Chapter 242: The Drug Testers on the Prehistoric Island
The first half of the Grand Line, on an uncharted island.
ROAR!
A thunderous roar shook the ancient jungle as a massive Tyrannosaurus rex stood over its freshly slain prey, clamping its powerful jaws around the carcass before dragging it back toward its lair.
Creatures like dinosaurs had long gone extinct on the vast majority of the world's islands, yet they continued to thrive on specific, prehistoric islands across the Grand Line—landmasses that had remained completely isolated from the rest of the world, preserving their primordial ecosystems.
Luna and her crew were currently anchored near one such island. Prehistoric islands were incredibly rare, and the flora and fauna native to them were considered priceless resources by the outside world.
Many decadent nobles were willing to spend astronomical sums to purchase a live dinosaur as an exotic pet, while various endemic plant species possessed highly unique medicinal properties. Even if a plant lacked practical utility, its bizarre appearance alone could often fetch a high price from collectors.
At this moment, Luna was sitting by a mortar and pestle, grinding and blending an assortment of strange plants like a witch concocting a potion.
Out on the open sea, a ship's doctor was just as vital to a crew's survival as its navigator. On this particular vessel, Luna served as both frontline combatant and ship's doctor.
Beyond her formidable combat instincts, Luna possessed a remarkably acute talent for herbalism. Over her years at sea, while she hadn't quite reached the level of a world-renowned physician, her self-taught skills were more than sufficient to handle almost any medical emergency the crew encountered.
"I say... is that stuff really safe to eat...?"
Inuarashi leaned in cautiously, sniffing at the murky concoction in Luna's mortar before instinctively backing away a few paces. His sensitive canine nose was warning him that whatever she had just made was going to be astronomically bitter.
"I don't know for sure, but it definitely won't kill you," Luna replied smoothly. "I've already tested the base ingredients; there's no fatal toxicity. So... which one of you wants to be the guinea pig?"
She shifted her gaze between Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. This wasn't a standard medicinal treatment; it was her latest experimental research—a specialized formula designed to allow members of the Mink Tribe to enter their Sulong form at will, without needing a full moon.
It was an established biological fact that every Mink possessed the latent capacity to awaken their Sulong form. However, the transformation was notoriously perilous; without the mental discipline to master that surge of power, a Mink would be completely consumed by feral instincts, fighting in an unhinged, berserk frenzy until they dropped dead of total exhaustion.
Furthermore, even the most rigorously trained Minks required the visual stimulus of a full moon to trigger the transformation.
From this, Luna had deduced that the Sulong transformation was fundamentally a biological mechanism dormant within a Mink's bloodline—one that simply required the right stimulus to activate.
If the reflected light of a full moon could trigger that catalyst, there was no logical reason why it was the only possible trigger. Theoretically speaking, as long as the chemical compound was right, a specialized drug could replicate the exact same biological response.
However, she only had a working hypothesis and lacked a complete formula. Consequently, she had resorted to trial-and-error experimentation based on classical herbalism. Like the legendary sages testing unknown herbs on themselves, she figured that as long as she methodically eliminated the failures, she would eventually stumble upon the right answer.
Of course, she wasn't immortal, so she steered clear of overtly lethal plants. Along the way, her failed Sulong experiments had accidentally yielded a few genuinely useful remedies—including an exceptionally effective digestive tablet.
"Meow... that looks like it tastes absolutely terrible..." Nekomamushi muttered, eyeing the paste with deep suspicion.
"You idiot cat, what are you talking about?" Inuarashi scoffed. "Since when have any of her experimental pills tasted good? Even if it works, it's going to taste like poison..."
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi immediately began listing out every single culinary and medicinal horror Luna had subjected them to in the past. Luna didn't mind their grumbling; after all, everything they were saying was objectively true.
This specific experiment could only be tested on members of the Mink Tribe. Originally, the three of them had agreed to rotate the testing duties fairly. Neither Inuarashi nor Nekomamushi wanted to pass up a chance to unlock a massive boost in combat power; if Luna genuinely succeeded in perfecting the formula, it would be an incredible asset for all of them.
