Chapter 114: The Secret of the Frenzy
Luo Han paused, turning back toward Spoon-jie, puzzled. "What is it, Spoon-jie?"
She held out a small blade of grass and said, "Take a look. Can you tell what's special about it?"
Luo Han accepted the plant. At first glance, it looked like any ordinary grass, but on closer inspection… there was something odd. At the tip of the leaf sat a tiny, round fruit. If you weren't paying close attention, you'd never notice it.
"Doesn't seem special to me."
"Smell it. You'll understand."
Skeptical, Luo Han brought it closer to his nose. A light fragrance, minty and refreshing, entered his nostrils.
He rubbed his nose, a thoughtful look coming over his face. He'd smelled this somewhere before…
Then suddenly—his eyes widened. "Wait… isn't this the same scent we tasted in the roasted lamb today?"
"That's right! That exact aroma," Spoon-jie confirmed with a smile.
"Um… okay? So what?" Luo Han asked awkwardly, unsure where she was going with this. "I mean, lambs eat grass — it's not strange if the meat smells a bit like it."
Spoon-jie sighed. Sometimes this kid was smart, sometimes clueless. "Do you remember what happened when we first arrived? Those sheep charged us like maniacs. And these sheep only eat grass."
Luo Han blinked, processing the connection. "You mean… the sheep went berserk from eating too much of this stuff?"
"Exactly. I explored the island yesterday. Most of it is covered in this kind of grass. I noticed that herbivores here are far more aggressive and irrational — they charge at anything. Carnivores, though also frenzied, still show some level of reason. They can ambush, coordinate, and retreat. The one common trait? They attack anything that isn't the same species."
Spoon-jie shared everything she observed from her solo venture into the island.
Frowning, Luo Han looked again at the blade of grass. "So if we stay here too long, eat too much of this meat… we might end up like them — going berserk and attacking anything different from us?"
"Maybe I'm wrong. But just be careful, Luo Han-kun. The New World's not exactly peaceful right now. What if you lose control in front of one of your enemies…"
She trailed off, but the meaning was clear.
"That could get people killed…" Luo Han muttered. Then, more seriously: "I'll investigate tomorrow. If we don't find any clues about Wano, we'll leave. No point in staying here too long."
"Sounds good. I'll leave it to you… Ah, I'm off to bed." Spoon-jie yawned and headed toward her room in the cabin.
Luo Han remained alone on deck, bathed in soft moonlight. He stared at the blade of grass in his hand.
"Grass… scent… frenzy. This is getting interesting."
A smile crept onto his face. Then he turned and headed inside to rest.
—
By early morning, the sun had already broken free of the horizon and now burned hot above the treetops.
Luo Han stepped onto the deck, sipped some juice, and sneakily ate the cake Aishi had made for Spoon-jie.
Ignoring the impending wrath of the pastry's true recipient, whoosh! Luo Han took off toward the top of the island.
Rustle. He landed gently. The summit wasn't large — about the size of a soccer field. No trees, just open grass. If someone added two goals, they could probably hold a match here.
Plop. Luo Han sat cross-legged and extended his spiritual awareness, covering most of the island. Animal movements became clear in his mind.
"Let's see what this frenzied island is really hiding…" he muttered. "Today, I'm going to figure out whether it's really that scent that's driving the animals mad. If so, then we've got something to work with."
With a small grin, Luo Han closed his eyes and focused. His mind scanned not just movement, but specific internal signatures — especially that faint scent inside the animals' bodies.
In the forest below, a massive, four-meter-tall stag calmly grazed. From time to time, it looked up cautiously, alert to possible threats.
Nearby, a five-meter-long tiger silently stalked through the underbrush. Its steps were slow and deliberate, completely silent as it approached its prey.
Both animals were acting on pure instinct — until the moment they locked eyes.
Whoosh! The tiger exploded forward like it had been injected with pure adrenaline, roaring through the brush.
The rustling bushes startled the stag. Its body tensed, ready to flee. But just as it prepared to leap—
Its eyes turned blood-red.
The calm vanished. Snarling with rage, the stag lowered its head and charged straight at the tiger instead of escaping, its antlers pointed to kill.
"Spoon-jie was right… The cause of their madness really is that scent from the grass."
From atop the island, Luo Han had watched everything through his spiritual senses.
Before spotting each other, the animals acted entirely natural — full of instinct and caution.
But the instant they made visual contact, something triggered. The scent's energy surged in their bodies, clouding judgment, and all that remained was the urge to kill.
The tiger didn't sneak in like a careful predator. It charged without strategy, consumed by the need to attack.
The stag didn't flee like prey. It defied instinct and lunged forward in return.
"All of this… the moment they saw something different from themselves, the scent took over, affecting their minds — replacing reason with frenzy."
Comparing the changes in energy flow at the moment of confrontation, Luo Han now fully understood the secret behind the island's madness.
More than that — it sparked new ideas about his Kyoka suigetsu ability.
"A new door… has just opened," Luo Han whispered, his voice filled with excitement.
Until now, Luo Han used his ability mainly to manipulate visual and sensory data — creating illusions. Like when he used it to "speak" with Whitebeard from far away — it wasn't real sound, just manipulated signal data.
But now, this event had shown him something different. He realized he could reproduce the scent signal — the one that induced frenzy — and then amplify it, broadcasting it into others' bodies using his telekinesis, directly affecting their minds.
"If I do it right… I might be able to replicate the same berserk effect in my enemies!"
His eyes gleamed with anticipation. Then he frowned.
"But… if it's just the scent of the grass… it seems it takes time to build up in the body before it triggers."
(END CHAPTER)
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