One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 59: The Rat, the Research Institute, and the Perfect Assassin!
In the deep blue sea, schools of fish chase the ocean currents.

Huge sea monsters would occasionally swim by, upsetting the reefs on the seabed.

And in this deep sea, an island floats quietly.

It is not very large and looks like an ordinary island.

But the fact that it can float and exist in this deep sea is enough to demonstrate its unusual nature.

In fact, at this moment, a faint, iridescent film is constantly flowing around the island.

This thin film seemed to block the water pressure, and at the same time, it seemed to help it avoid the attention of the surrounding sea creatures and sea kings.

It is like a loyal soldier—though its creators have not come for many years, it has been quietly guarding and carrying out its mission.

But at this moment, on this island that no one has set foot on for more than ten years, there is a figure on it.

The mouse walked on the island, quietly looking up at it.

"It's very similar to Fishman Island, but smaller, and..."

The rat looked at the coating on the island: "Fishman Island has always been underwater, but this island should be brought to the surface by the ocean currents every year—how is this coating maintained?"

"besides."

Thinking of this, he lowered his head and touched the grass on the island: "How do these plants survive?"

These details alone demonstrate that the technology on this seemingly ordinary island is anything but ordinary.

And what puzzled the mouse the most was...
"If it were Vegapunk's technology, it would be reasonable to say that he could do these things, but..."

His gaze fell on a small hill on the island not far away.

The hill is grayish-white in color, blending seamlessly with the rest of the island.

On it, the mouse can see cracks, and inside the cracks, large areas of sediment can be seen.

That is the trace of time.

"The island base outside looked the same just now."

The rat didn't understand.

As a man of the sea, he naturally understood the meaning of these marks—the island was very ancient and definitely not something that had appeared in recent decades.

In other words...
"This island is not an artificial island created by Vegapunk."

Upon thinking of this, Zishu shook his head, feeling that the situation was becoming increasingly complicated.

An ancient island, clearly possessing some kind of extremely advanced technology, appears every year during the 'Water Gods' period, moving back and forth between the deep sea and the surface.

"It all sounds a bit far-fetched."

he muttered.

"However, it doesn't really matter."

He stopped in his tracks after muttering to himself, his gaze fixed on the distance in front of him.

"Anyway, I've found the place I was looking for."

At this moment, what appeared before him was a huge building.

It is clearly not from the same era as the rest of the island—the connecting silver spiral metal plates and the egg-shaped streamlined structure are extremely futuristic.

Compared to the island itself, the origins of the research institute were quite clear to Zishu.

"Vegapunk's research facility is indeed here!"

The mouse muttered to itself, then decisively reached out.
"squeak!"

The door opened in the air, and the mouse stepped into the alternate dimension and entered the research institute's premises.

The research institute is enormous, but its structure is surprisingly simple.

Apart from the fact that the rat's location was in a huge passageway, the surrounding area was filled with dense mechanical pipes, and there were no branching paths in sight.

Only at the far end of that enormous passageway could Zishu see several doors that seemed to lead to rooms inside the research institute.

However, compared to that simple research institute structure.

At this moment, however, there are clearly many dangers within the research institute.

"Click!"

A heavy clanging sound of steel clashing rang out.

The mouse could clearly see the things moving around inside the research institute.

They were silver-gray metal robots, each about two meters tall.

They didn't have complicated facial features, only a pair of eyes that were radiating light at that moment.

On their bodies, the rats have obvious weaponry—such as cutting blades on the outside of their forearms and holes in the center of their palms.

"That thing can shoot lasers, right? Vegapunk was already researching this stuff more than ten years ago?"

The mouse suspected that these robots might be the prototypes of 'pacifists'.

Of course, it doesn't matter.

The important thing is
"According to MR.4's intelligence, these robots will directly attack people who enter the research institute's premises, first attempting to drive them away, and then annihilating them if they do not leave."

"Moreover, they notify each other, and once one machine is attacked, the other machines will gather in large numbers."

The mouse recalled the message given by Mr. 4.

