novelhk Chapter 60 The Giant Soldier's Hand! The Dock in the Deep Sea!
Chapter 60 The Giant Soldier's Hand! The Dock in the Deep Sea!
After cleaning the machines, the mouse continued walking through the institute's corridors.
But the deeper he went, the stranger his expression became.
He discovered that inside the pipes that had been blasted open during the previous battle, he could still see a layer of structure—a structure identical to that of the outer island, both visibly ancient.
This made the rat realize a fact.
"It's not that the structure of this research institute is simple... but rather that there was already a building on this site, and this research institute was simply added to that building after Vegapunk arrived?"
What confirmed his guess was when he reached the end of the passage.
At the deepest part of the passage, there are three doors.
The central door also exhibits an ancient stone texture similar to that of the island.
But it wasn't the mouse's primary focus.
In fact, at this moment, the Rat is most concerned about the leftmost of the three doors.
The door is decorated with a picture of a fruit and a dog, and it is the only one of the three doors that is open.
The rat can see a doghouse and dog bowl in the corner of the room, and even a chew toy.
"No mistake, this is the room where Mr. 4 found Lassou."
"The fruit symbols on the door represent Devil Fruits, and the dog represents Rasoo?"
The rat immediately made a judgment and even guessed the meaning of the symbol.
So the next moment, his gaze fell without hesitation on the rightmost door.
Because on that door, there was a similar symbol—a fruit and a person!
"A person? Could there be someone with superpowers in the room?"
Despite pondering this in his heart, the Rat did not hesitate and immediately entered the room through the Door-Door Fruit.
Then he discovered…
The room was empty.
There was only one research table in the entire room, on which was a document and a box containing a pair of gloves.
There are no Devil Fruits, nor are there Devil Fruit weapons.
This situation instantly disappointed Zishu: "Could it be that Vegapunk took them away?"
Muttering to himself, he walked to the research table.
But it is precisely at this moment…
[A Devil Fruit user has been identified]
The sound that rang in his ears made Zishu's heart skip a beat, and he almost subconsciously looked around—there were people around.
But after a short while, he was stunned when he heard what the Fruit Encyclopedia said.
because...
The fruit was consumed by... 'Giant Hand'.
"...ah?"
The rat didn't even have time to react—Giant Soldier's Hand? What kind of kid has such a cringeworthy name?
"Wait...could it be...?"
The next second, he realized what was happening and his eyes immediately fell on the gloves.
Then, as expected, he saw...
The skin on that glove seemed to be constantly undulating, as if it were a living thing.
[The Devil Fruit has been confirmed as a Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit in Giant form. It is currently being analyzed and stored in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.]
[Devil Fruit Ability - Can transform into a giant]
[Effects at Each Level]
[LV1: Gain a minor fruit effect, slightly enhancing all body attributes]
[LV2: Gain some of the fruit's effects, allowing you to transform into a half-giant, increasing your size and significantly enhancing all your attributes. Requires 8000 million to permanently unlock.]
[LV3: Gain all fruit effects, transform into a giant, gaining a massive size and strength equivalent to an elite giant warrior. Requires 5 million to permanently unlock.]
[LV4: Fruit deep development, can possess the power of a giant hero, requires 20 billion to permanently unlock]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening - Reversion, allows for the unique 'Awakening Transformation' of Zoan-type Devil Fruits, transforming into an Ancient Giant, but with a much larger size, greater strength, and vitality than normal Ancient Giants. Requires 100 billion Berries to permanently unlock]
[Analysis progress: 0%]
"So that's what the sign on the door meant!"
At this moment, the rat understood.
The "person" marked on the door is not a Devil Fruit user, but rather a "Human-Human Fruit - Giant Form"!
But the problem is...
"These gloves... don't look like weapons?"
The mouse looked at the gloves, somewhat hesitant.
As far as he knew, the Devil Fruit weapons developed by Vegapunk could only be used by Zoan-type Devil Fruit users.
After consumption, the weapon can transform into a corresponding animal to assist in combat.
But the gloves in front of him... looked strange to him no matter how he looked at them.
So out of caution, he didn't reach for the gloves immediately, but instead picked up the documents on the research table.
[Bloodline Factor Research Lab - Devil Fruit Weapon - Development Log]
[Experimental Subject Name: Giant Soldier Hand]
[Experiment Summary: After studying the ancient technology on the island regarding lineage factors, the first successful activation of the lineage factor of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit was achieved by an object. The fruit is the 'Human-Human Fruit - Giant Form']
As a preliminary example, the experimental subject was found to have two unexpected defects after testing.
[Flaw 1: Although the experimental subject successfully activated the fruit's ability and could "feed" by grinding food and wiping it with water on gloves, it lost the basic intelligence that a Zoan-type fruit should have; its behavior of consuming food was merely a biological instinct.]
[Furthermore, because it lacks intelligence, the experimental subject's shapeshifting ability is uncontrollable; it will automatically transform as long as it wears the gloves, and the transformation range only includes the hand area covered by the gloves.]
[Flaw Two: The Devil Fruit ability of this experimental subject will affect the wearer—that is, the wearer will also transform into a giant. However, due to the existence of 'Flaw One', the transformation will only include the hands. The huge change in size will instantly tear the wearer apart. Tests have shown that even steel-made machines cannot withstand it.]
