Chapter 58

Naval Headquarters Hospital, private ward.

Loya leaned against the wall outside the door. The Elite Battalion members stood beside him, heads bowed in silence. No one knew what the others were thinking.

Akainu had once told Loya that Hansa was also a successor of the Asura Swordsmanship, but Loya kept this information to himself. Neither Zephyr nor Akainu had explained further. If everyone was keeping it secret, there must be a reason.

Loya figured it was best to pretend he didn't know anything.

Inside the ward, Hansa reclined weakly against his pillow. An IV drip was attached to his hand, and his face was deathly pale - not the anemic pallor from before, but a lifeless white like bleached bones.

Across from him sat Tony. The ropes binding him had been removed, but his hands were still cuffed with sea stone. He hid his right hand in the loose sleeve of his hospital gown, unconcerned about discovery.

Hansa cleared his throat and looked at Tony, his eyes filled with a mix of relief and regret. "I should've told you all this earlier. I never expected you'd progress so quickly with the Asura Sword, even without much natural talent. I'm... I'm sorry."

"You've got nothing to apologize for, Hansa," Tony replied, his gaze steady. The shock had left him dazed for a while, but he'd regained his composure. This calmness wasn't understanding, though. It was resignation - a despairing indifference to life or death.

"I just want to know," Tony continued, "what exactly is this thing?"

As he spoke, Tony raised his hands. The wide cuffs slid down, revealing the grotesque hands beneath. Starting at the wrists, thumb-length fleshy buds covered the backs of his hands, swaying gently in the air. The flesh-colored tentacles seemed alive, tangling and fighting when they accidentally touched.

Hansa shook his head at Tony's question. "I don't know exactly what they are. My knowledge comes only from personal experience. But one thing's for sure." His eyes flashed strangely. "They're alive."

Tony sucked in a sharp breath, his skin prickling with goosebumps.

Alive?

The shock was so great he didn't even register Hansa's mention of "personal experience."

Tony's fingers trembled as he picked at the buds, wincing at the sharp pain. "Can these... things be removed?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice steady.

The idea of something parasitic in his body was revolting, but what truly terrified Tony was the loss of control. No one likes feeling powerless, especially being forced to do things against their will.

He'd tried pulling them out in prison, but the pain always overwhelmed him. Now, desperate for answers, he looked to Hansa with a glimmer of hope.

Hope that was quickly extinguished.

Hansa shook his head slowly, pulling his hand from beneath the quilt. Tony's eyes widened in shock as a black tentacle unfurled from Hansa's bony hand.

"What... what is that?" Tony stammered.

"Similar to yours, but different," Hansa explained. The tentacle moved with eerie precision, opening a mouth full of teeth and snarling at Tony before Hansa covered it again.

Cold sweat broke out on Tony's forehead. He'd never imagined these things could be controlled.

Hansa coughed, his voice tinged with regret. "You know, Tony, I should've died as a teenager. I was so weak a simple cold could've killed me. To spare my family more suffering, I tried to drown myself."

Tony listened in stunned silence.

"But I didn't die," Hansa continued, lost in memory. "A family of insect breeders saved me. Ironic, really. They just wanted to test how well these parasites survived in different hosts. I was the perfect subject. The experiment not only saved my life but improved my health and gave me control over my fate."

Hansa's eyes grew distant. "Then he found them. Commissioned them to raise some ancient insect and combine its abilities with these parasites."

"Years later, they succeeded." Hansa's gaze seemed to pierce through time, back to that fateful evening in a seaside cabin. The air had reeked of brine and insects. A disheveled, half-mad man had gripped Hansa's shoulders, giddy as a child.

"I did it, Hansa! I actually did it!"

In the man's hand, a glass vial held blood-red droplets suspended in fluid. Occasionally, tentacles would emerge, swimming through the solution. The sight was as mesmerizing as it was horrifying.

Hansa's words sent a chill down Tony's spine. The true nature of the Asura Swordsmanship was far more horrifying than he'd imagined.

"So the red stone... it was alive?" Tony asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Hansa nodded. "The blood marrow worm larva. It likely entered your body while you slept."

Tony's mind raced, piecing together the puzzle. "That's why the Thousand Corpse Pagoda technique seemed strange. It's not just about the sword energy..."

"Exactly," Hansa confirmed. "The true power lies in these worms. From the second stage onward, they can split and drill into your opponent's body as you attack."

The implications were terrifying. Microscopic, steel-hard parasites ignoring physical defenses, burrowing into an enemy's flesh. Even with Observation Haki, a strong enough swordsman could make it nearly impossible to avoid.

"This is the true face of Asura Swordsmanship," Hansa continued. "The blood marrow worms are naturally aggressive. They need a strong bloodlust to be controlled."

Tony listened intently as Hansa broke down the stages: cultivating killing instinct, raising the parasites, and finally fusing with them.

"You're in the second stage now," Hansa explained. "The larvae have transformed without devouring you. They've accepted you as their host. That's... remarkable."

A faint blush colored Hansa's pale cheeks. "But your lack of bloodlust dissatisfies them. That's why they've been controlling you, forcing you to kill."

Tony's stomach churned at the memory of his uncontrolled actions.

Hansa's eyes met Tony's, filled with a mix of wonder and concern. "For them to suppress their desires and still parasitize you... Tony, you're truly a miracle."