According to the other party, after he knocked down one robot, he was surrounded by a huge number of robots and only managed to survive thanks to his dog gun "Rasu".

"That won't do, we don't want to be disturbed while treasure hunting."

So, in a low murmur, Zishu gently raised a finger. His gaze fell upon the nearest patrolling robot.

next moment.
"Buzz!"

As flowers began to gather around the robot's neck, a hand radiating sharp light suddenly grew out of thin air.

Immediately following, the rat dropped its finger.

"Air Slash·One Blade!"

Words fell
The arm that had grown out of nowhere was instantly severed.

"Crack!"

It slashed sharply at the robot's neck, and with a sound of steel breaking, the robot's head flew off.

"Boom!"

As the robot's head slammed heavily to the ground, Zishu slowly withdrew his finger.

then
"Intruder detected. Guardian DE144 is damaged."

That's what they heard coming from inside the robot's head—an electronic voice.

But the rat did not dodge.

He simply crossed his arms and quietly began to wait.

"Click!" "Click!" "Click!" "Click!" "Click!"

As the sound of footsteps grew louder, a huge number of robots emerged from the surrounding pipes and corridor walls.

They were numerous, each wielding a different weapon, and they continued to converge.

"There are quite a few."

Zishu glanced at the densely packed figures surging towards him and chuckled softly.

"But it doesn't matter—if there are too many, I'll kill as many as you want!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out his hand again.

"Air Slash·Thousands and Eight Hundred Blades!"

And so, countless hands instantly grew out of the robots again before him.

Then, countless sounds of cutting through the wind and steel being cleaved echoed out.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

A series of explosions and the sound of robot heads hitting the ground rang out.

"Enemy attack detected, enemy location not captured."

"The number of Guardians lost has exceeded 300, 400, or 500, exceeding the limit threshold. Activate the backup plan—initiate 'indiscriminate annihilation mode' to ensure the safety of the core research lab."

As such a sound emanated from the machines, the machines that were being slaughtered began a new operation.

"Buzz!"

They all raised their hands, and then
"Boom!"

From their weapons and their hands, countless shells roared and burst forth in all directions, the deafening roar and explosions almost indistinguishably covering a radius of hundreds of meters around where Zishu was located.

But that still doesn't make any sense.

Even though the explosion happened right next to Zishu, its power was still unable to penetrate the spatial barrier and affect him in the slightest.

On the contrary, the ever-growing arms continued their slaughter.

It only took less than five minutes.

The countless robots that existed within the research institute had all collapsed to the ground.

"Attack. Ineffective, unknown... High-risk target. High-risk target"

Sparks were flying off them.

The mouse, however, didn't pay much attention to the robots.

He simply stepped forward after the last robot fell.

Beneath the mask, Roy's gaze could see information about his clone.

That was one of several combinations of abilities he had already thought of.

【Loy Amos (Sliced ​​Clone - Rat)】

[Loaded Fruits: Flower-Flower Fruit LV3, Quick-Cut Fruit LV3, Door-Door Fruit LV3, Slice Fruit (Unavailable)]

【Flower Fruit: Allows the growth of petal-formed body parts anywhere within the user's field of vision. The growing limbs have the same physical strength as the user's current body, but cannot create internal organs such as a 'heart' or 'stomach'. When a limb is destroyed, it will turn into a flower and dissipate, and the damage will be reflected back to the user's body.】

【Quick Cut Fruit: Transforms any part of the body into a sharp blade, with the hardness of steel】

[Door-Door Fruit: Allows the user to hide within another dimension while retaining an external view]

The Door-Door Fruit allows him to enter another dimension, making his existence unassailable and undetectable.

The Quick-Cut Fruit allows him to move like steel and unleash slashing attacks.

The Flower-Flower Fruit allows him to grow a body of the same strength as his original form anywhere, making his attacks ubiquitous.

The combination of these three elements creates the "Rat" of this moment.

Just as Roy defined this clone.

"He would be a perfect killer."

(End of this chapter)