Chapter 135

Chapter 135: Aging in an Instant

"This combo is impressive!" Adrian complimented Jinbei.

If he wasn't eating at this moment, Jinbei would have been even happier, thinking, "Next, I'll take him to see His Majesty the King."

Artoria saw Hody Jones struggling to shove another capsule into his mouth and reminded him, "It seems he hasn't given up yet."

Hody Jones, trembling, stood up again. The effects of the deadly medicine temporarily numbed his pain. At this moment, his battered appearance made him look especially fierce. He didn't care about the side effects of the medicine or any plans; he just wanted to kill the people in front of him.

"What?" Jinbei turned around, feeling that this guy could really take a beating.

Hody Jones suddenly disappeared from where he was standing, almost simultaneously; Jinbei raised his arm to block Hody Jones's fierce punch.

The immense strength caused Jinbei's feet to leave two marks as he slid backward. "Has his strength increased again? Is there no limit to the effect of this medicine?"

His speed was impressive, but not to the point where Jinbei couldn't react. After all, he was evenly matched with Luffy in second gear.

After a few rounds, Hody Jones was once again knocked down by Jinbei's punch to the chest.

Jinbei stepped forward and stepped on Hody's hand that was reaching for more pills. "If you keep taking these, you'll die without me having to do anything."

"Even if I die... it doesn't matter!" Hody Jones grabbed Jinbei's ankle with his other hand, trying to move it away.

"You're truly hopeless." Jinbei moved his foot and, at the same time, grabbed Hody's wrist and slammed him on the ground on the other side.

Hody Jones coughed up blood, and the deadly pills in his pocket spilled all over. He struggled a bit but finally had no strength to resist further.

...

In the Dragon Palace, Hody Jones lay on the ground with his hands tied behind his back and his feet bound. The remaining dozens of deadly pills were placed on a plate in front of Neptune, while Jinbei stood by in case of any accidents.

Queen Otohime, the ministers, Adrian, and others watched as Neptune interrogated Hody.

"So, you're saying you're the one who assassinated the queen and stole from the treasury, Hody!" Neptune questioned.

"That's right, I did it, but it's a pity..." It's a pity that the bullet was blocked by those damned humans, and in the end, he was caught by Jinbei. Hody Jones felt no regret, only resentment.

"Why did you do such things?" Neptune's face was filled with anger, and he smashed his trident into the ground.

Stealing from the treasury he could tolerate, but harming Queen Otohime was the most intolerable thing for him. If the matter hadn't been resolved, he would have killed Hody on the spot.

Hody Jones stared fiercely at Queen Otohime. "She was too annoying, daring to hinder our revenge against humans, daring to spread peace with humans all over the island, and it was almost successful...

That woman was just too annoying. To me, Queen Otohime deserved to die. No, killing her isn't enough; I wanted to use her to ignite the hatred of Fish-Man Island residents toward humans once again.

To shatter that foolish daydream in an instant. To do that, all I had to do was shift the blame for her murder onto humans!"

The minister scolded, "Shut up! You dare to speak disrespectfully to the queen!"

"Hody!" Neptune's suppressed anger was ignited, and he raised his trident to stab Hody in the head.

"Don't!" Queen Otohime wanted to stop him, but it was unnecessary.

Neptune stopped his own action. The tip of the trident was only a few centimeters away from Hody Jones's forehead, and everyone watched in astonishment.

Hody Jones grinned arrogantly. "Killing me won't help. There are more than just me in Fish-Man District who harbor resentment against humans! Go ahead, great knight..."

As he spoke, Hody Jones suddenly felt something was wrong. Why did he feel so tired after saying those two sentences? His voice didn't sound right.

Immediately afterward, Hody Jones felt his bound hands and feet loosen, but there was no one helping him untie them. Why?

Because the effects of the deadly medicine had worn off, and the side effects were starting to show. Everyone watched in disbelief as Hody Jones, who had been a robust man of three meters, rapidly transformed into a frail, elderly figure.

His once thick white hair fell out in large clumps, leaving behind a lifeless grayish mess. Even his voice became feeble and weak.

Due to the atrophy of his muscles, the ropes that had bound him securely naturally fell off. But at this point, no one was in a hurry to rebind him. He looked so weak that it was questionable whether he could even stand.

"So, this is the side effect of the deadly medicine?" Neptune lowered his trident. At this point, there was no need to kill Hody Jones; he wouldn't live much longer anyway. Keeping him for a while could serve as a warning to others.

Jinbei commented, "Using drugs to temporarily boost one's strength by overdrawing their life force is not a proper path."

Neptune nodded, "Let's destroy the remaining ES deadly medicine."

"I think we should keep it," Adrian suggested. "Training aside, having a trump card to use against enemies can be beneficial."

"Having such a thing can lead people to rely on it and lose the courage to fight to the death," Jinbei argued. "It will erode their determination. We should not rely on drugs to win battles."

"Alright, let's keep it with a rule in place, something like 'only to be used in extreme situations.' This way, when facing unbeatable foes in the future, there will still be a slight chance to turn the tables," Adrian recalled a similar substance in Arabasta, whether it was called Hero Water or something else.

"When it's consumed, it grants a tremendous power boost but results in death. Even though those people were defeated by Sir Crocodile with one blow after consuming it, at least other people would have a chance to put up a fight and last a little longer," Adrian explained.

"In that case, I'll personally safeguard the deadly medicine, and this matter will remain confidential. We won't use it unless Fish-Man Island is on the brink of life and death," Neptune decided to keep the medicine as a precaution for the nation.

The minister stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, how should we deal with Hody Jones? And as he just mentioned, even if we kill him, there will still be many in Fish-Man District who harbor hatred against humans. To ensure the safety of the queen, shouldn't we temporarily halt the signature campaign?"

"No," Queen Otohime immediately objected. "That would be avoiding the issue. We've come this far, and we mustn't stop now."

"First, sentence

Hody Jones to life imprisonment, and make his crimes known throughout the island. As for Fish-Man District..." Neptune had a headache. There were tens of thousands of people living there, and a simple solution wouldn't work.

After all, among those tens of thousands, there were both lawbreakers and innocent children.

Some of those children might grow up to leave Fish-Man District, just like Miss Sharley, and live ordinary lives. Most of them might follow in the footsteps of lawbreakers and become the new generation of criminals.

Now, many ordinary people instinctively felt fear and disdain when mentioning Fish-Man District. The residents of Fish-Man District had also started to develop a tendency to resent those outside, not just humans but anyone who wasn't part of their community.

The longer this issue was dragged out, the more serious it would become. Even without Hody Jones, there would still be problems sooner or later.

Adrian, hearing about Fish-Man District, found it somewhat reminiscent of the slums in movies of certain countries...

What was the root cause of this problem again? Was it the means of production and relations of production? Damn, he wasn't too well-versed in political science.