novelnext Chapter 160 Deadly Drug
Chapter 160 Deadly Drug
Chapter 160 Deadly Drug
The rustling sound of pens gliding across paper mingled with the cheers of the crowd, creating the warmest melody on Fishman Island.
Artoria stood below the platform, gazing at the scene before her, her golden eyes filled with relief and joy.
Watching Princess Otohime busily taking autographs from everyone, and seeing the genuine smile on her face—a smile of joy at her impending dream come true—she felt genuinely happy for this determined princess. She whispered to Shiraha beside her, "Her perseverance is finally about to bear fruit. Such beauty should not be ruined by any evil."
Uchiha Hakuba nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the shadows surrounding the plaza.
Meanwhile, atop an abandoned sailboat on the outskirts of the square, Van der Deiken IX poked his withered head out. When he saw the stunningly beautiful pink figure below the platform, a morbid infatuation instantly flashed in his eyes.
He reached out his trembling hand, his fingertips gently pointing at Princess Shirahoshi, and uttered a hoarse murmur: "Target-Target Fruit, lock on—"
The next second, he suddenly grabbed a huge iron anchor next to him and clenched the crumpled love letter in his hand. A crazy light flashed in his eyes. As long as he let go, the anchor and the love letter would overcome all obstacles and hit Bai Xing accurately!
Queen Otohime, still immersed in the joy of collecting signatures on the high platform, looked at the growing number of names in the petition book, and tears welled up in her eyes again. She knew that her lifelong dream was about to come true.
At that moment, in the shadows, Hody Jones had already set up his poisoned sniper rifle, the dark barrel precisely aimed at the unsuspecting Queen Otohime on the high platform.
His eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light as his finger slowly pulled the trigger, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Beneath the light of the deep sea, a deadly arrow is poised to strike, and a tragedy that could shatter the peaceful dreams of Fishman Island is about to unfold.
Uchiha Hakuba's Sharingan suddenly contracted, instantly sensing the killing intent!
The air pressure around him suddenly dropped.
"Is the mouse hiding in the shadows finally going to show itself?"
A chilling killing intent lurked in the shadows of the coral reefs on the east side of the square.
That was Hody Jones's sniper rifle, its dark muzzle fixed on the unsuspecting Princess Otohime on the high platform. The moment his fingertip pulled the trigger, Shiraha's chakra suddenly erupted, and he appeared at the edge of the platform as if by teleportation, blocking Princess Otohime's path.
"call out--!"
The poisoned bullet, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, carried a deadly poison that could instantly kill a fishman, and shot straight toward Bai Yu's chest.
The bullet was made of a special deep-sea metal, its surface gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light. Bai Yu's eyes remained unchanged as his Sharingan precisely tracked the bullet's trajectory. He casually raised his right hand, joined two fingers together, and gathered a wisp of Armament Haki at his fingertips.
With a crisp "ding," it accurately caught the oncoming bullet.
The impact of the bullet made his arm go slightly numb. The dark blue venom slowly spread along the skin of his fingertips, but it was instantly repelled and dissipated by the chakra in his body, leaving not even a trace.
At the very instant Bai Yu blocked the sniper shot, Vander Decken's massive iron anchor, accompanied by a howling wind and carrying the crumpled love letter, hurtled towards Princess Bai Xing like a meteor.
The power of the Target-Target Fruit has taken effect. No matter what obstacles there are in the way, the anchor will accurately hit Shirahoshi. Perhaps with just this one blow, Shirahoshi will be seriously injured.
Seeing the anchor heading towards her, Shirahoshi trembled with fear. Her long pink hair tightened instantly, and her watery eyes were filled with terror. She couldn't even scream.
King Neptune's expression changed drastically. He instinctively tried to shield his daughter, but he was too late.
At this critical moment, a golden figure leaped into the air. Artoria raised her hand and pressed the hilt of the holy sword at her waist. With a clear "clang," the holy sword Ecalibur was instantly drawn. Golden sword energy swirled around the blade as if it were a tangible substance, radiating a vast and sacred power.
With a slight tremor of her wrist, the holy sword drew a sharp arc, and golden sword energy roared out, precisely striking the anchor's chains.
"Clang!"
