Chapter 431: Ghosts and Black Shadows!
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
Cannonballs filled the sky, accompanied by the piercing Whistling Sound of them cutting through the Air, swiftly streaking across the clear blue Sky. They finally landed, transforming into surging Gunfire Flashes and Explosive Shockwaves.
The Ground was violently shaken by the bombardment, and from time to time, many yellowish-brown debris fragments could be seen splashing outwards. In the blink of an eye, dust and Gunsmoke enveloped the glowing Star Gate.
Naturally, the other side of the Star Gate was still the internal space of the Biochemical Safety Station.
In fact, the Army Headquarters had previously proposed dismantling it because they found it too cumbersome.
Because the Star Gate itself wasn't large, the presence of this disinfection facility further affected the Troops' passage Efficiency.
Furthermore, it had already been confirmed that the Air content in the opposing World was normal, and there hadn't been any Virus transmission issues in the previous Kabaneri World and Demon Slayer World. So, it was better to skip these cumbersome procedures!
However, after this proposal was heard by the Biochemical Research Institute of the Academy of Science, it was met with fierce opposition from Dr. Fritz, who even directly cursed the Army Higher-ups as idiots!
The role of the Biochemical Safety Station is not only to defend against Viruses from the Otherworld but also to prevent their own Viruses from entering the Otherworld.
Moreover, once a hostile World projects Bioweapons towards the Star Gate, such as Poison Gas Bombs, then this Biochemical Safety Station serves as the first Defense Line.
After hearing this, Marshal Raymond and the others didn't say much more. After all, they also had quite a stock of things like Poison Gas Bombs.
But regarding such things, if there's no need, it's best not to use them if possible.
At this moment.
Charlotte Cracker, who was already a Rear Admiral at the Army Headquarters, stood in front of the Star Gate with an unpleasant Expression. Behind him were his two Older Brothers, Charlotte Oven and Charlotte Daifuku, although they were now Vice Admirals.
Besides them, there were several other Army Officers. One of the Rear Admirals sighed, "As expected, it's not working. The other side intends to completely seal us off!"
Just now, Cracker had used the Ability of the Paramecia System Biscuit Fruit to create three hundred Biscuit Soldiers. However, shortly after they all passed through the Star Gate, they were overwhelmed by countless Cannon Fire.
There was nothing he could do. He was only twenty-one years old now, his Ability hadn't Awakened yet, and the hardness of these biscuits couldn't reach the level of the 'Future'.
"The current problem is that Transponder Snails can't stay permanently on the other side. We are no different from blind people right now..." another Army Rear Admiral said helplessly.
"Look on the bright side, isn't the other side the same?"
Daifuku glanced at Oven, who had gone over to comfort Cracker, and then said, "Compared to that, I'm more surprised by the Future Sight Ability the other side has shown."
"Didn't you notice? The other side chose to open fire only after all the Biscuit Soldiers had passed through, not from the beginning or halfway through. Doesn't this mean the other side actually knew how many we would send over long ago?"
Hearing these words, everyone exchanged glances, feeling increasingly that the Otherworld Civilization they had encountered this time was difficult and troublesome to deal with.
[Swish----]
At this moment, the third Electric Gate behind everyone opened, and a smell of disinfectant mist immediately surged out. Fortunately, everyone was already used to this somewhat pungent Scent.
Instead, the newcomers were more attention-grabbing.
"Crocodile Vice Admiral!"
Yes, the leader was none other than the Army Admiral Candidate who had returned from the Demon Slayer World, Crocodile. Following behind him were two figures who were both familiar and unfamiliar.
"The Higher-ups are also very curious about how far the other side's Future Sight Ability can reach, so next, we are going to conduct an Experiment!"
Immediately after, Crocodile began introducing the people behind him, starting with the person to his left, who was shorter, less than three meters, but was dressed in a Suit and had a slender build.
"This is Brook of CP9, a Paramecia System Yomi Yomi no Mi User!"
