"Uh," Carol cleared her throat. "It's because of the graviton field. Without an external force, the real body should retreat."
Thinking that this was a good enough explanation for an eleven-year-old, Bill didn't go into details.
After that, the group began testing the gloves on themselves. Bill knew Sasha could use Busoshoku Haki, but was surprised when Fia also resisted the pushes.
Ricky and Borodo couldn't hold on and were thrown back a few meters, and together with their boots, they began playing tag.
After a while, Bill finished the demonstration and informed the others that within four months they would have thirty pairs of gloves and boots.
All of them will be destined for his department's elite group of Special Operators.
"Well, perhaps elite is too strong a word," he thought.
The progress was obvious: out of twenty people in the group, ten succeeded in mastering the Iron Body.
Of course, the Iron Body will never be as spectacular as the Shave, but it was an important step in turning ordinary people into superhumans.
Bill knew he'd never have a team entirely comprised of fighters like Sasha and Rance, so he developed the technology. He needed just a few teams of specialized fighters who could operate effectively in the Lower Seas without having to worry about their abilities.
With five people on his team, he had already begun to develop what he considered necessary.
The reason was that there was practically no time left.
After building the factories, hiring workers, and accepting the marines from Onigumo, Bill's running costs were 2.6 million beli per month on salaries.
This amount was expected to increase to approximately 12 million beli per month by the end of the year, when the new recruits from Clock Island would be promoted to assistants first and second class, and when he would begin paying the wages of eight hundred workers.
"Ah, Borodo," he said, as if he had forgotten.
"Yes, Captain?" the department's chief navigator replied.
- Come to my lab this evening, the diagnostics of your new hand should be ready.
When he said this, Borodo's eyes lit up.
Bill promised him a new arm to replace his old mechanical one, and the limb he created was a masterpiece of biocomputing. It might not have been as impressive as Edison Vegapunk's satellite, but Bill was as pleased with it as he was with the boots.
With confirmation from Borodo, Bill knew he had about nine months left before running out of money.
"One step at a time," he told himself as he walked with Hugo and Carol back to the lab.
Holding a silver heart-shaped locket in her hands, the red-haired girl asked puzzledly:
- Bill, are these words?
Nodding, he replied:
- Yes, it is written: "To thine own self be true" - a line from a very famous play.
Looking at the medallion, Yoko began to laugh and said:
— I didn't know you knew such things. What is this play about?
Bill smiled and first thought about how little he had played in this world, and then assured the thirteen-year-old girl that he knew many plays and even songs!
"It's difficult to explain the play," he said, pausing before continuing, "but this line appears after the father gives his son advice. He tells him that, above all else, he must be true to himself."
Yoko: - Oh, and what happened next?
"Um..." Bill thought about how to summarize Hamlet and said, "The father breaks every piece of advice he gave his son, weaves a bunch of intrigues, and at the end of the play, almost all the main characters die."
"That's terrible!" Yoko said, laughing, and as she began to put the locket on, Bill continued speaking:
— Well, the moral of the story is that revenge hurts everyone involved, and that while you can get away with bad deeds for a while, they will still catch up with you.
Seeing Yoko struggling to fasten the clasp, he told her to turn around and helped her fasten it.
"This locket is not an ordinary birthday gift," he told her as she put it on.
When he said this, she naturally asked "Why?" and he replied that he would show her now.
Leaving the Marine Corps headquarters on New Haven, where they lived together but in separate rooms that were originally intended as offices, Bill took Yoko to a place that overlooked the water.
It was a beautiful park and picnic spot popular with many of the island's residents, and being on the third level of the island, it offered stunning views of the ocean.
The spot was perfect for the demonstration Bill had in mind, and when they reached it, he looked at the birthday girl.
"This medallion has one very secret function. You must not tell anyone about it."
Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he nodded and pulled out a very similar heart-shaped locket. The only difference was that it had no engravings.
"Look here," he said, holding up the heart in his hands and turning it diagonally once.
When the heart leveled out, the casing opened, revealing a crystalline lens. Seeing Yoko watching intently, Bill said slowly:
"See this button?" he pointed to the back of the heart.
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