Magneto Appears, Cracker Builds a Fleet

Cracker stuffed the last bit of black bread in his hand into his mouth.

His cheeks bulged into two round balls as he chewed forcefully. The hard, dry bread scraped open the roof of his mouth, but he did not even crease his brow.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he forcibly swallowed it. He raised the hand smeared with barbecue grease and black ash, casually wiping his nose with the back of it.

Grease smeared across the tip of his nose. His eyes, which were usually brimming with tears and quick to cry at the slightest touch, now stared fixedly at the mountain of metal scrap piled up ahead. They shone with excitement.

He jumped down from the ammunition crate. His chubby legs landed on the beach.

"Big Brother, leave it to me!" Cracker took a deep breath.

His obese body suddenly pitched forward. Both knees slammed into the sand. He raised his hands, spread his fingers wide, and brought them crashing down toward the metal mountain.

"Rise!"

A hoarse roar exploded from his throat. In that instant, the Magnet-Magnet Fruit's power was forcibly pushed to the limit of full-power operation.

Invisible magnetic ripples surged out from his palms like a tsunami.

The black iron sand underground burst from the earth first, converging into a dense black fog in midair. The intense friction of the magnetic field generated tremendous heat. The sand beneath Cracker's knees began to melt, crystallizing into chunks of transparent glass. He remained completely oblivious.

Next, the mountain of metal formed from tens of thousands of tons of Wapometal and Seastone residue let out a buzzing sound that made people's scalps prickle.

The ground shook violently. The beach split apart.

Heavy special-steel beams, torn sheets of safe-deposit-box steel, and the broken keels of warships all tore free of the earth, defying gravity.

Tens of thousands of tons of steel floated in midair, blocking out the sunlight. A massive shadow swallowed the entire coastline.

The bald captain standing nearby felt his legs go weak and dropped onto the sand.

He gaped so widely that he did not even notice his jaw had dislocated. Just moments ago, he had been unable to drag even a single steel beam. Now this fat guy had lifted an entire mountain of iron into the sky.

The pirates nearby bit through their tongues in terror. The taste of blood spread through their mouths as they crawled and rolled toward the seawater, afraid the scrap metal falling from the sky would crush them into mincemeat.

In midair, the steel materials began violently colliding and joining together.

"Creak—crack!"

The ear-piercing sounds of breaking and interlocking metal made people's eardrums ache. Sparks fell like a meteor shower, landing on the beach and raising great clouds of white smoke.

There were no bricks, and not a trace of cement was needed.

The thick Wapometal plates were forcibly twisted and folded by the violent magnetic force. Their edges interlocked like canine teeth, biting tightly together.

Thick steel rebars pierced through the gaps in the steel plates like needle and thread, serving as rivets that would never come loose.

A pure-black steel wall came crashing down along the coastline of Totto Land Prototype Island.

"Boom!"

The base of the wall slammed into the beach. It cut straight through the soft sand and embedded itself firmly in the hard bedrock at the island's edge.

A sheer cliff fifty meters high. Cold and massive, it radiated an oppressive force that made people despair.

The heavy cannons from the wrecked warships were dragged into the air. The gun carriages changed shape under the magnetic force, fitting perfectly into the wall's firing ports.

Hundreds of steel turrets automatically fell into position. Their dark muzzles pointed in unison toward the sea. The sound of interlocking gears echoed through the walls.

Two streams of blood spurted from Cracker's nostrils.

The blood flowed into his mouth, but he had no time to wipe it away. His ten short, thick fingers clawed frantically at the air, twisting and rotating.

"It's not enough! It's not over yet!"

The remaining mass of metal scrap was dragged toward the sea above the harbor.

The scrap metal was forcibly stretched and compressed in midair. Keels took shape, while thick armor plates fitted together layer by layer.

In less than ten minutes, five black steel behemoths had completely taken shape in the air.

There were no flammable wooden masts or fragile sails. Their fully enclosed, streamlined armor left massive exhaust pipes at the stern.

"Fall!" Cracker pressed both hands downward as if his arms had gone limp.

Five steel warships, each a hundred meters long, came crashing into the harbor.

Millions of tons of seawater were displaced. Towering white waves splashed onto the ships' decks, washing over the freshly welded seams.

The bows were fitted with Fine Steel rams capable of smashing through reefs, while heavy cannons stripped from the warships were arranged densely along both sides.

The unsinkable steel fleet settled steadily beside the breakwater, gently rising and falling with the waves.

Magneto's construction ability was displayed to perfection at that moment. One man was worth a hundred thousand shipbuilders and bricklayers.

Cracker rolled his eyes back and toppled backward.

His obese body slammed into the sand, creating a large crater. He gasped heavily, his chest heaving violently. Every ounce of strength had been drained from him, even the power to move a finger, and he passed out completely.

Katakuri walked over. With one hand, he lifted his exhausted younger brother and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

Rektol stood beneath the newly built steel wall.

He reached out and knocked on the cold Wapometal surface. His knuckles struck the steel plate with a clear, muffled ring. There was not the slightest gap.

The outer defenses and fleet were complete. Rocks' legacy had been transformed completely into the Charlotte Family's indestructible tortoiseshell.

Rektol turned around, ignoring the pirate underlings along the coastline who had been scared senseless.

He strode toward the passage leading to the deepest part of the fortress.

The torches on both sides of the passage had been replaced by electric lamps glowing with cold light. The energy of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit traveled through copper wires inside the walls, illuminating the entire underground facility.

Rektol pushed open the heavy airtight door at the end.

The pungent smell of disinfectant rushed toward him, mixed with a faint scent of metal machine oil.

This was the deepest sterile laboratory.

The fluorescent lights overhead cast a ghastly pale glow. The walls were covered with blueprints of Ancient Weapons stolen from the Celestial Dragons' treasury.

At the center of the room stood a massive cradle recast from pig iron.

A dozen transparent IV tubes and blue-glowing Wapometal wires were connected to the cradle's edges. The other ends of the wires were linked to an Ancient Energy Furnace that had just been assembled.

The potential of flesh and blood was too weak. He had thrown that useless Squeeze-Squeeze Fruit into the trash long ago. The combination of steel and electricity was the true ultimate weapon.

Rektol walked to the cradle. His military boots made no sound against the floor.

He lowered his head.

Inside the cradle, the infant Smoothie had just opened her eyes.

Those eyes held none of an ordinary baby's clarity. They reflected the cold fluorescent light overhead. Her two slender legs rested quietly beneath the blanket. She neither cried nor fussed.

Rektol looked at her as a spark of blue-white static danced across his fingertip.

The Mecha Girl Project could finally begin.