Chapter 157: Swallow first and then transform, the Golden Adam Treasure Tree? !
Franky stared blankly at his hands, then touched his arms, which were still covered in human skin. "This... this is the System? I don't feel any SUPER—changes?"
Under the midday sun, Ron lightly tapped a scattered ship nail beside him with his fingertip. The half-meter-long iron nail cast a slender shadow on the deck, its surface still clinging to fresh wood shavings.
"Try it on this," Ron said, feeling somewhat interested in this modification system himself.
Franky instinctively gripped the cold iron nail, focused his mind, and silently chanted "Modify." A gigantic golden warhammer materialized out of thin air!
The hammer was larger than Franky's entire body, intricately carved with gear patterns, yet its handle fit his mechanical palm perfectly.
"SUPER—amazing!" Franky exclaimed in shock, hefting the giant hammer. Its weight distribution was so perfect it seemed tailor-made for him. "Is this a System tool?"
He took a deep breath, his mechanical joints humming at full power. The giant hammer whistled through the air as he swung it down toward the ship nail, erupting in a dazzling golden light upon impact!
*Urgh!*
Franky suddenly grunted, feeling as if half his strength had been drained away. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead, and his heart pounded loudly in his ears. The giant hammer seemed to transform into an energy-devouring black hole, voraciously consuming his stamina and spirit.
When the golden light faded, the ship nail was only slightly reddened, bent at a mere fifteen-degree angle.
A cold System prompt appeared:
[Modification Failed]
[Current Progress: Bronze (1 / 100)]
Usopp's long nose twitched in alarm: "Whoa! That consumption is terrifying!"
Sanji frowned, blowing out a smoke ring: "It's even worse than the allowance Nami-san gives me..."
Chopper frantically ran over, hugging a bottle of cola: "Quick, replenish your energy!"
Franky, however, stared at the slightly deformed iron nail, a fanatical gleam in his eyes: "SUPER—interesting!"
He trembled as he raised the Modification Hammer again. "Ninety-nine failures for one golden modification? That's a SUPER—deal!"
His eyes blazed with fervent blue light. He excitedly waved the hammer, pointing it at the massive Pluton battleship: "SUPER—perfect! Apply all these modifications to reinforce the Pluton! Make this battleship a true King-tier masterpiece!"
"Or even reach the hidden God-tier!"
He tried to lift the Modification Hammer again, intending to repeatedly smash the ship nail to test his limits, as each modification consumed both stamina and spiritual power!
Stamina wasn't a big issue—he could replenish it with cola. But spiritual power couldn't be restored that way; it required rest and sleep...
As he swung the hammer again and again,
the System interface in his vision suddenly flashed with a blinding red warning:
[Warning: Daily Modification Limit Reached (8 / 10)]
[Spiritual Overload Risk Alert]
[Mild Symptoms: Mental fatigue / Difficulty concentrating]
[Moderate Symptoms: Auditory/Visual hallucinations / Cognitive impairment]
[Severe Symptoms: Mental collapse, potential onset of psychosis!]
[Final Stage: Insanity!]
[Modification is not a game; every strike hammers your very soul!]
Franky staggered back two steps, his mechanical palms trembling uncontrollably.
A wave of intense exhaustion washed over him, as if his brain had been scooped out. His iconic blue pompadour drooped limply, and the rotation of his cola-powered core in his chest noticeably slowed.
"You've got to be kidding me..." he gasped, leaning on the scorching hammer handle. "Only eight tries and... I'm already running on empty???"
Before he could finish, a strange hallucination flashed before his eyes—he saw the Pluton's ship nail dancing a flamenco and winking at him.
He shook his head hard to clear the illusion, and the System interface immediately popped up a new warning:
[Initial hallucination symptoms detected]
[Recommendation: Immediate rest, enter sleep state]
[Continued modification may lead to: Believing oneself to be a talking piece of underwear]
"SUPER—I surrender!" Franky hastily released the Modification Hammer. The golden giant hammer instantly dissolved into a stream of data and vanished.
He collapsed onto the dock with a loud *clang*, his mechanical joints groaning under the strain: "I can't... two more strikes and I'll probably go into immediate hibernation..."
The watching Straw Hat Crew was dumbfounded.
Usopp's long nose twitched violently again: "The success rate is way too low!!"
Nami tugged at her hair, already calculating: "At this rate, how many days will it take to reach golden modification?!"
Zoro: "It's even more ridiculous than my sense of direction."
Just as everyone was discussing,
Ron's voice sounded: "Failure is an inherent part of modification. The spiritual power consumed with each hammer strike also tempers your spirit."
"Like forging steel—a thousand strikes remove impurities; a hundred failures solidify the foundation. When the accumulation reaches a critical point—"
"SUPER—enlightenment!" Franky suddenly struggled to sit up, his eyes reigniting. "So every failure is paving the way for a golden modification?"
"Failing a hundred times not only triggers a golden modification but also allows an upgrade to the silver tier!"
Ron nodded: "Pain is the price of growth; madness is the trial of the strong. The more hammer strikes you can endure, the greater the power you can wield."
Sanji suddenly stubbed out his cigarette: "So, my 'Beaten-Up System' is also..."
"Exactly," Ron chuckled. "Every time you get bruised and battered, your resistance to attacks increases."
Chopper excitedly bounced: "Then my sunbathing... it seems I was already accumulating light energy!"
Franky suddenly slammed his arms together with a *clank*: "Too cool! So being dog-tired right now is actually proof that I'm getting stronger?"
He struggled to his feet and shouted at the Pluton battleship, "Just you wait, my big baby! I'll hammer you properly tomorrow!"
Then he glanced at the System panel,
"SUPER—can't waste the last two chances!"
*Bang!*
His mechanical arm shot out, grabbing the Adam Wood timber and the gold reserved for the ship's bow.
"I'm going all in! I want the ultimate modification!"
Under everyone's stunned gazes, he suddenly opened his massive mouth—"Munch-Munch Fruit · Material Fusion!"
The Adam Wood shavings and gold ingots were devoured frantically. A grinding, crushing sound emanated from his abdominal cavity as golden and wood-grained fluids merged inside his body, finally spewing out from his mouth again!
*Boom!*
A chunk of strange composite material crashed to the ground. It retained the wooden grain of Adam Wood but shimmered with a faint metallic gold luster, gleaming luxuriously yet softly under the sunlight.
"Golden Adam Wood?!"