For the next stretch of time, White Ghost's crew drifted around the East Blue. Whenever they found an island, they went ashore, threw a banquet, and did a little treasure hunting.
The motto was simple: have fun.
Whenever they ran into pirates, Enel and the others went up—same old rule. No abilities. No Haki. And half the treasure taken from the pirate ships went to the fighters.
They all enjoyed it.
Most of the pirates were low-level, but the real fighting still built experience. And every now and then they ran into someone decent.
One thing worth mentioning—after hearing White Ghost's response, Big Mom flew into a rage. She spread the word that if he had the guts to enter the New World, she'd make him regret it.
And Whitebeard…
Rumor had it Kaido went looking for another beating. Whitebeard—after drinking the potion and healing part of his old damage—beat Kaido so badly he left him seriously injured.
The Beasts Pirates denied it as hard as they could, but the world wasn't blind.
The newspaper even printed a photo: Whitebeard holding his bisento, one slash sending Kaido flying.
Kaido was drenched in blood.
Sengoku lost his mind at Marine Headquarters, cursing White Ghost for being blinded by money and selling to anyone—look at Whitebeard now, that monster was more terrifying than ever.
When Tokikake came to buy, he quietly warned White Ghost: "The hawks hate you. They're recommending Sengoku put a bounty on you and send an admiral to capture you."
White Ghost didn't care. On the spot, he raised Tokikake's price by forty million berries per bottle. Buy it or don't.
Sengoku went ballistic when he heard, but he still swallowed it and paid.
White Ghost slipped Tokikake a ten-million-berry kickback, and even handed him a few "manly secret techniques" Naqin had recently developed.
Tokikake hugged White Ghost's leg and cried like his life depended on it, saying meeting a brother like him was worth three lifetimes.
But the way he looked at White Ghost afterward was… weird.
Then Tokikake glanced at the women around White Ghost and started grinning like an idiot.
White Ghost couldn't take it. He didn't even keep him for a meal—he kicked Tokikake straight off the ship.
What a joke. Did Tokikake think he needed that stuff? That was for selling to nobles—and it sold like crazy.
That day, White Ghost was sunbathing on the figurehead when something suddenly occurred to him. Franky and Ashie…
He tilted his head toward Olga. "How long has your father's group been shut in?"
Olga looked up at the sky helplessly. "Since you gave my father that Devil Fruit, they haven't come out once. Sometimes they don't even eat what we bring them.
"If they need anything, they just send Jango and the others to buy it. I swear they're getting obsessed."
Right then, Franky's laughter blasted across the deck.
"Hahahaha! I did it!"
And a chorus of cheers followed.
"Franky, you look so cool! A robot!"
White Ghost and Olga went down.
Franky was… barely recognizable. Only his face still looked like him. His whole body was coated in metal—he looked like a full-on machine.
"Franky Zero Unit!"
White Ghost's mouth twitched. This idiot really stopped being human, huh?
A bunch of grown men circled around Franky, clicking their tongues in awe.
Franky puffed up proudly. "Captain, what do you think? Am I super handsome now?!"
He even struck his signature pose.
White Ghost knocked on the plating.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
"New metal?" White Ghost asked.
Ashie laughed. "Yes, Captain. This is the newest memory metal we fused.
"Franky and I could've finished earlier, but once this metal came out, we decided to rebuild the whole thing with it."
White Ghost looked at Ashie, who had gotten so thin he was practically skin and bones, and covered his face.
Scientists really did go insane when they got obsessed.
Olga looked heartbroken at the side.
Franky kept showing off functions.
His mechanical hand reshaped again and again, making everyone's eyes bulge.
Soon, his entire hand became a cannon barrel.
He aimed it at the sea. "Watch closely!"
Everyone obediently played along.
Blue specks gathered at the barrel's mouth, condensing into a small blue sphere.
"Electromagnetic cannon—fire!" Franky shouted dramatically.
Whoosh—
A streak of blue shot out in a straight line, landing about five hundred meters away.
BOOOOM—!
It punched into the sea, and the water erupted.
"Amazing!" Enel and the others stared with shining eyes. That was real high-tech.
"Not done yet!" Franky shouted.
His arm transformed again. A gatling muzzle formed, and he began spraying small blue energy shots.
Each one didn't hit that hard, but the volume was terrifying.
Franky continued—thrusters unfolded on his back, inspired by the ship's stern propellers.
He pulled out a sword from behind him—made of light, modified from Skypiea laser shells.
And in the end, Franky fired a beam that made every grown man's eyes glow.
White Ghost asked Ashie quietly, "How long can the core in Franky's chest last?"
At first, White Ghost had thought the chest light was just decoration. But the more he looked, the more it reminded him of a certain mecha's power core.
Ashie chuckled. "As expected of Captain.
"That core is a first-generation version. If Franky goes full output—continuous electromagnetic fire—he'll last about an hour."
Then he hesitated. "But that's only if he's firing nonstop like that. In normal fighting…"
Ashie thought for a moment. "Counting Franky's cola power too… about three days shouldn't be a problem."
White Ghost stroked his chin, eyes turning bright. "If we found a power-type Devil Fruit and gave it to him… could he fire forever?"
"In theory, yes," Ashie nodded. "But Captain—if he keeps firing lasers, the metal might not endure it. And the parts inside him probably can't either."
"I'm just thinking," White Ghost said, still rubbing his chin.
If that chest core ate a power-type Devil Fruit, then Franky could basically go wild without limits.
The more White Ghost thought, the brighter his eyes got.
If it worked, Franky would be a straight-up war machine—perfect for mowing down fodder.
"Captain," Ashie interrupted his muttering.
"Hm?" White Ghost looked over.
Ashie scratched his head. "We don't have the fruit you're describing, and I haven't studied the technology for letting objects eat Devil Fruits. So what you said is hard to pull off."
"You've got Vegapunk's experiment records," White Ghost said calmly. "Study them slowly. Any Devil Fruits you need for tests—I'll provide them."
He paused, then added, "As for a power-type fruit… I'll figure it out. That one's hard to find. Any scientist who got it would know its value and never hand it over."
Ashie nodded. After hearing the description, he understood that value perfectly.
"No rush," White Ghost said. "We'll search slowly. Best case, no one's eaten it yet. Worst case…"
His eyes narrowed.
"…we kill the one who ate it and wait for it to be reborn."
As he finished speaking, he lifted his head—
And in the far distance, a pirate fleet appeared on the horizon.
White Ghost raised a telescope and took a closer look.
"Oh?" He grinned. "Isn't that the East Blue overlord, Krieg?
"I wonder if Gin's on your ship. That guy's on my list too."
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