Doffy had long since lost patience with the conversation.
On these seas, the throne had never been decided by popular support. Only strength could anchor it-strength enough to reduce every wail to background noise.
"Fine."
Rossi took the Den Den Mushi, his fingertips brushing its cold shell.
"No more fools will come testing these waters anytime soon.
Let's head back to Water 7."
His gaze turned to the nautical chart hanging on the wall. Three routes connected three islands like slender veins.
Beast Fighting Island, Food Island, Carnival Island.
Once steel tracks linked them together, they would no longer be isolated points.
Goods, manpower, and money would surge like blood, eventually flowing into the same heart.
"We can move the schedule forward."
The instant his words fell, Doffy's lips curled into a sharp arc.
-Artificial Devil Fruits.
That plan hidden in the shadows was finally about to surface.
Deep within the Tontatta Tribe's settlement in Dressrosa, Dr. Tieshidaino's laboratory smelled of chemicals mingled with metal.
The scholar, who had once worked with Vegapunk, adjusted his glasses, his gaze settling on the blueprints spread before him.
Everything was ready. Once the production line started, those special fruits could be manufactured in a steady stream.
These fruits would become the foundation of the Family's mid-level fighting force.
Do not be ** by those fruits' strange appearance.
Their forms might be peculiar, even laughable, but the physical enhancements they granted upon consumption were very real.
Flesh would grow dense, and bones would be clad in invisible armor. Ordinary blades could scarcely leave a scratch.
Imagine a battlefield sometime in the future.
Without that mind-altering dumpling ability, even the most valiant group would face a grueling battle against five hundred fruit-enhanced warriors with skin as tough as leather and a command of Haki techniques,