Chapter 169: The Perfect Work Of The Cross Family
The kindest Marine Admiral has finally become fully corrupt.
This reflects the current state of the Marines and shows just how corrupt the World Government has become after ruling for 800 years.
As the most powerful Marine Admiral at Marine Headquarters, even his family can be easily targeted and killed by pirates.
This is a shocking reality.
There's no protection for the families of soldiers, which shows that this "accident" wasn't caused by the Marines themselves but by the World Government or a CP organization.
There's definitely a power struggle involved.
When Kahn heard the news, he wasn't surprised at all.
Just like Wanokuni's isolation for centuries, after relocating his base to a sea area as safe as the Calm Belt, Kahn either travels or stays on Amazon Lily, living the peaceful life of a reclusive scientist.
In February of the Sea Circle Calendar year 1513, with the help of Monet and Kahn, Kuina successfully underwent a genetic modification surgery and gained a semi-completed Lunarian physique.
Why only semi-completed?
While Kuina now has the physical traits of the Lunarian tribe, she lacks their natural ability to create flames.
Even so, Kuina is more than satisfied.
She managed to break through the physical limitations of being a girl without needing to become a boy. Overcome with emotion after feeling the changes in her body, Kuina couldn't help but embrace Kahn and cry tears of joy.
At that moment, Kuina experienced a life-altering transformation.
With her natural talent in swordsmanship and the advanced Haki training of the Kuja, it won't be long before Kuina becomes a master swordswoman skilled in both Armament and Observation Haki, even learning to cut steel.
Plus, this skilled swordswoman now possesses a strong physique, capable of surviving in almost any environment.
Kuina's surgery was a success, and it gave Kahn, who had grown accustomed to his role as a scientist, a sudden surge of inspiration.
Since the Paramecia Op-Op Fruit could achieve what he envisioned—transforming a once-fragile Kuina who could have died from falling down the stairs into a physically superior human with limitless potential—could he use the same surgery on clones?
What if he used the ability of the Op-Op Fruit to give the clones not only the Lunarian physique but also the exoskeleton of Germa 66?
The most remarkable feature of "Germa 66" isn't their clone soldiers, but their enhanced physique that goes beyond human limits—skin that's incredibly tough and bones that heal themselves. It's almost like the awakening of a Zoan-type fruit, transforming people into something greater.
After reading Vinsmoke Judge's memories and doing all his research, Kahn can now create both clone soldiers and enhanced humans.
By combining Quinn's research, Kahn chose the latter—half-human, half-robot clones over the more human-like variants.
Clone soldiers are just disposable troops with strong bodies.
The enhanced version is more costly but comes equipped with lasers like the Pacifistas, plus Quinn's weaponry, making them formidable in both offence and defence, even at long range.
After Kuina's successful genetic surgery, Kahn's imagination expanded even further.
He realized he might not even need Vegapunk's knowledge to create something entirely new—a perfect creation different from both Pacifistas and Seraphim.
Kahn, with the power of the Op-Op Fruit, is fully capable of creating an exoskeleton that combines Germa 66's technology, the Lunarian physique, laser weaponry, and even the perfect battle suit from Germa 66.
With this, the perfect creation would be a monstrous being, integrating offence and defence, capable of flight and underground escape, possessing a strong physique, incredible resilience, proficiency in both close-range and long-range combat, and even the ability to turn invisible.
Such a creation might not fully rival the Seraphim from the original story, but the gap wouldn't be significant. Plus, with the ability to fly and turn invisible, even if it couldn't defeat the Seraphim, it could easily escape.
With this realization, Kahn became filled with a new surge of motivation.
After tending to his responsibilities with Robin and her daughters, Kahn delegated the task of establishing "Grandine East Blue," "Grandine South Blue," and "Grandine North Blue" to them. He then took Monet and the Kuja warrior who had inherited Aren's body to his underground base to start bringing his inspiration to life.
Once the perfect creation of the "Cross Family" is born, the family's low-end and high-end combat power will surpass that of the other two pirate emperors in an instant. This would put the "Cross Family" on par with, or even above, the three rising future emperors.
At that point, the "Cross Family" would undoubtedly become the strongest force in the pirate world's dark underworld.
Even against the full force of Marine Headquarters, they would be more than capable of holding their ground.
The reason why the Marines remain the dominant force under the World Government is that their high-end and low-end combat power combined far exceeds that of the New World's overlords.
The Marine Fleet Admiral, the Marine Hero, and the three Admirals are the five most powerful individuals at the peak of the world. They are just the tip of the iceberg. There are also Admiral candidates, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, double-digit Vice Admirals, three-digit Rear Admirals, and over 100,000 elite soldiers.
Adding the regular troops stationed across the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line, the total Marine forces easily numbered in the millions.
However, in terms of raw military strength, the "Cross Family" may have an edge over the Marines.
If a war like the Summit War were to break out now, with the "Cross Family" involved, their 150,000 clone soldiers would overwhelm the 100,000 Marine elites.
However, the sheer strength of the Marines' high-end combat power is staggering. If a direct conflict occurred, the "Cross Family" would surely lose.
That's why, for the "Cross Family" to match or even surpass the Marines in terms of high-end combat power, the creation of the perfect work is crucial. This would be the key to overtaking the Marines.
With this goal in mind, Kahn's motivation reached an all-time high.
Once the perfect creation is realized, no matter how powerful the so-called son of destiny, his father, or their allies are, it wouldn't matter. Even if they joined forces, they'd still fall short.
And so, Kahn 'disappeared' once again.
The people around him had long grown accustomed to his periodic disappearances.
Even the world at large had grown used to his vanishing acts, not to mention those close to him.
It wasn't the first time the "Cross Family" had kept a low profile.
Since the end of the Sea Circle Calendar year 1503, every time Cross Kahn made a major move, he would then go quiet for five years.
And when the world had all but forgotten about him, he would suddenly re-emerge with an earth-shaking event, boosting his status even higher.
It's now been ten years since he entered the Grand Line, and Cross Kahn's actions can be counted on two hands.
Even with such few appearances, he became the youngest Yonko, the second most powerful figure in the pirate world, and the undisputed representative of the new generation.
Apart from some highly informed forces that knew he spent last year in East Blue, the rest of the world believed that Cross Kahn had been laying low on Amazon Lily, just as he had in previous years.
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