"Nightmare..."
Buck repeated the word, the muscles around his eyes twitching violently from extreme fear.
He wanted to swing his sword, to cut this boy who was pretending to be a god in half, but to his horror, his arm wouldn't obey him.
That tingling itch quickly spread from the back of his hand to his shoulder, then rushed into his chest.
This wasn't poison; it was an incomprehensible erosion.
"What... what did you do to me?"
Buck's voice was no longer as booming as before, but rough and hoarse, as if his throat was filled with sandpaper.
He looked down at his right hand.
The hand gripping the sword was undergoing a terrifying transformation.
His originally hairy skin turned dark and shiny, as if covered by a hard layer of keratin.
His finger joints not only elongated but also proliferated, with bone spurs abruptly pushing out of the skin at the joints, bringing out strands of black blood.
"Ah—!"
The intense pain made him roar involuntarily, but the sound was more like a Beast's growl.
"Don't make such an unpleasant noise."
Bai Yu picked his ear, wrinkling his brows in distaste. "This is evolution, a gift many would beg for."
"Evolution?"
Buck suddenly looked up, his left eye bloodshot red, while his right eye rapidly clouded due to the mutation, his pupil dilating into a bizarre vertical slit.
His thoughts began to dull, and the idea of "slaughter" in his mind grew stronger, like a wildfire consuming the last remnants of his sanity.
"Damn it! I don't believe in evil!"
Buck used his last ounce of strength, his left hand suddenly grabbing his mutated right wrist, trying to stop the power from spreading to his heart.
As a pirate with a bounty of over ten million, his willpower far exceeded that of ordinary people.
"I am Mad Shark Buck! No one on this sea can turn me into a monster!"
He roared, his muscles tensing, Haki surging into his right hand as if it were free, trying to suppress the restless black blood vessels.
"Quite spirited, aren't you?"
Bai Yu watched with interest. "Unfortunately, if it were a master with stronger Haki, they might be able to resist for a while, but your pathetic Haki isn't even enough to stick in my virus's teeth."
"Shut up!"
Buck's eyes were wide, turbid drool flowing from the corners of his mouth. "I'll chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!"
Even though his right hand had turned into a hideous claw, he still managed to lift the heavy greatsword with his strong will to survive.
"Die!"
This strike was powerful and heavy, carrying a foul wind, aimed directly at Bai Yu's face.
This was almost the strongest blow he could unleash before his sanity completely collapsed.
However.
Bai Yu didn't even dodge.
He just stood there, the mocking smile on his lips not diminishing in the slightest.
Just as the blade was about to touch the tip of his nose.
Swish!
A black afterimage exploded in the air.
It was Bai Yu's right leg.
His pant leg instantly burst open, his entire right leg transforming into a thick, barbed whip-like appendage that swept out at a speed difficult for the naked eye to catch.
Bang—!!!
A bone-chilling crunch.
Buck's hundred-pound fine steel greatsword, upon contact with the whip, shattered into countless iron fragments like fragile glass.
The whip continued its momentum, lashing fiercely at Buck's chest.
"Pfft!"
Buck flew backward like a broken sack, slamming heavily into the main mast.
Boom!
The thick mast shook violently, wood chips flying everywhere.
Buck fell heavily onto the deck, a large section of his chest caved in, and an unknown number of ribs broken.
But he wasn't dead.
The black virus frantically repaired his damaged body, while also completely destroying his will as a "human."
"Cough cough... cough..."
Buck lay on the ground, spitting out large clots of black blood.
His body began to twitch uncontrollably, his once robust physique now swelling, his spine arching high, tearing through his clothes.
"Why... why..."
Buck struggled to lift his head, his sole remaining human eye filled with despair and unwillingness.
He didn't understand.
He was just a ten-year-old kid, just a cowardly slave who didn't even dare to kill a chicken.
Why did he possess such demonic power?
"Why?"
Bai Yu slowly walked up to Buck, looking down at him from above.
At this moment, Bai Yu exuded an aura that made Buck's soul tremble.
It was the pressure of being at the top of the food chain.
"That's just how this sea is, Captain."
Bai Yu squatted down, reaching out to gently pat Buck's face, which had become half-human, half-monster. "The strong prey on the weak; that's the first lesson you taught me."
"It's just that now I'm the one holding the knife and fork, and you..."
Bai Yu pointed to the surrounding pirates who had completely turned into zombies. "You're just a piece of meat on the platter."
"Ho... ho..."
Buck wanted to retort, but only meaningless gasps came from his throat.
His consciousness was rapidly fading.
His last human memory was that night, boasting in the tavern that he would go to the New World after this job.
Now, the New World was out of reach.
Hell, on the other hand, didn't require a ticket.
"Roar—!!!"
With a roar that was no longer human, Buck's last remaining human eye was completely consumed by gray-white.
His body completely mutated amidst a teeth-grinding explosion of bones.
His original two-meter-tall body swelled to three meters, his arms became thick like two pillars, and his fingertips turned into sharp bone blades.
This was the product born from the combination of the Prototype Virus and the pirates' formidable physique—the Brawler.
"Good, this is more like it."
Bai Yu nodded in satisfaction.
Ordinary zombies were just cannon fodder, but this Brawler, transformed from Buck, had at least several times the combat power.
"Stand up."
Bai Yu commanded softly.
The once arrogant Captain now crawled clumsily from the ground like the most obedient hound, standing with lowered head beside Bai Yu, emitting a fawning whimper from his throat.
The surrounding zombie pirates, who were tearing at corpses, sensed the aura of their superior and stopped their actions, kneeling towards Bai Yu.
The entire deck was dead silent.
Only the whistling of the wind through the sails and the crackling of burning flames could be heard.
[Ding! Detected Buck's despair, astonishment value +200!]
[Ding! Detected the entire pirate crew's annihilation, Host completed the "First Kill" achievement, rewarding astonishment value +500!]
[Current astonishment value balance: 1880 points.]
"Only a little over 1,800 points?"
Bai Yu pouted, these pirates really lacked insight, providing too little astonishment value.
It seems he'll have to find more significant audiences in the future.
He wondered if Vegapunk's brilliant mind, five hundred years ahead of the World, could handle his grand gift.