Magic Research

"Flesh Magic: Savage Growth!"

On the golden beach, unconscious animals lay scattered across the center of the scorching sand.

Lowett wore a black swallowtail overcoat, with two buttons of his inner shirt casually undone at the collar, displaying youthful vitality without losing his composure.

The Black Knight stood by his side, holding his master's cane in both hands as he watched him raise his middle and index fingers toward the target animal, slowly drawing a trail of starlike light through the air.

Crimson blood was drawn from the neck of another enormous wild boar over three meters tall. It then suddenly dispersed into a mist that shrouded a beast resembling a gorilla.

"Roar!!"

As though it had suffered some terrible stimulation, the gorilla abruptly opened its eyes and roared furiously. Yet that fury quickly turned into terrified wails. Fear filled its eyes as fleshy buds burst from beneath the fur among its muscular body, writhing wildly through the air.

Creak...

Creak! Creak!

Its flesh swelled madly. Countless fleshy buds spread from every part of its body, wrapping around it anew and causing its muscles to rapidly bulge as its size more than doubled.

With a casual swing of its arm, it smashed the wild boar's head flat and sent it flying like a cannonball.

The added muscle mass had increased its strength by more than several times!

Feeling that power, it immediately turned and glared furiously at Lowett, stepping forward.

Pfft... Splat! Splat! Splat!

Bone Magic: Bone Spear

"Beasts' emotions really are simple. The moment they gain an advantage, they become arrogant."

Without even glancing at the gorilla whose heart and head had been pierced by bone spears, Lowett shifted his gaze back to another animal.

"The warm-up is over, then..."

"Crimson Soul Devour Corpse Explosion Phantom!"

Buzz!!

Terrifying mana fluctuations formed visible ripples that pushed away the yellow sand beneath his feet. An invisible, oppressive aura spread outward, stirring his hair.

Seeing this, the Black Knight decisively retreated and put some distance between them.

He simply could not withstand the destructive power of a Two-star Spell yet.

In the air, where ordinary people could not see, spell patterns appeared before Lowett's eyes.

Thousands upon thousands of densely packed patterns intertwined, forming four roughly distinguishable spell circuits. Like four integrated circuits made up of countless electronic components, they had been assembled together.

With a thought from Lowett, patterns drifted down from the entire structure, bringing it to the verge of collapse. But soon, more patterns reattached themselves, filling the gaps and stabilizing it.

His brain operated beyond its limits throughout the process, causing cold sweat to stream down Lowett's forehead.

Within such a complex structural diagram, every change in a single pattern produced tens of thousands of possibilities. With each change, only a few hundred possibilities could merge with the other spells. Once all four spells changed, only one or two possibilities could harmonize with every spell involved.

If he had not deduced it in advance within his Soul Sea, his current state would not have been enough to sustain it.

Feeling the stabbing pain in his temples, Lowett understood the situation clearly.

"Two Star isn't my limit, but my current processing speed can only support Two-star Spell modifications. Anything more would truly be risking my life."

By conventional standards, Two-star Spell modifications were generally something only Official Mages could accomplish. Elementary Mages could only learn and use them; being able to independently modify a one-star spell was already considered genius-level talent.

This distinction was not merely related to one's knowledge. More importantly, it depended on the soul's processing speed. If the hardware was inadequate, no amount of software could make up for it.

Back when Lowett had created the one-star spell Crimson Fury as a Mage Apprentice, everyone had called it a miracle!

At that thought, the completed structural diagram shrank into a faintly glowing Rune Markings. Those complex, enormous patterns had been compressed by the spell's effects; an ordinary person would feel dizzy after a single glance and would need a specific method to interpret them.

It was impossible to recalculate everything every time he cast a spell. Aside from teaching students, the more important purpose of Rune Markings was to make spellcasting easier for mages.

After committing it to memory, Lowett suddenly widened his eyes, and surging mana fluctuations rushed toward the awakened beasts in the distance.

"Combination Magic: Chain Corpse Explosion - Modified!"

Gurgle!

A giant python had no time to escape. The massive swell of flesh split apart its scales, and then, with a boom, its flesh dyed the yellow sand red.

However, that was not the end.

Boom! Boom boom!

Dozens of beasts around it exploded in succession like inflated balloons, each detonation ringing out thunderously.

