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The dawn after the victory at Cocoyashi was calm. Smoke no longer curled from burning homes, and the ocean breeze carried the scent of salt and citrus instead of blood. The Straw Hats and villagers worked side by side, rebuilding what was lost.
Tessal stood atop the Atlas' deck, looking toward the horizon as the mecha units moved below — Hydrobeetles dredging debris from the shore, Krill Crawlers hauling timber and stone for reconstruction. Each metallic limb moved with mechanical precision, a silent rhythm of progress.
> "They've come a long way," Tessal murmured. "But it's still not enough."
His gaze fell on the skeletal forms of Drakarion and Siren, the unfinished generals. Both stood motionless in the workshop bay, their eyes dim but alive with potential. He could already imagine their completed forms commanding the sea and sky, the sound of metal wings and mechanical tides shaking the battlefield.
Yet, progress demanded more. More materials. More parts. More energy sources.
---
Later that morning, Tessal approached Nami, who was charting a map of the East Blue with the precision of a seasoned navigator.
> "You're heading out?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
> "Yeah," he replied, voice steady beneath his helm. "The Atlas needs upgrades. My swarm needs power, precision. I can't build that here."
He placed a small device on the table — a mechanical relay bug, its shell gleaming with engraved circuitry.
> "This will link you to the Atlas systems and to me. Use it to coordinate the Merry when needed. I'm leaving the ship in your hands."
Luffy looked up from his meal. "You're not coming with us?"
Tessal gave a faint nod. "You'll have the Going Merry. She'll take you where you need to go — and then to me. I'll be in Loguetown. I have… business there."
Zoro leaned against the mast, eyeing the beetle helm. "Business or trouble?"
> "Both," Tessal said simply.
---
He left Cocoyashi under a silver dawn, piloting a small carrier mecha modified for long-distance travel. The Iron Cluster followed close behind, wings folding into a glider shape as it kept pace. Below, the ocean sparkled — calm and endless — a canvas for ambition.
At the first port town, Tessal began to gather information. He asked shipwrights, merchants, and smugglers the same question:
> "Where can I find refined alloys and salvaged steel in bulk?"
Some pointed him toward industrial markets under Marine supervision, while others whispered of hidden docks and underground black markets — places where weapons, scrap mecha parts, and illegal tools changed hands in the shadows.
He visited both. In daylight, he walked through legal markets, purchasing clean fuel cells, refined metal, and copper wiring. At night, he descended into the hidden layers of the world — trading credits and stolen bribes for forbidden circuits, plasma cores, and prototype exosuit joints.
By the end of the week, his transport was full, and the foundations of his next evolution had begun.
---
Inside the Atlas' forge, Tessal's hands moved without rest. Sparks filled the chamber as molten alloy was shaped and cooled, gears aligned, and conduits locked in place.
Drakarion stood in the center of the forge, his wings now reinforced with segmented armor plates resembling dragonfly blades. Tessal had installed twin pulse thrusters in the chest and a retractable halberd for aerial combat.
> "You'll command the skies when I'm done," Tessal said quietly.
Beside it, Siren's systems were adapting for underwater combat. Fins replaced her previous leg modules, and her chest cavity now contained a sonar emitter capable of communicating with deep-sea units. Her face, smooth and featureless, flickered faint blue as her AI routines awakened.
> "Directive?" she asked, voice soft but echoing with synthetic depth.
> "Guard the seas," Tessal answered. "Protect those who cannot fight. And obey my command above all."
---
Still, something was missing — an anchor for his growing naval division. A centerpiece.
He began sketching a new design: a colossal turtle-beetle hybrid, part fortress, part aircraft carrier. Its shell was layered like a warship's hull, lined with launch ports for aerial mechas. Tessal named it Atlas Nauticaris, the Tide Carrier.
When completed, the Tide Carrier became a moving base for his flight division — equipped to launch squadrons of Dragon Fighters, Tide Hornets, and newly developed flight units known as Sky Wasps and Falcon Beetles, swift scouts that would map enemy territory from above.
Each new creation marked an evolution in his vision — and a step closer to independence from the world's powers.
---
That night, Tessal stood on the observation deck of the Atlas, watching Drakarion's test flight. The metal wings glowed faintly under the moonlight, streaking across the dark horizon. In the distance, Siren surfaced from the water, her sonar pulse rippling through the waves like a song.
He leaned forward on the railing, helm reflecting the moon.
> "The Marines will see me as a threat," he murmured. "But they made this world the way it is. And I'll forge something better… something stronger."
The communication bug in his ear crackled softly — Luffy's voice, faint but determined.
> "We'll meet you in Loguetown, Tessal."
Tessal smiled beneath his helm. "I'll be waiting. The Beetleforger doesn't stop building."
The Atlas' engines hummed to life as Tessal turned toward the horizon, the swarm beneath him awakening one by one. Their eyes lit with crimson light, synchronized to his heartbeat — a mechanical army ready to move at their commander's call.
rger."
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