Great Minds Think Alike

Into The Black Snow
Even though the clock had just hit 12:00 pm in the afternoon, outside it seemed like dusk. The streets were illuminated by dim light posts, and subtle rays of sunlight made certain places a bit more brighter than others. This was due to the thick clouds which extended to almost the whole island of Negrsneg. The island of the Black Snow was true to its name, as charcoal colored snowfall rained down, the product of snow merging itself with volcanic ashes. Constant blizzards were a common thing on this place, sometimes lasting for weeks. This only is made worse by the unholy tremors of an active volcano that shakes the entire island on a constant basis, which is located on the south. Not only that, but the entire piece of land sat upon a dormant super volcano, whose awakening would obliterate the entire island and the ones nearby.

This was a truly mysterious island, as sunlight barely hit the surface, almost all life on the land was just plain white. The locals were easily identifiable by their pale white skin and red eyes, whose eyesight had developed to adjust to the scarceness of light. But as with many locations in the New World, this island, with its strange colorless beauty, also had a darker shade to it.

Because of the harshness of the land, it is mostly inhabited by its pale locals, which settled in various villages and towns across the island, usually nearby one of the various natural hot springs. However, in the past, many foreigners stepped unto the island, mainly for work, as the island was home to various oil extraction and refinery facilities. Indeed, the island is also a rich source of natural materials such as oil. A fateful event occurred years back, which caused all operations to be abandoned, as well as creating resentment from the local towards the World Government, and slowly isolating the island even more from the outside world. But still, one factory survived. Only accessible by travelling through a geyser filled canyon, known as Geyser Path, sits a town full of criminals and refugees, where the only remaining oil extraction factory and refinery exists, as well as where many underground dealings are taking place every moment. The locals do have knowledge of the dark dealings going on in Taneko Town, but they simply turn a blind eye to it, as a certain group of pirates has made a deal with them; every illegal business will take place ONLY in the town, and the locals are to be left alone. The locals do benefit as well, as is with these businesses that they have access to food and products not found on their harsh home.

Today, the town was even busier than usual, as a certain event had caused that many individuals with scientific expertise had set foot on it. Eren Gyo, a scientist formerly employed by the Marines and World Government, had been working secretly with a group of researchers in order to create a devastating weapon, one that would cause widespread genocide to all the corners of the world. Following the clash between the Xros allied fleet, the Numerals, against the Marines and the "Black Ops", one of the pirate groups who participated in the event, the Reaper Pirates, continued with their momentum, and for some reason began attacking several Government ships and those belonging to countries and kingdoms, in order to abduct scientific experts for some unknown purposes.

Though these attacks received the most attention, several abductions in guarded locations were executed in a swift and stealthy manner at the same time. This threat forced Gyo's hand, and with his colleague, Wung Juno's resources, sent a message to many of those experts who were probably in danger, and offered them a deal. Gyo's plan was simple, aid him in finishing his weapon and making it even deadlier, send the weapon to Mariejois to serve as an example of its power, and later sell it through the underground. But there was a catch, the scientists would have a way of activating the weapon remotely, making the weapon itself "malfunction" when in the hands of their buyers. When the weapons were activated, those affected by it would have no other choice than to also buy the antidote from the scientists themselves.

Indeed, it was a biological weapon. A fast acting, deadly virus that once inside a human host, it evolves various ways to spread itself into other hosts. So far, it has been developed to the point that when an victim is infected, by the point it's effects are visible, it has already infected those around him. The virus's effects become visible after 12 hours on a body, on animals it takes double the time. It causes bodily decay from the inside out, while still keeping the victim alive for at least 72 hours. No amount of physical strength, willpower nor devil fruit will stop it's effects, although if the antidote is administered before the 48 hour mark, there may be a slight chance of survival. It also causes excessive blood hemorrhage, to the point the victim begins vomiting blood at the 12 hour mark.

Also, their bodily pores expand massively, and produce a type of fungus that produces a stench and spreads the virus to anyone nearby at 12 hours after infection, entering nearby bodies through their pores, noses, mouth, and even eyes. The virus then proceeds to consume it's host, fueling itself by destroying and consuming everything from it's cells, all the way to it's bones and organs. Even after an infected victim dies, the virus keeps consuming the remains, to the point of leaving only an empty husk of skin, bits of muscle and tendons. This is possible because of the virus's deadliest quality, it's almost undetectable to a body's defense mechanisms, and when the cells finally notice the virus, the foreign body is already to strong to eliminate.

Gyo and his team had developed quite the deadly weapon, but they wanted more, they wanted the virus to be even stronger, and be able to be completely controlled by them, maybe even aided my nanotechnology, or something that would make the chances of survival after being infected absolutely zero. He had spread this piece of information through the Wung Family's channels, resulting in the gathering of many high profile scientists on the island, some well, were forced to come against their will, as to not have them taken by the Reaper Pirates first, others came because of genuine interest of collaborating, and other, simply out of curiosity or other nefarious reasons.

Wung Juno walked towards Gyo. "I've already informed all the researchers that, in less than an hour, they are to gather at the refinery for your speech."

"Excellent. How many have gathered?", asked Gyo. "At least one hundred. Counting the ones you brought with you, it sums up to about a hundred and thirty," answered Juno, while the duo walked towards the oil factory under an icy blizzard.

Gyo chuckled confidently. Even if one of the scientists tried to take the weapon for himself, or sabotage his plans, they had contracted the support of a powerful mercenary army, known as the Iron Legion. No enemy, from within or without, would be able to cause any sort of disturbance on their plans...or so they thought, as this information had spread through a few channels that weren't intended. Without the scientists knowledge, the location and intentions of their gathering was leaked, whether intentional or not, the news would definitely attract the attention of unwanted visitors, aiming to crash the scientists plans for their own purposes. While the scientists made their way to the factory, in order to prepare for Eren Gyo's speech, some of the unwanted visitors would begin stepping foot on the island, while others, were already there. With all the opposing factions and forces gathering on a single island, there's no doubt the repercussions caused by this event would shake the island far worse than any volcano could.