With a deafening roar, the thick chain was instantly severed by the sword energy. The massive iron anchor, now without traction, crashed heavily onto the coral-covered ground of the plaza, creating a deep crater. Debris and coral fragments flew everywhere, and the crumpled love letter fell into the crater, buried by the rubble.
Artoria landed steadily, her golden eyes sweeping coldly towards the abandoned sailboat. Her holy sword pointed diagonally at the ground, and the holy aura around her grew even stronger. Her powerful Observation Haki had already locked onto Vander Decken IX, who was extremely far away: "A fellow without chivalry."
Meanwhile, Bai Yu tightened his grip on the bullet, instantly crushing it into powder, the pale blue dust slowly dissipating in the seawater. He looked up, his Sharingan's gaze piercing through the shadows of the coral reef, precisely locking onto the figure with the sniper rifle at the ready to turn and flee—Hody Jones.
Hody's ferocity had not yet faded. Seeing that his sniping was blocked and that the strange anchor attack had also failed, he knew that something was wrong. He immediately put away his sniper rifle, turned around and tried to disappear into the shadows of the deep sea to escape back to the lair of Fishman Street.
"Trying to run away?"
Bai Yu's voice was devoid of warmth, and his chakra erupted once more, moving at incredible speed, leaving only a black afterimage. Almost the instant Hody turned around, he had already blocked Hody's path.
Bai Yu reached out and gripped Hody Jones's neck tightly, lifting him high into the air.
Hody struggled violently, his shark-like teeth snapping shut, his hands gripping Bai Yu's wrists tightly, trying to break free. But Bai Yu's hands were like iron clamps, unmoving. The immense force made it hard for him to breathe, his face turning from pale to bluish-purple, his eyes filled with terror and resentment.
"Let me go! Uchiha Hakuba! You lowly human!"
Hody roared, his voice hoarse, filled with violence and resentment.
"You actually helped that woman who betrayed the fish-men race. You are my enemy, just like her."
Upon hearing Hody's roar, Queen Otohime's joy vanished instantly, replaced by deep heartache and sorrow.
She slowly walked down the platform, clutching the petition book tightly in her arms. She walked step by step to Bai Yu's side, and when she looked at Hody Jones, who was being held high and had a ferocious expression, tears welled up in her eyes.
Her voice was gentle but trembling slightly, filled with confusion and pleading: "Hody—I know you experienced pain when you were young, and you know the suffering that humans have brought to our fish-men race. I hate those humans who have hurt us, just like you, but that is not a reason for us to hate everything."
Queen Otohime's gaze swept over Hody, then turned to the still bewildered crowd in the square. Her voice grew increasingly heavy: "We fish-men in this dark deep sea are discriminated against by humans and trampled upon by the Celestial Dragons. I have spent my entire life collecting signatures, not to bow down to humans, but to allow our compatriots to leave the deep sea, to stand in the sunlight, and to have the right to live as equals with humans. I only want to end the hatred, so that our children will no longer live in fear and hatred on the cramped Fish-Man Island."
"Wrong! Utterly wrong!" Hody Jones roared, his eyes filled with even more intense resentment. Even with Bai Yu gripping his neck tightly, he still struggled to shout angrily.
"Equality? There is no equality between fish-men and humans! Humans are all despicable and selfish..."
"Cruel creatures! They only know how to bully, enslave, and slaughter us! Otohime, you foolish woman, do you think you can free us with a tattered autograph book and human pity? You're delusional!"
A crazed, twisted grin spread across his face, a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. His eyes gleamed with a fanatical, racist light: "The merfolk are a superior race to humans! We possess strength far exceeding that of humans, the talent to freely traverse the deep sea. We should rule this world, we should make those despicable humans our slaves, serving us. Your so-called peace is nothing but a betrayal of the merfolk's millennia of suffering, a desecration of our merfolk power!"
"Wake up, Hody!"
Queen Otohime's tears finally fell, dripping onto her white skirt: "Hatred only brings more suffering, only plunges our people into a deeper abyss! Look at our compatriots in the square, what they yearn for is not war, not revenge, but peace, for freedom!"
