After taking a nap, practicing swordsmanship for a while, and helping advise on the company's corporate culture.
Usually, a single sentence was used to sum up a company's character or ideals. For example, Anta: Keep Moving; Li-Ning: Anything Is Possible; ERKE: Be Number One. Those were all famous ones.
Huawei: Build a Fully Connected, Intelligent World; Apple: Think Different; Tencent: User First, Technology for Good.
Of course, Morning Star was not even qualified to carry the shoes of those major companies yet, so the corporate vision Sun Kangle submitted was not overly grandiose.
Quality First, Honest Business.
Zhou Qi naturally had no objections. As long as it would not attract widespread attention or controversy, he had no objections.
Then there was the logo. Morning Star was an ancient name for Venus. At first glance, it looked like the sun, but using Venus directly as the logo was not suitable either. What Sun Kangle submitted was a golden sphere, divided by straight lines into several golden gradient sections.
Well, it looked pretty tacky, to be honest, so Zhou Qi nodded in approval.
He had no choice but to approve it. If they did not hurry up and finalize it, the products could not be manufactured. The production line had already been shut down waiting for several days.
Finally, at five in the afternoon, the container was delivered to the warehouse. The deliverymen even took photos, both inside and outside.
Zhou Qi had them open the container doors before leaving. Once the warehouse doors were shut, he opened a portal straight into the container and arrived inside this hazardous chemical warehouse.
The entire warehouse was empty. There was nothing inside, and it was impossible to tell why it was called a hazardous chemical warehouse.
All the cameras had been removed according to Zhou Qi's request. Still uneasy, he scanned the place for a long time with a camera detector he had bought online. Only after confirming that no cameras remained did he finally relax.
First, he opened a door and slowly raised it around the container. On the other side of the door was the Loguetown Marine Base.
This way, the container could be handled gently and set down softly, without being damaged by a hard drop.
Then he opened another door leading to Smoker's office. As expected, Smoker was already waiting there.
"Did you buy all the fruit? What now?" Smoker asked.
"If you bought them, then load them into the container. I've already brought it over. It's on your rooftop!" Zhou Qi pointed upward. "Where's the fruit?"
"Next door!"
There were plenty of empty rooms in the Marine base, so finding somewhere to store fruit was not difficult.
"Find a carpenter and build a frame!" After looking over the fruit, Zhou Qi gave another instruction. "Divide the middle of this container into a space big enough to fit one person. Fill the space above, below, left, and right of him with fruit!"
"No problem. We don't need to find anyone outside. The Marines have carpenters!" Smoker said.
Sure enough, the entire wooden frame was completed in less than half an hour.
It was a three-dimensional grid-shaped wooden frame. Fruit could be placed above, below, and on either side, while a person could be placed in the opening at the center. There was nothing technically impressive about it, but Zhou Qi still took a photo.
If today's experiment worked, they would need plenty of these in the future. He could have a professional furniture factory on Earth make a batch to order.
After putting in the wooden frame, Zhou Qi opened a Space Gate and placed the fruit in one by one.
Smoker watched from the side with envy. This was far too convenient!
Compared to Zhou Qi's ability, his smoke seemed utterly useless. He was not even particularly good at combat!
"Um!" Smoker suddenly spoke up.
"What is it?" Zhou Qi asked.
"I mean, if the Marines need it, could you use that door to help us transport some things?" Smoker asked. "Of course, we won't make you work for free. We'll definitely pay you!"
"No problem!" Zhou Qi nodded. "But I can't transport pirates. I'm afraid of offending people!"
"Uh..." Smoker was speechless. Escorting dangerous pirates was definitely one of the needs, yet Zhou Qi had blocked that route right away.
But thinking about it, Zhou Qi was just a merchant with no strength to even truss a chicken. It was perfectly normal for him to fear pirates.
With that thought, Smoker suddenly felt that Zhou Qi truly needed a bodyguard. His resentment over Zhou Qi taking Tashigi away before also lessened somewhat.
"All right!" Smoker nodded.
"Mm, it's done!" On the other side, the fruit had already been loaded. That was the efficiency of the Space Gate. Something that would have taken many people a long time to finish was completed in just a few minutes with the Space Gate, as easily as rain falling.
"Next up, here we go!" A Space Gate opened beneath the warehouse, then slowly rose. The lower half of the entire container gradually vanished before the two of them as though by magic.
Then the Space Gate closed, and the entire container disappeared.
Tashigi had been watching over Red Hair for five hours. When she left, she had been alone, but when Zhou Qi returned, he discovered another person beside her.
Koshiro.
Tashigi practiced swordsmanship at the side while Koshiro stood nearby and instructed her.
"Colonel, Qi-kun!" Seeing the two return, Tashigi hurriedly greeted them.
"Mm, you should call me Captain Zhou Qi from now on!" Zhou Qi said seriously.
"You joined the Marines?" Koshiro was somewhat surprised. Based on your way of thinking, you should not get along with the Marines.
"Uh, I'm just holding a nominal position to make doing business easier. The kind where I only collect a salary and do no work!" Zhou Qi explained.
"I see!" Koshiro nodded, his gaze still calm. Nothing could be read from his expression.
Zhou Qi inwardly marveled. Such mental fortitude. As expected of someone in the Revolutionary Army.
"You must be the Great Swordsman Zhou Qi mentioned?" Once Smoker saw the two finish talking, he hurriedly stepped forward. "Thank you for taking care of Tashigi all these years!"
"Not at all, not at all. She worked hard herself! My help was insignificant!" Koshiro said with a smile.
