One Piece: Starting in God Valley as a Slave

Just as Carl was deep in thought, Vegapunk beside him suddenly clapped his hands and shouted excitedly,

"Ah! Good! I did it!!!"

After shouting, Vegapunk ran to the operating table and pressed a red button. The glass cover slowly descended.

The solution inside had evaporated completely from the high temperature just now, leaving only the artificial Devil Fruit with steam rising off its surface. As the glass cover lowered fully, a magical scene unfolded: the hot white vapor swirling around the fruit seemed to gather above it, forming a dragon shape before dissipating into the air.

This sight was striking. Vegapunk reached out with trembling hands, carefully picking up the Devil Fruit and inspecting it closely. No one dared to interrupt his focused expression.

Carl's figure flashed as he suddenly appeared beside Vegapunk, grabbing the Devil Fruit from his hands. Vegapunk was startled again, and after a moment, he turned to look at Carl with resentful eyes, as if Carl had committed some heinous offense.

Carl ignored him, holding the fruit up for inspection. While observing, he asked,

"Vegapunk, are you certain this experiment was successful?"

Hearing this, Vegapunk's excitement returned, he took it as a slight against his capability. Smiling smugly, he pointed to a pile of apples in the corner and said,

"Saint Carl, just look at those other fruits. Compared to them, wouldn't you say this one's a success?"

Carl followed Vegapunk's gesture. Those other fruits had strange shapes with spots and bumps across their surfaces, like they'd been tainted by some mysterious force. Only a few looked like ordinary fruits.

In terms of color and shape, the one in Carl's hand was clearly the most successful.

Carl tossed the fruit in his hand thoughtfully. Vegapunk, now a bit more composed, pinched his chin and murmured to himself,

"Of course, this isn't the final test. We still need to confirm that it can grant powers like Kaido's. If it can..."

Before he could finish, the Devil Fruit in Carl's hand vanished. Carl glanced at Vegapunk and said,

"I'll take this fruit for now and handle the testing myself."

Vegapunk, trying to hide his frustration at Carl's brazen move, replied with a forced smile,

"Alright, then, Saint Carl. Please let me know the results once you've tested it."

Carl waved dismissively and said,

"Forget about that for now. I came here for something else today. I need a physical check-up."

As he spoke, Carl unbuttoned his black shirt, revealing his muscular chest and a vivid scar across it.

Vegapunk blinked and gestured for Carl to lie on the examination table. He attached several monitoring devices, and data began appearing on the instrument screen beside him. Vegapunk asked,

"Saint Carl, have you felt unwell lately?"

Carl replied nonchalantly,

"Not really. I just feel sleepy from time to time."

Vegapunk nodded, glancing at the readings.

"Your vitals look fine, but your blood pressure is unusually low, which could explain the drowsiness."

Low blood pressure causing drowsiness seemed logical, but considering Carl's strength, it puzzled Vegapunk why someone like Carl, with the powers of the Blood-Blood Fruit, would have low blood pressure.

Vegapunk asked,

"Saint Carl, any other symptoms? Fatigue, maybe?"

Carl shook his head,

"No. I just wrestled with some Sea Kings over 5,000 meters long without feeling tired."

Vegapunk frowned thoughtfully.

"This is peculiar, Saint Carl. You should be cautious, with blood pressure this low, even you could risk shock or worse."

Carl narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing intently until his skin turned bright red, radiating steam like hot metal. The blood pressure reading on the screen spiked, shocking Vegapunk.

Now, Carl was effectively a "hypertensive" case. A red warning appeared on the screen, and Vegapunk, panicked, shouted,

"Enough, enough, Saint Carl, please stop!"

Carl exhaled, and his blood pressure normalized. Vegapunk's mind reeled at Carl's stability despite such erratic fluctuations.

Unable to explain it, Vegapunk watched as Carl got up, took out a fresh black shirt from the Dark Bible, and slipped it on.

Still baffled, Vegapunk muttered,

"Saint Carl, just monitor your condition. This sleepiness might be a precursor to a dormant state."

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+170 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg