Sl... Slime?!

"It's just a suspicion," Xi Yan said.

But he felt his intuition was probably right; there was a high chance that the thing was poisonous!

The others fell silent upon hearing this; the appearance of such a venomous behemoth was hardly good news.

"Let's go," Sanji said, glancing at Kin'emon. "No matter what, I can't just abandon this guy."

"So even if that stuff is poisonous, I'm still going to the lake."

After saying that, Sanji didn't say anything more, and silently carried Kin'emon forward.

Zoro and Xi Yan followed, clearly intending to help Sanji.

Brook tilted his head and thought for a moment, but ultimately said nothing more and chased after them in silence.

Soon the group arrived at the lakeside and got a clear look at the enormous creature.

"It..."

Looking at the unidentified creature that was constantly spraying red substances into the sky, Brook asked in disbelief, "What's going on?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Xi Yan stroked his chin and said, "It's spitting out venom bullets."

As he spoke, Xi Yan glanced in the direction where the venom bullet had flown.

If I remember correctly, that's... directly in front of the research institute?

Thinking of this, Xi Yan frowned and said, "Luffy and the others...?"

Don't worry.

Without turning his head, Zoro said, "Luffy and the others have Chopper with them; they'll definitely be able to tell this thing is poisonous."

So Zoro wasn't worried at all.

Xi Yan felt that this made sense, so he looked away.

"But why is this guy spitting out that weird thing?" Sanji stared at the strange creature that kept vomiting and said, "It's kind of inexplicable..."

Could it be that they're planning to spit venom and kill some people?

Isn't this a bit too inefficient?

"I don't know what happened, but it's best not to throw up here," Brook said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, it might damage my skin."

Ah~

"Although I don't have any skin that can be damaged~"

"Yohohohoho~"

But Brook's laughter soon stopped, because he noticed that the guy on the other side was vomiting something that was flying towards them!

"Hello!"

"Why is it flying towards us?!" Brook exclaimed in disbelief.

The others' expressions changed as well, and they all darted to the side to avoid the venom attack.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Looking at the still-wriggling mass of venom, Sanji's face showed disgust, and he said, "It looks disgusting."

Is this thing still alive?

"I don't know," Zoro said, stroking his chin. "It looks a bit like jelly."

"Jelly doesn't work that way."

Xi Yan's lips twitched slightly. Whose jelly is so brightly colored? It looks poisonous.

"I feel like this thing is more like part of a slime's body than jelly," Brook said.

As he spoke, Brook looked up again at the small hill in the distance that was still spraying venom.

He felt that the thing was similar to the slime he remembered.

"You even know about slimes?"

Xi Yan glanced at Brook in surprise. Could it be that slimes really exist in this world?

That's really interesting.

"Yes, I once read about it in a book," Brook nodded and said, "The monster described in the book is exactly the same as what we see now."

As he spoke, a peculiar smile appeared on Brook's face, and he continued, "Speaking of which, I actually quite like these kinds of creatures~"

"What are the characteristics of this creature?" Sanji asked curiously.

"Of course!" Brook said, raising a finger. "These creatures called slimes really enjoy attacking women and can even dissolve clothes with their bodily fluids. They're shameless creatures!!"

As if he had just realized something, Brook covered his face and started shaking, which made Xi Yan's lips twitch.

What on earth is this guy thinking...?

"This monster's abilities are too... cough." Sanji lightly, then continued, "Brook, remember to lend me this book when we get back."

"I want one too!" Kin'emon in, joining the conversation.

"Sure, sure!"

"Yohohohoho~"

Brook's face was full of smiles, clearly indicating that she was willing to read the book with these two like-minded people.

Hearing what the others said, Zoro's face showed disdain.

These guys...

"What a bunch of idiots."

"What did you say?!"

Sanji immediately became unhappy. "Who is this bastard with the Green Algae Head calling an idiot?"