The weight of this revelation settled heavily on Tony's shoulders. He was host to a horrifying power, one that thirsted for blood and death. Yet somehow, against all odds, he'd formed a tenuous bond with these creatures.

"What happens now?" Tony asked, his voice barely steady. "How do I... how do we move forward from here?"

Outside the soundproofed ward, Loya pushed Aludo's face away with a mix of annoyance and concern. "Why are you asking so many questions? It's none of your business!"

"Loya!" Aludo's expression turned serious. "I know it's between Tony and Hansa, but Hansa might not be able to handle the strain. We need to know what they're discussing."

Despite his stern words, anxiety and helplessness shone in Aludo's eyes. Loya understood - Aludo was worried about losing a comrade.

Tony's situation had been tightly controlled by Zephyr, with even the carefree Aludo under a strict gag order. Only Loya's presence in Green Leaf Town had kept the news from spreading further.

Faced with Aludo's anxious gaze, Loya softened. He grabbed Aludo's collar, pulling him close to whisper, "Whatever the outcome, it's their choice. As friends and comrades, we just need to support them silently. Got it?"

Aludo nodded quickly, more to avoid a beating than out of understanding.

Loya had indeed heard every word, and he grasped the gravity of the situation. This information couldn't become public - the fewer who knew, the better.

He finally understood Hansa's secret and why Zephyr had been so secretive. The implications were staggering, involving even the Celestial Dragons.

The blood marrow worms, craving death and destruction, were originally discovered for medical purposes. Their unique regenerative properties had caught the eye of the World Nobles, who sought to use them for immortality.

Such experiments couldn't be conducted openly. While many Celestial Dragons were foolish, the clever ones knew that if this information leaked, the entire project would be wiped out within a week.

Loya's mind raced with the implications. The power to potentially grant immortality, hidden away in these parasitic worms... it was almost too much to comprehend. He knew he'd have to tread carefully with this knowledge, for the sake of his comrades and perhaps the entire world.

Loya's mind reeled as he processed the information. The Five Elders, the shadowy figures behind the World Government, were likely involved in this conspiracy.

The Celestial Dragons had entrusted their secret pawn, the assassin codenamed "Shura," to find experts who could perfect the blood marrow worms and increase the survival rate of hosts. Shura discovered the Bibi family, the very people who had saved Hansa.

Immortality was a tantalizing goal, but the Bibi family uncovered an even greater potential in these ancient parasites - their combat applications. Through extensive testing, they found that the blood marrow worms not only repaired and enhanced their hosts but also rapidly adapted to and improved their abilities. Some hosts, like Tony, even became stronger swordsmen when controlled by the worms.

What's more, once parasitized, only two known Devil Fruits could remove them - the fabled Ope Ope no Mi and the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi (Paw-Paw Fruit) wielded by Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords. Even then, extraction came at a great cost, as the worms integrated with the host's spinal cord.

The Bibi family, recognizing the wasted potential in mere immortality research, secretly altered their plans with Shura's covert assistance. Their efforts paid off, resulting in a new strain of blood marrow worms that combined the best qualities of both species.

Shura became the first host of this new strain. His meteoric rise from an unknown swordsman to the world's top assassin was a testament to the worms' power.

But then came the shocking news of Shura's death at the hands of Dracule Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman. The Bibi family's initial disappointment soon gave way to a realization - no one seemed to know they still possessed the blood marrow worms.

Loya's fists clenched as he grappled with the implications. Such power, hidden away and known only to a select few... The potential for both good and catastrophic evil was overwhelming. He knew that this secret could shake the very foundations of the world if it ever came to light.

Loya's mind raced as he pieced together the intricate web of deceit and ambition. Shura, once a pawn of the Celestial Dragons, had become the Bibi family's secret weapon. But with Shura's death, their grand experiment seemed to have reached a dead end.

Desperate for more data, the Bibi family scattered blood marrow worms into the sea along with a sword-fighting manual disguised as the "Asura Sword Way." In reality, it was a "worm training manual," designed to find the perfect host to unlock the parasites' true potential.

Hansa had been tasked with this mission, and Tony was one of the unwitting test subjects.

The brutality of the blood marrow worms meant that most hosts were devoured from within as soon as the parasites hatched. This explained why Admiral Zephyr couldn't find other descendants - nearly everyone who encountered the worms perished.

It also clarified why the Asura Sword Way fetched such an astronomical price on the black market - one billion berries. If the Celestial Dragons weren't paranoid about their immortality scheme being exposed, they might have raised the bounty tenfold or even deployed the Navy.

Loya almost chuckled at the irony. The usually arrogant and domineering World Nobles had been forced to act with caution, fearing that if the Navy discovered their plans for eternal life, they might sabotage the project or even join forces with the Revolutionary Army.

The implications were staggering. Tony and Hansa were caught in the middle of a power struggle that reached the highest echelons of world government. The blood marrow worms represented not just a terrifying weapon, but the potential for immortality itself.

Loya's jaw clenched as he considered the weight of this knowledge. He knew that every move from this point forward would have to be calculated carefully. The lives of his comrades, the balance of power in the world, and perhaps the future of humanity itself hung in the balance.

He glanced at Aludo, grateful that his friend remained blissfully unaware of the true depths of this conspiracy. Loya silently vowed to do whatever it took to protect his comrades and navigate the treacherous waters ahead.