Crisis Lurking Beneath the Surface: Wapol Metal

"Fire!"

"Occupy T-position, prepare starboard guns—"

After dealing with Bartolomeo's group of fanatical fans, Fleet 211 soon faced a real battle! Under Nami's control of the weather, the Marine warship truly thrived, easily seizing advantageous positions and repeatedly ravaging the opposing pirate fleet with their cannon fire.

Even with six pirate ships, they were still being overwhelmed by three warships! And the worst part was:

"What kind of crazy weather is this?!"

The navy nearby was sailing smoothly under the bright sun; while their own side was facing a raging storm, as if even the heavens were on their side—

"No, Captain Boozer."

The ship's navigator was indeed skilled; he pointed to the naval officer on the flagship who had a book open: Nami.

"I can sense that the naval woman is influencing the weather in this area!"

"Taking this beating isn't going to work; the ship won't hold on—"

Although the 'experts' among pirates are no longer afraid of mere cannons, the ships beneath their feet and the ordinary pirates do not have such formidable physiques.

Once the ship and ordinary crew are gone, only someone like Pluton could cross the Grand Line alone by hand.

"Captain, let's go over there and take her down!"

Several officers leaped into the sea with a splash, biting their weapons and swimming furiously towards the Marine warship. With their abilities, swimming wouldn't be slower than an ordinary person running. One of them even seemed to be flying through the air on the sea, clearly using some kind of water-walking technique! However:

"Geppo!"

"Geppo!"

"Geppo - Chaotic Lotus!"

Led by Isca, a group of Second-generation Marine leaped out, using Geppo to meet the enemy in the sea! This made the faces of the pirate officers who were trying to engage in close combat turn dark.

"Don't even think about succeeding!"

Borgin and his companions came from military families and were already well-versed in the various Six Powers of martial arts. Coupled with the high-standard nutrition they received from childhood, their physical condition was undoubtedly excellent. Their daily life after boarding Roman's ship was as follows:

As long as you don't die from overtraining, train like crazy!

It can be said that each of them was in a period of rapid growth in strength. Under Roman's leadership, they won battles every day, which fostered a sense of arrogance among them. When they saw the enemy daring to cross the sea, they all took off with Geppo, unleashing various Flying Slash and storm kicks, instantly burying the enemy pirate crew's 'decapitation' tactics in the sea.

After one-sided ravaging—

Not long after, as the navy sailed away the few intact pirate ships, only slowly burning wreckage and corpses remained at sea. And:

Whoosh!

Two figures emerged from the sea; they were the captain and navigator of the pirate fleet.

"That's really impressive,"

The navigator was full of admiration when faced with the Marines who had wiped out his pirate crew.

"That woman... must be the 'Weather Control' under the command of Rear Admiral 'White Dove,' who has recently risen to prominence in the navy."

As Roman relentlessly hunted down pirates, his reputation among them became infamous. The name "White Dove" spread like wildfire, even overshadowing the "Admiral" in the first half of the story!

After all, you usually don't encounter Admiral in the first half of the Grand Line, but if you encounter this damned 'White Dove', you'd better prepare for a total wipeout.

Moreover, this naval admiral nicknamed "White Dove" has a group of "soldier" who can use the Six Powers of martial arts under his command, including Isca, known as the "Naval the Nail," and another female officer who can control the weather—

The pirates, whose numbers had just surged due to Whitebeard's influence, were left battered and bruised, and Impel Down was nearly overflowing with people!

"If I had that ability, I could definitely find even the Greatest Treasure..."

"Hmph, unfortunately our main problem right now is how to swim to the next island."

The navigator shrugged at the disgruntled Captain Boize.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Captain. — I just saw that guy Yannet also dived and escaped the Navy's attack, which means:"

"Annette, Annette!"

Amidst the shouts of Captain Fei Ze, whose face was dark with anger, a simple and honest figure emerged from the sea: he was carrying tools on his back, had an air bag hanging from his waist, and a respirator in his mouth.

"Captain, did you call me?"

Faced with the honest and simple-minded shipwright, the captain of the Boiling Marsh Pirate Crew rolled his eyes helplessly.

"Quickly use the remaining materials—" he pointed to the burning, sunken shipwreck beside them, "To make a small boat, or we'll have to swim to the next island."

"Yes, Captain."

For shipwrights in this world, hastily building a boat is just basic stuff. — Don't forget that back in the ring-shaped island era, even the mediocre shipwright Usopp could build a boat out of a few barrels.

Soon, a small boat carrying the remaining members of the pirate crew set off again. However:

"Damn it! We actually encountered a white dove! How could our luck be so bad?"

"Captain, the fleet is gone. It would be too much for us to return to the North Sea like this..."

"Hahaha, how could that be!"