"Have you all forgotten that this guy is poisonous?" Zoro pointed to the dead fish in the lake and said, "With its toxicity, one touch and you're dead!"

He didn't know if it could dissolve the clothes, but he would definitely be killed!

Upon hearing Zoro's words, the group instinctively looked towards the lake, and their expressions immediately turned grim.

"This toxicity is indeed quite terrifying."

Xi Yan stared at the dead fish that kept floating to the surface of the Lake Water and said, "If we touch them, we'll probably die too."

Well, at least Zoro and the others will be poisoned to death.

"Then the samurai's body will also die!" Brook exclaimed.

If the opponent's upper body dies... then the whole person will be killed!

With that in mind, Brook turned his gaze to Kin'emon.

Kin'emon, who was being watched by Brook, had a very unpleasant expression on his face.

"I am..."

If he were to die here, wouldn't the young master be...?

"Leave it to me." Sanji stepped forward and said, "I'll retrieve this guy's body before the Poisonous Gas hits."

"Huh?"

Brook paused for a moment, then looked at Sanji in surprise and said, "Sanji, are you planning to go into the water?"

"Of course!" Sanji replied without hesitation, "Since I chose to bring him out, I must take full responsibility!"

"Sanji, a Sanji man, strikes when the time comes!"

After saying that, Sanji took off the cotton coat that Kin'emon had conjured up and walked towards the Lake Water without hesitation.

"I'll leave the slimes on the shore to you guys. I'll be right back!" Sanji said.

"Let me do it," Xi Yan said.

"No, I'll do it," Sanji said. "I promised him, so naturally I should do it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sanji jumped into the Lake Water below without hesitation.

Seeing that Sanji was already in this state, Xi Yan didn't press the matter any further.

However, he did nothing but use his Sharinggan to carefully observe the water's surface, allowing him to keep track of the venom's movements.

Once the venom spreads near Sanji, he will not hesitate to use Wood Style to pull Sanji out.

"Sanji..."

"Don't worry," Zoro said calmly, "His swimming ability is quite Lihai."

Seeing that Zoro said so, Brook felt relieved for the time being.

Kin'emon stared at the lake, trembling, completely stunned.

'They actually jumped into the poisonous lake just for me...'

They didn't just talk the talk; they actually walked the walk!

These pirates are truly different, they are really different!

"Alright, now it seems we need to figure out how to deal with these Venomous Slime." Zoro glanced at the increasing number of slimes around him and said, "Brook, go and persuade them."

"Ha?"

Brook paused for a moment, then looked at Zoro with a blank expression and said, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"What kind of communication techniques do you think would work on this kind of monster?"

He didn't even know if this thing could be considered a living organism.

After all... this wasn't the slime he remembered!

Then, as if he had discovered something, Brook exclaimed, "These guys can combine!"

"It's even bigger after combining!"

"Combined?"

Zoro glanced at the several enormous creatures fused together beside him, frowned, and said, "How can they fuse together?"

Although he didn't know what was going on, Zoro still drew his long sword from his waist, intending to kill all the guys in front of him.

"Whoosh~"

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

With a few slashes, he chopped the slime in front of him into pieces!

"We did it!" Brook breathed a sigh of relief. "As expected of Zoro!"

"No... that's not right!"

Zoro's expression changed as if he had discovered something. "It's Poisonous Gas! Retreat!" he cried.

After saying that, Zoro quickly retreated.

The next moment...

"Hiss~"

A terrifying burst of gas erupted from the slime that Zoro had just slashed open, spraying directly into Brook's face.

"Ah!"

"My eyes!"

"Mine..."

Brook suddenly stopped speaking, then grinned.

Ah~

"Oh right, I don't have eyes~"

"Yohohohoho~"

Xi Yan looked helpless upon hearing this; even at a time like this, he was still acting silly.

"You two hurry up and deal with that thing," Xi Yan said, pointing to the slime that had come up behind them.

He didn't want to run into any of these strange things.