[Speculation on the cause: Leather gloves are too form-fitting, or the intelligence of the "Human-Human Fruit" is relatively unique among Zoan-type Devil Fruits]
[Conclusion: Although this experiment successfully granted the item 'Devil Fruit power' on its first attempt, it can still be considered a failure. It is recommended that future experiments use Zoan-type Devil Fruits that are not 'Human-Human Fruits' and non-melee weapons such as guns, cannons, and knives for subsequent experiments.]
The contents of the document are very clear.
"These gloves... are they the first 'Devil Fruit weapon' Vegapunk created?"
"Due to immature technology and problems with the Human-Human Fruit used, it was classified as a failure by Vegapunk?"
"That makes sense. After all, it's understandable that animals would gain enhanced intelligence after eating the Human-Human Fruit, but I've never heard of an inanimate object gaining human intelligence after consuming it."
The mouse could understand why Vegapunk considered the gloves a failure.
According to the document, these gloves will activate their transformation ability as soon as they are put on, but because the transformation ability is uncontrollable, it will only deform the hand area.
Imagine the fate of an ordinary person whose hand suddenly transforms into the hand of a giant, while their body remains that of an ordinary person...
Such a dangerous thing was bound to be a failure.
"So it seems Vegapunk's next experiment will be 'Rassu,' and this time it was a success... well, I guess it was a success?"
Thinking of the slow, deliberate movements of MR.4's dog gun, Zishu silently changed his affirmative statement into a question.
But at the same time, he also genuinely felt it was a bit of a pity.
"Human-Human Fruit, Giant Form... This fruit's power is quite strong."
The rat sighed.
Giants—they are one of the world's strongest fighting races.
Any elite warrior of the giant race could become a vice admiral in the Navy if they joined, and the "Giant Warrior Pirates" composed of a group of giants could become a legend of an era.
Not to mention, the awakening level of this fruit can even revert to the ancestral form of the 'Ancient Giants'.
The strength of the ancient giants was even more impressive.
Harald, the former king of the giant race, was a giant who had reverted to the "ancient giant bloodline." His strength was even enough to fight against Rocks, the "King of the World," who once ruled an era, without being at a disadvantage.
"If this glove could be controlled, it would be an extremely powerful weapon."
Zishu genuinely felt it was a pity—if this thing could be used, his clone would be equivalent to having an extra level 3 fruit slot, greatly increasing its combat power.
But upon thinking of this, Zishu suddenly paused.
Because he suddenly realized...
"If it's a transformation problem with Zoan-type Devil Fruits... it seems there might be a way?"
He suddenly thought of something—that thing was very effective at transforming Zoan-type Devil Fruits.
Upon realizing this, Zishu quickly picked up the documents on the research table along with the "Giant Soldier Hand," opened a door, put them into the alternate dimension, and then left the room.
He then suppressed his excitement.
Although I desperately want to fix the problem of this deformed glove right now, but...
"Since we're already here at this research institute... how can we not take a look at the most crucial parts?"
He looked at the unique, ancient stone door in front of him and gently raised his hand.
"squeak!"
He passed through the gate and entered the true core area of the research institute.
Then... he stood there, stunned.
He wondered what the core area of this mysterious research institute might be like—perhaps a laboratory filled with sophisticated instruments, perhaps a archive of ancient documents sealed away, or perhaps a repository for historical texts.
However, he had not expected what was happening in front of him.
Behind the stone gate, in the core area of the research institute, lies a vast spherical space.
The walls and dome of the entire space were coated with the same kind of 'coating' that Zishu had seen on the island outside the research institute.
They formed a giant bubble, making the entire space almost seem like it was submerged in the sea.
Inside the bubble, some research equipment and a considerable number of bookshelves were scattered haphazardly.
But that wasn't the key reason why Zishu was stunned—he had already become accustomed to the scenery of the deep sea during his training with Zefa.
What truly made him almost stop breathing at this moment was the space below.
He could see it clearly…
Beneath this bubble, or rather, in the deep sea beneath this island, lies a vast steel jungle!
Unbelievably massive metal pillars crisscross below.
They were clearly ancient, with rust stains on the metal and seaweed and barnacles growing on them.
By observing the faint outline below, the mouse could determine what the area below was.
The enormous robotic arm, the massive platform, and the scaffolding...
"That's... a shipyard?"
Even as he made this judgment, Zishu himself felt it was somewhat absurd.
Could something this size be a 'dock'?
How big would the ships built in this dock have to be? Even the ships of the giants wouldn't be big enough.
"No...wait..."
But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, the rat instantly realized what was happening.
Near Water Seven, a massive shipyard existed in the deep sea long ago…
He had a bold idea.
So he quickly walked to the pile of messy research equipment and bookshelves.
"It's been cleaned... but the cleaning methods were very crude."
With just a glance, he could tell that the documents here had been processed, but not very thoroughly.
It is clear that Vegapunk left in a hurry.
"Is it because, as mentioned in the previous intelligence, that 'high-ranking official' from the World Government has arrived?"
The rat wondered to itself.
"Um?"
Soon, the rat discovered something.
It was on a research table that had fallen to the ground, and it seemed to be a few words written casually with a pen.
They were so inconspicuous that Vegapunk, who was in a hurry to leave, did not seem to notice them.
[Pluto] [Material? Pluto Alloy] [Unlimited Energy?]
The mouse could barely recognize these words.
But these few words are clearly enough to corroborate his guess.
"Pluto"
The rat was almost certain of its guess.
"This shipyard... is the very shipyard where the ancient shipwrights of Water Seven built Pluto, the 'Lord of the Underworld'!"