Chapter 9 Koby the Lab Mouse (1/1)
"Cough cough."
V coughed lightly, his expression a mixture of helplessness and subtle embarrassment.
"Although this guy does seem a bit unreliable... he is indeed our captain."
"Don't let his seemingly silly appearance fool you; when he gets serious, he's actually quite strong."
"That's right!"
Luffy immediately puffed out his chest, put his rubber arms on his hips, and loudly declared to Zoro:
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"One Piece?"
Zoro's ears twitched slightly, and the disdain in his eyes lessened a bit as he began to truly examine the straw-hatted boy before him.
A person who can say such things so frankly is either an ignorant madman or has a determination that should not be underestimated.
"Hmph...that's quite an ambition."
Zoro nodded in agreement, then proceeded to introduce:
"Roronoa Zoro is a three-sword style swordsman."
V then extended his hand to Zoro, formally introducing them:
"My name is V, and I am a prosthetic doctor."
"You're really a doctor?"
Zoro's gaze fell on V's hand, which was covered in metallic patterns. He raised an eyebrow and his tone was clearly surprised.
"If you don't tell me, I'm afraid no one will be able to tell?"
He hadn't forgotten that it was from this very arm that the terrifying cannon barrel and the sharp blade had just emerged.
"Haha~" V smiled slightly, "After all, my original profession is not healing the sick and saving lives."
"V is amazing!"
Luffy jumped to Zoro's side, pointed at Coby who was still clueless, and added enthusiastically:
"Look! Koby's hand got hard because of him! It's rock hard!"
"Hands... hardened?" Zoro blinked in confusion.
He understood every word Luffy said, but when they were put together, they left him completely confused.
At V's prompting look, Koby timidly raised his hands.
The pair of matte, dark gray prosthetic wrists gleamed with a cold, hard metallic luster in the morning light, and a subtle yet clear mechanical hum emanated from the joints as the fingers opened and closed.
"I... I just..." Koby opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but didn't know where to begin, his face filled with embarrassment and unease.
Zoro's gaze swept back and forth between Coby's hand and V's composed expression, and his doubts about this "cyborg doctor" rose to a new level.
However, before he could ask any further questions, a series of hurried and heavy footsteps, accompanied by a roar, abruptly interrupted the brief exchange.
"It's them! Colonel Monka!"
Tap tap tap tap—!
The sound of synchronized footsteps approached like the beating of drums, and a deafening roar shattered the slightly relaxed atmosphere on the playground:
"—How dare they act so recklessly at a naval base! They have some nerve!!!"
The naval base gates were wide open, and squads of naval soldiers in white uniforms, carrying muskets, filed in and quickly dispersed in a semi-circle.
They strode in, surrounding an exceptionally burly officer with a fierce, beast-like face.
The officer's right arm was not flesh and blood, but rather fitted with a huge, gleaming axe blade.
This man is none other than Colonel Monca, the ruler of Shells, known as "The Axe-Hand"!
"It's you bunch of damned bastards who don't know your own mortality—"
Morgan raised his terrifying axe-blade arm, pointing it directly at V, who stood in front of Zoro, his eyes burning with furious rage:
"How dare you shatter this Colonel's meticulously crafted statue of honor!?"
Behind him, dozens of naval soldiers raised their muskets in unison, the dark muzzles instantly locking onto the four people in the room.
A chilling killing intent spread like a tangible tide, and the air seemed to freeze.
"We're...we're doomed...Mr. V, we're completely surrounded..."
Koby was so frightened that his face turned pale, and his legs went weak uncontrollably, almost causing him to collapse to the ground.
Zoro's expression tightened, and his body instinctively entered a state of combat readiness.
Although twenty days of confinement and hunger had not broken his will, he was far from being at his peak at this moment.
The most crucial thing is—
His three beloved knives had long been stolen by that bastard son of Munka, Bellemere.
Without his sword, Zoro is like a tiger without its fangs, his fighting power greatly diminished.
"Hey," Zoro said in a low voice, leaning forward slightly and tensing his muscles, as he quickly spoke to V beside him, "This is a big problem. There are too many of them, and they have guns."
Despite having just learned that Luffy was the captain, in this tense and critical moment, Zoro instinctively chose to communicate with V, who seemed calmer and more unpredictable.
However, to his surprise, both V and Luffy remained unusually calm in the face of this hail of bullets.
It's even... a little too easy.
V even had the leisure to give him a relaxed smile: "What's the panic? Have you forgotten what I just told you?"
"In the face of true 'power,' quantity is sometimes just a pale number."
His tone carried an air of self-assured certainty.
But then, V changed the subject, his gaze falling on the pale-faced Koby, a calculating glint in his eyes.
"However..."
A playful smile curved at the corners of V's lips.
"Coby, you're in charge of dealing with this high-ranking naval officer."
"—Wh-what!?" Koby thought he had misheard and stared wide-eyed in horror.
V, however, did not give him a chance to refute, his voice suddenly becoming serious and inflammatory:
"I've investigated. This guy named Morgan has long since betrayed the Navy's justice!"
"He oppresses the common people and plunders their wealth; he is an absolute scoundrel!"
"Isn't your dream to become a righteous navy officer?"
"Now is the perfect time for you to take that first step!"
Before he could finish speaking, V had already kicked out, landing a light but firm kick on Koby's butt.
"Go, Kobymon!"
Koby's small body took off instantly, crashing straight into Monka's blade.
