Cifer's Log, July 29th, 809 A.O.S.
9:45 A.M.
From 7:00 to 9:30 sharp, I autopsied and experimented on the dead creature's body.
What I found was nothing short of miraculous horrifying.
This creature has an unnaturally small number of body systems, only six in total. The skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, immune, and nervous systems are present, but there is nothing to suggest the existence of reproductive, urinary, respiratory, endocrine, or lymphatic. And even the systems that are here are lacking many significant organs essential to their functions in the body.
The creature has no kidneys, lungs, liver, intestines, spleen, or pancreas. Nor does it have genitalia, male or female. The only organs it has are a heart and a stomach. I did not notice any of this during my first procedure (to remove the wooden beam from the creature) because of the thick layers of fat, muscle, and tissue directly under the black scales. Once it was peeled away, the bizarre anatomy became evident.
What the creature does possess are perhaps the most complicated nervous and circulatory systems I've ever seen. I thought at first that it didn't even have the former, but it does. The nerves of the monster are inside the veins and arteries.
Most of the creature's spine is connected to the aorta and the superior and inferior vena cavas. These main blood vessels are much larger and more flexible then what has been documented in most creatures. Attempting to cut one broke my scalpel, indicating incredible hardness. In fact, the properties of these blood vessels are almost reminiscent of wapometal. They are also completely transparent, which allowed me to make my discovery.
The reason for these properties is probably so that the breaches to the main blood vessels do not rupture open with movement. These breaches are fitted around the many nerves that branch out from the spine. These nerves then clump together within the main blood vessels and spread throughout the entire circulatory system, traveling down the lengths of the arteries and veins of the creature. For those reading this, think long, electric worms within pipes, and you'll get a distinct mental image of what I am seeing right now [1].
In place of normal internal structures is a massive heart, three times the size of one found in an average adult Tyrannosauridae Tyrannosaurus. It has five chambers, the four normal ones essential to blood circulation, and a new one underneath. The left and right ventricles and atriums are the only part of the blood system where nerves are not present. Instead, they branch off from the blood flow and enter the lower, sealed-off chamber. It is here where the most nerves are clustered together, but for what anatomical purpose I can't imagine.
The digestive system has been simplified to the point of grotesqueness. Food was still chewed and swallowed normally, but after traveling down the esophagus all processing seems to have taken place in the stomach, if it can even be called that. In fact, it may be more accurate to call the organ in question a perfect hybrid of all the necessary parts of the body involved in digestion, indicating some sort of superstructure. The stomach was just as indestructible as the blood vessels, and this time I did not have the fortune of it being transparent. A large, seal-off tube takes the unnecessary nutrients and fat to the rectum, and eventually to the anus for defecation.
The only systems with any semblance of normalcy are the muscular and skeletal systems, which are practically identical to those of the Spinosauridae Spinosaurus [2].
I performed a series of experiments on the corpse in order to get a better idea of how it's body worked.
First, I attached a Vegascanner to the creature's head and jumped-started the brain with enough Vegabolt to reanimate it, which caused the heart to start beating and the nerves to glow a deep magenta. As I expected, the cardiac cycle is different from anything I've seen before.
The two sounds the heart makes, named S1 and S2, occur at the beginning and ending of ventricular systole, respectively. However, during this systole a third sound occurs, which I have dubbed S1.5. This third sound is caused by an exceedingly quick contraction made by the lower chamber of the creature's heart, during which the clustered neurons light up a bright yellow. So the bottom of the heart is constantly alternating between yellow and red, yellow during contractions, red during relaxed periods.
Sigh, I need a freaking drink. I'll finish this entry at a later period [3].
[1] All pictures and hypothetical drawings are stored in my visual data books.
[2] For reference, the Spinosauridae Spinosaurus is also in my visual data books.
[3] Why did it take me so long to start using these? It makes these journal entries flow far better.
10:30 A.M.
The dragons have grown quite a bit since hatching on July 10th. In 19 days they've increased in size from 4 feet long to 14, and they show no signs of slowing down.
The Molly Carnation has been moved to an anechoic chamber. It began asking insistently, from its many faces, that I play a game with it. One face said that we should play chess, another wanted to play I Spy, and yet another wanted to place Gumi. The tree has 24 faces on it, and it wanted to play 24 different games.
Returning to the subject at hand, I will now move on to perhaps the most confounding part of the creature.
It's brain.
The creature's movements while under the influence of the Vegascanner indicated a relatively simple relationship between the center of the nervous system and the rest of the body. I thought that perhaps the brain would be similar to that found within the aforementioned Spinosaurus. How naive I was. A quick craniotomy revealed that the majority of the organ had already rotted away. Within the dead tissue was a single red orb, connected to the top of the brain stem, where the diencephalon usually is for humans.
Even with the Vegascanner deactivated, the orb pulsed with a reddish glow. I touched it with a pair of tweezers, and the entire corpse twitched.
I have run no further experiments, for fear of what I may do to fast deteriorating monster.
12:00 P.M.
I've lost my appetite. I fear I may never eat again without recalling the nightmarish autopsy.
I am beginning to believe that what I have discovered is not of this world. Not even Vegapunk himself could have engineered a creature this abnormal, and while that statement may seem blasphemous, I have worked with Dr. Vegapunk for 18 years, half of my entire life. I am well acquainted with his abilities, and their limits.
And yet, despite all that, Nami's condition in relation to the creature is even more disturbing. She has displayed feral behavior on 12 separate occasions now, and remains locked in a deep coma otherwise. Despite her criminal background and unrepentant acts of piracy, I would be lying if I said I didn't feel any pity towards her. The poor girl may die, and even if she survives, she only has one arm. There aren't many people in this world capable of living a normal life without both arms.
12:01 P.M.
I was just reminded by Arpy that Red-Haired Shanks has only one arm and is one of the four most powerful pirates on the ocean. However, that does not fall within my definition of a 'normal life,' so my point still stands.
What happens to Nami now is beyond me, but I will do everything in my power to keep her stable. I feel it is imperative to remove the orb from the creature's head right away. It may be the key to unlocking this mystery.