Chapter 24 — The Dragon Army
The Tyrannosaurus Rex suddenly stopped moving.
Shinji Ikari immediately sensed something strange in the air.
All around them, distant roars echoed through the jungle. Even the pterosaurs flying overhead avoided this area completely.
The Tyrannosaurus slowly stepped backward.
Its eyes were filled with pure, instinctive fear.
"Leaving already?" Shinji said, patting the dinosaur's massive paw."Relax, little guy. You brought me all this way. Later I'll give you an island of your own."
The Tyrannosaurus whimpered and fled without hesitation.
Even the Triceratops carrying the Marines stopped moving.
One by one, they began retreating as well.
Koby frowned.
"This must be where they gather."
"I've been wondering something… according to intelligence, there should be thousands of pirates on Hidden Dragon Island."
"But we haven't seen a single one."
"Where are they?"
Helmeppo tried to stay optimistic.
"Maybe they're overconfident. Maybe they think we'd never get past all these dinosaurs."
The Marines exchanged uneasy glances.
Were the pirates arrogant?
Or were they preparing something else?
Normally, pirates—no matter how strong—wouldn't openly challenge the Navy.
Unless they had the backing of the Seven Warlords or the strength of the Four Emperors.
"Shh," Shinji suddenly whispered.
"I can feel something… anger."
Everyone instantly fell silent.
Shinji's voice grew serious.
"From here on, slow down."
"Climb the trees."
"We move forward through the canopy."
Shinji leapt onto a massive tree branch.
The Marines followed, jumping from tree to tree carefully.
Twenty minutes later—
They finally reached the edge of a massive mountain crack.
When they looked down—
Disgust filled their faces.
The mountain at the center of the island was completely hollow.
Inside were countless caves carved into the rock.
And everywhere—
Dragon eggs.
Hundreds of them.
On the wide stone ground stood enormous creatures with blood-red scales.
Each one looked different.
Some were missing claws.
Some had deformed wings.
Others looked half-formed.
Then—
A massive dragon appeared.
This one was different.
It had true dragon horns, four claws, and a pair of enormous wings capable of shattering rock.
The moment it appeared—
All the other incomplete dragons knelt.
They roared in submission.
"They're angry…" Shinji murmured.
He felt it clearly.
A powerful emotion echoing through his mind.
Only now, seeing them up close, did he understand.
These broken dragons weren't just monsters.
They were filled with rage.
The complete dragon roared again.
At that moment—
The dragon eggs began cracking.
One egg split open.
Inside was a creature with a human head and dragon body.
Another egg produced a dragon with human arms.
Many of the hatchlings still carried traces of humanity.
Then—
A figure appeared.
An old blond man with a mechanical arm.
Behind him were mechanical boosters and multiple metal limbs.
Each arm carried chemical containers.
As he poured a strange liquid onto the mutated creatures—
The human traits vanished.
The dragon with human arms lost them.
The creature with the human head collapsed and died instantly.
Shinji's eyes darkened.
The chemical removed human characteristics.
Which meant—
These people had been injected with dragon mutation serum long before they hatched.
But most of the experiments failed.
That was why the air was filled with endless anger and despair.
Thousands of pirates had been turned into experimental subjects.
Hidden Dragon Island had once been named for its dinosaurs.
But now—
It was becoming a true island of dragons.
If every egg came from a human…
Then there were thousands of dragons born from hatred.
Shinji felt a deep sense of disgust.
No wonder no pirates had escaped the island.
They hadn't left—
They had been used.
"Hahahahaha!"
The blond scientist burst into manic laughter.
"My children!"
"Rise!"
"I've finally perfected the serum closest to perfection!"
"It's time for you to appear on the stage!"
"This is the Golden Age that Lola never lived to see!"
"He was supposed to bring back the Storm Shell and reunite with us…"
"But instead he became another corpse in the sea!"
Mechanical arms extended from the scientist's body as he laughed wildly.
Shinji realized something.
Even in the first half of the Grand Line, there were scientists capable of terrifying experiments.
This was madness.
Pure madness.
"Bring out the remaining test subjects!"
The Marines could no longer see clearly.
They pulled out binoculars.
Shinji, however, could see everything with his own eyes.
Perhaps the Life Fruit had sharpened his senses.
Inside the hollow mountain—
Another cave opened deeper within.
A cart rolled out from it.
Several guards pushed it forward.
Inside the cart—
Hundreds of prisoners were locked in cages.
Judging from their clothing, they were pirates.
But different from the guards.
Shinji immediately recognized them.
They carried the same pirate flag as Lola.
Even the blond scientist himself.
It seemed that the pirates Lola once defeated had become victims.
Only his closest followers had been kept alive—
To assist in the experiments.
That was the law of the sea.
The strong ruled.
The weak were devoured.
The scientist threw his head back and laughed.
"Failures are inevitable!"
"But soon you will become the proud winners!"
"I have pterosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, and even materials stolen from Vegapunk's laboratory!"
"The Flame Dragons created from blood factors!"
"Let's see who the greatest scientist in the world really is!"
"Vegapunk?!"
"I am greater than him!"
"I created the first creature that never existed before—"
"A dragon!"
His laughter echoed painfully through the cavern.
Shinji narrowed his eyes.
There had been a dragon on Punk Hazard in the future.
Names like Caesar, Queen, and Judge flashed through his mind.
It seemed many scientists had once worked alongside Vegapunk—
And later turned against him.
This blond madman was likely one of them.
"What do we do, Shinji?" Koby whispered nervously.
Shinji picked up a Den Den Mushi and disabled the speaker before speaking.
On the other side, Garp's voice answered lazily.
"Brat, did you find their base?"
"Yes," Shinji replied.
"I have two pieces of news."
"One good."
"One bad."
"Just say it already!" Garp snapped.
Shinji exhaled slowly.
"The good news is… our real enemies are probably only a few dozen people."
"The bad news…"
"The enemies we expected have already turned into something else."
"They've become dragons."
"Real ones."
Before Garp could reply—
A deafening roar erupted from the mountain.
"Go!"
"Show the world your majesty!"
"Claim the skies!"
"Burn the earth!"
"Let the world remember my name—Thakri!"
The cages were opened.
The imprisoned pirates were doused with dark blue chemicals.
Then—
They transformed.
Wings burst open.
They leapt into the sky.
Their roars echoed like thunder.
Flames erupted from their mouths—
Burning the ground below.
"Go!"
"Destroy those Marines!"
"Thousands of failed dragons!"
"Hundreds of real dragons!"
"You will become my invincible Dragon Army!"
"This will be the Frenzy of a Thousand Dragons!"
(End of Chapter)
✨If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/TofuChan
Where you can read Extra Advance Chaters
Bonus Chapter For Every 100 Power Stones
Lets hit the goal of 300 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters 💕
New Novel is out 🎉❤️Check it out and add it to your collection also,
There is a 20% discount For 4 days on Patreon