"Yohohoho, nice to meet you, please take care of me~~"
Brook took off the Black Hat on his head and bowed, performing a Gentleman's gesture. However, at this time, he wasn't showing his Skeleton face to people; instead, he had applied a layer of simulated Mask, making him look very similar to his past self.
This was because his Skeleton face image was already that of the World Star 'Soul King' to the outside world, so he had to hide this point when performing Missions.
What was interesting was that everyone thought the 'Soul King''s Skeleton face was actually a hood or a Mask, while these Army Lieutenant Generals and Rear Admirals present all took the real Mask as Brook's actual face.
Crocodile then continued to introduce the Little Giant standing to his right, who was nearly seven meters tall.
"And this is Gecko Moria, a Jailer from Impel Down. He is a Paramecia System Shadow-Shadow Fruit User. I presume some of you here have heard of him before?"
"It's him!"
"I heard before that he was captured by the Mar... uh, the current Air Force Admiral 'Kizaru' and sent to Impel Down. I didn't expect him to become a Prison Guard instead of a Prisoner?"
The Army Rear Admirals continuously sized up the grinning Moria with surprised Gazes, discussing in low voices. However, the latter didn't care at all.
"Heh heh heh~ Heh heh heh~"
Gecko Moria was in a wonderful mood right now. He never expected to have a chance to come out and travel, and even witness the Scenery of an Otherworld with his own eyes, especially an Otherworld in a state of War. It sounded very interesting!
"So what are they planning to do?" Charlotte Oven asked curiously.
"Brook and Moria have three Missions!"
Crocodile said this while lighting a Cigar for himself, completely ignoring the no-smoking sign posted on the Metal Wall in the distance.
"First, determine the extent of the other side's Future Sight, specifically whether they can see things invisible to the naked eye, such as Souls."
"Second, determine if the other side has any attack or capture Means targeting Non-material things, such as Souls or Shadows."
"Third, investigate any valuable Intelligence as much as possible. Unfortunately, they can't bring Transponder Snails with them, so they can only explain what they saw after returning."
This couldn't be helped. Transponder Snails couldn't undergo Soul Transformation, much less Shadow Transformation, but it was still better than having no Means at all!
"So that's it, a brilliant idea!"
Charlotte Daifuku exclaimed in pleasant surprise and praised it greatly. The other Army Lieutenant Generals and Rear Admirals also nodded repeatedly. Some even thought to themselves, "That's right, the other side has Future Sight Ability, but we also have Devil Fruit Abilities! Isn't it just a competition of Unconventional Means? Who's afraid of whom?"
"Alright then, you two can begin."
Crocodile said to Brook and Moria in a deep voice.
"Yohohoho~ A very exciting Mission, I will give it my all!"
Brook replied cheerfully, then didn't mind the dust on the Ground and directly sat cross-legged. As for Moria, it was much simpler; he immediately activated the Devil Fruit Power within his body.
They only heard him shout loudly with a grin, "Come out, Shadow Doppelganger!"
The next moment.
The Shadow beneath Moria twisted like a Black Paper figure, then stood up from the two-dimensional World tightly attached to the Ground, becoming a black-purple Little Giant existing in the three-dimensional World, with an outline identical to his own.
On the other side, because it hadn't entered the Star Gate yet, the Soul that floated out from within Brook also didn't hide itself. Instead, it drifted in mid-air in front of everyone like a dark green Ghost.
"Go, and good luck~"
Crocodile let out a light chuckle, but once he started laughing, he couldn't stop, and it immediately turned into a long, gasping laugh. The 'Shadow Doppelganger' and the 'Ghost', whose form was gradually fading, flew into the Star Gate accompanied by such peculiar laughter.
"Ha—ha—ha—ha----"
Thank you very much to Steward 20220413170917006261873 for the 5000 Qidian Coin Tip! *Bow*! Thank you for your Support and Encouragement!
Thank you very much to Steward for the 500 Qidian Coin Tip! *Bow*! Thank you for your Support and Encouragement!
(End of Chapter)