Just as Morgans was about to beg Ron not to dismantle his airship in anger, he suddenly noticed the floor littered with rectangular objects. He paused, then asked in confusion, "Ron, where did you get so many bricks? And they're so thin—they're useless for building houses."
He picked up a phone and examined it from all angles, as if studying some strange artifact.
"But this thing feels just right in the hand. It'd be pretty good for smacking people like a brick." As he spoke, Morgans actually tried to bite the phone with his beak.
"Be careful not to chip your teeth." Ron chuckled, then continued organizing the phones scattered everywhere, arranging them neatly on the table. Although a single phone wasn't large, ten thousand of them filled the entire table, stacking up to the height of a regular water cup.
"Ron, what exactly is this thing? And you're in much better condition than before—like a completely different person." Morgans looked at the "brick" in his hand with curiosity, noticed a button, and pressed it instinctively.
At the same time, Ron's voice came through. "This is a phone. It's a good thing."
"It lit up! It lit up! It's not going to explode, is it?!" Morgans suddenly exclaimed, nearly dropping the phone.
"Don't worry, it's not a bomb." Hearing Ron say this, Morgans finally relaxed and observed the phone with curiosity, but couldn't understand what he was looking at.
Ron looked at Morgans' curious expression and smiled. "It's normal that you don't know. I'll teach you how to use it in a moment." He then remembered this guy's ability—to communicate with birds and make them work for him! The newspaper's distribution relied on News Coos, able to reach every corner of the sea! In that case, he could use Morgans to sell the phones worldwide and quickly increase the user base!
Then, Ron took out his own phone and taught him step by step. "Morgans, first of all, this isn't a brick, it's not food—it's a phone, an entertainment device. This button on the side is the power button; it's also the shutdown button. Just long-press it to turn it on or off. You try it."
Morgans nodded and asked again, "I understand that, but what's that icon that looks like a musical note?" He pointed to the TikTok app on the phone screen with curiosity.
"The icons on the phone are collectively called apps, and they're also a form of entertainment," Ron explained slowly and patiently. After all, Morgans was his first user. "Tap on it, and I'll teach you how to register."
Although there were no identification systems in the pirate world, registering for TikTok still required name verification, which could avoid many problems. Soon, Morgans successfully registered, becoming the first TikTok user besides Ron!
Ron also introduced the basic function of TikTok, which was watching videos, but there were no videos to watch yet, so they could only do something else for now.
"Ron, how did you get in there!" Morgans scrolled to Ron's video. Actually, it was hard not to scroll to it, because currently the entire TikTok library only contained Ron's single video.
"I told you—that's the video I filmed."
"I want one too!" Saying this, Morgans pointed the camera at his large bird face and, under Ron's guidance, also filmed and uploaded a video.
"Alright, stop playing for now." Ron interrupted Morgans' desire to keep filming videos. "First, follow me. If you need anything later, you can send me a private message or video call directly, but don't bother me unnecessarily."
"Private message? Video call? What are those things?" Morgans scratched his head. His brain couldn't process so many new concepts at once.
Half an hour later, Morgans understood how to use TikTok, his face full of wonder. "Hey! Ron, why isn't this profile picture my photo? I want to use my handsome picture!"
"Simple. Just open the camera, flip the lens, take a photo, and upload it."
"Wh-What? Say that slower."
"First, open the camera."
"This thing... a phone can be used as a camera too?" Only then did Ron remember that he had just taught Morgans how to use TikTok, not how to use the phone itself. He ended up spending another ten minutes teaching Morgans the basic functions of a phone.
After understanding the basic functions of the phone, Morgans was completely stunned, then started shouting excitedly. "You bastard! Why didn't you take out this amazing thing earlier? What our newspaper agency lacks most is phones!"
"Not only can I take photos anytime, anywhere, without needing film! I can even record videos! Oh my God, it's unbelievable!" In his excitement, Morgans opened the camera and took seventy or eighty photos of himself with clicking sounds, until he chose a satisfactory selfie to use as his TikTok profile picture.
What more could Ron say? He was also frustrated. Who knew unlocking the system required a secret phrase? If he hadn't grown tired of fighting, he might not have been able to unlock the system even until his death.
"You're incredible, Ron! How did you do all this!" Morgans took photos everywhere in disbelief. It was so small and portable, and the key was that he didn't even need to change film to record firsthand news. It was simply a reporter's divine tool!
"You've been hiding this from your brother for so long..." Morgans' large bird eyes stared intently at Ron, as if trying to see right through him. "Would you believe me if I said this is my Devil Fruit ability?" Ron scratched his head, unsure how to explain.
"What?!" Morgans shrieked, as if his tail had been stepped on, pointing at Ron and shouting in panic. "Didn't you say you would never eat a Devil Fruit? How did you suddenly eat a Devil Fruit!"
Ron: ???
He believed that? Perfect. He was too lazy to explain anyway, so he casually made up an excuse to brush him off. "After so many years, I never knew what a Devil Fruit tasted like. Dying like that would be somewhat regrettable, so I ate one. But Devil Fruits are truly disgusting—absolutely vile!" Ron pretended to feel nauseous and about to vomit, which secretly delighted Morgans.
"Kwahahaha! Ron, can you give me a few more of these phones so my employees can each have one!" Morgans didn't forget the main point and quickly looked at Ron. After all, if each of his employees had a phone, they could film large amounts of firsthand news, and his newspaper agency's influence would be even greater!
Ron knew Morgans would say this, so he pretended to hesitate for a moment before agreeing. "No problem. What are friends for?"
Hearing this, Morgans was overjoyed. He reached out and grabbed dozens of phones, holding them in his arms and cackling with glee.
"However, these phones are quite valuable. Even with our relationship, you'll have to pay. One hundred Berries per phone should be fine."
"One hundred Berries!!!" Morgans was dumbfounded, looking at Ron in shock. He had thought that high-tech phones like these would cost at least ten thousand Berries, but he never expected them to be so cheap!
"Ron, you don't need to take pity on me—I'm not short on money!"
"I'm really not taking pity on you. I'm not getting rich by selling phones, and besides, what use is money to me?" Morgans suddenly fell silent for a moment. After a while, he looked up and solemnly stared at Ron. "Ron, I won't say anything else. From now on, you're my big brother!"
Saying this, Morgans ran toward the bed where Ron had been sleeping and, in front of him, pulled out a box from under the bed. This resting room was originally his personal lounge, and under the bed was where he hid his savings.
"There's one billion Berries in here—all for buying phones!"
"Can you even use that many?" Ron was very surprised, but then realized how thoughtless his question was.
"Kwahahaha! Brother Ron, my employees are spread across half the world! One billion Berries is only enough to buy ten million phones, which is nowhere near enough!" Ambition burned in Morgans' eyes. "My goal is to become the World News King!"
Ron shrugged, indicating it didn't matter. "As long as there's money, my ability can mass-produce phones."
"First, find a hidden place to land. This place can't hold ten million phones. Also, I have another condition."