Although he couldn't be killed, he felt disgusted.

"I'd like to too," Zoro said, sounding a bit exasperated. "But this thing is practically indestructible."

He hadn't held back with his strike, but it was utterly ineffective in killing this liquid-like creature.

Xi Yan frowned upon hearing this and said, "Can't he be killed...?"

Thinking about it carefully, slimes are indeed quite resilient.

It won't die unless its core is destroyed!

Thinking of this, Xi Yan glanced at the guy on the other side of the river, whose size had shrunk considerably.

"Would the core be there...?"

If he really is over there, he can try to destroy that guy's core!

After observing for a while, Xi Yan gave up because he didn't see anything that resembled a slime core.

This makes it impossible to kill the opponent by destroying their core.

Thinking of this, Xi Yan withdrew his gaze.

Subsequently, Xi Yan noticed some changes on the lake surface.

"The venom has already spread," Xi Yan frowned. "It seems Sanji doesn't have much time left."

If we don't get up here in time, Sanji will be poisoned to death!

With that in mind, Xi Yan prepared to take action. If he found that Sanji could not return in time, he would pull him up.

After hearing what Xi Yan said, Kin'emon's expression turned ugly.

'You have to be quick...'

Otherwise, both his body and this gentleman would die!!

"These guys really do look like jelly..." Zoro glanced at the ever-growing number of slimes and said, "Brook, why don't you eat them and digest them?"

"Ha?"

"No way!" Brook protested. "And can you stop saying things that sound like you're bullying a child? I'm 70 years older than you!"

"Oh~"

"Sorry, sir."

"Who's the old man here?!"

"I'm full of energy right now, not old at all..."

Before Brook could finish speaking, Kin'emon, who was standing next to Xi Yan, screamed in agony, his expression as if he had been attacked by something terrifying.

"Huh?!"

Brook stared blankly at Kin'emon and asked, "Samurai, what's wrong?"

"It hurts!!"

"Ah... it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt at all, it's just so itchy..."

"Does it hurt or not...?"

"Idiot, of course it hurts," Xi Yan said speechlessly. "It's just that this guy likes to be stubborn."

Although he didn't know what was wrong with this samurai, he could tell that he was indeed a stubborn guy.

After all... he had been saying the whole way that he wasn't cold.

After shaking his head, Xi Yan focused his gaze on the water and continued, "I guess something attacked the upper body of this guy."

"What?!"

Brook's expression shifted as he asked, "Could it be that Sanji is in trouble?"

"It shouldn't be."

Xi Yan, who had locked onto Sanji's location using Observation Haki, shook his head and said, "Sanji's aura hasn't changed at all."

Not only was there no aura present, but there was also no more terrifying aura around Sanji.

Therefore... Xi Yan concluded that the one attacked was Kin'emon.

"That means his body was bitten by a shark," Zoro said, glancing at Kin'emon.

What an unlucky guy.

"By a shark..."

Brook glanced at Kin'emon, unsure of what to say for a moment.

This guy... isn't he just incredibly unlucky?

"Hopefully Sanji can find his upper body soon," Xi Yan said, "Otherwise he might get bitten to death."

If his upper body is killed... he'll die along with it!

"Looks like this guy doesn't know Armament Haki," Brook said.

"Even if we had it, we couldn't use it." Zoro glanced at Kin'emon, who was rolling around on the ground in pain, and said, "Don't forget his body is in the water right now."

Activating Armament Haki requires physical strength, and Devil Fruit users gradually lose strength in seawater.

Therefore, in this situation, the opponent is most likely unable to use Armament Haki.

Upon hearing this, a hint of pity flashed in Brook's eyes.

"What a pathetic fellow..."

I just hope Sanji can find this guy's body soon, so he won't be bitten to death by the shark.

"Ah!"

"Damn it, release me!" Kin'emon screamed, "I..."

"Ah!"

Brook:...

That's so brutal!