"Instead of running away, they took the initiative to attack!?"
Monka was taken aback at first, then a cruel grin spread across his face.
Without any mercy, he swung the giant axe on his right arm, creating a sharp gust of wind, and chopped it down at the waist of the flying Koby!
"Go to hell, you brat!"
"Aaaaaah—!!!"
Extreme fear caused Koby to let out a piercing scream.
As the gleaming axe blade was about to cleave him in two, his survival instinct and the countless training images that flashed through his mind made his body react before he could think!
Koby, who was in mid-air, raised his right arm almost reflexively.
The brand-new Iron Fist prosthetic arm was precisely positioned across the edge of the hand axe that Monka was slashing down!
Clang—!!
A crisp, ear-piercing metallic clang, far louder than the sound of flesh colliding, suddenly exploded!
A scene that left all the onlookers dumbfounded unfolded:
Koby's seemingly frail body actually managed to block Morgan's powerful axe blow in mid-air with just one iron wrist!
The immense impact caused his body to momentarily freeze in mid-air before landing steadily, only swaying slightly.
Monka felt as if he had struck an indestructible anvil; the recoil made his arm numb, and the axe blade could not advance even an inch.
"I...I blocked it!?"
Even Koby himself was stunned. He looked at the hideous axe blade so close to him, and then at his own undamaged, even motionless, metal arm. An indescribable shock and a faint warmth surged into his heart.
"What are you standing there for! Are you waiting for the enemy to twist your head off and use it as a football?!"
V's stern shout exploded behind him like thunder, instantly snapping Koby out of his brief daze.
Almost simultaneously, Monka's face, contorted with shock and rage, appeared before him. He clenched his left fist and, taking advantage of Koby's momentary daze, punched Koby hard in the temple with a heart full of shame and indignation!
Koby's pupils constricted sharply!
This time, his reaction was even faster!
His left arm, like an iron wrist, rose with lightning speed and was held horizontally once more!
Thump!
A dull thud resounded.
Immediately afterwards, the left arm that had successfully blocked the attack suddenly spread its five fingers wide, turning its palm into a claw, and firmly gripped Monka's fist, which he hadn't had time to retract!
Click!
A clear, teeth-grinding sound of bones cracking echoed across the playground, accompanied by Monka's piercing screams!
"Aaaaaah—! My hand!!!"
Monka was both shocked and furious; the intense pain instantly covered his forehead in cold sweat.
He desperately pulled his hand back, and in the instant that Koby was also stunned by his sudden burst of power, he managed to break free and stagger back several steps.
He clutched his visibly deformed and bloodied left hand, his eyes filled with disbelief, horror, and a furious rage at being humiliated as he looked at Koby.
"That damn bastard!!!"
Monca's voice trembled with pain and rage as he roared at the equally stunned naval soldiers around him:
"What are you all standing there for?! Shoot! Shoot them all!!!"
Bang bang bang bang bang-! ! !
The rapid, explosive gunfire instantly shattered the brief silence, and countless black lead bullets, like a deadly metal storm, rained down on the four people in the center of the arena!
"Luffy, the rest of the small fry are yours!"
Seeing this, V's lips curled into a satisfied smile. Koby's performance had already provided preliminary confirmation of his guesses about the effectiveness of the prosthetic body and the training chip.
Through simple observation, V can determine that Monka's energy level is at or above the 2nd tier, the same as Alvida's.
Now, with just Alvida's two arms transformed into basic prosthetics, combined with basic military technology training, Koby can suppress or even injure Morgan in actual combat.
The effect far exceeded his expectations in the written description.
It's very unscientific, but very powerful!
"Is the prosthetic body generated by the system inherently of high quality? Or is it that the 'special characteristics' of the arm, as Alvida's main attack part, were enhanced during the conversion?"
V quickly analyzed the situation in his mind, realizing that more conclusions would require further support from more practical data.
"Leave it to me! Rubber, rubber..."
Luffy laughed heartily. Facing the hail of bullets, he not only didn't dodge, but excitedly charged forward.
To Zoro's astonishment, Luffy stretched out his arm, grabbed the back of Coby's collar (who was still somewhat dazed), and pulled him back in mid-air like a kitten, tossing him to the relatively safe side of V.
Immediately afterwards, Luffy took a deep breath, and his stomach rapidly expanded and grew larger, like an inflating balloon!
"--balloon!!!"
In the blink of an eye, Luffy transformed into a round, bouncy giant rubber ball, completely blocking the way for the three of them!
Puff puff puff puff—! ! !
Bullets rained down on his rubbery belly, making dull thuds.
The powerful kinetic energy of the lead bullet seemed to vanish into thin air, easily absorbed and dispersed by its extremely resilient rubber body.
Then, under everyone's even more horrified gaze—
Puff puff puff puff puff—! ! !
All the incoming bullets were suddenly deflected at even more chaotic and unpredictable angles and speeds! Like an enraged swarm of wasps, they traced chaotic trajectories in the air, flying backwards towards the naval soldiers who had fired the shots!
"It's a monster!!!"
"My legs!!"
"Help!!"
Screams and cries instantly replaced the gunshots.
Some unfortunate sailors were hit by ricochets from their own bullets and fell to the ground, howling in pain.
The once orderly formation was thrown into chaos in an instant. The soldiers dodged the stray bullets flying everywhere in fear, no longer able to aim and fire.
The entire playground was instantly thrown into chaos.
End of this chapter...