Two months later.
In the first half of the Grand Line, the Sabaody Archipelago sea area.
On the Rumbar Pirates' ship, inside a cabin, Mr. Sephiroth, dressed in a white coat, stood before a wooden table filled with bottles and jars.
He held two glass test tubes in his hands, one containing yellow liquid and the other green.
He carefully tilted the test tube with the green liquid, pouring its contents into the test tube with the yellow liquid, causing the color of the liquid to change rapidly, turning blood-red.
"Hmm! Logically speaking, this ratio should be fine..."
While shaking the test tube, Mr. Sephiroth used his ability to create black bats, quickly forming a Bat Clone, and had it transform into its human-beast form.
He casually handed the test tube containing the red liquid to the Bat Clone, controlling it with his mind to drink it directly.
Boom-!
Immediately after, under Mr. Sephiroth's intrigued gaze, the Bat Clone's appearance and physique suddenly expanded, its entire body becoming filled with clearly defined muscles. On its surface, blood-red smoky clouds rapidly surged up, condensing into blood-colored ribbons that wrapped around its arms.
"Is this the awakened state? Strength and speed have increased significantly, and the perception and control of blood have also greatly improved... It seems that the Brook blood I processed using Lineage Factor Technology has finally reached the ideal state, completely suppressing the will contained within the Vampire Fruit... Next, my research direction will be component substitution without affecting the drug's efficacy!"
Mr. Sephiroth looked at the Bat Clone, which perfectly mimicked his physical state, a hint of joy appearing on his face.
However...
Before he could even be happy for a few more seconds, the Bat Clone directly dissolved and disappeared in front of him, leaving no trace!
Seeing this scene, Mr. Sephiroth couldn't help but frown, falling into deep thought.
Through his perception of the Bat Clone, he could clearly feel that the moment it entered the awakened state, the life force he used to create the Bat Clone was burning wildly!
Ten years of lifespan burned out in just ten seconds!
He wasn't entirely sure if this was a side effect of using the drug to artificially achieve the awakened state, or if this was inherently the awakened state of the Vampire Fruit...
"Hmm!? The situation is unclear, I need to obtain more relevant experimental data..."
Just as Mr. Sephiroth was preparing to conduct another experiment, there was a knock on the cabin door.
Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!
"Come in!"
Brook, holding a cane, sporting an afro, and looking slightly pale, opened the wooden door of the cabin. He smiled and said to the silver-haired young man inside:
"Yohohoho! Mr. Sephiroth, the Sabaody Archipelago is almost here..."
"Okay! I understand."
Hearing this, Mr. Sephiroth nodded lightly, giving a response.
To avoid idly waiting for the Rainbow Mist to appear, he planned to go to the Sabaody Archipelago, the gathering point of the Four Seas, to purchase some equipment and build a detector that could sense the appearance of the Rainbow Mist...
After all, some high-precision scientific research instruments weren't easy to come by, so he could only try his luck in the most prosperous Sabaody Archipelago in the first half of the Grand Line.
Ultimately, the reason he was so constrained now was primarily due to the lack of supplies and technical support from the Umbrella Corporation...
Immediately after, as if he thought of something, he spoke again:
"Before leaving, I'd like to ask for your help!"
"Yohohoho! You are a great benefactor to our Pirates, just say whatever you need!"
"Hehehe! Then I'll trouble you!"
As he spoke, Mr. Sephiroth picked up a large syringe from the table and showed it to the other party.
"..."
Seeing this, Brook sighed with a wry smile. He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and stood in front of Mr. Sephiroth.
Two months ago, Mr. Sephiroth suddenly appeared on the Rumbar Pirates' ship and informed everyone that they had contracted an infectious disease.
To save his companions, Brook made a deal with Mr. Sephiroth, exchanging his blood for the other party's treatment.
Mr. Sephiroth's medical skills were very high. In just a few days, he cured everyone in the Rumbar Pirates.
However, after the treatment was completed, he didn't leave immediately but temporarily stayed on the ship, occasionally drawing one or two tubes of Brook's blood for certain experimental research.
As a result, Brook now felt a bit scared at the sight of a needle!
"Hahaha! This is the last time I'll draw blood, you don't need to keep making a bitter face."
Mr. Sephiroth pulled the needle out of Brook's arm. After putting the large syringe away in an iron box, he patted Brook, whose face had become even paler, and comforted him softly.
Immediately after, he quickly tidied up the bottles and jars on the table, putting all those things into his personal space.
Having done all this, Mr. Sephiroth exited the cabin and came onto the Pirates' deck.
"Sephiroth, why don't you join our Rumbar Pirates!"
Upon seeing him come onto the deck, Yoki immediately waved at him with a smile and extended an invitation.
"Sorry! Although I don't dislike you, we are ultimately not on the same path."
Mr. Sephiroth smiled and shook his head, directly refusing the other party's invitation.
"Hahaha! Well, there's nothing we can do about that...!"
Hearing this, although Yoki was slightly disappointed, he didn't try to persuade him further, appearing very open-minded.
In these two months, he had already seen that Mr. Sephiroth had no intention of forming deep bonds with them. Besides occasionally coming out for some fresh air, he basically just stayed in the cabin doing research and rarely chatted with them.
However, Mr. Sephiroth's unintentional actions and the medical knowledge he displayed allowed Yoki to realize that he was no ordinary person.
Therefore, he extended the invitation, hoping to keep him with the Rumbar Pirates.
"The road ahead is difficult... Rumbar Pirates, live well!
If you don't go back, that whale at Twin Cape will keep waiting..."
After speaking, Mr. Sephiroth gave a mysterious chuckle. He spread his black wings from his back and flapped them twice forcefully, creating a rushing sound.
In the blink of an eye, he flew hundreds of meters away over the sea.
Yoki watched Mr. Sephiroth quickly disappear from view and inexplicably sighed with emotion.
"Hey! Brook, speaking of which, did our Rumbar Pirates narrowly escape a disaster before!"
Hearing this, Brook leaned on his cane and said with a smile:
"Yohohoho! Probably! Mr. Sephiroth's strength... is truly unfathomable! If he had attacked us when we first met, perhaps, we wouldn't have made it this far!"