar of his own survival. Now that he possessed greater power—and could still continue growing—he could finally release them.
"Hm? What's that?"
Having nearly circled the entire Green Hell Island, Vane suddenly noticed something slightly peculiar deep within the forest.
Could it be… a Devil Fruit?