“Yes.
This is the second squadron leader-level Chimera Ant I’ve created!”
Morin looked at Judge beside him and smiled at Golden Lion.
“Every squadron leader-level Chimera Ant has its own name.
You’ll be called Judge!”
Morin was too lazy to come up with a name, so he directly used Judge’s original name.
“Judge?
I understand, Lord Morin!”
Judge murmured his own name.
Then, under Morin’s instructions, he headed toward Germa’s library.
Only by coming into contact with Judge’s previous research notes could he quickly awaken his memories.
Morin’s role for him was that of a scientist.
He would take on the work of incubating the Chimera Ants.
“I told you long ago.
Using humans to create Chimera Ants is far stronger than using animals!”
Golden Lion looked at Judge, who was now almost no different from a human, and a surprised light flashed in his eyes.
Transforming from a human into another species while still maintaining a mostly similar appearance was something Golden Lion had never seen on this sea before.
“Is he a completely new life, or does he still have his previous memories?”
Golden Lion asked curiously.
“In theory, as long as he comes into contact with things from his past, he can still recall part of his memories.”
“For example, if he sees information related to lineage factors, he’ll also be able to recall memories related to them.”
Morin explained to Golden Lion.
“In that case, if he can remember all his memories, wouldn’t that be equivalent to Judge getting a new body?”
“If someone on the verge of death were transformed by you, wouldn’t you be granting them a new life?”
Golden Lion’s thinking was sharp and unconventional.
Morin had never thought about this aspect before.
“You could say that, and it wouldn’t exactly be wrong.
A body transformed into a Chimera Ant is not only much stronger than before, but its lifespan is also much longer than that of an ordinary person.”
Morin spoke to Golden Lion.
In truth, there was one more thing Morin did not tell Golden Lion.
After Judge was transformed into a Chimera Ant, Morin had become his master.
Not only did Judge have to obey Morin’s orders, Morin could also end Judge’s life at any time.
This was a precaution Morin had built into the lineage factors to prevent betrayal.
Like those ordinary Chimera Ants, Morin could also treat Judge as a battery.
As long as Morin approached Judge, he could draw all of Judge’s power into himself at any time to replenish his own strength.
“Can you turn all the ordinary people on Merveille into beings like Judge?”
Golden Lion looked straight at Morin and suddenly asked him.
Back when Golden Lion moved Merveille, the ordinary people on the island had also been brought into the sky by him.
After adding the people brought up from the other islands, Merveille also had a considerable number of humans.
The laborers in Golden Lion’s palace came from among them.
While the animals became ferocious, many residents had also undergone mutations.
Morin had not expected Golden Lion to be so cold-blooded.
He actually wanted to turn those ordinary people into Chimera Ants.
“That can’t be done.
I valued Judge’s research on lineage factors, which is why I paid such a great price to make him this strong.”
“Those ordinary people don’t have the qualifications to become Chimera Ants at all.
Even Chimera Ants transformed from the beasts on the island would be stronger than them.”
Morin rejected Golden Lion outright.
“I see.”
Golden Lion let out a long sigh.
“By the way, there’s something I need to tell you.
It seems we’ve been targeted by the Marines!”
Golden Lion suddenly changed the subject and spoke to Morin.
“We’re in the sky right now.
How could the Marines possibly capture our trail?”
Hearing Golden Lion’s words, Morin frowned.
Merveille floated high in the sky year-round, and very few Devil Fruit users among the Marines could fly.
How could they possibly track Merveille’s movements?
Golden Lion did not speak.
He merely looked toward the forest in the distance.
At this moment, more than a dozen Chimera Ants were sleeping in the forest, and the leaves on the trees had already been gnawed sparse by these Chimera Ants.
Morin remembered.
As the version 2.0 and 3.0 models were finalized, the number of Chimera Ants also increased.
The small islands of Merveille alone could not possibly feed nearly ten thousand Chimera Ants.
Helpless, Golden Lion could only occasionally lower Merveille from the sky and let these Chimera Ants feed in the sea.
On this sea, only the vast ocean could satisfy the needs of so many creatures eating at the same time.
Every time the Chimera Ants entered the ocean, that stretch of sea would be dyed red with blood.
Such movement could not possibly be hidden from the Marines.
The Marines were using precisely this point to pursue Merveille.
“The Marines really are patient!”
For the past half year, the Marines had been pursuing them constantly.
This was the first time Morin had seen such a persistent force.
“Of course.
The one leading them this time is that mad dog Sakazuki!”
Golden Lion sneered.
Although Sakazuki had not fully grown when Golden Lion was active on the sea, Golden Lion still had a headache over Sakazuki’s hardline style.
Sakazuki had an upright and rigid personality.
He was the number one iron-blooded soldier among the Marines’ new generation.
He upheld “absolute justice.” His methods were ruthless and left no room for sentiment.
He absolutely did not allow even the slightest existence of “evil.”
This operation alone was enough to show that.
If it were an ordinary Marine, they would have given up long ago, but Sakazuki had been persistently chasing them without letting go.
“Sakazuki?
In that case, he’s still after us because of the Germa Kingdom incident?”
Hearing Sakazuki’s name, Morin also remembered the statement issued by the Marines after they had packaged up and taken away the Germa Kingdom.
The Marines had not only raised Morin’s bounty to one billion Berries, they had also announced that they would form a fleet headed by Sakazuki.
The next day, Sakazuki had even published a challenge letter to Golden Lion and Morin in the World Economy News Paper.
Morin had seen that news at the time as well.
As for that challenge letter, Morin had only said two words.
“Dumbass.”
Everyone here was an adult.
Did Akainu really think he could use words to provoke Morin into putting down all his arrangements and going to fight him in a decisive battle?
Morin did not have that much free time.
Unexpectedly, almost a year had passed, yet Sakazuki still had not given up.
“Perhaps this is a good opportunity to test the combat strength of the Chimera Ants!”
Looking at the overflowing number of Chimera Ants, such a thought suddenly appeared in Morin’s mind.
In any case, he no longer valued the earliest version of the Chimera Ants.
He might as well use them to let the Marines witness the terror of the Chimera Ant army.
Morin also wanted to see what effect swarms of Chimera Ants would have against the Marines.