"It's just a suspicion," Meiser said.
But he felt his intuition was probably correct—that thing was most likely poisonous!
The others fell silent upon hearing this. Having such a massive, toxic creature appear before them was certainly not good news.
"Let's go," Sanji said, glancing at Kin'emon. "No matter what, I can't just leave this guy behind."
"So even if that thing is poisonous, I'm heading to the lake."
With that, Sanji said nothing more and silently carried Kin'emon forward.
Zoro and Meiser followed suit, clearly intending to help Sanji.
Brook tilted his head in thought for a moment, then also said nothing more and quietly caught up.
Soon, the group reached the lakeside and got a clear view of the massive creature.
"It's..."
Watching the unidentified creature continuously spewing red objects into the sky, Brook exclaimed in disbelief, "What is it doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Meiser stroked his chin and said, "It's spitting Venom Bullets."
As he spoke, Meiser glanced in the direction the Venom Bullets were flying.
If he remembered correctly, that direction was... right in front of the research institute?
Thinking of this, Meiser furrowed his brow and said, "Luffy and the others over there..."
"Don't worry," Zoro said without turning his head. "Luffy and the others have Chopper with them. He'll definitely recognize that thing is poisonous."
So Zoro wasn't worried at all.
Hearing this, Meiser thought it made sense and withdrew his gaze.
"But why is this thing spitting that weird stuff?" Sanji stared at the strange creature that kept spewing objects and said, "It's a bit baffling..."
Could it be trying to poison someone with its venom?
Wouldn't that be a bit too inefficient?
"Although I don't know what's going on, it'd be best if it doesn't spit this way," Brook said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, it might damage my skin."
"Ah~"
"Though I don't have any skin to damage~"
"Yohohohoho~"
But Brook's laughter soon faded as he noticed the things the creature on the opposite shore was spitting were flying toward them!
"Hey!"
"Why is it flying toward us?!" Brook exclaimed in shock.
The others' expressions also changed, and they quickly darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the Venom Bullet attack.
"What on earth is this thing?!"
Looking at the still-writhing mass of venom, Sanji's face twisted in disgust. "It looks disgusting."
Could this thing still be alive?
"Not sure," Zoro said, stroking his chin. "It looks a bit like jelly."
"Jelly isn't like this," Meiser remarked with a slight twitch of his lips. Whose jelly is this brightly colored? It's clearly poisonous.
"Rather than jelly, I think this thing looks more like a part of a Slime's body," Brook said.
As he spoke, Brook looked up again at the small mountain in the distance that was still continuously spewing venom.
He felt that thing was quite similar to the Slime he remembered.
"You even know about Slimes?"
Meiser glanced at Brook in surprise—could it be that this world truly had creatures like Slimes?
How interesting.
"Yes, I once saw it in a book." Brook nodded and said, "The monster described in the book looks exactly like what we're seeing now."
As he spoke, a peculiar smile appeared on Brook's face, and he continued, "Actually, I quite like this kind of creature~"
"What are its characteristics?" Sanji asked curiously.
"Of course it has some!" Brook raised a finger and said, "This creature called Slime loves attacking women and can dissolve clothes with its bodily fluids. It's a shameless creature!!"
As if thinking of something, Brook covered his face and swayed, making Meiser's mouth twitch.
What on earth is this guy imagining...
"This monster's ability is too con... ahem." Sanji cleared his throat lightly, then continued, "Brook, remember to lend me that book when we get back."
"I would also like to see it!" Kin'emon chimed in.
"No problem, no problem~"
"Yohohohoho~"
Brook's face was full of smiles, clearly willing to share the book with these two like-minded individuals.
Listening to their conversation, a look of disgust appeared on Zoro's face.
These guys...
"What a bunch of idiots."
"What did you say?!"
Sanji immediately took offense—who was this Moss Head calling an idiot?
"Have you forgotten this thing is poisonous?" Zoro pointed at the dead fish in the lake and said, "With its toxicity, a single touch could kill you!"
Whether it could dissolve clothes or not, he didn't know, but it would definitely kill!
Hearing Zoro's words, the others instinctively looked toward the lake, and their expressions turned grim.
"This toxicity is indeed quite terrifying."
Meiser stared at the dead fish occasionally floating up in the lake water and said, "If we touch it, we'd probably die too."
Well, at least Zoro and the others would be poisoned to death.
"Then wouldn't the Samurai's body die too!" Brook exclaimed.
If the upper half of his body died... the whole person would be finished!
Thinking of this, Brook turned his gaze toward Kin'emon.
Kin'emon, under Brook's gaze, now wore an extremely troubled expression.
"If I die here like this... then wouldn't the young master..."
"Leave it to me." Sanji stepped forward and said, "I'll retrieve his body before the poison gas reaches it."
"?"
Brook was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Sanji in surprise and said, "Sanji, are you planning to go into the water?"
"Of course!" Sanji said without hesitation, "Since I chose to bring him out, I must take responsibility to the end!"
"Sanji the man, acts when it's time to act!"
With that, Sanji took off the cotton coat Kin'emon had created and walked resolutely toward the lake ahead.
"Leave the Slime on the shore to you all. I'll be back soon!" Sanji said.
"Let me do it," Meiser said.
"No, I'll go," Sanji replied. "I promised him, so it should be me."
With those words, Sanji leaped without hesitation into the lake below.
Seeing Sanji's determination, Meiser didn't press further.
But he didn't just stand by idly. He activated his Sharingan and carefully watched the water's surface, ready to observe the movement of the poison at any moment.
If the poison spread near Sanji, he wouldn't hesitate to use Wood Release to pull him out.
"Sanji, he..."
"Don't worry," Zoro said calmly. "He's an excellent swimmer."
