Void Island's Industrial Revolution! Hauling Supplies Through Space Doors and Making a Billion

Over the following days, Lin Yuan and Bullet began "farming" like crazy.

Calling it farming was a stretch. It was more like robbery—they targeted World Government transport ships exclusively.

Lin Yuan's spatial perception had expanded to a range of five hundred meters. Within that range, he could pinpoint every passing ship. He had long since learned the World Government's transport routes from internal Marine records.

In the first week, they raided two ships.

In the second, three.

In the third, the World Government changed its routes, avoiding the area where Lin Yuan was.

"Heh heh heh..." Lin Yuan laughed. "You think I can't find you if you take a detour?"

He opened a door onto a stretch of sea three hundred nautical miles away.

A transport ship was sailing slowly past.

Bullet carried crates through the door, muttering, "Your ability is a godsend for robbery."

"Thanks for the compliment."

A month later, the reef was piled high with supplies.

The Beli formed a small mountain. A rough count put it at over two hundred million.

There were more than three hundred weapons and fifty crates of ammunition.

There was enough food to last a year.

They had also gained two more Devil Fruits: a Zoan Cat-Cat Fruit, model: cheetah, and a Paramecia Ton-Ton Fruit.

"Is it enough?" Bullet asked.

"No." Lin Yuan shook his head. "There's never enough money. We're not trying to survive for a day or two. We're building a force. One that can stand up to the World Government."

Bullet fell silent for a moment.

"Then what are you planning to do?"

Lin Yuan pulled a nautical chart from inside his clothes and spread it on the reef, pointing to a mark deep in the Calm Belt.

"Here. We're going to build our base here."

It was a deserted island shrouded in thick fog, sizable and naturally defensible, surrounded by Sea King nests. No ships dared approach it.

But Lin Yuan didn't need a ship.

He raised a hand and opened a door in the air. Beyond it was the island's beach.

"Come on. Let's go see our new home."

Two

The island was even better than Lin Yuan had expected.

A flat expanse lay at its center, surrounded by sheer rock walls, with only a narrow gap for entry. It was easy to defend and hard to attack. The island also had fresh water—a small lake with clear water.

"This is the place," Lin Yuan decided.

"What are we calling it?" Bullet asked.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment.

"Void Island."

"Why call it Void?"

"Because the void has no boundaries," Lin Yuan said. "Our force shouldn't have any boundaries either."

Bullet didn't argue.

"Wuhahahaha... all right, Void Island it is."

Three

Next came construction.

Lin Yuan used the Door-Door Fruit to "transport" building materials from all over the world. He cut timber from forests in the West Blue, dug stone from mines in the south, and "borrowed" steel from World Government warehouses.

Bullet handled the demolition and clearing. He smashed a boulder with one punch, sending fragments flying. Lin Yuan carried the rubble away and piled it into walls.

The two worked well together, putting up the framework for the stone buildings in a single day.

"That ability of yours would come in handy as a construction worker too," Bullet said, offering a rare compliment.

"Heh heh heh... I can do any kind of work, as long as I can open doors."

A week later, the stone buildings were complete.

There wasn't just one, but a whole row: dormitories, warehouses, a training ground, a kitchen, a washroom—everything they needed.

Bullet stood in the middle of the training ground, looking at the newly laid surface, and suddenly laughed.

"Wuhahahaha... I never thought I'd build a house myself one day."

"Your first time?"

"First time."

"Then there'll be plenty more firsts in the future." Lin Yuan patted him on the shoulder. "Like your first kill, your first defeat, your first..." He paused. "Your first time having family."

Bullet's smile froze.

The word "family" was utterly foreign to him. He had grown up on battlefields, surrounded by comrades. Those comrades could die at any moment, and when they did, another batch replaced them. He had no family, no friends, nothing to tie him down.

"What are you trying to say?" Bullet's voice was a little tight.

"I'm saying you're not alone anymore," Lin Yuan said. "From today on, Void Island is your home. I... guess I'm your first family member."

Bullet fell silent.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out. Finally, he turned his back on Lin Yuan and spoke in a muffled voice. "Cut the sappy stuff. Go move the materials. The wall isn't finished yet."

"Heh heh heh..." Lin Yuan laughed. "All right."

He raised a hand, opened a door, and stepped through.

