Supernova Golden Lion

"Mr. Brook, you're saying you want to install a small screen on a Den Den Mushi? Something like the display screens connected to Visual Den Den Mushi?"

A senior technical expert from the World Economic News Paper looked at Brook with a puzzled expression. He explained that the Den Den Mushi responsible for surveillance and observation were relatively small, but the ones responsible for projection had to grow quite large to possess enough energy for continuous broadcasting.

It was just like the ones used during the Summit War; the one responsible for filming on the battlefield was small, while the one broadcasting live on Sabaody was massive. The same logic applied in Impel Down: the Den Den Mushi used to monitor prisoners were small and easy to hide, while the ones used for viewing in the surveillance room were much larger.

"Yes, is it possible?" Brook replied.

"It's possible to install one, but these small Den Den Mushi wouldn't be able to project for long before becoming too exhausted and falling into a dormant state."

The senior expert pointed out the flaw. In truth, using large Visual Den Den Mushi for long-distance video communication already existed, but it generally couldn't cover vast distances. Such a method was inferior to simply using a standard Communication Den Den Mushi, which could already mimic a person's appearance anyway.

Furthermore, Den Den Mushi were weak, simple-minded, and lazy; they generally only retained one radio frequency and understood only one skill.

Juvenile Den Den Mushi could only communicate within the same island. Through human selective breeding, those meant for photography only took photos and discarded communication functions, paired with an external signal-transmitting printer to develop the film. Those meant for filming only filmed, and those for projection only projected...

In short, these little creatures were simple and could not be loaded with too many functions.

In the end, the technician still helped Brook customize a small screen for dozens of juvenile Den Den Mushi, connected to the snail's shell like a corded telephone handset.

It reminded Brook of a first-generation touchscreen phone connected to the Den Den Mushi's body by a wire, hanging off its shell.

When a juvenile Den Den Mushi was fitted with this device, the screen lit up for a few dozen seconds before going dark.

Under Antonio's guidance, another juvenile Den Den Mushi transmitted the image it saw as radio waves to the small screen to project it. It was a success, but it quickly exhausted its energy and fell asleep.

This battery life was, admittedly, a bit lackluster.

For a period after that, Antonio trained these juvenile Den Den Mushi to learn several skills, while Brook searched for various precious leaves to feed them. He even tried feeding them leaves from the Yarukiman Mangrove, Sun Tree Eve, and Treasure Tree Adam.

They eventually tested and discovered the food that provided the greatest enhancement to the juvenile Den Den Mushi: Yarukiman Mangrove leaves could serve as daily food, allowing the screen to stay lit for half an hour. Feeding them a leaf from the Sun Tree Eve extended the battery life for an hour of continuous communication, while a leaf from the Treasure Tree Adam could sustain them for two hours.

The juvenile Den Den Mushi were finally cultivated into Mobile Den Den Mushi—a name Brook coined himself. By abandoning video calls to save energy, they retained communication mimicry and text-based screen interaction.

Brook, Antonio, and Shakky each picked up the small wired screens of their Mobile Den Den Mushi and scribbled on them.

Their handwriting appeared on each other's screens.

[No. 2: Captain Brook, can you see what I wrote?]

[No. 1: I see it.]

[No. 3: How amazing!]

Brook felt deeply satisfied. Although this was a very crude chat group, it was his greatest tribute to his past life.

"Captain, I want to change the number to my own name."

Only Antonio could communicate with the Den Den Mushi to make them change their fixed display names.

"Captain, this function doesn't seem very useful! We can communicate while on the same ship, and for other things, we can just use a regular Den Den Mushi. Reading text is too troublesome, and having to write it out is even worse."

Shakky felt that the Mobile Den Den Mushi was indeed a bit of a white elephant—not very useful.

Brook began to ponder. Without a large user base, this was indeed less practical than the functions of a standard Communication Den Den Mushi.

Moreover, the need to feed them these precious leaves effectively killed any chance of mass adoption, and Den Den Mushi weren't something ordinary people could afford anyway. In this world, News Coo were still the primary means of obtaining information.

Brook sighed, forced to shelve his plans for entering the information age and wait for a time when it might prove useful.

Perhaps establish a guild? A Fellowship Guild? Distribute these Den Den Mushi to captains of pirate crews with great potential and pull them into a group to communicate!!!

Haki, swordsmanship, island information, treasure locations... it felt like there was potential there!

But his current strength wasn't high enough, and his fame wasn't great enough; no one would pay him any mind. Besides, could he be sure these captains wouldn't just start fighting each other?

He decided: even if he gave the Mobile Den Den Mushi to promising captains, it would only be to those he approved of, and the chat group would strictly enforce anonymity until he had grown strong enough!

After racking his brains and carefully planning based on his past life's experience, he felt it was feasible. Since it was fifty years before the start of the main plot, he had no advantage of knowing the story. He could only use this to gather information, and he absolutely had to seize the information high ground of the World Economic News Paper.

Before he knew it, the next day had arrived.

"Captain Brook, the first Supernova of the year has successfully landed on Sabaody! It's the captain of the Flying Pirate Crew, Golden Lion Shiki, with a bounty of 440 million Berries! His pirate ship can actually fly! The bounty poster says his Devil Fruit is the Float-Float Fruit, which can make anything float!"

Early in the morning, Shakky rushed to Brook with the latest intelligence she had gathered.

"Golden Lion Shiki... what a familiar name. I wonder how strong he is right now!"

The power of the Float-Float Fruit was indeed unsolvable; it was perfect for both offense and escape. Plus, Shiki was a master of the two-sword style. No wonder the Navy gave him such a high bounty!

"Captain, should we go to the Lawless Area and take a look at this big shot?"

As an information broker, Shakky couldn't resist wanting to see him in person, but since she had joined Brook's crew, she decided to report it first.

"Sure, just don't cause any trouble!"

Brook followed Shakky to witness the imposing presence of a young Golden Lion Shiki.

In a bar in the Lawless Area of Sabaody.

A man with long, golden hair, a cigar in his mouth, and two swords at his waist stood tall, raising a glass of strong liquor. He was truly in his prime.

If it weren't for his desire to visit the legendary Fish-Man Island, he would have simply flown over the Red Line and headed straight for the New World, rather than waiting here for his pirate ship to be coated!

"Captain Shiki, out of all this year's Supernovas, you've reached Sabaody the fastest. You're the strongest, Captain!"

A lackey from the Flying Pirate Crew offered frantic praise, boasting about his captain.

"My pirate ship can fly; who could possibly be faster than me? Hahaha!"

Golden Lion Shiki laughed triumphantly. He was only in his twenties, yet his bounty had already reached 440 million, making him the strongest Supernova of the year!

You are reading One Piece: Hell Brook by Great Hellfire.