Small Ecosystem

Grand Line Era 1498, August 5.

South Blue, Camel Island.

Wang Gao had already been on this small island for several days. It was roughly 810 kilometers away from Impel Down.

After using the gliding rail to arrive quickly, he established a second temporary base on Camel Island. Impel Down had abundant Devil Fruit materials, but it lacked other animal and plant materials.

Camel Island filled that gap perfectly.

The cave Giant Morley had left behind had undergone enormous changes. Its entrance had been narrowed with Camouflage Rock, and a gate made of ironwood had been installed.

Inside the cave, Fluorescent Fruits served as light bulbs, while vines acted as nutrient-carrying wires, supplying energy to the Fluorescent Fruits.

A water-circulation air-conditioning system hidden in the ceiling vents regulated the airflow, air composition, temperature, and humidity within the cave. The principle behind creating this water-cooled air conditioner was very simple: simply use vines to drill a well and reach the groundwater layer.

Although humans in this world had much higher limits of environmental tolerance, that did not mean Wang Gao enjoyed extreme climates.

Camel Island was a tropical rainforest with high temperatures and heavy rainfall year-round. The temperature stayed above 30 degrees Celsius all year. After being roasted in Hunger Hell for so long, he had no desire to endure that kind of harsh heat again.

The cave interior had been expanded considerably. Since it was not inside Impel Down, there was no need to consider noise or vibrations during the renovation.

He first used methods such as Drought Algae Vines and Mantis Blades to violently break apart sections of rock, then removed the rubble before reinforcing and refining the inner rock walls.

In less than three days, he had completed Camel Island Base. The base was divided into three levels, upper and lower.

The first level was above the giant cave and served as Wang Gao's personal residence. The second level was converted from the giant cave itself, mainly serving as a storage area for experimental specimens and supplies. The third level was beneath the giant cave, housing the Biology Laboratory and an underground testing ground.

Inside the third-level laboratory.

The gene samples collected over the past few days were stored in specially made temperature-controlled cabinets, containing neatly arranged custom test tubes.

The test tubes were filled with a pale green liquid. This was Nutrient Solution specially used to maintain cell activity, and identification numbers were affixed to the surfaces of the tubes.

The Biological Resources of this world were incredibly abundant. The tropical rainforest on Camel Island alone contained quite a few unusual species.

Some of the species Wang Gao had specially marked possessed considerable research value. He picked up the gene sample numbered [ZW-000273].

This gene sample came from a plant—the Crab-eating Flower. It was a carnivorous plant that grew in coastal mangroves and fed on Stone Crabs living near the mangroves.

Stone Crabs were crabs with hard shells. Adult Stone Crabs measured around 30 to 45 centimeters and usually weighed 15 to 20 kilograms. Their meat was delicious, similar to king crab.

He had eaten more than a dozen yesterday. Aside from the shells being difficult to crack, they truly tasted excellent.

Even someone like him, with Armament Haki and extraordinary physical strength, found Stone Crab shells hard. Their shells were genuinely tough.

According to molecular and atomic scan results, the Stone Crab's shell was a composite shell based on chitin, with iron, manganese, and silicon added to it. Its strength was roughly 1.6 times higher than ordinary manganese steel, and it was extremely corrosion-resistant.

For a stable ecosystem to form in nature, there could never be an invincible natural organism.

The mangroves along Camel Island's west coast were not where Stone Crabs lived. They inhabited reef caves beneath the sea.

The mangroves were instead their feeding grounds. Their food was a type of pest that infested mangroves, so Stone Crabs that ate pests appeared to be beneficial creatures.

In reality, according to Wang Gao's observations, if the Stone Crab population grew out of control, they would even deliberately damage mangrove bark, causing the trees to secrete resin and attract more pests.

Thus, the Crab-eating Flower existed to limit the Stone Crab population, preventing them from becoming a disaster and disrupting the ecological balance.

The Crab-eating Flower itself could not adapt to saltwater and had to coexist with mangroves. It protected the mangroves and supplied them with some nutrients, while the mangroves provided the Crab-eating Flowers with fresh water and lured Stone Crabs over with pests.

These organisms formed the mangrove ecosystem along Camel Island's west coast. If any species suddenly encountered a problem, it would inevitably trigger a chain reaction throughout the ecosystem.

What Wang Gao cared about was the Crab-eating Flower's digestive fluid, a digestive fluid containing paralytic components and possessing immense corrosiveness.

The corrosiveness of this digestive fluid came from its organic acid content. It was roughly 3.72 times as corrosive as aqua regia and had devastating corrosive effects on rocks and metal products alike.

The paralytic component within the digestive fluid had a molecular structure somewhat similar to Dilaudid, but its anesthetic effect was extraordinarily potent.

Tests showed that even a trained body like Wang Gao's could not withstand an intravenous dose of 0.27 milligrams. If inhaled through the respiratory tract, inhaling only around 2.1 to 2.6 milligrams would cause full-body paralysis.

Wang Gao quickly incorporated the Stone Crab shell components and the Crab-eating Flower's digestive fluid into his gene library.

The highly corrosive organic acid could increase the silent excavation speed of Drought Algae Vines. After testing, the Drought Algae Vines could excavate tunnels at a speed of 5 to 6 meters per day while remaining silent.

With violent excavation, the speed could increase to roughly 80 to 100 meters per day.

The composite crab shell components could increase the defensive and offensive strength of his creations. Likewise, the super anesthetic could produce tremendous effects in experiments or combat.

After all, in order to counter Stone Crabs, the Crab-eating Flower had evolved a highly permeable anesthetic component. Even skin contact would eventually cause limbs to become stiff and numb.

However, what lay on the experimental table was not a Drought Algae Vine or anything similar, but a seagull.

The anesthetized seagull had no idea what Wang Gao was doing to it. With the assistance of Atomic-level Observation Haki, the Chain-Chain Power entered deep into the seagull's cells.

However, Wang Gao did not Large-scale modify the seagull's Gene Chain. He merely granted it several special genes: parasitic fusion, brainwave reception, and rapid food absorption.

After several days of testing the insertion of these three abilities, he had finally obtained a relatively perfect result. In the cages nearby were more than a hundred seagulls.

The reason he had given the seagulls only these three genes was not that he could not grant them others, but that there was no need.

With a flick of his finger, dark green beads flew toward all the seagulls. The beads struck them like droplets hitting stone, seeming almost like symbiote parasites.

The seagulls flapped their wings and cried out in alarm.

Yet the dark green liquid rapidly seeped into their bodies.

This thing was called a "Bio-Suit Core." It could form genetic bio-armor on living organisms. The Bio-Suit Cores implanted into the seagulls were first-generation products Wang Gao had developed through experiments on Scout Bees:

Bio-Suit—Scout.

Its functions were enhanced five senses, exceptional survival ability, exceptional camouflage, electromagnetic-wave communication (with quantum-encrypted signals), and a controllable gene-collapse protocol.

Seagulls equipped with Scouts could take advantage of their wide distribution to gather intelligence for Wang Gao.

However, the Recon Seagulls currently still had two shortcomings.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀)