Chapter 48: Vegapunk's Laboratory (Part 3)
"Vegapunk's mechanical modifications actually allowed organisms to perfectly fuse with machinery—even damaged parts are slowly regenerating!" After days of observation, Da Vinci found that most of the test subjects they'd captured were nearly fully recovered—except for the one injured more severely by Chiron, which was still partially unhealed.
"Is the damaged area being repaired through iron elements transported by a vascular system throughout the body?" Though she'd spent the past five days studying Vegapunk's schematics, there were far too many to finish reading.
"To fully understand and recreate bio-modification, I estimate it'll take at least three years," Da Vinci said, gauging the timeline.
"Well then, let's not rush the bio-mod stuff. Just back up your data and take all of Vegapunk's schematics and research with us," Eric suggested.
"Right. I'll need to build a copier first to duplicate everything." Da Vinci nodded.
"Ara, why not just take the originals?"
"These are priceless treasures! If something happens to the ship—leaks or whatever—the originals would be ruined. And ships are damp, not ideal for preserving paper." As an inventor, Da Vinci wanted to protect these invaluable pieces of human knowledge—even if they were primarily blueprints for instruments of war.
"You could just build a computer. Use ultra-high-resolution cameras to photograph all the documents and store them digitally. We can organize them into folders, which would make them easier to search. Plus, we won't need physical space for copies," Eric proposed, surprising everyone.
"Hahaha! As expected of Captain-kun! I got stuck in my own thought patterns. Brilliant idea!" Whap! Da Vinci slapped Eric hard on the shoulder.
"Ow! That hurt!"
It took three full days to archive all the designs.
"Whew…" Cricket exhaled a cloud of smoke. "This is more exhausting than diving for gold every day. So, Captain, what's next?"
"Our ship's too small. We need to build a large battleship—one without sails. Da Vinci, go over Vegapunk's warship designs and compare them with naval schematics from our world. See what can be combined."
"A ship without sails?" Porche asked, puzzled. In her world, all ships had sails.
"Our world?" Cricket caught the odd phrasing.
"Uh—nothing. It's just that our place was really remote. That's why we set out to sea… and got mistakenly labeled as pirates," Eric quickly covered.
"Ah, I get it," Cricket nodded. Everyone sets sail for their own reasons. That's the romance of it.
…
Eric and Kurumi went out to shop for supplies—mainly food, since Akame burned through meat like wildfire.
"Cold?"
"Not at all~" Kurumi tightened her grip on Eric 's right arm—pressing a little closer.
Eric 's blood started boiling. Right now, he felt like he could wrestle a grizzly bear barehanded.
"Let's take our time heading back, Eric -~"
No need to ask twice.
'But I can't shake the feeling something's about to happen,' Eric thought, though he couldn't explain why.
He generated localized electric heat to warm the air around them, using it as practice for precise control over the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
"Let's explore the island a bit. We've been holed up in that lab for almost ten days," Eric suggested.
"Mhm." Kurumi didn't care where they went—so long as she was with Eric .
They walked into a rarely traveled grove of snow-covered cedars.
Because they'd spent so long chasing mechanical beasts, the others on the island now knew to avoid the couple. Even the animals gave them a wide berth.
"What a beautiful snowy landscape… but it's so quiet," Kurumi murmured. With all her past memories gone, she wanted to absorb every new experience—to fill in the gaps.
"No snow, no matter how white, could match your skin. No landscape, no matter how lovely, could match your beauty." Having seen Date A Live, Eric fully leveraged his library of pickup lines.
"Ara, such words only come from a scoundrel's mouth, Eric -~" Kurumi blushed faintly, bit her cherry-pink lip, and whispered into his ear, "But I like it~" before gently nibbling it.
'…Does she like what I said? Or… does she like me? Surely not just my pickup lines? Then again, even Nightmare herself was won over by serial-kisser Shido Itsuka—and that guy had a whole fleet of ships chasing him.'
"Ara, not even blushing?"
"Of course not," Eric replied confidently. "You already declared yourself my other half. How could I blush in front of myself?"
'If I don't act awkward, the awkwardness gets pushed onto someone else.'
As expected, Kurumi's face turned red, and she looked away. "Idiot."
Time passed. They couldn't stay out forever—someone might come looking for them, and exposure to the cold could be dangerous.
"Hm?" Just as they were about to leave and shop for food, Eric spotted a strange fruit—blue at the base, white at the top, and covered in odd patterns. (It was the Paramecia-type Chill-Chill Fruit.)
"A Devil Fruit!" Eric gasped. Finally, some luck—he'd basically just found a fortune lying on the ground.
Only problem? The fruit was in the hands of a mechanical gorilla, who was about to eat it.
"You better not!" Eric roared. Having a beast eat a Devil Fruit was such a waste—this wasn't even a Human-Human Fruit situation! He prepared to teleport over and grab it. Kurumi drew both her long and short guns.
Startled by the shout, the gorilla flinched—and accidentally tossed the fruit into its mouth.
Both Eric and Kurumi froze, watching as the gorilla made a disgusted face while swallowing the awful-tasting fruit.
"What now, Eric -?" Kurumi asked, unsure how to proceed.
"…We've got no choice. Sorry, but we'll have to take it down."
"That's the only way~" Kurumi fired several shots at the gorilla.
"Uwooh!" The gorilla raised its arms. A chunk of ice formed midair, intercepting the bullets and dropping them to the ground.
"Ice powers?!" Eric exclaimed. 'Wait… Isn't the Ice-Ice Fruit Kuzan's? I remember seeing his photo in the newspaper.'
"So this is the power of a Devil Fruit? Impressive~"
"Kurumi, stay back. I'll fight it." Eric eyed the gorilla, who was now dancing joyfully—it clearly felt the power surge.
"I'll be watching your gallant figure~"
[Teleport] Eric appeared behind the gorilla and slashed its back. A burst of blood confirmed it didn't turn into an element.
'So it's not a Logia. Makes sense—both the Ice and Snow Fruits are already taken. No way I'd be lucky enough to stumble on a Logia. Must be a Paramecia.'
Whether something is Logia can be tested—if non-Haki attacks still hurt, it's not Logia. The fruit must be Paramecia.
Paramecia types fall into five categories:
Superpower Type: Grants a wide range of special abilities (e.g., Tremor, Float, Barrier, Slow-Slow, Door-Door).Body Modification Type: Can transform part or all of the user's body (e.g., Blade, Weapon, Fortress).Physique Transformation Type: Completely alters the user's body (e.g., Gum-Gum, Chop-Chop, Bean-Bean, Mochi-Mochi).Creation Type: Continuously produces a specific substance (e.g., Poison, String, Wax, Biscuit).Control Type: Manipulates existing substances, often terrain-based (e.g., Stone, Gold, Fusion).
Given that the gorilla could freeze water in the air, this was likely a Superpower Type that lowers temperature.
"Raargh!" the wounded gorilla roared, both in pain and to intimidate.
"Sorry. We've got no personal grudge, but today, you die here." Eric 's left hand turned into lightning. "Judgment of God!"
(END CHAPTER)
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