Project-Persona

Chapter 74: Project-Persona

...

A week later...

In the middle of a dark and cold room, only illuminated by the light of a few candles, a man covered in shadowy and dark robes was analyzing carefully a strange body in front of him that was lying on an iron table without any signs of moving.

Although the body in front of him had a humanoid appearance, when one looked more carefully it was easy to notice how all of its body was made of iron or other types of metal fused together. There were even some screws attached to its body that made its robotic nature even more obvious.

The only thing that may make someone doubt if it really was not a living being, was the red glowing eyes staring impassively at the ceiling.

["Very well... The vessel is done... Let's see if my theory is correct"]

The man then placed his hand on top of the robot's chest, and suddenly a crimson-colored aura started flowing from around his body to the chest of the Robot. However, although this mysterious energy was indeed entering the body of the robot, nothing happened besides seemingly tiring somewhat the mysterious man.

["Manipulation was perfect... now the last step is integration... Let's see whether this chip can process my will and spirit..."]

The man took out a small but interesting-looking chip from his pocket and then implanted it into the head of the robot with precision and carefulness.

Finally, the man moved his hand towards the head of the robot, to the exact place where he placed the chip previously, and started doing the exact process from before, moving that strange energy towards the head of the robot without a stop for at least three minutes.

The eyes of the robot, which were staring blankly at the ceiling and lacked the characteristic luster of living beings, suddenly started moving rapidly and his gaze started exploring every corner of the room with a surprised expression in his eyes.

["Talk"]

As the man opened his mouth and instructed the robot, this one nodded and started moving his mouth with the intention of talking but failed to do so correctly, and instead, it barely let out some gasps and syllables.

[Ah- I... Ah]

The robot tried its best to pronounce even the simplest of words, but even then it seemed to be impossible for him. It was only after an hour passed that the robot was finally able to pronounce words correctly, but unfortunately, it seemed that there were still a few problems lingering in his body.

[Me not stand out... me ultimate mob]

At first, the glance of the man seemed to be full of joy, but now, he was looking at the robot in front of him with a complex expression in his eyes.

["Although it seems to have worked, the chip I gave you seems to be lacking power and potential to make you act properly as a human being... It seems like I will have to work on a new model before I start with the final step to becoming a worthy Shadow Eminence... For now rest properly until I finish the new chip, Mob-bot"]

*Beep*

When the robot heard the man's command it made a beep-like sound before the light in his eyes diminished and it entered into sleep mode right away.

*Sigh...*

Soon, after the robot ceased functioning, the man walked towards a nearby chair and took out his mask before he let out an exhausted sigh from his mouth. The frowning face of Sid soon came into light, and he grabbed a nearby memo pad before he started writing something in it with a very fast speed.

His voice, which was deep and ethereal until now, became completely normal as he grabbed his throat for a moment in order to start numbering all the problems his first chip had.

"The chip lacks room for the clone to make proper use of it as a brain. Not only is it unable to grant him a correct way of talking, but its speed of processing things is extremely slow... More speed and energy are required... Which... will take me a few months at least... Fortunately, the chip does not present a problem when integrating a fragment of my spirit and will to create the clone's mind, even better is that because it's a fragment of me, it is also under my direct control so it obeys everything I do and acts exactly as I could..."

Then, suddenly wearing an even more annoyed expression, Sid brought the pencil to his mouth and started muttering some things while looking blankly at the air.

"Maybe I can integrate some Dials filled with blood in its body to make possible injuries more convincing to the sight... Hmm, but just in case I should add some laser eyes..."

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

Suddenly from behind him, someone called at the door and startled slightly the concentrated Sid.

"What is... *Cough*[... What is it?"]

"We arrived at the Dock of Loguetown as you ordered... Are you really going to leave now boss?"

From behind the door, Kuent raised his voice and spoke with a rather sad tone on his voice as he glanced with a complex expression at the iron door that led to his boss' room.