"Whatever, I'll take it myself this time," Luna declared, scooping the paste. "My instincts are telling me this batch is the one."
"Wait!"
"Stop!"
Seeing Luna about to swallow the experimental mixture herself, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi lunged forward to stop her without a second thought. Turning toward the treeline, they yelled at the top of their lungs:
"Kuma! Get over here! We need backup!"
"What are you two yelling about?" Luna sighed.
"Safety precautions. It's better to have Kuma standing by just in case."
Kuma knew nothing about pharmacology, but his Paw-Paw Fruit possessed truly miraculous utility. As a top-tier Devil Fruit originally prepared by the Celestial Dragons as a grand tournament prize, its capabilities were nothing short of extraordinary.
Its conceptual repulsion allowed him to forcefully push intangible concepts out of a living body—including physical concepts like "pain" and "fatigue."
Unfortunately, it couldn't repel microscopic pathogens like viruses or bacteria, nor could it cure genetic diseases—a limitation that would become a deep, personal tragedy for him regarding the Sapphire Scales disease in the original timeline.
However, acute botanical toxins could be expelled. If Luna accidentally poisoned herself with a bad batch, Kuma could instantly perform emergency repulsion to save her life.
With Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit acting as an absolute safety net—combined with the naturally resilient constitution of the Mink Tribe, which, while not as absurd as a Lunarian's, was vastly superior to an ordinary human's—they had managed to survive countless reckless drug trials without any permanent casualties.
Hearing Inuarashi's shout, Kuma emerged from the dense foliage of the jungle, effortlessly shouldering the carcass of a massive, unidentifiable beast he had just hunted down.
Because Ginny had an impossibly black-hole-like appetite, the single greatest operational pressure on their voyage was food rationing. Whenever they made landfall on a resource-rich island, they made sure to stuff the ship's larders and refrigerators to absolute capacity.
Seeing the mortar in Luna's hand, Kuma immediately understood the situation. He set the carcass down and calmly pulled off his gloves, preparing himself to perform emergency medical evacuation.
This test didn't seem much different from their previous failures at first glance. However, both Inuarashi and Nekomamushi quickly noticed that the fur along Luna's arms had suddenly become remarkably glossy and sleek.
"So... was this actually just a fur-conditioning tonic?" Inuarashi asked blankly.
"No," Luna said, clenching her fist as crackling arcs of blue-white static electricity danced across her coat. "The underlying formula might actually be on the right track this time. The electrostatic charge I'm generating is significantly stronger than usual."
The Electro technique utilized by the Mink Tribe relied on intense friction across their fur to generate powerful static discharges. While this particular formula had failed to trigger the full Sulong transformation, it had proven to be a highly effective, temporary combat stimulant.
"Well, congratulations—"
RUMBLE!!
Before Kuma could finish his sentence, a deafening roar echoed from the towering volcano at the center of the island. A thick plume of black smoke erupted from the caldera, signaling that an eruption was imminent.
"An active volcano?" Kuma observed calmly, looking up at the ash cloud. "It seems this island isn't safe for a prolonged stay. Let's gather the remaining medicinal herbs. As soon as the Log Pose finishes resetting, we set sail immediately."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Just as the group turned to head back to their ship, the earth beneath their feet began to tremble violently with a rhythmic, heavy cadence—as if two titanic ancient leviathans were suddenly awakening from a deep slumber.
From one side of the island, a colossal warrior with a long black beard strode out of the jungle, gripping a massive round shield and a towering broadsword.
Simultaneously, from the opposite end of the island, another titan wielding a gigantic battleaxe and shield stepped into the clearing near the central volcano.
"Gahahaha! Brogy, you're as punctual as ever!"
"That's a given, Dorry!"
Dorry and Brogy. In the current era, most of the sea had already forgotten their names. But eighty years ago, those two names had been synonymous with absolute, suffocating terror across the ocean.
They were none other than the legendary twin captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates...
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