"You've already helped tremendously. After all, no one at our base specializes in swordsmanship. She has always been training by herself, and we were worried she might go down the wrong path!" Smoker said. "Speaking of which, sir, with such great strength, have you ever considered joining the Marines and contributing to these seas?"
Koshiro shook his head. "Forget it. I'm just an idle wanderer from the countryside, and I've grown used to a leisurely life..."
"I see!" Smoker nodded, feeling somewhat regretful.
The entire Marine force only had one Great Swordsman. If they could recruit another, the Marines' strength would surely increase by another measure.
Unfortunately, the man was unwilling to join.
"By the way, what is this..." Koshiro pointed at the container on the beach. He had asked Tashigi about it earlier, but she had refused to say.
He was not the sort of person who liked prying into others' secrets, but this island was one of the Revolutionary Army's contact points. He had to get a clear answer.
Smoker looked at Zhou Qi, who said, "I'm guessing whether, after a Devil Fruit User dies, their ability can be recovered. So I made this container and wanted to try it out!"
"Huh?" Smoker's eyes widened. You're just telling him?
Wasn't that trusting someone too much?
What he did not know was that Zhou Qi had other plans. For example, the Thunder-Thunder Fruit still had to end up with the Revolutionary Army.
Koshiro would find out sooner or later, so Zhou Qi might as well tell him now.
That was the information gap. Smoker did not know that Zhou Qi knew Koshiro's identity, so he thought Zhou Qi was simply naïve and inexperienced.
Koshiro also did not know that Zhou Qi knew his identity. He only felt that after knowing each other for a few days, this disciple already trusted him so much, which moved him greatly.
As for Tashigi, she did not know Koshiro's true identity, but she knew Zhou Qi's origins and goals.
If he could really accomplish such a thing, then his ideals might not be impossible to realize!
Thinking of that, Tashigi's trust in Zhou Qi rose by several more points.
If Zhou Qi had a system, he would probably be hearing notifications like Tashigi's loyalty +10, +10 right about now.
"Can something like this really be done?" Koshiro asked curiously, while wondering what it would mean for the Revolutionary Army if it were true.
"I don't know either. Isn't that why we're trying?" Zhou Qi said as he swiped his hand. Red Hair, who was lying on the ground half-dead, was sent into the container.
Zhou Qi opened another door. On the other side was Red Hair, trapped inside the cramped space.
"Teacher, please give Red Hair an injury that will kill him ten or so minutes later!"
"Can't we just shoot him dead?" Smoker asked.
"What if, at the instant he dies, the Devil Fruit ability escapes through the door?" Zhou Qi asked. "Better safe than sorry!"
"Our experimental conditions are not precise to begin with, so we naturally have to do everything perfectly in the areas we can control!"
"I see!" Smoker nodded, having learned something.
The two looked at Koshiro. Naturally, Koshiro would not refuse to act, since he was also curious.
Moreover, Red Hair was a heinous criminal, so Koshiro felt no psychological burden in acting.
With a raised hand, he swung his sword. The three of them did not even see the blade's shadow before a bloody hole appeared in Red Hair's body, blood gushing from it.
"That will do. He can hold on for at least fifteen minutes!" Koshiro said.
Upon hearing that, Zhou Qi immediately closed the door, then opened a Space Gate connecting the beach and the sea.
The container dropped directly onto the surface of the sea, then floated there.
"Damn it!" Zhou Qi was speechless. The container was empty and waterproof, while the fruit was not very dense. Combined, they actually could not sink!
"That's it?" Smoker asked.
"That's it my ass! Hurry and do something, press it down... Forget it, I'll do it myself..." Zhou Qi remembered that Devil Fruit Users could not touch water.
He turned to look around, found a stretch of beach covered in jagged rocks, then opened a Space Gate. Several large boulders fell onto the container.
The container was forced directly underwater. Ten seconds later, it had completely sunk to the bottom.
The four of them sat by the sea, staring straight at the container beneath the water without even blinking.
Time passed second by second, and ten minutes quickly went by.
Yet no one spoke.
Another ten minutes.
Ten more minutes.
Until the sun set and the sky darkened.
"That should be enough, right?" Tashigi asked softly. "Even if he didn't die from blood loss, he should have suffocated to death!"
"Uh..." The other three looked at each other.
"It should be enough!" Koshiro was confident in his sword, but at a time like this, he could not help feeling nervous.
The inheritance of Devil Fruits!
If it could really be done, the Revolutionary Army could pass powerful individuals down from generation to generation, accumulating more and more of them.
By the principle that strengthening oneself meant weakening the enemy, one day the Revolutionary Army's strength would surpass that of the World Government...
"Then, shall we retrieve it?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Retrieve it!" Smoker's throat was somewhat dry as well. If this truly worked, what would it mean?
He did not know. He was even conflicted over whether he should report this matter.
After all, if it were true, Devil Fruit Users across the seas would all become highly sought-after prizes, pursued and hunted by every faction.
Including himself.
He was highly valued in the Marines because he was a Logia Type Devil Fruit User.
But once Devil Fruits could be extracted, why would they still value Smoker?
As a high-ranking Marine, it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to look after members of my own family, right?
For the future of the family, Smoker, you can make a small sacrifice and contribute your Logia Type fruit. No problem, right?
Just imagining such a dark future made Smoker shudder.
For one moment, he even hoped the experiment would fail. He even considered whether he should kill Zhou Qi and let this secret remain a secret forever.
Fortunately, he was ultimately a righteous man.
He could only watch helplessly as the container was retrieved.
The doors opened, and countless fruits rolled out.
The four immediately stepped forward to search through them.
Before long, Tashigi's excited voice rang out. "I found it!"
Before you continue