Hearing Zoro's reassurance, Brook temporarily set his worries aside.
Meanwhile, Kin'emon trembled as he stared at the lake, utterly stunned.
To jump into a poisonous lake for his sake...
They weren't just making empty promises—they were truly acting on them!
These pirates were different. They were truly different!
"Alright, now we need to figure out how to deal with these toxic Slimes," Zoro said, glancing at the growing number of Slimes around them. "Brook, you go talk to them."
"Huh?"
Brook was taken aback, then stared at Zoro in disbelief. "What kind of nonsense are you saying?!"
"What kind of communication Technique could possibly work on monsters like these?"
He wasn't even sure if these things could be considered living beings.
After all... they weren't like the Slimes he remembered!
Then, as if he'd noticed something, Brook exclaimed, "These things can merge together!"
"They're even bigger after merging!"
"Merge?"
Zoro glanced at the massive entities that had fused nearby and frowned. "They can merge?"
Though he didn't understand how it worked, Zoro drew the long sword at his waist, ready to cut down all the creatures in front of him.
"Swish~"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
With a few swift strikes, he sliced the Slimes before him into pieces.
"Success!" Brook sighed in relief. "As expected of Zoro!"
"No... wait!"
Zoro's expression suddenly changed as if he'd realized something. "It's poison gas! Fall back!"
With that, Zoro quickly retreated.
The next moment...
"Hiss~"
A terrifying gas erupted from the Slimes Zoro had just sliced apart, spraying directly into Brook's face.
"Ah!"
"My eyes!"
"My..."
Brook suddenly stopped mid-sentence, then grinned.
"Ah~"
"That's right, I don't have eyes~"
"Yohohohoho~"
Hearing this, Meiser couldn't help but show a resigned expression. Even in a situation like this, he was still fooling around.
"You two, hurry up and deal with that thing," Meiser said, pointing at the Slime that had appeared behind them.
He didn't want to be touched by these strange creatures.
Even if they couldn't kill him, he found them disgusting.
"I'd like to," Zoro said with a headache. "But these things just won't die."
His earlier strikes hadn't held back, yet they couldn't kill these liquid-like creatures.
Meiser frowned upon hearing this. "They can't be killed..."
Come to think of it, Slimes really are tenacious creatures.
As long as their core isn't shattered, they won't die!
Thinking this, Meiser glanced at the creature on the opposite shore, which had already shrunk considerably in size.
"Is the core over there..."
If it really was there, he could try to shatter that thing's core!
But after observing for a while, Meiser gave up, because he simply couldn't see anything resembling a Slime core.
That meant there was no way to kill it by destroying its core.
With that thought, Meiser withdrew his gaze.
Then, Meiser noticed some changes on the lake's surface.
"The poison has already spread over here," Meiser frowned. "It seems Sanji doesn't have much time left."
If he couldn't come up in time, Sanji would be poisoned to death!
Thinking this, Meiser prepared to take action. Once he realized Sanji couldn't return in time, he would pull him up.
After hearing Meiser's words, Kin'emon's face turned grim.
He had to be quick...
Otherwise, both his body and this gentleman would die!!
"These things really do look like jelly..." Zoro glanced at the increasing number of Slimes and said, "Brook, why don't you eat and digest them."
"Huh?"
"No way!" Brook protested. "And can you stop saying things that sound like you're bullying a child? I'm 70 years older than you!"
"Oh~"
"Sorry, old man~"
"Who are you calling old man?!"
"I'm full of life right now, I'm not old at all..."
Before Brook could finish, he heard Kin'emon, who was standing beside Meiser, let out a scream, his expression as if he had been attacked by something terrifying.
"?!"
Brook stared blankly at Kin'emon and asked, "Mr. Samurai, what's wrong?"
"It hurts!!"
"Ah... no, it doesn't hurt at all, it's just itchy..."
"Is it hurting or not hurting...?"
"Idiot, of course it hurts," Meiser said helplessly. "It's just that this guy likes to act tough."
Although he didn't know what was going on with this samurai, he could tell that he was indeed someone who liked to act tough.
After all... he had been insisting he wasn't cold the whole way.
Shaking his head, Meiser turned his gaze back to the water's surface and continued, "Probably something attacked the upper half of his body."
"What?!"
Brook's expression changed. "Could something have happened to Sanji?"
"Probably not."
Meiser, who was using Observation Haki to lock onto Sanji's position, shook his head and said, "Sanji's aura hasn't changed at all."
Not only had his aura not changed, but there was also no sign of any more terrifying presence around Sanji.
So... Meiser concluded that only Kin'emon had been attacked.
"Then his body must have been bitten by a shark," Zoro said, glancing at Kin'emon.
What an unlucky guy.
"By a shark..."
Brook looked at Kin'emon, momentarily at a loss for words.
This guy... isn't he just a bit too unlucky?
"I hope Sanji finds his upper half soon," Meiser said. "Otherwise, he might get bitten to death."
If the upper half were killed... he'd probably die entirely!
"It seems this guy can't use Armament Haki," Brook remarked.
"Even if he could, he wouldn't be able to use it now," Zoro said, glancing at Kin'emon writhing in pain on the ground. "Don't forget his body is in the water."
Activating Armament Haki requires stamina, and Ability Users gradually weaken in seawater.
So in this situation, the opponent likely couldn't use Armament Haki.
Hearing this, a flicker of pity crossed Brook's eyes.
"What a poor fellow..."
He could only hope Sanji would find this guy's body sooner, so he wouldn't be bitten to death by sharks.
"Ah!"
"Damn it, let go of my body!" Kin'emon screamed. "I..."
"Ah!"
Brook: ...
How brutal!