Over the next few days.
The Orute Kingdom's laboratory completely became Orochimaru's personal playground.
This research fanatic from the Empire developed an almost obsessive fascination with the so-called Conqueror's Haki.
Before the cold experiment table.
Kid was tightly bound by specially made Chakra chains.
He was covered in blood, his eyes crimson like those of a wild beast.
Orochimaru extended his pale, long tongue and licked his lips.
"Such tenacious vitality."
"But how much longer can your mental threshold hold?"
Orochimaru viciously drove a Senbon soaked in a special drug into Kid's spine.
The agonizing pain instantly detonated Kid's nerves.
At the same time, Orochimaru cast a genjutsu.
Inside Kid's mind.
Countless Marines were trampling him beneath their feet, mercilessly crushing his ambitions as his pirate crew was slaughtered to the last man.
"I..."
"I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King!"
"How can I die in a place like this?!"
Kid roared madly, veins bulging across his forehead.
Some potential within him was forcibly ignited amid extreme humiliation and fury.
Buzz!
A violent, invisible spiritual aura suddenly erupted from Kid's body.
The surrounding instrument screens instantly burst with sparks.
"Oh?"
"So this is Conqueror's Haki?"
"When a person faces extreme despair and unwillingness, their spiritual body becomes highly condensed, ultimately breaking through the body's limits and radiating outward..."
A fanatical light gleamed in Orochimaru's eyes.
Not only was he unaffected, he excitedly recorded everything on a Scroll.
Two days later.
Zoro endured the same inhuman torture.
Orochimaru did not use genjutsu against him. Instead, he released killing intent so tangible it seemed real.
That killing intent seemed to transform into countless sharp blades, slicing across Zoro's skin inch by inch.
Zoro gritted his teeth and stared fixedly at Orochimaru.
"I'm the man who'll become the world's greatest swordsman."