"Cut!"
The powerful slash, like a fire dragon, burned all obstacles along its path to nothingness, mercilessly tore the earth apart, and finally even flattened the peak of a small mountain a hundred meters away before finally dissipating.
"Gulp, what a terrifyingly strong monster! Is this Lord Roy's true strength?" Judge was witnessing Roy's power for the first time, swallowed hard and decisively dismissed some unrealistic thoughts. At the same time, he felt sorry for the fallen Alliance pirates. If they had known that Roy had this kind of strength, they would never have dared to make a move.
"What an excessively powerful man!" Reiju thought to herself.
"The realm of the Master Swordsman is indeed unfathomable. The higher one looks up to it, the more unyielding it becomes. It is in front of one's eyes, yet behind one's eyes in an instant. I wonder if I will ever be fortunate enough to step into this realm in my lifetime!" The Kenkon was so moved that he wept bitterly. For someone like him who pursued the way of the sword all his life, stepping into the Master Swordsman was his greatest dream.
"Wow, amazing! Is this the strength of Master Swordsman? As expected, only a strongman like you is worthy of Famous Sword like Kikuichimonji." Black Hand Qi praised from the side.
"Haha, thank you very much, Black Hand Master. As expected of someone who has forged weapons of the Great Grade Sword level, this scabbard is just what I wanted." Roy was also very satisfied, finally able to unleash his maximum-powered Iai once again.
In fact, with Roy's level of swordsmanship, he could achieve a similar effect without a scabbard, but there would still be a slight difference. In battles between strong individuals, even the slightest error can lead to a huge difference in outcome; any subtle difference can determine the outcome of a battle, which is why Roy strives for perfection so much.
After thanking Black Hand Master, Roy turned to Judge: "Have you looked at the data in that chip? What do you think of it?"
Although Judge often appears timid and hesitant now, his confidence returns immediately when it comes to science, and he speaks fluently and confidently in front of Roy.
"How should I put it? It's strange. I always thought that the blueprint for life should be everything in the world. Now it seems that the world is indeed very big, and nothing can encompass everything."
"If the Lineage Factor modifies organisms from within, from the root of life, then the component in this Sea Stone called pyrobroin is an external trigger, a strong stimulating substance, or a catalyst for life."
"Creatures that are exposed to pyrobroin for a long time may grow to gigantic size, and their personality may even become more manic. In my idea, if pyrobroin is further concentrated and refined into a drug, it can give people great power in a short period of time, but at the cost of damage to the life source and a shortened lifespan."
Roy nodded inwardly. Professionals were indeed different; they had thoroughly grasped the information in less than a day. He had actually seen the materials himself, and even read the memories of the researchers, but he was still completely baffled. After all, such high-level knowledge wasn't easy to understand; the key was having a research mindset. As for Roy, his combat skills might be 100%, but his research skills were at most a 10—a real disgrace to his university life in his previous life.
After listening to Judge's explanation, Roy roughly understood that Judge's idea was to use a substance called pyrobroin from Sea Stone to create a drug similar to Pirate Kings deadly "Energy Steroids" in One Piece, which would burn life force to obtain a short burst of power.
Although the aftereffects were severe, Roy believed that this thing was absolutely valuable. When it came to a life-or-death situation, no one cared about anything else; only by surviving could there be hope.
Moreover, there might be a way to resolve these aftereffects. Roy looked at Kaoru, who was playing with her fingers with her head down. Perhaps the girl's ability was the solution.
"Judge, if there is a way to replenish the lost life force, or to add life force directly to the 'potion', wouldn't the value of the 'potion' be greatly increased?"
Judge looked completely bewildered, and after a moment of stunned silence, he replied, "Theoretically, that's true. However, vitality is too abstract. Are you referring to food that contains a lot of life energy?"
Roy shook his head, smiled mysteriously, stretched out his right hand, and reached out to grab the sea surface. A sea fish that was flapping and jumping around appeared in Roy's hand.
Reiju and the others stared wide-eyed. It was the first time they had ever seen Roy use this ability, and their awe of Roy grew even stronger.
Roy didn't say much, and handed the fish to Xun. The little girl took the fish with ease and began to close her eyes and concentrate.
Soon, a ball of white light radiating the warmth of sunlight was extracted from the fish's body, and the once lively fish instantly turned into fish bones.
Reiju was shocked. She realized that this unassuming little girl was the most terrifying person among Roy's group of officers. No wonder Roy was reluctant to let her fight in the last naval battle.
Judge stared wide-eyed, feeling the vibrant life force within the ball of light, and kept gasping for breath. "This, is this the manifestation of life force? It's amazing, it's incredible! Indeed, combining science with Devil Fruit abilities is the brightest future."
"So, can this be used in a 'potion'?" Roy asked.
"Of course! This is the purest essence of life, the most perfect raw material. With this, we can make a series of powerful potions such as life potions, berserk potions, and giantification potions."
Roy nodded in satisfaction. His Phantom Sword Grand Fleet had no shortage of troops and combat power, and possessed the potential to become a hegemon. The only thing it lacked was foundation. It seemed that this shortcoming would be made up for soon.
"Um, cough cough, Lord Roy, may I take this life force orb back and study it?" Judge was eager to begin his research.
"Uh, not yet," Roy sighed.
"Without my ability to sustain it, this life force orb will dissipate on its own after a short while," Xun said crisply.
Judge's face immediately fell. Roy comforted him, "It's alright. You should continue researching the Lineage Factor and the composition of this Sea Stone. Kaoru is making rapid progress. I believe it won't be long before she can make these life force orbs exist outside her body."
Roy wasn't making things up about this. The little girl was quite aware of the danger and was working hard to improve her abilities every day. Moreover, she was already quite talented, so compared to when she first started extracting the rabbit's life force, things were much easier for her now.