Chapter 59: Rat, the Research Institute, and the Perfect Killer!
In the deep blue sea, schools of fish chased after the currents.
Giant Sea Beasts occasionally swam past, stirring up the rocks on the seabed.
And within this deep sea, an island quietly floated.
Its size wasn't particularly large; it looked like an ordinary island.
However, its ability to float and exist in these deep waters alone was enough to prove its extraordinary nature.
In fact, at this moment, a faint, colorful film continuously circulated around the island.
This layer of film seemed to block the water pressure, and at the same time, it also seemed to isolate it from the attention of surrounding Sea Beasts and Sea Kings.
It was like a loyal soldier—even though its creators hadn't visited for many years, it quietly stood guard, fulfilling its mission.
But at this moment, on this island that no one had set foot on for over a decade, a figure stood.
Rat walked on the island, quietly raising his head to look at the island.
"It's very similar to Fish-Man Island, but smaller, and..."
Rat looked at the coated film above the island: "Fish-Man Island stays underwater, but this island should appear on the surface every year with the currents—how is this coating maintained?"
"And also..."
Thinking of this, he lowered his head and touched the green grass on the island: "How do these plants survive?"
From these small details alone, it was evident that the technology present on this seemingly ordinary island was absolutely extraordinary.
And one point that puzzled Rat was...
"If it's Vegapunk's technology, it would be reasonable to achieve these things, but..."
His gaze turned to a small mound not far away on the island.
The mound was entirely grayish-white, blending seamlessly with the entire island base.
And on it, Rat could see cracks, and within those cracks, large patches of sediment were visible.
Those were the marks of time.
"The outer island base looked the same just now."
Rat was confused.
He was, after all, a man of the sea, and naturally understood the significance of these marks—this island's existence was extremely ancient, definitely not something that had only appeared in the past few decades.
In other words...
"This island isn't an artificial island created by Vegapunk."
Thinking of this, Rat shook his head, feeling that the situation was becoming even more complicated.
An ancient island, clearly possessing some extremely advanced technology, appearing repeatedly between the deep sea and the surface during the "Water Seven" period each year.
"It all sounds a bit mysterious."
He murmured.
"However, it doesn't really matter."
Murmuring to himself, he stopped walking, his gaze fixed on something not far in front of him.
"Anyway, the place I'm looking for, I've already found it."
And at this moment, what appeared before him was a colossal structure.
It was clearly not a product of the same era as other things on this island—its connecting silver spiral metal plates and egg-shaped, streamlined structure exuded a strong futuristic feel.
And compared to the small island itself, the origin of this research institute was, conversely, very clear to Rat.
"Vegapunk's research institute is indeed here!"
Rat murmured, then decisively reached out.
"Buzz!"
A large door opened in the air, and Rat stepped into a different dimension, entering the research institute's range.
The research institute was incredibly vast, yet its structure was surprisingly simple.
Aside from Rat's current position, which was a huge main pathway, the surroundings were densely packed with mechanical pipes, and there wasn't even a single fork in the path.
It wasn't until the far end of that vast pathway that Rat could see a few doors, seemingly leading to rooms within the research institute.
However, compared to the simple structure of the research institute...
At this moment, the danger within the research institute was clearly considerable.
"Clank!"
The sound of heavy steel colliding echoed.
Rat could clearly see the objects moving inside the research institute.
They were silver-grey metallic robots, each about two meters tall.
They had no complex facial features, only a pair of eyes that glowed at this moment.
And on their bodies, Rat could see obvious weapon configurations—such as cutting blades on the outside of their forearms and holes in the center of their palms.
"That thing can't shoot lasers, can it? Vegapunk was already researching this kind of stuff over ten years ago?"
Rat was very suspicious that these robots might be prototypes of the 'Pacifista'.
Of course, that wasn't important.
What was important was...
"According to Mr. 4's intelligence, these robots will directly attack anyone who enters the research institute's range. They first attempt to drive them away, and if they don't leave, they will be eliminated."
"And they communicate with each other; once one robot is attacked, the others will gather in large numbers."
Rat recalled the information Mr. 4 had provided.
