Sengoku sighed:
"Go now."
"Don't forget on the way back, you blockhead."
Garp looked a bit annoyed:
"Are you looking down on me, Sengoku?"
Bang—
Sengoku's eyes widened in anger:
"Go now!"
...
New World, Punk Hazard.
Since Marine Headquarters didn't have enough instruments to measure it,
Enel brought Bullet straight to Vegapunk.
After hearing the full situation, Vegapunk became interested as well:
"The fruit's amplification far exceeds the actual multiplier, huh?"
"Come this way."
He pushed the door open and walked out. It took quite a while before they arrived at an old, somewhat worn-out laboratory.
Vegapunk opened the door:
"These are some old devices, not used very often."
He led the two of them to a balance scale piled with weights.
Casually picking up a small weight, he handed it to Bullet:
"Hmm… Let's try doubling it first."
Bullet nodded and took the weight.
Buzz—
A halo covered the weight.
Its volume instantly expanded three to four times. Vegapunk nodded:
"Indeed, far beyond the stated multiplier."
He placed the weight on the scale, and the value skyrocketed several times over.
Vegapunk told Bullet to withdraw his power, then said again:
"This time, double it."
Bullet looked a bit puzzled but did as instructed.
Buzz—
The weight once again swelled several times in size. Vegapunk raised his eyebrows:
"Put it on the scale."
The massively enlarged weight looked like it was about to crush the scale.
The numbers still seemed off.
He told Bullet to withdraw his power again, then said once more:
"This time, just one time."
Bullet followed instructions, but when the weight was placed on the scale this time, the number was completely different from the first attempt.
Although roughly similar, if you looked closely at the last two digits, there were discrepancies.
Enel furrowed his brows, deep in thought.
Vegapunk smiled:
"Found the reason?"
Enel said uncertainly:
"Because of the fruit?"
Vegapunk nodded:
"Correct."
"It's the fruit."
"Devil Fruits consume the user's stamina."
"Although the conversion mechanism is still a mystery, the key lies here."
"For an ordinary person, their limit is fixed, so the multiplier doesn't vary much."
"But for someone like Bullet, a physical powerhouse…"
"His tremendous physique raises the fruit's upper limit."
"With his physical output capacity, it expands easily."
While speaking, he picked up a cup and filled it with water.
Then he found a thumb-sized cap and placed it on the table:
"For example, like this."
He carefully poured water from the cup into the tiny cap.
When the water overflowed, it spilled over the edges.
"That's how it is."
"Humans can't achieve machine-like precision."
"So when he releases power, even if it's mentally controlled to 'double,' the stamina output is excessive."
"That can't be controlled."
"Unless he can, the moment he picks up the object, instantly calculate its weight, volume, power, and so on in his mind—"
"Then amplify exactly by the multiplier."
"But that's unnecessary."
"A fruit should be used in a way that suits oneself."
Bullet looked thoughtful. Control, huh…
Enel's Observation Haki instantly swept across the island and the entire room.
After finding nothing, Enel finally said:
"So that's how it is…"
"Then there's no need to modify that thing, right?"
Vegapunk nodded:
"Correct, no need."
"The output also has an upper limit."
"Based on Bullet's physique, even if he lifted Punk Hazard, he might amplify it five times, ten times—but not fifty, a hundred times."
"His stamina wouldn't keep up. Enlarging the island dozens of times would exhaust him in seconds."
"With the weapon's full power, one shot could drain him completely."
"So there's no need to worry about losing control."
"But he needs to come back regularly for testing and fine-tuning."
"Because Bullet's still in his prime—his strength and physique will keep growing fast."
Enel breathed a sigh of relief:
"I see…"
"Good. I was worried he might punch through to the Earth's core."
"And blow up the whole planet."
Vegapunk shook his head with a smile:
"There's no weapon that powerful."
"Pluton's main cannon can destroy islands, even pierce through the Red Line."
"But don't forget—it pierces horizontally."
"The Red Line rises several thousand meters above sea level."
"And beneath the sea, there's another ten thousand meters of thickness."
"If there were a weapon capable of piercing through all those kilometers vertically—"
"That would require unimaginable technological development."
"Not even ten thousand years might be enough."
"For us, born on this planet, compared to the planet itself or the universe—"
"We're far too insignificant."
"That's one of our sources of confidence."
"There is a limit. We can be strong, but within bounds."
"Sakazuki and I have made countless assumptions and simulations. Most results remain within reasonable limits."
"The worst case? Mutual destruction, nothing more."
"The future is destined to be in our hands."
Enel took a deep breath:
"I understand."
The topic had grown heavy, creating a bit of discomfort.
Enel shook his head:
"Let's leave it at that for now."
"I'll take Bullet to study those missiles."
Vegapunk nodded:
"Go ahead."
"There's nothing urgent right now anyway."
"Sakazuki mentioned designing a new type of bomb."
Enel chuckled:
"Ah, that's right."
"For dealing with pirates."
"Indiscriminate attacks, pretty brutal. Sakazuki-san said it's called a cluster bomb…"
The three of them walked out, voices fading into the distance…
...
South Blue.
At the harbor, a pirate ship was docked.
The Foxy Pirates.
Captain "Silver Fox" Foxy, user of the Slow-Slow Fruit.
Bounty: 13 million Belly. Threat level: Low.
Enjoys challenging other pirate crews to Davy Back Fight games. Currently has a winning streak of 472 matches.
By making a specific hand gesture, he can fire Slow Beams (unknown particles).
Anything struck by this beam—whether creature, liquid, or gas—loses a portion of its speed while all other energy states remain unchanged.
Comparing it to the flag on that pirate ship,
Karol slowly put away the documents:
"No mistake about it."
Whoosh—
He vanished on the spot.
-----------
The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total