Chapter 97: Dragon Series Biological Weapon
Bikahi Island, Royal Palace.
The head maid led the way, guiding a short middle-aged man to the reception room.
Prince Elus sat on a chair with his feet on the table, fiddling with a very strange-looking Devil Fruit. The middle-aged man was well-traveled, yet he had never seen such a strange Devil Fruit with its circular patterns… It was the first time in his life seeing one!
“Prince Elus, pardon the intrusion.”
Suppressing his curiosity, this three-foot-tall short man bowed and greeted formally.
“Mister Max, no need to be so formal. Please sit.”
Prince Elus smiled and returned the greeting, ordering tea and fruit to be served to entertain this envoy from the Revolutionary Army, Reiz Max.
Given that the Revolutionary Army’s goal is to overthrow the Celestial Dragons’ rule, they are seen by the World Government as a major threat, criminals even more intolerable than pirates. Pirates can openly claim territories in the New World, but the Revolutionary Army has never exposed its base.
Similarly, aside from a few high-profile wanted members, the identities of most Revolutionary Army officers remain a mystery to this day. For example, Reiz Max, who is sitting in the reception room right now, is the infamous super gambler of the New World. He has never lost in decades since entering the casino world and is the idol of countless gamblers’ fanatic worship.
Yet such a renowned figure is actually a Revolutionary Army officer, a high-ranking one qualified to represent the Revolutionary Army in negotiations with potential partners like Prince Elus. He can contact the Revolutionary Army’s supreme leader Monkey D. Dragon directly, and this contact with the Black Prince was under Dragon’s direct orders.
Without his extra memories, Prince Elus would probably be shocked by Reiz Max’s hidden identity. After all, it’s really hard to imagine that someone like Reiz Max, who lives in the spotlight, is a Revolutionary Army member operating in the shadows.
This was not the first time Max had met Prince Elus.
The previous meeting confirmed the intent to cooperate, and today’s meeting would determine the specifics of the cooperation—or more precisely, the scope of the trade. The Revolutionary Army hopes to obtain supplies from the Eckmond Kingdom, some rare and hard-to-get precious goods, as well as large quantities of bulk materials.
“This is the list of supplies we can provide here.”
Prince Elus picked up a list from the table and tossed it lightly. The thin sheet of paper flew toward Max on the sofa like a frisbee. As expected, this unassuming middle-aged man, who looked somewhat comical due to his extreme shortness, had excellent reflexes.
He easily caught the paper with enough force to slice a walnut coffee table in half.
But then again,
As the infamous super gambler of the New World, he has frequented countless casinos, winning astronomical sums of wealth without being beaten to death on the street. The Dark World’s magnate “Big Wheel” Mapushi, the emperor of gambling who controls over a thousand casinos in the New World, once said he would teach Max a lesson, yet Max continues to thrive in the New World’s casinos, while Mapushi backed down and never mentioned troubling Max again.
Besides his unknown Revolutionary Army background, he himself possesses considerable skills, all concealed under the halo of the super gambler.
“……Grain……Gunpowder……”
The list wasn’t long, but a flash of satisfaction appeared in Max’s eyes.
Eckmond Kingdom… or rather, the Black Prince’s sincerity was evident. Everything on the list was what the Revolutionary Army needed: hard currency like grain, needless to say, plus guns and ammunition, wound medicine, and bandages. These seemed low-value with many sources available.
But the Revolutionary Army never minded having more; they only regretted having too little, which limited their expansion speed.
“Prince Elus, can these supplies on the list be provided long-term and in large quantities?” Max set down the list and cautiously raised the question.
“Large quantities? Of course not. Grain must prioritize our country’s needs; only the surplus can be sold. And Seastone… that’s in too high demand and must prioritize our needs first. But guns and ammunition, feel free to place orders. The royal family’s firearms company will do its utmost to meet your demands.” Prince Elus answered with a smile.
This answer was within Max’s expectations, and he had no objections.
After all,
For Prince Elus to go this far already showed full sincerity. Max naturally couldn’t demand that Prince Elus disregard the Eckmond Kingdom’s interests to supply the Revolutionary Army. The Revolutionary Army and the Black Prince were always just business partners, and he remembered that clearly.
“Is that the only issue?”
Seeing Max fall silent with no apparent desire to speak, Prince Elus pressed instead. “Mister Max, besides the standard supplies on this list, there are also some of our country’s specialties…”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about.”
Max smiled, his gaze returning to the list in his hand. Besides grain, guns, and such, there were two rather special items: “What do ‘Dragon Series Biological Weapon’ and ‘H2S mass-killing weapon’ mean?”
“Both are good stuff!”
Prince Elus grinned, revealing a mouthful of clean, white teeth.
He pulled out two prepared folders and handed them to Max.
The so-called Dragon Series Biological Weapon was originally a technology developed by Doctor Vegapunk, creating dragons—creatures that don’t exist in reality. Though not as powerful as in legends, they still possessed considerable destructive power.
Prince Elus was fortunate; among the technologies unearthed on Punk Hazard, this biological weapon production tech was the most complete, and overall less difficult than artificial Devil Fruit research. After Caesar deciphered Vegapunk’s cryptic notes, even scientists trained in-house by the Eckmond Kingdom could replicate production.
