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Night fell on the Moby Dick.
A shadowy figure moved across the deck, light on his feet, slipping past the watchful eyes of the lookouts.
For Ace, who'd grown up stealing and scrapping his way through life, this part was easy.
He'd already cased the joint.
He found the captain's quarters.
The man was hailed as the king of the seas. Surely he wouldn't be the kind of coward to lock his door...
But Ace wasn't stupid enough to just knock and announce his intentions, either.
No.
He simply didn't have the energy left to be stupid.
When he'd woken up earlier that day, a division commander named Thatch had filled him in on his situation.
He was a prisoner.
Whitebeard had brought him aboard his ship.
His crew had been captured as well. They were alive, for now, but... who knew for how long?
"Gugaaaa..."
A colossal snore rumbled through the wall.
'Now's my chance.'
Ace transformed into fire.
The downside to his ability was that it offered no cover in the dark, and there was no hiding the heat it gave off.
He had one shot!
He had to make it count!
With his body wreathed in flame, Ace lunged, driving his knife toward the world's strongest pirate.
SLAP!
CLANG!
"Gwah!"
"Oi... what're you doin', kid?" Whitebeard mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. "Knock it off, it's late..."
He swatted at the fiery form of Ace as if shooing away an annoying mosquito, and then immediately started snoring again.
"..."
It was like a bad joke.
Still in his flame form, Ace was sent tumbling out of the cabin and into the hallway.
Blood...
The slap had given him a nosebleed.
How was he supposed to pull off a sneak attack against that?
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While Ace began his long and painful tenure on Whitebeard's ship, the sun was setting on Water 7.
Warm, golden light bathed the famous city of shipwrights.
From the conning tower, Jin could already see the towering sea walls that protected the city's unique architecture. Waterways crisscrossed between the buildings, seagulls wheeled between the masts of the ships in the harbor, and the clouds on the horizon were a riot of color.
Back in Nanohana, Alabasta, Jin had parted ways with the six Charlotte siblings.
The timber and steel he had acquired from Little Garden and Alabasta had been sent back to Drum Island and Hannabal.
Using the Munch-Munch Fruit's synthesis ability, the materials were used to upgrade the infrastructure and begin construction on a new colosseum.
During that time, he had also integrated the three new Devil Fruits that Big Mom had sent him.
The Paramecia Bubble-Bubble Fruit.
The Zoan Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giraffe.
And the Zoan Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Wolf.
Familiar, weren't they?
That's right. They were the three Devil Fruits belonging to CP9's Kalifa, Kaku, and Jabra, who were stationed here in Water 7.
It was clear that to appease Big Mom and complete the Five Elders' mission, Stussy and Cipher Pol had paid a hefty price.
Whether they were gifts or sold at a discount, they had clearly scrambled to get their hands on three Devil Fruits to ransom their agents.
And of these three, aside from the Bubble-Bubble Fruit, none of them really fit the Big Mom Pirates' style.
They preferred fruits related to food—butter, candy, mochi...
No wonder Oven had said it would take time to gather the remaining three.
Devil Fruits may have been the cursed treasures of the sea, but they weren't exactly growing on trees.
Even the worst of them could fetch a hundred million Berries at auction.
The integration of the Zoan fruits didn't seem to have a major effect on the demonic carrier, at least not yet. But Jin had a feeling that every fruit had its purpose. Perhaps after the next evolution, the Zoan fruits' role would become clear.
The Bubble-Bubble Fruit, on the other hand, had made cleaning the ship's machinery a breeze. And bathing. It had greatly improved the quality of life for the crew.
Jin opened the ship's interface.
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[Primary Authority: Captain Jin]
...
[Next Evolution Requirements: Soul Crystals (6,567/10,000) | Refined Steel (180,000/10,000 tons) | Gold (4,420/100 tons) | Silver (240/500 tons) | Rare Earth Metals (98/2,000 tons) | Biological Matter (13/30)!]
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The next evolution was still a long way off.
The Empress (Ship) docked.
A Yagara Bull, Water 7's unique aquatic transport, guided them through the city's waterways and water elevators.
News of the arrival of the King of the Winter Blossom Kingdom, one of the Seven Warlords, the man known as the "King of Paradise," spread quickly.
Iceburg didn't dare to delay, rushing back from the shipyard.
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The Galley-La Company headquarters—Iceburg's residence—was the largest and most heavily guarded building on the island.
Kalifa set down a cup of tea and stood behind Iceburg.
Jin glanced at her.
She had long blonde hair, wore tinted glasses, and was dressed in a yellow top and a black miniskirt, with black, thigh-high boots and fishnet stockings. Her fair skin was just visible beneath the mesh.
She was the perfect image of a sexy, undercover agent. A deadly combination for anyone with a uniform fetish.
She was Iceburg's secretary, his trusted confidant. It was only natural that she would be present for this meeting.
"Is there something important I can help you with, Your Majesty?" Iceburg asked cautiously. "For you to come all this way in person..."
He had every reason to be cautious. Jin's recent, meteoric rise to power had made him the hottest topic in Paradise.
Iceburg knew better than to cross a man like that.
"I've come to discuss a business proposal," Jin said, getting straight to the point.
He had two objectives in Water 7: one overt, one covert.
Meeting with Iceburg was the overt one.
Stealing the Paramecia Door-Door Fruit was the covert one.
Ever since the demonic carrier had developed its "teleportation" ability, Jin had become intensely interested in this particular fruit.
The teleportation hadn't come out of nowhere. The Munch-Munch Fruit had a similar, remote-retrieval effect. And the integration of the Castle-Castle Fruit, along with the absorption of temporal energy during its evolution, had greatly enhanced that effect.
What would happen if he added another space-related fruit to the mix?
"A business proposal?" Iceburg asked. "Shipbuilding, I presume?"
"The Fish-Man Tom..." Jin said with a smile, "—created the Sea Train, a marvel of steam power. A truly great achievement."
Iceburg's face remained impassive. It wasn't that he was emotionless. It was a mask. The loss of Tom, who had been like a father to him, had forced him to mature, to hide his true feelings. It was how he'd earned the moniker "Iceburg."
He knew that the World Government would never give up its pursuit of the Pluton blueprints, and he was prepared for the worst.
Unfortunately, despite his precautions, he had a snake in his own house. He had underestimated the patience and persistence of Cipher Pol.
"It's a shame Tom is gone."
A shame? Iceburg looked at Jin.
The world's opinion of Tom, due to his connection to Roger, was more negative than positive. Roger was a criminal, and so, by association, everything connected to him was tainted.
"The steam boiler technology he used in the Sea Train," Jin continued, "is going to usher in a new age of steam power."
Flattery costs nothing. Jin wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get on Iceburg's good side.
"An age of steam power?"
"Steam can power a train," Jin said. "Why not a ship? The Marines already have their steamships. I believe it's the way of the future. And so, I would like to commission your company to build several such ships for me."
The advantages of a steamship over a sailing vessel were obvious. It would be a crucial part of the "logistics" network Jin planned to build. Air transport could never fully replace sea transport.
But his experience with developing his fighter jets had taught him that some things were best left to the professionals.
The Munch-Munch Factory could synthesize materials, but a ship was just too big. The cost in soul crystals and other resources would be immense, and the return on investment would be low.
Cheap labor was more cost-effective.
But the advanced technology of the Marine steamships was a closely guarded secret of the World Government. They would never just hand it over to him.
So he had to settle for the next best thing.
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