Human Relations

The plainclothes agents, led by the old shipwright, gradually approached the shipyard where Annus and the others were hiding.

But just then, a man who looked like a thug, his expression extremely irritable, blocked their path.

"Get lost! An agency directly under the World Government is carrying out official business—"

The lead agent was about to shove aside the blond thug.

A street punk like this could only throw his weight around locally. He had probably blocked the road to rob or extort them for something...

But unexpectedly, the agent captain failed to push away the blond man blocking the way. Instead, he was shoved back with a backhanded push.

Then something happened that nobody had expected. The blond man actually pulled out a machine gun, and the sudden barrage struck the agent captain.

The agent captain clutched his wound and stared at the blond man in shock.

He simply could not understand why some street thug would still attack him without the slightest hesitation after he had announced his identity.

And... those skills clearly did not belong to an ordinary person!

What was this man trying to accomplish?

"Who the hell are you!?"

The other agents hurriedly surrounded the blond man and drew their guns, but he remained completely calm and actually began introducing himself.

"My name is Sain! I'm no street punk. I'm a wise 'scientist'! You're here to capture that Lunarian, aren't you?"

The blond thug was none other than Sain, one of the Peace Research Institute's scientists and Vegapunk's colleague.

The name might have sounded unfamiliar, but in the original timeline, Sain would later join Kaido's faction and change his name to Queen.

"A scientist?"

The agents froze. They truly could not see a trace of a scientist in the blond man before them...

But that was not the point. The point was why he had attacked them, and how he knew their objective!

Sain had no intention of explaining himself to the agents. Instead, he looked down at the agent captain from above.

"Take a good look at your wound! You were hit by bullets coated with my 'Mummy.' You're beyond saving!"

Unlike Vegapunk, the other scientists at the Peace Research Institute were all passionate about researching military weapons. Sain's field of study was biochemical weapons and human modification.

The so-called "Mummy" was an artificial virus developed by Sain.

Upon hearing Sain's words, the agents hurriedly examined their captain's wound.

"So hot!"

The agent captain's face was twisted in pain. The spot where he had been shot felt as though it were being scorched by flames, and that burning sensation was spreading, gradually consuming his entire body!

"Are you all right, Captain...?"

The agents immediately dug out a medical kit and began administering emergency treatment to their captain.

"Wahahaha! You should worry about yourselves first! You touched that guy just now, didn't you?"

Sain laughed smugly, raised his machine gun, and unleashed another burst of gunfire.

The agents hurriedly dodged, but the bullets caught the old shipwright who had delivered the report.

The old man did not possess the physical capabilities of the agents. He quickly died amid agonized screams, blood gushing from his body as his once somewhat plump frame rapidly shriveled into something like a mummy.

Then came the agent captain. After a brief struggle, he too met the same fate as the old shipwright.

"Wahahaha! I was just wondering what kind of gift I should give Calamity. Thank you so much!"

After witnessing all this, Sain ignored the remaining agents who were still struggling and departed with loud laughter.

In his eyes, those people had no chance of surviving.

"Mummy" could spread through physical contact, and infection occurred the instant contact was made. It was an "instant death"-level virus.

Those agents had all touched the wounded agent captain, and they had later been struck by bullets as well. Not even the gods could save them now.

"Thanks to your sacrifice..."

Sain muttered cheerfully.

The old shipwright who had informed on them had not been the only one to witness Annus and Diumil's battle some time ago. Sain had seen it too.

Or rather, Sain had long suspected that Black Wing beside Calamity was an exceedingly rare Lunarian.

It was only after that battle that he had fully confirmed Black Wing's identity.

The old shipwright thought himself clever, but Sain was the oriole waiting behind the mantis.

He had long discovered that someone intended to report them to the World Government. He deliberately waited for the report to draw in the World Government's agents before making his move.

That way, he could earn a greater favor.

However, Sain had underestimated the agents' professionalism.

After realizing that survival was impossible, the agents used the last of their strength to take out a communications Den Den Mushi, intending to report the island's situation to their superiors before dying.

But just as the agents took out the Den Den Mushi and prepared to dial, an invisible electromagnetic pulse swept across the entire island.

In that instant, every electronic device in Water 7 and every biological nervous system dependent on electrical signals were collectively paralyzed!

Despair appeared on the agents' faces. In the end, they could only die with regret, turning into shriveled corpses.

At that moment, Sain returned to the scene pushing a wooden cart. After putting on protective gear, he loaded the agents' corpses onto it one by one, not even sparing the old shipwright's body.

"Heh heh heh~~"

In high spirits, Sain hummed a tune as he returned to the shipyard and found Annus.

"Mr. Annus! These are World Government lapdogs. They intended to expose Mr. Diumil's secret! But please don't worry, I've already taken care of them!"

With an attentive expression, Sain pushed the cart full of corpses before Annus, who wore a faintly amused smile.

"Get rid of these eyesores. You want to pledge allegiance to me based on that little bit of merit? If I hadn't acted just now, they would have already sent the information out. You're still not experienced enough, Sain."

Annus was no stranger to Sain. At first, he had merely known that Vegapunk had such a colleague, but after staying in Water 7 for so long, Sain had successfully made himself familiar in Annus's eyes.

"Ah! All right! I'll take them away immediately! Haha... these viral bodies really should be destroyed!"

At Annus's words, Sain quickly pushed the cartload of corpses away.

Annus gently shook his head. He knew exactly what Sain was plotting. He merely wanted to curry favor with him and obtain financial support. The scientists at the Peace Research Institute all thought the same way.

Sure enough, Sain soon returned and fawningly asked whether Annus could invest in his project in consideration of his help this time.

"I have no interest in making biochemical weapons. Human modification is something I could consider, but first I need to see results... Perhaps you could ask Rocks. That guy has been planning to establish a new force recently. Maybe there will be somewhere your technology can be put to use."