"Y-yes. Back then, when I was little, Tiger-aniki and the others stayed on my home island for a while."
Gin simply watched Nami in silence. That bit of information still was not enough to make him believe her.
"A-and Jinbe and Hatchan were there too. Right, Hatchan's takoyaki tastes amazing. It's the world's greatest delicacy!"
Only after hearing this did Gin and Daz exchange a glance. Then they nodded and had Bellamy's group stop.
"Since you know Tiger and the others, we can't really keep making things difficult for you. However, our target is the Millennium Dragon. We don't need detailed information. Just tell us a general direction, and we'll leave."
...
After a round of negotiation, Gin and Daz led Bellamy's group of five away in the direction of Warship Island.
The place where the Millennium Dragon was most likely to appear was near Warship Island.
"Are they finally gone?"
Nami could no longer hold herself together and collapsed directly onto the deck.
"What kind of people were they?!"
"The Raijin Pirates."
Zoro struggled to sit up and leaned his back against one side of the gunwale.
"That was the name I could least afford to ignore or forget back when I was a bounty hunter."
"The world's number one pirate crew, formed by the strongest man in the world."
Sanji also struggled to sit his upper body up and lit himself a cigarette.
"I never thought we'd run into a group like that in East Blue."
"I'm sorry!"
Apis's little face was already covered in tears as she kept bowing and apologizing.
"This isn't your fault. In the end, the reason is that we're just too weak."
"Yeah, don't take it to heart, little Apis. By the way, there should be a doctor on your island, right? Otherwise, if these injuries don't get treated, we'll be in serious trouble."
While Sanji and the others were speaking, Luffy forcefully pulled his hat down.
Even though he had trained using the manuals Ace gave him...
He was still too weak!
"Nami."
"Huh? What is it, Luffy?"
"That takoyaki—does it really taste like the best in the world?"
Nami: "..."
Although the Straw Hats were beaten badly in this battle, they also gained astonishing growth because of it.
After recovering from their injuries, the group continued onward toward the Grand Line.
As for Gin's side, they eventually obtained the remains of the Millennium Dragon near Warship Island and brought them back to the Raijin Pirates.
They were handed over to the most renowned genius doctor currently on Raijin Island, Chopper, so he could analyze and experiment on the Millennium Dragon's remains.
In the original timeline, Chopper only began studying medicine under Kureha in 1514.
Roy, however, brought him back to Raijin Island in 1509, where he studied alongside Kuma and many famous doctors.
Roy had also specially moved over the entire collection of books from the South Blue's "Bird Kingdom," the Torino Kingdom, for them to study.
As a result, Chopper, who had studied medicine for eleven years, had advanced far beyond his original medical skill.
On top of that, over the years, he had successfully cured several illnesses that were called incurable diseases. His reputation spread throughout the world, and he became known as "the Vegapunk of the medical world."
Based on the transformation wavelength frequencies of Zoan-type ability users, he also successfully wrote a method that allowed Zoan-type ability users to achieve seven-stage transformations using only their own strength.
The Raijin Pirates had no disdain for hiding these things. In fact, in order to publicize their own strength, Tamago and the others discussed it among themselves.
After receiving Chopper's consent, they publicly released the research results.
The result was easy to imagine. It stirred up an enormous storm throughout the entire world.
After all, Zoan-type Devil Fruit users only having three transformations was an iron rule, just like only being able to eat one Devil Fruit.
Uh... All right, excluding aberrants.
Although the special nature of the Raijin Pirates made many people dismiss that suspicion, doubts still remained.
So Laffitte directly invited Marco, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, to have a friendly spar.
The latter was very interested in the seven transformations of Zoan-types, so he gladly accepted.
After that, under the stunned gazes of newspaper reporters and spectators—
Griffin VS Phoenix.
The two of them put on a proper battle between Mythical Zoans.
During it, Laffitte publicly displayed seamless switching between seven forms right before everyone's eyes, catching Marco off guard despite his mental preparation.
And when Laffitte bit through a Rumble Ball, he pushed the battle to its highest climax.
The spectators, reporters, and Marco himself would never forget what kind of astonishing power Laffitte's griffin rampage form unleashed!
Putting aside the enhancement to his physical body, in terms of the special powers of a Mythical Zoan, it truly stirred the winds and clouds. Whether it was the sky, the ocean, or the weather, the changes were entirely at his command.
Downpours, lightning, typhoons, and other forces of nature were wielded by Laffitte in his rampage form as easily as moving his own limbs, leaving Marco battered and disheveled.
One had to know that the final rampage form of the Human-Human Fruit possessed the power to defeat CP9 with a single palm strike.
And when a Mythical Zoan reached rampage form, that kind of power was, well...
It was only thanks to his phoenix's special ability to revive from the ashes that Marco did not lose.
In the end, this spar ended in a draw.
As for Marco, he received a few not-very-important gifts as thanks for participating in the spar.
They were just a few Rumble Balls.
Thus, the world completely believed in the existence of seven-stage transformations for Zoans, as well as the final transformation—rampage form.
However, the consequence was that countless Zoan-type ability users began craving the Raijin Pirates' method for attaining seven-stage transformations, as well as that tiny Rumble Ball.
Even the Marines were faintly tempted.
However, what they coveted was the inventor who created these results—the genius doctor, Tony Tony Chopper.
Two hours after the spar between Laffitte and Marco, Chopper's information was placed on the Five Elders' desk.
Drum Island's snow monster.
A reindeer who had eaten the Human-Human Fruit...
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]