It was for this reason that he resumed production of the Royal Cannons. It was no easy task to resolve the discontent of the inhabitants of Clock Island once this decision was made.
This move proved almost prophetic, as the Whitebeard affair was still unknown at the time. But on the other hand, it seemed the most likely outcome: friction would arise between the World Government and its opponents.
Picking up a pair of boots, he tossed them to Sasha and told her to put them on. The material was lightweight and slightly elastic.
They looked like ninja boots with lights surrounding the ankles. When the light was blue, the boots were ready; when it was red, they were charging.
Bill was pleased with the result, although they had some flaws, one of which was poor insulation. He could fix it, but the only way would be to turn the boots into actual bricks.
The reason for their poor insulation was the use of antigravity particles in its design. Each time a jump occurred, an antigravity field was created for one second while the pulse accelerators pushed upward.
The result was somewhat similar to the Moon Step, but it removed all the heat from the shins down.
After explaining all this to Sasha while she was putting on her boots, Bill told her how to activate them.
"Just bend your thumb really hard when you jump," he told her, and when she did it successfully the first time, the others wanted to try it too.
He enjoyed watching everyone use the device in their own way. Sasha immediately drew her longsword and began practicing her aerial strikes.
Ricky jumped as far as he could before the sensors turned red and he crashed to the ground.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention," Bill said with a laugh. "One charge is enough for about twenty jumps."
Sasha, landing on her feet, asked:
- How do you charge them?
- Good question! Hugo, please explain.
As Bill said this, Borodo, Sasha, Fia, and Ricky gathered around the weapons rack again, and Hugo began to stutter:
- Uh... it works on the principles of kinetic energy.
"So they charge based on how fast we're moving?" asked Fia, who, despite not aspiring to be a special agent, regularly found herself in the most dangerous situations with Rance.
Bill didn't do it on purpose, but the old "Fruit Ninja" was indeed capable of protecting others. Now that her Devil Fruit had evolved, she fired smaller versions of the Royal Cannon from her hands.
The process was amazing, and Bill noticed that the entity behind it had changed somewhat.
If she hadn't been his friend, he would have dug deeper. But since no Devil Fruit user liked having their abilities interfered with, he wouldn't have done so unless absolutely necessary.
"Y-yes," Hugo replied, adding, "That's the design, but they don't recharge easily when used."
Nodding, Bill added what he saw Ricky was interested in:
"That means they can't reload while you're in the air. During my tests, I only managed to get three extra bursts."
This was the final conclusion, because once they had mastered the Moon Step technique, few could match Bill in the air.
"R-right," Hugo added, nodding.
"What's their range?" Sasha asked, examining the blue light.
"About a kilometer, starting from the ground. If your first jump is strong enough, you can fly further."
Nodding, Ricky asked about the gloves.
"They work on the opposite principle as boots," Bill said, putting on one of the elastic gloves.
He extended his palm forward, suddenly curling his fingers as if he was about to release his claws, and an invisible field burst forth.
It didn't look like much, but Bill knew the science behind gloves was much more complex than that behind boots.
The boots were created using anti-gravity particles combined with the pulse technology Vegapunk had theorized decades ago.
The gloves created a field that manipulated gravitons, holding the user's hand in place.
This was Bill's first real discovery and his first step into what he called "Field Theory."
Field Theory held the potential to create something truly magical. From wormholes to force fields, control of forces could be used for pushing, cutting, pulling, and, in the future, even for subtle manipulation.
If Field Theory were more developed, it might provide answers to questions about the control of elementary forces.
"It doesn't look very powerful," Ricky added, not shy about telling Bill the truth.
Nodding in response, Bill said he agreed, but added:
— The power of these gloves is that they can only be blocked with Haki.
Hearing this, the others looked at each other, and then Sasha, as expected, was the first to ask a question:
- What do you mean?
"Carol, do you want to explain?" Bill asked the eleven-year-old girl.
She wasn't a genius like Hugo, but Bill promised Masterson that he would teach her, and in addition to a regular school education, the girl often spent time in the lab when Bill wasn't doing something secret.
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