The captain, standing proudly at the bow, burst into laughter, for he knew very well that the more difficult the times, the less the captain could afford to be despondent! If the captain himself was in despair, how could he expect others to follow him?

"That female naval officer, her name is 'Anne,' right...?"

Captain Fei Ze stroked his neatly groomed chin thoughtfully.

"She has the ability to control the weather? Excellent—"

What's so good about it? We've all been wiped out!

Before the other cadres could voice their complaints, their captain revealed the answer.

"I know a big shot who needs people with this kind of talent! If we use this information to pledge allegiance to that big shot, we can easily obtain a fleet and manpower!"

"That way we can make a comeback immediately, and then:"

The pirate captain swung his Sailor's Knife forward fiercely, and the flying slash decapitated a Sea King that had leaped out of the water!

"Onward to the 'Greatest Treasure' once again!!"

"Captain Feize, we'll all listen to you!"

Hahaha~~~

A crisis that threatened to tear the place apart has passed, but:

For Roman and Nami, however, a crisis is quietly approaching.

Meanwhile, the tireless White Knight had already reached his destination:

Punk Hazard

This is a Winter Island, covered in ice and snow year-round. This makes life very difficult for the people. So, the genius scientist Vegapunk, who was born here, planned to build a large heating furnace to change people's lives, but he was forced to stop due to lack of technology and funds.

Later, to raise funds, he and a group of mad scientists— Judge, Queen, Caesar, and others—began research and development. But as the old saying goes, they all veered towards combat: cyborgs, clone warriors, viral weapons, Giantification ...

After all that cutting-edge technology, they couldn't even come up with a geothermal device. Roman didn't even know how to complain.

Later, this group of mad scientists was discovered by the Navy; some fled, and others were captured. This made Roman feel sorrowful about the world's technology once again: Forget your science and technology, take my Haki punch first!

"Arrive,"

Roman landed on a snow-covered mountain. He could clearly sense Franky's 'Den Den Mushi Paper' below him, so of course it was:

"Franky, I'm at your 'doorstep' now."

!?

"That's super fast! Wait a minute, I'll be right there!"

"This place is quite nice,"

Walking through the technologically advanced corridor, the cool lighting illuminated the White Knight and Franky. The more muscular Franky showed clear signs of modification compared to before, especially his skin.

"Did you notice? This is an active composite skin with an epidermal cell layer, giving my steel body a tactile feel. Pretty cool, right!"

"Of course, this is not my invention, but a technological achievement left behind by Vegapunk!"

When it came to technical matters, Franky became quite animated, rattling off a string of technical terms. This Roman... no, the White Knight completely bewildered.

"Wait a minute, take a look at this first."

Roman didn't send the White Knight here to listen to Franky's 'lecture on body mechanization,' but rather to deliver materials: in the White Knight's hand was a gleaming silver alloy, so clear it reflected one's image like a mirror!

"Incredible! This metal..."

In the laboratory left behind by Vegapunk, Franky repeatedly tested the metal delivered by the White Knight, uttering a series of exclamations of admiration.

"It's truly a magical metal. Once smelted and cooled, it shows no signs of melting even at temperatures of thousands of degrees. Moreover, this metal possesses a unique 'shape memory' property, allowing it to return to its original shape after being subjected to impacts exceeding its tolerance limit..."

"Alright, alright, just tell me if this metal will be useful to you."

The White Knight waved his hand, "I'm not an expert in materials; you wouldn't understand any of this anyway."

"It works, it's super useful!"

Franky excitedly raised his head. This alloy was practically like Armament Haki to a cyborg like him! He had been worried that his old body wouldn't be able to keep up with the strength of Haki users, but unexpectedly...

"It's unbelievable that such an excellent metal exists in the world; it's truly a treasure of nature!"

"This is not some natural treasure, but a product of Devil Fruit."

"Well, although Devil Fruit are also products of nature..."

Well, it's hard to say. However:

If Wapol hadn't been driven to desperation and forced to synthesize toys to sell for a living, he probably wouldn't have accidentally created Wapol Metal. Integrating weapons into his own body, even merging two people... thankfully Wapol is weak, otherwise, that overpowered Devil Fruit would have been completely ruined.

"Anyway, I'm relieved if you find it useful."

"Oh, and while you're at it, could you also do some modifications..."

In the original 'world,' although it's unknown where Franky obtained the Wapol Metal, judging from the fact that only one 'General Franky' was manufactured, the quantity was certainly not large. Therefore:

"Leave it to me! I will make the Sunny Merry the most durable ship in the world!"

With the large amount of Wapol Metal promised by Roman, not only General Franky, but also the Sunny Merry, need to be strengthened. With Wapol Metal and the Adam Tree, the world's most robust ship will truly live up to its name.

In fact... Roman envisioned that the Thousand Sunny and the Golden Merry would only truly shine after they reached Laugh Tale!