Chapter 27: CH-27:)
A loud gulping sound reverberates off the walls of the room and both Mori and I quickly turn our heads to the source. A decidedly not knocked out Jorgen sits on his knees with a empty chest by his feet and a half-eaten tangerine cupped in his hands.
A tangerine covered in unnatural black swirls.
Still from his spot on the floor the lieutenant sends crazed glances between Mori and I.
And he smiles.
Jorgen's hunched body ripples violently as muscles noticeably swell in size. Orange hair sprouts from near-every patch of exposed skin and the cheeks of his face become wide and flabby. His limbs grow. His mass expands. His already damaged shirt shreds to pieces as it fails to contain its wearer and the officer roars a challenging shriek at Mori and I.
'Well that's so not fucking good.'
Lieutenant Jorgen, Orangutan-Human,
Lv.31
Lieutenant Jorgen is a Marine officer serving in Caeba Kingdom as well as the user of the Ape-Ape Fruit Model: Orangutan. Jorgen is the nephew of 'Don Masserida' the current head of the 'Masserida Crime Family' and has used his position in the Marines to shield his uncle and the family business for years. He has become an expert at burying paperwork and making both evidence and witnesses disappear.
Health: 2,243/2,844
[HYBRID-ORANGUTAN] Jorgen is currently in the hybrid form of his Devil Fruit. He is receiving +80% to both STR and VIT, +35% to DEX and -30% to all damage taken.
STR: 124 (+80%) = 223.2
VIT: 158 (+80%) = 284.4
DEX: 73 (+35%) = 98.55
INT: 55 WIS: 46
LUK: 9
I read the stat bonuses for a third time and swallowed nervously. "Mori...Get out of here." I spoke softly but with deadly seriousness. "This fight is beyond your level now."
"What! Are you crazy!" The Chief shouted, completely aghast at the idea. "You can't take him on your own!" The Marine raised his saber up and adopted a defensive stance. "Like hell am I leaving you by yourself!"
Ding!
A Quest Has Been Updated!
Quest: Don Masserida is determined to see put down for capturing his underlings and disrupting business. You've gotten wind of a big meeting going down in just under a weeks time and the big man himself is planning to be there. Join Lt. Jorgen's operation and do not let any member of the 'Masserida Crime Family' escape. [UPDATE]: Defeat Jorgen and do not let Mori die!
Reward: 3,300 Exp and [Skillbook]: Rokushiki Technique #5 of 6.
[UPDATE REWARD]: ?
With a crazed bloodlust in his eyes, Jorgen rushed in on all fours, making good use of his newly increased mobility and bridged the distance between us in a manner of seconds. My feet hop backwards on autopilot, trying to gain at least some distance but Mori, the courageous fool, holds his ground and attempts a diagonal slash with his saber.
The Ape-man barely offers the Chief a dismissive glance before barreling right over him, sending the younger marine sprawling across the room. 'Damn it Chief!'
I slid to a stop near one of the many rifles littering the floor and didn't waste the immediate opportunity. A hooking motion, combined with a sharp upwards kick, sends the firearm into the air and my waiting palms snatch it in all the time it'd take one to blink.
My initial shot goes slightly wide but I am rewarded with a flash of blood spurting from Jorgen's left shoulder, forcing the beast man to abandon his charge with a frustrated roar.
90 Damage! (2,153/2,844)
I line up the sights and try to land a second hit but the lieutenant is already on the move. A crouch, a roll, a quick zig-zag here and there. The veteran marine danced across the room making every bullet I fired fall short of its mark.
Then in a series of maneuvers that would make any parkour artist drool in envy, Jorgen vaults himself to the second floor railing, then up to the third, before finally taken refuge among the steel girders, pipes, and walkways that hang just below the ceiling.
Yellow sparks flash across a steel grate from one last shot failing to land home and I'm met with the disappointing 'clicking' telling me the gun's out of ammo.
'Well shit.'
Unfortunately, this appears to be exactly what Jorgen was waiting for. The Fruit-user leaps outward, twists his body into a mid-air flip, and hangs himself upside down from a pipe using his prehensile feet.
His hands thrust outwards towards me, revealing that while he was running around, he'd managed to pick up a few flintlocks of his own.
'Can I just have something go right for once!' The all too familiar cracking of gunshots fills the room again only this time I'm the one who's being forced to run around in erratic zig-zag patterns.
However while my aim may have been...below average... the long-time military man is no such neophyte. I can only hope that the awkward way he's handling the pistols with his newly enlarged fingers impedes his accuracy at least a little.
-29 HP!
The first shot scrapes across my hip and -while it doesn't enter my leg- the pain is still enough to get a wince out of me. I dash around looking for any sort of cover but Jorgen's high position means that none of the options seem good. Staying still even for a moment would probably result in a bullet to the head.
-31 HP! A second strike hits above my ankle while I'm mid-stride and I'm forcibly sent into a roll just so I can keep moving. 'GOD- Gah! How the hell am I supposed to get him down from there!'
An item appears in the periphery.
..and suddenly I'm reminded this fight isn't a 1 vs 1.
Jorgen and I both give slight twists of our heads to view it but it's moving too fast to do anything more that gawk at it for a half-second.
The rocket slams into the lieutenant's position and detonates in an incredible blaze of fire and tar colored smoke. A solid chunk of metal roof is blown violently outward and my view of the ape-man disappears beneath a veil of flames and falling debris.
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