["I must do it, after all, I've already left for far too much time. Who knows what kinds of dangers have arisen during my absence? As the only protector of this world, I have the responsibility of eradicating them before the world gets destroyed..."]

"I... I understand boss..."

After a few more words, Kuent left towards the main room and Sid sighed in exasperation after he finished acting as Thanatos.

Then, he grabbed the backpack that was lying in a corner of the room and packed a simple marine uniform with a rather relaxed expression on his face, thinking about what kind of plays he could do now that he was going to perform as a mob once again.

°

°

°

A few days later...

...

In the middle of the training grounds at the Marine headquarters in Loguetown, many average-looking marines looked at their superior with curious gazes, as most of them had just come back from their vacations and suddenly were called back to receive an important announcement out of nowhere. So in a way, their curiosity was justified.

Seeing his subordinates' expressions, the superior simply smiled slightly and took out a paper from his pocket before he then started reading out loud its contents.

"Listen well, things have been getting a bit troubling at the Headquarters of the Marine, so we are starting to lack a lot of personnel in many islands across the GrandLine. Now that most of you have come back from your vacations, I must tell you that some of you will end up being distributed to different islands in order to suppress a bit this lack of personnel that we are facing. Even more, now that things are starting to get a little bit crazy inside our ranks, so when I call your names I want you to take a step forward and respond to my call, alright?"

""Yes!!""

"Very well... then, the first one... Aveir Peruvertt?"

"Here I am sir..."

From the middle of the crowd, an incredibly muscled and tall man of blond hair stepped up and smiled confidently after hearing his name be called.

"Hey, is that Aveir?!"

"What the heck happened to him?!! The last time I saw him he seemed to have not eaten for a whole week...!"

"Where did those muscles came from?!"

The superior just ignored the voices of his subordinates, and then raised his voice to call the other selected person.

"Sid Ansel?"

"Here..."

From the middle of the crowd, a very average-looking young man stepped up and yawned slightly while wearing a very pronounced frown on his face.

"Fiu~ At least Sid didn't change"

"The same skinny appearance as always, huh?"

"I guess some people really never change"

Sid just ignored the comments of everyone around him and yawned sightly while glancing at Aveir with a raised eyebrow.

"What the heck happened to you?"

Aveir just looked at him for a moment before he then laughed calmly and smiled gently looking at Sid with an amiable expression.

"Sid, my friend, it has been truly a long month right? Hahaha, You must be curious about my change in appearance, right? The thing is... during one of my usual lonely and hot nights with my right hand, the sudden enlightenment of post-nut clarity struck my mind, and I finally understood the meaning of life. After that, I submitted myself to a very harsh training of mind and body in order to become the best version of myself... Maybe that way... I could finally achieve love..."

"..."

"Anyway, leaving my story aside, let's do our best in this mission, Sid!"

"Yeah... Sure..."

After both of them finished speaking, they noticed that their superior had already finished designating the groups and then turned to look at both of them.

"Both of you, you will be going to Sabaody Archipelago since they are lacking manpower to protect it properly."

"Yes Sir!" Hearing his superior's orders, Aveir saluted him and nodded vigorously like a perfect soldier.

"Ok" Sid just nodded his head softly and then yawned once again while looking at the air with a blank expression.

'Sabaody Archipelago, huh? I guess there's no need for me to hypnotize my superiors then... It seems like fate itself is guiding me to fulfill my mob destiny... Very well, let's do it...' Sid scratched his chin while contemplating everything he could do when the time arrived. He was certainly excited about what was to come, but he knew that rushing things could only lead to his demise, so he just planned slowly and surely in silence while everyone around ignored him.

Sabaody Archipelago, the place where all the Straw-hats experienced their last adventure together before being separated for two whole years after losing miserably. And also the best place for Sid to make his move, and become one of the most wanted pirates in the whole world.

Why is that place so special for Sid, you may ask?

The answer was simple... That place had a certain type of people that could certainly make an uproar across the whole world, were they to get killed...

...Tenryuubitos

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