As for H2S poison gas, that was something Caesar had developed and could be supplied in large quantities to the Revolutionary Army if needed.
“Dragons……that……”
Max finished reading the documents, his eyes showing unconcealed surprise. “Is this real?”
“Of course it’s real. The most important thing in business is integrity; deception only brings short-term gains, while integrity builds lasting cooperation.” Prince Elus tapped the table with his finger, inviting Reiz Max. “Mister Max, interested in touring the Sokachio Family’s private zoo? A monster that spits poison was just delivered there recently!”
“It would be my honor.”
Max stood up.
Seeing Prince Elus’s composed demeanor, Max’s already high spirits grew even more excited. If the Dragon Series Biological Weapons were truly as powerful as described, they could greatly bolster the Revolutionary Army’s martial power.
······
Sokachio Family’s private zoo.
It was more a hunting ground than a zoo—a fenced-off forest behind the hill where the Royal Palace stood. The third king loved hunting but, as king, couldn’t leave Capital Arabica freely, so this enclosed hunting ground was created.
Later generations of kings didn’t inherit the third king’s hunting hobby, but the hunting ground remained. Prince Elus’s grandfather, the fifth king Sokachio, introduced many rare beasts, turning it into the royal family’s private zoo. Prince Elus often played here as a child.
“By the way, besides the dragons, is the other weapon not to your liking?”
On the way, Prince Elus didn’t waste the time and brought up a new topic.
“H2S poison gas……this weapon is a bit……” Max pondered before saying slowly, “Personally, I don’t like things like this.”
“What’s wrong with that? If you’re willing to procure guns and ammunition, why disdain this more effective weapon? Bluntly put, swords, guns—they’re all for killing, no different in essence from poison gas…… Is it your moral sense acting up?”
Max, with his short legs moving quickly, fell silent for a moment before shaking his head with a wry smile. “Prince Elus, you’re right. It’s just my personal morals. Poison gas weapons……I hate them. I feel that dying from poison gas is too miserable a way to go.”
“If you put it that way, the warden of Impel Down will cry.”
“Haha!”
Max couldn’t help laughing out loud.
Indeed!
Impel Down’s warden Magellan is a Poison-Poison Fruit ability user.
“But I understand your view.” Prince Elus admitted candidly, “I don’t like using boring means like poison gas myself, but undeniably, such vile weapons can play huge roles in many situations. Used properly, they can effectively reduce Revolutionary Army sacrifices.”
“……We’ll leave this matter to the leader and the others to decide!” Max exhaled. As a high-ranking Revolutionary Army officer, he couldn’t decide such major events alone; worrying by himself was pointless—better to wait for the leader and other high-ups’ opinions.
Amid this conversation,
Along a weed-choked path, Prince Elus led Max deep into the forest. Century-old uncut trees towered enormously, their dense canopies easily blocking the scorching sunlight above, casting large patches of shade below.
Then—
“Roar!!!”
A deafening roar unleashed waves of foul, stinking wind.
This immediately drew Prince Elus’s angry curse. “Shut your mouth! Didn’t I tell you not to roar randomly? If outsiders see you, I’ll skin you alive.” His cold words, sharp as swords, cowed the green dragon lying on the forest clearing ahead.
Yes,
It was a green dragon.
Emerald scales as tough as iron armor, wings folded but imaginable in their vast span when open, sturdy limbs and long tail, ink-green poison drooling between two rows of steel-fork-like fangs.
Yet this ferocious beast showed no arrogance now, meek as a hamster in Prince Elus’s hands for toying.
“I know I was wrong, Boss. I won’t dare again. Can you not skin me?”
The giant dragon let out a feeble plea.
“It……it……spoke?” Even this super gambler, who had seen countless big scenes in casinos, was deeply shocked. It could actually……freaking talk?
“What? Don’t like this thinking, speaking type?”
Prince Elus patted the green dragon’s chin. “If you find it cruel, we can provide non-thinking, non-speaking dragons that only follow simple commands. Of course, overall performance won’t differ much; it’s just that lacking intelligence……won’t match this thinking type.”
Max craned his neck, gazing up at the massive emerald behemoth.
Suppressing his inner thrill, he asked Prince Elus many questions. Under Prince Elus’s orders, the green dragon demonstrated flight, formidable melee power, and spitting poison that corroded rock and steel.
Besides green dragons, there were red dragons and black iron dragons—three types, each with strengths. Red dragons couldn’t spit poison but breathed fire; black iron dragons spat nothing but had scales tougher than green or red dragons due to heavy metal infusion during rearing.
Witnessing the green dragon’s power, curiosity rose in him. This unheard-of biological weapon…… Eckmond Kingdom had such things? Never heard of biological weapons before…… Was this a recent development?
Of course,
This curiosity didn’t hinder Max’s work. Feeling he had enough data, he stepped aside, pulled out a Den Den Mushi, and contacted his distant leader, Monkey D. Dragon. Whether to procure these Dragon Series Biological Weapons was beyond his authority.
His leader’s authorization didn’t cover biological weapons or poison gas weapons.