"Shut up!" Hody interrupted Otohime sharply, his eyes blazing with madness. "Those fools are blinded by your hypocritical peace! They don't know that only revenge, only domination, can truly make the Fish-Men stand up. Today, I'll show you the true power of the Fish-Men, and I'll show you how ridiculous your peace ideals are!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hody struggled violently, tearing open his shirt to reveal a whole bottle of deadly poison hidden inside. It was a forbidden drug that he had painstakingly crafted. After taking it, it could greatly enhance one's strength, speed, and recovery ability in a short period of time, but it would cause irreversible damage to the body, deplete one's life force, and make the user more violent and insane.
"What is that, Hody? No!" Queen Otohime's expression changed drastically as she tried to stop him, but it was too late.
Hody bit hard to open the bottle of the drug, and ignoring Bai Yu's grip on his neck, he drank the entire bottle of drug in one gulp.
The moment the medicine entered his throat, his body convulsed violently. His pale skin instantly turned an unnatural crimson, his muscles swelled wildly, his already burly frame became even more robust, his shark-like teeth grew longer and sharper, the whites of his eyes became bloodshot, his pupils turned a ghostly green, and he exuded a chilling aura of violence and raging power.
"ah-!!!"
A fierce and frantic roar erupted from Hody's mouth. His strength surged instantly, and with a sudden burst of force, he managed to break free from Bai Yu's restraints, crashing heavily to the ground. He immediately stood up, the ground around him trembling slightly from his power.
He cracked his stiff neck, making a series of creaking sounds, his face contorted in a maniacal grin, his eyes fixed on Bai Yu with a sinister glint in his eyes, his voice hoarse and violent: "Can you feel it? This is the true power of the merfolk!"
"Uchiha Shiroha, today I will tear you to pieces, tear that fool Otohime to pieces, and let all the fishmen know that revenge is our only way out!"
The power of the drug completely devoured his reason, leaving only pure violence and a destructive desire. His body was forcibly strengthened to the extreme, every inch of his muscle was filled with explosive power, and his aura was as violent as a ferocious beast out of control.
So what is the price?
Tragic news has arrived from the merfolk world: Hody Jones, a heretic who had been given drugs, suffered irreversible damage to his gonads, rendering him essentially infertile. Although his physical body has been tempered to the point of being incredibly vigorous, however—
The crowd in the square was already terrified and retreated in panic, their eyes filled with fear. King Neptune tightly protected Shirahoshi and the three princes, his face extremely solemn. Artoria also gripped the Holy Sword, ready to deal with Hody's attack at any moment, her golden eyes full of vigilance.
Uchiha Hakuba remained standing still throughout, his expression calm and unmoved.
He watched as Hody Jones, who had become frenzied and violent after taking drugs, slowly rotated his Sharingan, the crimson tomoe becoming even more profound. The air pressure around him dropped again, and an oppressive feeling far exceeding Hody's swept towards him like a tidal wave.
"Strengthening power?" Bai Yu's voice remained icy, tinged with a hint of mockery. "It's nothing more than a desperate attempt to prolong life by overdrawing on one's strength. How dare you challenge me?"
Driven even more insane by Bai Yu's oppressive aura, Hody roared and slammed his legs into the ground, his body shooting towards Bai Yu like an arrow. His swollen arms, accompanied by a whistling wind, slammed into Bai Yu's chest with enough force to shatter hard coral and even easily tear apart the bodies of ordinary Devil Fruit users.
Despite Hody's ferocious attack, Bai Yu remained standing still, without even moving a step.
Just as Hody's fist was about to strike his chest, he slowly raised his right hand, a dense wisp of chakra gathering at his fingertips. His crimson Sharingan accurately captured the trajectory of Hody's attack, and with a gentle block, he precisely caught Hody's fist.
"What?!" Hody's eyes were filled with disbelief. He could feel the power in his fist, enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, but Bai Yu's hand was like an impenetrable wall, not moving an inch. No matter how hard he tried, he could not move forward an inch.
A look of terror crossed his face. He tried to pull his fist back, but found that Bai Yu had gripped it tightly and he couldn't break free at all.
Bai Yu exerted a little force, and the power from his fingertips instantly suppressed Hody's violent power. Hody let out a painful scream, and the bones in his fist began to creak and crack, as if Bai Yu would crush them in the next second.