Chapter 540: Orochimaru's Experiment Ranking
"It's really too much to say!"
Watching the battle ignite below after just a few words, Kizaru grunted and leaped away.
Kizaru had more pressing matters so he let Akainu fight for now.
During his leap, Kizaru didn't dare move too quickly due to the black tide death aura.
Getting hit by too much black gas at once would be overwhelming without timely buffering.
Whoosh!
A series of slashes cut through the surrounding black tide, advancing a distance before being eroded and dissipated by the tide.
After moving forward a bit, Kizaru spotted another battlefield.
Two figures were locked in combat.
One wielded a pair of swords with eight arms, unleashing countless ferocious slashes.
The other, a fishman, controlled a swarm of large sharks formed from water to counter the attacks.
Kizaru recognized both figures.
One was Higuma, a prominent figure in the Beasts Pirates with a bounty of 1.43 billion Berries.
The other was Jinbei, captain of the Sun Pirates, who had risen to fame in recent years as a sea hero with a bounty of 810 million Berries.
Both were high-priority targets for the Marines.
Higuma, in particular, was clearly ambitious.
His former second-in-command, the muscle demon Kanika, had joined the Beasts Pirates with Higuma but suddenly left.
When she reemerged, she had transformed into Riki of the Yamata Sect. (Riki is Power/Force/Strength Energy. I don't know if Riki is mistranslation in mtl as I don't have raw chapters)
Riki was now the only female among the Yamata Sect's leaders and the only one with a bounty.
Even as Riki, it was clear to keen observers that she maintained ties with the Beasts Pirates, or at least with Higuma.
She had provided Higuma with significant advantages.
Much of Higuma's rapid growth in strength was due to Riki's influence.
Just months ago, Higuma had been a single-sword user, but now he wielded a dual-sword style.
Kizaru observed Higuma's eight powerful arms, six of which were empty, with only two hands crossed in slashing motions.
The sight made Kizaru pause in midair and touch his chin.
It seemed Kanika had been planning for Higuma back then.
Higuma was truly an ambitious figure.
Kizaru didn't need to guess to know that Higuma's acquisition of the eight-armed ape Mythical Beast fruit was likely due to Kaniga's guidance.
What an insidious careerist!
Then there was Jinbei, the sea hero, whose God Killer Equipment was called the Mad Shark Funeral.
Could he have obtained it through connections?
Kizaru recalled Tiger's highly dangerous Mythical Beast, the sea monster Kraken.
He'd heard Kraken had a good relationship with Tiger.
Was Jinbei another one with insider connections?
The more Kizaru thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
They were all schemers! He was so jealous!
"Hand over your God Killer Equipment, Jinbei! I'll sweeten the deal, I have connections to convince the Yamata Sect to protect Fish-Man Island." Higuma said.
"How about it?"
As Kizaru grumbled inwardly, Higuma swiftly swung his dual blades, delivering powerful, heavy slashes toward Jinbei.
While attacking, he continued to negotiate with Jinbei.
Jinbei's pupils narrowed slightly at the mention of the Yamata Sect.
But he quickly refused.
"There's no need to bring up such things. If you want it, show your strength!" Jinbei said.
In Jinbei's view, the God Killer Equipment in his hand was vital in protecting Fish-Man Island.
How could he surrender it so easily?
Besides, how could he trust Higuma's empty promises?
Jinbei snorted, spoke no further, straightened his stance, and swung his fist.
His right fist bore a sharp, gleaming jab, resembling a shark's teeth.
With Jinbei's punch, a massive water column, several meters thick, erupted from his fist.
After advancing about ten meters, the column split.
Countless water-formed mad sharks burst from the column, swarming through the air to chase and bite Higuma.
Though on land, they moved as if swimming in the sea.
Was it really that simple?
Seeing the mad sharks attack again, Higuma's heart sank.
He had entered the black tide hoping to fish in troubled waters and seize the ultimate God Killer Equipment amid the chaos.
But upon entering, he realized the first step wasn't easy.
The black tide was terrifying.
The closer one got to the center, the denser it became.
Worse, it mixed with the air.
Breathing it was akin to inhaling poison.
Of course, as a strong warrior, holding his breath for a long time wasn't an issue.
Even ordinary people could train to hold their breath for several minutes, up to twelve.
For a monster like Higuma, it was even less of a problem.
But holding one's breath during an intense battle was troublesome.
Fortunately, Higuma's Mythical Beast power could counteract the death aura invading his body.
Even so, at this rate, reaching the central battlefield would leave him too drained to capitalize on the chaos.
Thus, Higuma had targeted Jinbei, the great pirate with the God Killer Equipment, Mad Shark Funeral.
If persuasion failed, he would use force.
Higuma's current combat power surpassed Jinbei's.
With Riki Kanika's help, he had secured a qualification for a level-four experiment.
Orochimaru's experiments were ranked from level one, the lowest, to level eight, the highest.
Level-one experiments simply required being on Mythical Beast Island.
Level-two experiments involved a specific area, where anyone present became Orochimaru's test subject.
Level-three experiments involved Orochimaru's clones conducting solo experiments, exploring possibilities with the highest mortality rates, corresponding to B-level magic pattern users.
Level-four experiments made one the main subject of a clone's focused study, equivalent to A-level magic pattern users.
Level-five experiments corresponded to the Mythical King level.
Level-six was intermediate Mythical King.
Level-seven was master Mythical King.
Level-eight had only one completed product: the Mythical Demon's Return, the ultimate God Killer Equipment.
Riki Kanika had secured Higuma the highest chance at a level-four experiment.
Generally, outsiders could only reach level four.
Even the Yamata Sect's leaders were at level five.
Higher levels were reserved for purebred Mythical Beasts.
Orochimaru's energy was limited, and his primary focus was on purebred Mythical Beasts.
For the Yamata Sect, these weren't called experiments.
They were referred to as the Divine Grace.
(End of this chapter)