The Outbreak of Lead Amber Disease

Life on the island was comfortable but boring.

Living in a gravity environment, Gray and Baby-5 spent all their time reading, except for the occasional combat training session.

Unfortunately, the books here didn't even cover all the basics, so Baby-5 could only learn a little bit of the fundamentals.

Still, it was better than nothing!

Aside from reading and training, Gray was most focused on developing his Devil Fruit abilities.

After two months, he had finally gotten a little closer to developing the two abilities he'd envisioned.

Give him a little more time to finish developing them, and he'd truly be ready to take off!

Unfortunately, the Donquixote Family had recently landed a major deal, and all the family members had to go along to escort the shipment.

"You all know about it, right?" Everyone had just finished eating and was gathered in the cafeteria for a meeting.

Every member of the family was there.

Doflamingo, Pica, Trebol, Corazon, Diamante, Jora, Gladius, Lao G, Machvise, Senor Pink, Gray, Buffalo, and Baby-5.

All fifteen members were gathered there.

"Doffy! Some of the members still haven't heard the news."

"Fufufu, that's my fault. I didn't explain the reason clearly." As he spoke, Doflamingo took out that day's newspaper and handed it around.

"Look at today's World Economic Journal headline."

Gray took the newspaper and immediately looked at the front-page headline.

Lead Amber Disease—the most terrifying contagious virus in history.

"So that's what happened. The Lead Amber Disease outbreak?" Gray already knew from the original story that Lead Amber Disease wasn't contagious at all.

The newspaper had reported it that way only because the World Government had made up the lie to cover things up.

"But why would Morgans, that old bird, report fake news like this?" Gray was puzzled, but it had nothing to do with him, so he set the thought aside.

"Is it really that contagious?" Diamante couldn't help looking at Doflamingo. "Doffy, we should pull out, right?"

"Our base is too close to Flevance! The news says that with the medical technology available today, there's no way to treat it."

"Fufufu! Don't worry, Diamante!" After reassuring him, Doflamingo turned to the others. "From what I know, Lead Amber Disease isn't contagious at all."

"The people of Flevance contracted it because they were exposed to Amber Lead for a long time."

"I see!" The others, who didn't know the truth, collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

"So why did you show us this, Doffy?"

"Fufufufu... It's simple. Our family has landed a major deal!"

"Even before this happened, the four kingdoms surrounding Flevance had already ordered a large quantity of weapons from us."

"And now the World Government has revealed that Flevance has a highly contagious disease. I have a feeling this country is going to be completely destroyed."

"Greed is humanity's greatest sin!"

"Flevance is wealthy because of its Amber Lead, and the surrounding countries have been coveting it for a long time."

As he spoke, Doflamingo let out another series of strange, meaningless laughs. "Fufufu."

"And I estimate that the Kingdom of Flevance is already surrounded by iron fences!" It wasn't really an estimate. Their base was right on the border of Flevance.

Doflamingo had already seen many soldiers arrive with iron fencing, using Observation Haki.

Clearly, the countries surrounding Flevance had gotten wind of things early.

"So, let's guess. Flevance is surrounded by iron fencing, and these countries have bought a huge amount of weapons. What could they be planning?"

"Or rather, what do they want to do?" Thinking about how greed had twisted their humanity, Doflamingo couldn't help laughing with delight. "Fufufu."

"Destroy the country!" The thought quickly came to everyone's mind.

Beside them, Corazon's pupils contracted as a mighty storm raged in his heart. No! There are still too many civilians here. They can't just be killed like this!

I'm a righteous Marine, after all! Corazon thought about reporting this to Sengoku, but he showed little emotion on his face.

Instead, he acted as usual and lit a cigarette. But as he tried to light it, he set his coat on fire.

After a clownish scramble, the tense atmosphere was broken.

"So, Doffy, do you need us to do anything?" Pica's childish voice rang in their ears. The contrast was simply too much.

As family members, looking at his burly frame paired with that childish voice, everyone struggled to hold back their laughter.

"No need to rush, Pica!"

"We don't need to do anything. They want weapons, don't they?"

"Then we'll give them weapons!"

"Diamante, Buffalo!"

"Young Master!" ×2

"Go to the Family Weapon Workshop and escort the weapons shipment to this country. Remember, if they dare not to pay, make sure they—and the nobles behind them—cease to exist!" Each country had ordered a huge batch of weapons. Doflamingo was worried that the nobles might lose their minds and refuse to pay the enormous sum of Beli. That would make it a hassle to wipe them out afterward.

Since it would be a hassle either way, he might as well send family executives to escort the shipment and deal with any trouble on the spot.

"Yes, Young Master!"

"Second group: Gladius, take Gray, Baby-5, and Shark Chili with you to escort the shipment."

"Yes, Young Master!"

"Third group: Lao G and Senor, you two go."

"Fourth group: Pica and Machvise, you two go."

"Everyone else, stay nearby and provide support in case anything unexpected happens!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

"Oh, we're going out to sea?" At last, Gray was about to set off on his first sea adventure. He was instantly thrilled.

The moment the orders were given, the operation began. Gladius took the lead and told the underlings to prepare supplies for the voyage.

Gray and Baby-5 took Shark Chili to the harbor to wait.

"Chirp!" As soon as they reached the seaside, Shark Chili plunged into the water. The way it swam around showed how happy it was.

It usually ate and slept, and its life was comfortable, with food and lodging taken care of. But as a Sea King, it still felt better out in the ocean.

"Hahaha! Go have fun. I still have some preparations to make!" Since they were heading out to sea, a fight was inevitable.

So Gray had one of the underlings bring over the shuriken he'd prepared.

The shuriken Gray had made was different from the one he'd started with. It was a huge Fuma Shuriken!

It was even larger than the original Fuma Shuriken.

This weapon was what Gray considered version 1.0. The one he'd discarded earlier had been version 0.5.

He'd changed weapons because his Devil Fruit development had made another big leap forward.

Gray believed he was ready to enter a proper combat state.

Throwing darts and the like was difficult even for Li Xunhuan in this world, and Gray certainly didn't think he could measure up to the legendary swordsman.