"With those berserk animals helping us, wouldn't dealing with those Marines be a piece of cake?" Golden Lion widened his eyes, seemingly unable to understand why Minos was boosting others' morale while diminishing their own.
Minos could see it clearly now—Golden Lion had truly become an idiot!
He could not say Golden Lion was completely brain-dead, but at the very least, his cognition had developed all sorts of problems. He could not even tell how strong people were anymore.
Minos could only break it down and explain it to him. "Captain Golden Lion, how much of a threat do you think these berserk animals pose to you?"
"Ha! Those things? They're still a long way from being able to hurt me. Give me half a day, and I can kill all these current test subjects!"
Golden Lion lifted his chin and spoke with utter arrogance.
"Then how do you think Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr compare to you?"
Minos did not mention the current Three Admirals. Back when Golden Lion had ruled the seas, the Three Admirals had only just begun their careers and could only be considered rookies. Golden Lion had never taken them seriously.
This time, Golden Lion became much more cautious. He blinked a few times before speaking. "Zephyr isn't my match. Sengoku... he's about the same as me. Hmm, Garp is the only troublesome one."
Minos rolled his eyes. He automatically translated that statement as: At his peak, Golden Lion could definitely defeat Zephyr, was evenly matched with Sengoku, and had probably suffered under Garp's fists before.
But that had been Golden Lion at his peak! Now, he had lost both legs, had a ship's rudder stuck in his head, and could not even use Haki. He could only rely on swordsmanship and his Devil Fruit ability to keep up appearances. Forget Garp and Sengoku—even Zephyr could crush him!
In Minos's estimation, this guy was currently only somewhat stronger than Yonko Commanders like Katakuri, Marco, and King. Against an Admiral, he was absolutely no match.
Of course, he could not put it that way right now. He could only slowly guide Golden Lion. "Captain Shiki, think about it. If even you aren't afraid of these animals, do you think Garp and Sengoku would be afraid of them?"
Golden Lion froze again. After turning it over in his head, he felt Minos's reasoning made a great deal of sense. "Then... then..."
"All these years of research... were they for nothing?"
Minos rubbed his chin. He was actually very interested in researching IQ. The most important question was...
"Could this berserk-enhancing drug be used on humans?"
In theory, humans were animals too. If this drug could be used on animals in the Pirate World, then it should also work on humans in the Pirate World, right?
If it could be used on humans, that would be incredible. Those berserk animals were actually quite powerful. Ordinary Marines needed at least mid-ranking officers to deal with them. The problem was that those animals could not be controlled.
If it were used on humans instead, the results would be far better than Artificial Devil Fruit users. As for side effects like going berserk, did Artificial Devil Fruits not have side effects too?
Even successful Artificial Devil Fruit users had more or less developed mental problems. Quite a few had even suffered complete mental breakdowns, giving birth to other beast-like consciousnesses.
By comparison, the side effects of the IQ Potion were already extremely minor. At least those animals only went berserk rather than losing all reason entirely.
"Used on humans?" Golden Lion froze for a moment, then casually summoned Dr. Indigo and directly asked his chief scientist, "Can the IQ Potion be used on humans?"
Dr. Indigo made a whole series of exaggerated movements, as if performing a pantomime. Golden Lion watched with a cheerful grin. After quite a while, the scientist dressed like a clown finally said, "In theory, it should be possible. However, this drug contains toxins. Animals can adapt to them, but humans are often poisoned to death before the drug's effects can even take hold."
Minos's eyes shifted as a new wicked idea immediately came to him. He offered Golden Lion a suggestion. "Captain Shiki, I happen to know some top scientists specializing in human modification. We could bring them in and let them try."
This time, Dr. Indigo did not perform a pantomime. He puffed out his chest and raised his head. "What kind of scientists? Could they possibly be better than me?"
You've got some nerve. After twenty years of research, all he had done was develop an IQ Potion using special plants, yet he dared to say something so outrageous?
Scientists were all like that. Every one of them thought they were the best in the world. Caesar even believed he was superior to Vegapunk!
Still, Minos definitely could not say that out loud. No matter what, Dr. Indigo was Golden Lion's most trusted subordinate, so Minos had to give him some face.
"I'm talking about Judge from the Germa 66 army. He has made remarkable progress in Blood Factor research. Apparently, he modified several of his own children and created Cyborgs with tremendous power."
"Oh?" Golden Lion froze for a moment, seeming quite interested. "Cyborgs? Are they powerful?"
Minos said, "They're fairly strong. Once fully grown, they should theoretically possess combat power at the level of a Marine Vice Admiral. With their technological Battle Suits, they become even stronger."
"Furthermore, those Cyborgs can manipulate fire, lightning, and poison. His eldest daughter, in particular, possesses the power to absorb all poisons."
Germa 66's Cyborg technology was indeed quite good. As for them having the strength of Marine Vice Admirals, that was not an exaggeration at all. The gap between the strongest and weakest Vice Admirals was enormous to begin with.
Among the Marine Vice Admirals, there were people like Maynard, who had been thoroughly beaten flat by Bartholomew, and there were also those who could exchange a few moves and fight for one or two hours even against the Sweet Commanders, the Three Disasters, or the higher-ranked captains of the Whitebeard Pirates.
There were even people like Garp, who could duel the Pirate King, Vice Admiral Tsuru, who could chase Doflamingo across the seas, and Momousagi and Chaton, who could fight Yonko Commanders on even terms.
Germa 66's Cyborgs were certainly no match for those absurdly powerful Vice Admirals, but they were definitely far stronger than the weakest ones.
"They can manipulate fire and lightning, and even absorb poison?" Golden Lion suddenly became interested. Those abilities sounded far more sophisticated than ordinary human enhancement. It seemed that Vinsmoke Judge really had some skill!
He turned to Dr. Indigo. "Indigo, can you do something like that?"
How the hell could I? I'm just a ship's doctor and chemist. I really don't know much about Blood Factors!
Dr. Indigo was too embarrassed to admit directly that he knew nothing about Blood Factors. He truly could not create Cyborgs like that either, so he started performing a pantomime again.
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