Through the billowing smoke, one could see transparent souls resembling the exploded beasts flying freely through the center of the blasts. They rapidly found new bodies and triggered the next explosion.

Once the commotion subsided, this stretch of beach had completely changed.

Whoosh!

Surging seawater continuously poured into the gap, soaking the hems of their trousers.

At the center of the beach was a crater more than a hundred meters across, sitting well below sea level.

The Black Knight instantly flashed behind Lowett and carried his master away in a princess carry, returning to the warship.

"Caw! Caw!"

The Red-eyed Raven, with eyes as clear and brilliant as agate, fluttered down. Lowett extended a finger to receive it and placed it on his shoulder.

"Not bad."

Turning back to look at the scene he had created, Lowett smiled in satisfaction.

The life force drifting through the air had not diminished. Instead, it had increased somewhat, proving that the later Chain Corpse Explosions had not merely seized the life force dispersed by the wild boar. They had also blasted out the other animals' life force, creating a chain reaction.

These past few days, Lowett had been considering how to effectively counter Logia users. The Blood Cone Technique was simply too weak. Even if he used brute force to push it to three stars, its destructive power would still only amount to that much.

To deal with Logia users like Smoker, Lowett lacked not only life force, but also sufficiently powerful spells!

Now, he had finally found the trick: using the target's own life force in combination with his Mental Power to create an entirely new spell capable of countering the elementalization of Logia users.

Chain Corpse Explosion - Modified was not the end. It was merely an experiment.

It had proven that his line of thought was feasible and full of potential.

If he continued developing it, perhaps he could establish an entirely new Necromancy School.

"When that time comes..."

Lowett greatly anticipated what expressions those powerful Logia users, who were accustomed to bullying others with wide-area attacks, would wear when he bullied them with wide-area attacks.

"Roar!"

At that moment, a tall figure approached from behind Lowett, casting a broad shadow over him.

The newcomer was covered in knotted muscles and possessed a massive build. An ordinary person would need an entire hand just to grasp one of his fingers. Standing five meters tall like a towering door panel, he radiated an aura that warned others not to provoke him.

He was also a Black Knight.

Black Knight Two, created by fusing Arlong's corpse with the corpses of other fish-men.

If the Black Knight made from Kuro's corpse was Lowett's loyal butler, then Two was Lowett's personal bodyguard.

Just standing there without moving, he made ordinary people lose any urge to attack Lowett.

"The waters around Reverse Mountain have already been cleared? Those people moved faster than I expected."

Lowett looked at him in surprise upon hearing that.

Only five short days had passed since he released the news, yet someone had already cleared out an entire sea region?

"Roar!"

Two continued his report, and Lowett suddenly understood.

"Since ancient times, wealth has stirred people's hearts. I never expected that nonsense line to have the greatest effect."

"Gold Thief" Unan!

A legendary name in the East Blue, he had risen to fame decades before Roger.

One only needed to look at the legend he had created: one-third of all the world's gold had supposedly fallen into his hands, and he was renowned even in the New World.

He had been the "Gold Thief" of the era before last!

After he disappeared, treasure hunters still roamed the East Blue in search of that gold, showing just how great his influence remained.

Treasure hunting was also one of pirates' pleasures.

Lowett knew such a person existed, so he had casually added that final line. Unexpectedly, a careless remark had turned ambitious people into the main force searching for Zango.

"But no matter what, the result is good."

Looking out over the boundless sea, Lowett's lips curled upward.

"The East Blue is vast. If someone deliberately wants to hide, even the Marines can do nothing about it... for example, myself."

"But if they are swallowed by the vast sea of the masses, they will be found no matter where they hide."

That was the charm of money!

"Has Momonga moved out?"

He continued asking.

Two shook his head and let out a low roar.

"Tch, old bastard!"

An old man who refused to die was a thief.

Lowett pursed his lips, deeply displeased.

Momonga had guessed correctly. This was Lowett's plan to kill two birds with one stone.

First, he would startle the snake in the grass and force Zango out of hiding. Second, he would scheme against Momonga; as long as he left Loguetown, Lowett would immediately slip away to the Grand Line.

Lowett understood better than Momonga the advantages and disadvantages of being trapped in the East Blue.

The weather has been getting colder lately. Remember to put on more clothes, everyone. Don't be like Big Tree—I slept on a bamboo mat last night despite the wind and rain, and now my nose is blocked. It feels awful.