Vice-captain of Whitebeard pirates

"That's not good, after all, there are so many children."

Rayleigh seemed a little hesitant as he glanced at Marco while speaking.

Marco and the others lowered their heads, pretending not to hear, though they were inwardly gritting their teeth. If you're going to refuse, just refuse! But please, don't take them with you—they also want to see what this thing is!

Rayleigh pursed his lips. In truth, he was against the idea of dissection. To Rayleigh, even though they were pirates, conducting a dissection was not something pirates should be doing.

"Ahem, if there's really no other way, then we'll go with what Larson says," Roger suddenly spoke up.

Whitebeard nodded, "I also want to see what's going on with these things that can avoid my attacks."

With both captains, Roger and Whitebeard, giving their input, Rayleigh couldn't object anymore, even though he still felt uneasy.

Larson shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really have any choice. I'm not even sure if I'll find anything with this autopsy."

"Don't worry, Larson, just do it boldly. Don't hold back."

Whitebeard gave Larson a reassuring look.

Larson nodded and took a deep breath. To be honest, this was his first time doing an autopsy, and he felt uncertain.

However, although he had never performed surgery before, he had watched plenty of movies and TV shows in his past life. He figured he could piece together enough to make an educated guess about how doctors perform in the operating room.

At that moment, everyone noticed that Larson, who was sitting in front of the black shadow, seemed to have undergone a sudden change. His entire demeanor shifted, and he now carried an indescribable aura.

A small sword appeared in Larson's hand, spinning gracefully like a butterfly between his fingers. But Larson didn't rush into cutting. Instead, he closely observed the black shadow before him again.

This time, there was a shift in his gaze, as though he was inspecting a mere object, not a living creature.

The black shadow's chest was still faintly rising and falling, proving that it was alive. Larson had clearly noted earlier that the black shadow which had attacked Marco was not breathing and had no heartbeat.

From this observation, it was clear that while both were black shadows, they were entirely different entities.

Of course, this was something the group had already proven before.

What Larson aimed to do now was analyze the composition of these shadows, to unravel the mystery of what they were made of.

The sword in Larson's hand functioned like a scalpel, carefully descending toward the black shadow's chest. As the blade penetrated the surface, there was no blood splatter, nor did the creature struggle violently.

The black shadow lay still, as if lifeless.

But Larson knew it was still alive, though he couldn't tell if it was conscious.

He frowned slightly. The sensation of cutting into the black shadow's body felt strange to him.

Having killed many people before, Larson was well-acquainted with the feel of slicing through different parts of the human body. But when he had inserted the blade into the black shadow just now, it felt as though he was cutting into a thick swamp.

Not human.

Larson mentally labeled the black shadow as such.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a relief that these creatures weren't human. If this island had the power to turn people into shadows, that would have been truly terrifying.

Larson could feel everyone around him watching intently, waiting for his findings.

"These guys shouldn't be human anymore."

He spoke the conclusion he had just reached.

Everyone silently absorbed the information, not uttering a word.

Larson resumed his work, letting the blade trail down the black shadow's abdomen, deeper, and then withdrawing it.

As he pulled out the sword, a black substance clung to it. It wasn't blood, but something unknown.

"Careful, don't touch anything on this."

Larson handed the sword to Marco, who was standing beside him.

Marco accepted it carefully and stepped aside, remaining quiet.

He resembled the assistant of a surgeon, prepared to hand over any tools Larson needed upon request.

The dissection continued. Larson glanced down at his hands, and in the next moment, a golden film covered them.

Micro Susanoo – medical gloves.

Larson then plunged his hands into the black shadow's chest and pulled it apart on both sides. In truth, Larson didn't even know why he was doing this at this point.

But still, this is how it's done in the TV shows, so he simply followed suit.

Gaban, who had been watching behind him, suddenly nudged Rayleigh.

"What?"

Rayleigh was visibly displeased with Gaban interrupting his concentration.

Gaban, lowering his voice, said, "Look, Larson seems to know what he's doing!"

Hearing this, Rayleigh blinked and responded, "You're not wrong about that."

"Right?" Gaban couldn't help but add, "Do you think he's done this kind of thing before?"

"Dissection?" Rayleigh almost laughed at the thought.

Had Larson been performing autopsies before joining the Whitebeard Pirates?

If Larson had heard this, he'd probably have a brawl with Gaban for even suggesting it.

"Hey, I was just throwing it out there," Gaban muttered, knowing how ridiculous his comment sounded.

He sighed. "I just mean, isn't it amazing? No matter what Larson does, he does it so well. He's smart and strong.

I used to think I was something special, but compared to him, I feel like I'm nothing."

"Haha, Larson would be thrilled to hear you say that."

"I'm being serious, though."

"So am I."

"Forget it, I'm done talking to you."

"But you did say one thing that's true."

"Which is?"

"Compared to him, I feel like I'm nothing."

...

Gaban stared, shocked. He knew how proud Rayleigh was. Though Rayleigh always came across as calm and kind, he accepted no one's superiority on their ship except Roger. Of course, that was part of his role as first mate, but it also revealed how much respect Larson had earned from him.

Gaban clicked his tongue. "Tell me, what would we do if one day we became enemies with Larson?"

'Enemies…'

Rayleigh grew thoughtful. He didn't answer Gaban immediately, but in his mind, he saw the towering image of Larson—standing ten meters tall—slashing a giant Sea King to death in a single stroke.