According to him, after he knocked down one, he was surrounded by a massive number of robots and barely managed to survive by relying on his ultimate move, 'Lassoo'.
"This won't do. I can't have anyone disturbing me while I'm treasure hunting..."
So, murmuring this, Rat gently raised a finger.
His gaze fixed on the nearest patrolling robot.
The next moment...
"Buzz!"
On that robot's neck, accompanied by flower petals converging, a sharp, glowing hand instantly grew out of thin air.
Immediately after, Rat brought his finger down.
"Sky Slicer: One Slice!"
As the words fell...
The arm that had grown out of thin air instantly slashed down.
"Crack!"
It fiercely slashed at the robot's neck, and with the sound of steel splitting, the robot's head flew off abruptly.
"Thud!"
As the robot's head crashed heavily to the ground, Rat slowly withdrew his finger.
Then...
"Intruder detected. Guard DE144 damaged."
From within the robot's head came such an electronic voice.
But Rat didn't dodge.
He simply crossed his arms and quietly waited.
"Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!"
And with the dense footsteps, countless giant robots continuously surged out from the surrounding pipes and the walls of the main pathway.
Their numbers were immense; each held a different weapon, constantly converging.
"Quite a lot of them, huh?"
Rat glanced at the densely surging figures and chuckled softly.
"But it doesn't matter—if it's just about numbers, I'll show you how many I can kill!"
As his words fell, he extended his hand again.
"Sky Slicer: Thousand Cut Hundred Blades!"
Then, countless arms instantly grew on the robots in front of him.
Following this, countless sounds of slashing through the air and steel being cut continuously emanated.
"Boom!" "Boom!"
Continuous explosions and the sound of robot heads hitting the ground came.
"Enemy detected. Enemy location not captured."
"Guard loss exceeded 300... 400... 500... exceeding the limit threshold. Activating emergency protocol—'Activate indiscriminate extermination mode' to ensure the safety of the core research area."
And as such voices emanated from within the robots, those constantly being slaughtered began new movements.
"Buzz!"
They all raised their hands, and then...
"Boom!"
From the weapons on their bodies and their hands, countless cannonballs burst forth toward all corners, and the enormous roars and explosions almost indiscriminately covered a range of several hundred meters around Rat's position.
But it still had no meaning.
Because even if explosions occurred right next to Rat, the power of those explosions still couldn't penetrate the spatial barrier to affect him in the slightest.
Instead, the continuously growing arms continued to slaughter.
In just under five minutes...
The countless robots within the research institute had all fallen.
"Attack... ineffective... unknown... high-risk target... high-risk target..."
Sparks flickered on their bodies.
And Rat didn't spare another glance at these robots.
He simply continued forward after the last robot fell.
And beneath the mask, Loy's gaze could see the information about this clone body of his.
It was one of the several ability combinations he had already planned.
[Loy · Alas (Slice-Slice Clone - Rat)]
[Equipped Devil Fruits: Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit) LV3, Supa Supa no Mi (Dice-Dice Fruit) LV3, Doa Doa no Mi (Door-Door Fruit) LV3, Slice-Slice Fruit (Unavailable)]
[Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit): Allows the user to grow body parts formed by flower petals anywhere within their line of sight. The strength of the grown limbs is consistent with the main body's current physical strength. Unable to create internal organs such as 'heart' or 'stomach'. When limbs are destroyed, they disperse into flowers, and damage is reflected back to the main body.]
[Supa Supa no Mi (Dice-Dice Fruit): Allows the user to turn any part of their body into blades, with a hardness comparable to steel.]
[Doa Doa no Mi (Door-Door Fruit): Allows the user to hide in a different dimension and possess an external field of vision.]
The Doa Doa no Mi allows him to retreat into a different dimension, making his presence unattackable and undetectable.
The Supa Supa no Mi allows his body to become like steel, enabling slashing attacks.
The Hana Hana no Mi, in turn, allows him to grow body parts anywhere with the same strength as his main body, making his slashing attacks ubiquitous.
And the combination of the three created the current 'Rat'.
Just as Loy defined this clone body.
"He will be a... perfect killer."
(end of chapter)