Bullet stood where he was, staring in the direction Lin Yuan had disappeared, silent for a long time.

Then he lowered his head and said something only he could hear. "...Thanks."

Four

Construction on Void Island proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Lin Yuan used the Door-Door Fruit to create an "alternate-space warehouse"—an independent space in the void for storing supplies. Outsiders couldn't enter or see it, and even Observation Haki couldn't detect it.

"Now that's the safest vault there is." Lin Yuan clapped his hands.

Bullet tried, and sure enough, he couldn't sense the space's existence.

"You can use it like that too?"

"There's no limit to developing spatial abilities," Lin Yuan said. "If you can imagine it, you can do it."

He began systematically training in the various uses of the Door-Door Fruit.

Space Folding—compressing the distance between two points as much as possible. At present, he could teleport within a ten-meter range without opening a door, simply by "folding" space.

Space Cutting—using the "fracture surface" at the edge of space to cut objects. He couldn't do it yet, but he had worked out the theory.

Space Anchoring—fixing a door to a moving object, such as a ship. That way, no matter where the ship sailed, he could open a door from anywhere and reach it.

Bullet stared in amazement.

"With that ability, you'll become a god sooner or later."

"No need to become a god." Lin Yuan smiled. "Being able to defeat the Celestial Dragons will be enough."

Five

That night, Lin Yuan was practicing Space Folding on the training ground when he suddenly sensed a powerful presence approaching.

It wasn't coming from the sea. It was coming from the sky.

He looked up.

A giant monstrous bird swooped down from the clouds and landed beside the training ground. A woman sat on its back.

The woman was young, looking no more than her early twenties. She was tall and slender, with blond hair, and wore a tight leather outfit. Her gaze was sharp, and a hint of a smile played on her lips.

"Hey, you're that Marine recruit who defected? Lin Yuan, with a five-hundred-million bounty?"

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Shakky." The woman jumped off the monstrous bird's back, walked up to Lin Yuan, and looked him up and down. "Someone asked me to find you."

"Who?"

"Someone you know. Sengoku."

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

Sengoku? What does a Marine Admiral want with me?

"Don't worry." Shakky waved a hand. "He's not here to arrest you. He has something he wants to tell you, but he can't use a Den Den Mushi for fear of being overheard. So he sent me."

"Who are you? Why are you delivering a message for Sengoku?"

Shakky smiled, took a cigarette from her pocket, and lit it.

"Me? I guess I'm an old friend of Sengoku's. I used to run a bar on Hachinosu, but I quit and started wandering around. Sengoku owed me a favor, so I ran this errand for him and he repaid it."

Lin Yuan stared at her for a few seconds.

Shakky. He had heard that name in the original story. She was the empress of Amazon Lily from four generations back, and later ran a bar in the Sabaody Archipelago and was Rayleigh's live-in girlfriend.

But at this point in the timeline, she was still young and hadn't gone to the Sabaody Archipelago yet.

"What message did Sengoku ask you to bring?"

Shakky blew out a puff of smoke and said, "Sengoku said, 'Lin Yuan, the World Government has its eye on you. The Five Elders have issued a secret order to capture you alive. Watch out for CP0.'"

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

CP0. The World Government's strongest intelligence agency, directly under the Five Elders.

"What else?"

"And..." Shakky glanced at him. "Sengoku said, 'If you want to stay alive, go find someone.'"

"Who?"

"Rocks."

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.

Rocks. Davy D. Rocks, captain of the Rocks Pirates and the strongest pirate of this era. He was gathering forces and recruiting powerful people from around the world, preparing to challenge the World Government.

Sengoku wants me to find Rocks?

"Sengoku also said he wasn't helping a pirate." Shakky stubbed out her cigarette. "He just thought... you shouldn't die."

Shakky turned and jumped onto the monstrous bird's back.

"I've delivered the message, so I'm off. Lin Yuan, good luck."

The monstrous bird spread its wings, took flight, and vanished into the night sky.

Lin Yuan stood where he was, gazing in the direction the monstrous bird had disappeared, silent for a long time.

Bullet came out of the stone building.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Lin Yuan turned around. "Someone pointed us down a path."

"What path?"

Lin Yuan didn't answer.

He raised a hand and opened a door in front of him.

"Let's sleep first. We'll talk tomorrow."

(End of chapter 8)