At the same time, Clockwork Island's live streaming account suddenly updated with a new video—the camera slowly zoomed in on the statue, revealing the previously blurry inscription on the base clearly under the close-up:
"To the gear of the new era—every turn you make changes the trajectory of the world."
Meanwhile,
The residents of Clockwork Island had no idea that the statue built to thank Ron would cause such a huge stir on TikTok.
Within 48 hours of the video being released, the official account's follower count spun wildly as if wound up, soaring from just a few thousand to over seventy-eight thousand, with each new video's views easily surpassing the million mark.
"Quick! Get the showroom ready!" the current mayor of Clockwork Island exclaimed, banging the table, his graying beard bristling. "Put all the inventions we can sell on the shopping cart!"
The island's craftsmen worked through the night, carefully packaging those ingenious clockwork inventions:
-Mini perpetual motion music box (plays for 72 hours on one winding)
-Automatic watering system for potted plants (suitable for balcony gardening)
-Clockwork-driven mini sweeping robot
The most popular item was the "Eternal Clockwork Lamp," which could shine continuously for three months just by winding it tightly.
The product details page specifically stated: "Uses Clockwork Island's century-old craftsmanship, quality guaranteed."
This product sold over three thousand units as soon as it was listed, with the comment section uniformly stating, "Came for Admiral Ron's statue," and "Support Clockwork Island."
"Too many orders!" the old man at the post office said, looking at the mountain of packages, feeling both happy and troubled. "We need to hire ten more helpers."
The island's young people joined the packing team one after another, and even the usual loafers voluntarily came to help with the moving.
As a result, not only did the island's crime rate plummet, but many people also joined the ranks of production, as stealing and robbing simply didn't earn as much as a few orders, and there was no risk to life!
After realizing this, in just two days, the crime rate on the entire Clockwork Island dropped to zero!
Furthermore, in the following week, Clockwork Island's economic situation underwent drastic changes:
-Average islander income increased by 400%
-Ten new processing plants were built
-The children ate special supply chocolate from the Chocolate Kingdom for the first time!
The mayor was teary-eyed in the latest video: "Thank you, Ron-sama, and thank you to every friend who supported us!"
In the background was the revitalized central square, where the statue had been polished to a brilliant shine.
Attentive viewers noticed a bronze plaque added to the statue's base: "To the one who changed our destiny."
And at this moment, Ron was receiving a special gift in Dressrosa—an exquisite clockwork model, engraved with: "When the gears begin to turn, miracles will happen."
He looked at the bright sunlight outside the window, a slight smile playing on his lips: "It seems Clockwork Island's clockwork has started turning."
.....
During this time,
Wapol, who had been following this matter closely, had long been envious, seeing the people of Clockwork Island making a fortune.
Wapol's long-dormant merchant ambition began to stir again; his corpulent body paced back and forth in his workshop, occasionally picking up the popular Clockwork Island products from the table to examine them carefully.
"Hmph, aren't they just clockwork toys?" Wapol suddenly stopped, a glint flashing in his eyes. "My Munch-Munch Fruit ability is the strongest imitation artifact!"
Without further ado, he immediately started a live stream.
In front of the camera, Wapol puffed out his big belly and proudly displayed his "Munch-Munch Factory"—which was really just his small workshop piled high with scrap metal.
"Watch closely, everyone!" He opened his mouth wide and swallowed a pile of scrap metal along with a genuine Clockwork Island product.
Following an unpleasant chewing sound, several "Wapol Special Edition" clockwork products were spat out from his mouth:
A dancing mechanical penguin (but occasionally jams)
A perpetually spinning top (spins for a maximum of 3 hours)
A clockwork-driven fan (wind power varies)
"See that? This is real skill!" Wapol wiped the metal shavings from his mouth. "No need for century-old craftsmanship, made on the spot and sold immediately! Order today and get a free crown-shaped mini clockwork!"
Unexpectedly, these shoddily made knockoffs actually became popular.
Thanks to hashtags like #ClockworkIslandAlternative and #WapolMagicMod, his small shop's sales skyrocketed.
Orders were so numerous that even his dilapidated small workshop put up a sign that read "Wapol Clockwork Kingdom."
"Hahaha! I really am a business genius!" Wapol counted the money, laughing so hard his fat jiggled.
He specifically posted a video showing off his wealth on TikTok: lying in a pile of Beri, eating fried chicken, with "Our Workers Have Strength" playing in the background music.
The residents of Clockwork Island just shook their heads helplessly when they saw it.
"Let him be," the old mayor said with a smile. "At least it proves our clockwork concept is recognized."
They continued to focus on developing higher-end products, such as the newly launched "Eternal Clockwork Clock," whose accuracy rivaled the Navy Headquarters' atomic clock.
However, Wapol's "business miracle" only lasted for two weeks.
As more and more buyers complained about product issues, his shop's rating plummeted.
The worst were the "limited edition crown clockworks"; because the internal structure was unclear, many buyers broke the clockwork when winding it, rendering it useless.
"These consumers are really hard to please!"
Wapol slumped angrily into his creaking old chair, his greasy fingers scrolling through the bad reviews on his phone screen, half a piece of cold fried chicken still in his mouth.
Just as he was about to take down all the products, his finger suddenly froze in mid-air,
"SOLD OUT!!"
Two large, bright red words were prominently displayed on every product page.
"Wh- What's going on?" He shot up straight, not even noticing his belly fat hitting the edge of the table.
He rubbed his eyes hard, then pinched himself fiercely to confirm he wasn't dreaming, before trembling as he clicked on the backend data.
The long string of numbers in his account balance made him gasp, and the fried chicken in his mouth fell to the floor.
In just a few minutes, his heavily criticized knockoffs were completely wiped out!
Not even the mechanical penguin that jammed or the rusty crown clockwork were left.
"Wh- Which rich tycoon bought everything?" Wapol stammered to himself, his finger scrolling through the order list.
Suddenly,
His small eyes widened into perfect circles; the person who placed all the orders was the same one: Vegapunk?!!!!
....
-------------------------------
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