Shiki took a deep puff, finishing most of the cigar, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "Indigo, what is that?"
Indigo crossed his hands in front of his lower abdomen, his thumbs continuously rotating. "From its current state, it appears to be some kind of stimulant…"
Shiki used his flight ability to quickly fly to Grimm's side and glanced at the mutated rhinoceros beetle. He said with satisfaction, "Indeed, with such an evolution, coupled with the number of animals here, it will surely give the World Government a hard time."
He could tell that, using the rhinoceros beetle as an example, its combat power had increased by at least three times, possibly more. With such strength, it was like mass-producing monsters with bounties over 50 million Belly.
This indeed qualified as a force capable of attacking the World Government.
"Don't celebrate too early."
Grimm poured cold water on Shiki's enthusiasm and gestured upwards. "Look!"
Shiki and Indigo looked at the rhinoceros beetle again. They saw that after continuously killing several other monsters, the once fierce monster gradually began to collapse, on the verge of death.
Watching the rhinoceros beetle gradually fall to the ground, Shiki knitted his brows. "What's going on? Is it so weak and ineffective? It's only been ten minutes?"
To be honest, ten minutes was already an unexpectedly long result.
After all, the Blood Curse had very high physical requirements.
"Let alone ten minutes, even a moment's carelessness in battle can be fatal!"
Grimm shook his head. "This thing, its success rate is indeed very low. But rather than taking those useless individuals to Mary Geoise to be instantly killed by the Navy and Government, it's better to let them serve a purpose for a few minutes. Also, if this thing attacks humans, once it contaminates a wound, there's a high chance of infection!"
Shiki's expression changed upon hearing this. The word "infection" startled him. He finally looked at Indigo and asked, "How long would it take to mass-produce and breed these things?"
Indigo rubbed his palms together and analyzed, "Well, if we calculate with ten thousand units, it would take seven, eight… emm, at least ten years!"
"Ten years is too long. By then, the Navy's recruitment plan will be complete. Do you want to wait until the Navy grows stronger before acting?" Grimm said after some thought.
The Navy's recruitment speed is much faster than the mating speed of these beasts. If we really wait ten years? Heh, the Navy will probably have bred the next generation by then!
"Ten thousand heads, though numerous, are not durable, as their lifespans are extremely limited!"
Shiki crossed his arms. "What about five years?"
"The timeframe needs further analysis. If it's five thousand heads, three years should be enough, but…"
Indigo interjected, glancing at the rhinoceros beetle's corpse. "I'll research that thing and see if we can increase their reproduction rate!"
Three years was within Grimm's acceptable range. He turned to look at the continent overrun with monsters. "Alright, then we'll attack Mary Geoise in three years!"
Grimm said. In fact, he already knew that this attack on Mary Geoise would inevitably fail, but it was all part of the plan.
"Gahahahahaha, Gahahahahaha!"
Shiki put his hands on his hips and laughed up at the sky. "Good! Good, attacking the Government! This is something even Roger didn't do. Watch carefully from hell, Roger, Gahahahahaha!"
Like Whitebeard, Shiki was one of the people who knew Roger best. After all these days, he had come to understand the reason for Roger's surrender.
He was also getting old. His strength hadn't declined much, but it was definitely declining faster than Whitebeard's. His legs were replaced by swords, and his head was severely injured by a ship's helm. If he acted according to the original plan twenty years later, how much would his strength have declined?
While he could still fight, he had to do something earth-shattering. Even if he died like Roger, he wanted the world to remember him.
Roger, what good is being the Pirate King?
Did you ever attack the World Government?
Regardless of Shiki's fantasies about Roger, Grimm smiled. "If we die because of this, I suppose we won't have any regrets!"
"Gahahahaha, Grimm, why didn't I meet you sooner? Gahahahaha…"
...
Even though the plan was confirmed, Shiki still had his own matters to attend to, which was the issue of his personal strength.
Just having a ship's helm stuck in his head greatly affected his combat effectiveness. Now, he also had to get used to using swords with his feet.
While it wasn't starting from scratch, the difficulty was certainly not small, and the process would undoubtedly be arduous. But how quickly he could regain his strength depended on Shiki himself.
Shiki was a master of Armament Haki, but with two swords stuck in his lower body, he couldn't use Armament Haki for the time being.
He needed to train. Grimm's retainers, Plank and Yasuo, spent two consecutive months practicing with him in turns every day, each sparring session with the intent to kill the opponent. However, they always held back a bit.
Grimm, on the other hand, worked with Indigo to continuously improve the success rate of the "Blood Curse."
However, the results weren't great, which forced Grimm to seek help from Grandpa Luke.
Grandpa Luke's words made Grimm want to grab him and beat him up: "I'm not interested in non-mechanical research. I'm busy building Silent City right now. Go find Vegapunk; you're good at getting in and out of Marine bases anyway!"
Reluctantly, Grimm took a blood clot from a monster affected by the "Blood Plague" and went to see Vegapunk, which finally improved the success rate.
Grimm was speechless. This thing, created by his system, actually required outside help for research. How miserable!
Meanwhile, Shiki also began to reassemble his fleet!
He initially wanted to gather all the surviving members of the Shiki Pirates. However, thinking of how that scoundrel Wald died due to the betrayal of his crew, and considering the attack on the World Government, the courage required was not for ordinary people. Therefore, he only selected less than a third of his trusted forces.
Another week passed. Shiki, seated in the main hall of the Manticore, and Grimm, seated in a side hall, simultaneously received a piece of explosive news.
Redfield, had been arrested by the Navy.
According to the newspaper, Redfield was surrounded by a tactical maneuver by Fleet Admiral Kong and finally captured.
The war process was basically glossed over, with a few close-ups of Redfield being captured.
In the photos, Fleet Admiral Kong stared at Redfield without blinking, to prevent any possibility of escape.
Redfield's hands and feet were bound with Seastone handcuffs and shackles. Even if he wasn't a Devil Fruit user, pirates of this caliber received such treatment.
This Lonely Red, due to the battle, was no longer in his usual dignified attire. He looked like a disheveled old man, no longer "elegant"!
"Hmph, Redfield, you useless trash!"
Shiki removed the cigar from his mouth and pressed the burning tip firmly onto Redfield's face in the newspaper, an act of insult!
"Afraid of aging, and unwilling to accept the grace of Holy Light. A relic of the old era, get off the stage of history quickly!"
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