Chapter 60: The Giant Soldier's Hand! A Dock in the Deep Sea!
After clearing the robots, Nezumi continued down the laboratory corridor.
But the deeper he went, the stranger his expression became.
Through the holes blasted in the pipes during the fight, he could see another structural layer. This layer matched the ancient structure of the island outside—visibly old.
This made Nezumi realize a fact.
"The structure of this lab isn't simple... there was already a building here. Vegapunk just built his lab on top of it?"
This theory was confirmed when he reached the end of the corridor.
There were three doors.
The middle one had the same ancient stone texture as the island.
But that wasn't Nezumi's primary target.
His attention was focused on the door to the left.
It was marked with symbols: a fruit and a dog. It was also the only door that was open.
Inside, Nezumi saw a dog bed, a bowl, and even a chew toy in the corner.
"No mistake. This is the room where Mr. 4 found Lassoo."
"The fruit symbol represents a Devil Fruit, and the dog represents Lassoo?"
Nezumi made the connection immediately.
His gaze shifted to the door on the far right.
It had similar symbols—a fruit and a person!
"A person? Is there an ability user inside?"
Thinking this, Nezumi didn't hesitate. He used the Door-Door Fruit to enter the room.
And found...
The room was empty.
There was only a research desk with a document and a box on it. Inside the box lay a pair of gloves.
No Devil Fruit, no fruit-weapon.
Nezumi was disappointed. "Did Vegapunk take it with him?"
Muttering, he walked to the desk.
Just then...
[Devil Fruit User discovered]
The voice in his ear made Nezumi freeze. He instinctively looked around. Someone is here?
But a moment later, hearing the rest of the Encyclopedia's message, he was stunned.
Because...
[Fruit User is... 'The Hand of the Giant Soldier']
"...Huh?"
Nezumi blinked. Hand of the Giant Soldier? What chuunibyou kid named that?
"Wait... could it be..."
The next second, he realized. He looked at the gloves.
Sure enough...
The skin of the gloves seemed to undulate, like a living thing.
[Confirmed Devil Fruit: 'Zoan · Human-Human Fruit, Model: Giant'. Analyzing and saving to 'Fruit Encyclopedia']
[Fruit Ability: Can transform into a Giant]
[Effects by Level]
[LV1: Gain faint fruit effect, slightly enhance overall stats.]
[LV2: Gain partial fruit effect. Can transform into a Half-Giant, increasing size and greatly enhancing overall stats. Requires 80 Million Berries for Permanent Unlock.]
[LV3: Gain full fruit effect. Can transform into a Giant, gaining the massive size and strength of an elite Giant warrior. Requires 500 Million Berries for Permanent Unlock.]
[LV4: Fruit Deep-Dive Development. Gain the strength of a Giant hero. Requires 2 Billion Berries for Permanent Unlock.]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening · Atavism. Undergo the unique 'Awakened Transformation' of a Zoan fruit. Transform into an Ancient Giant, with size, strength, and vitality surpassing even normal Ancient Giants. Requires 10 Billion Berries for Permanent Unlock.]
[Analysis Progress: 0%]
"So that's what the symbol meant!"
Nezumi understood.
The 'person' symbol wasn't an ability user—it was the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Giant!
But the problem was...
"These gloves... don't look like weapons?"
Nezumi looked at the gloves doubtfully.
As far as he knew, Vegapunk's fruit-weapon technology only worked with Zoan fruits, allowing weapons to transform into animals to assist in combat.
But these gloves... looked weird.
Cautiously, he didn't touch them immediately. Instead, he picked up the document on the desk.
[Bloodline Elements Lab - Devil Fruit Weapon - Development Log]
[Subject Name: Hand of the Giant Soldier]
[Experiment Summary: After studying the ancient technology regarding Bloodline Elements found on this island, successfully imbued an object with the Bloodline Elements of a Zoan Devil Fruit for the first time. Fruit: Human-Human Fruit, Model: Giant.]
[As the first case, testing revealed two unexpected flaws.]
[Flaw 1: Although the fruit ability was successfully activated, and the subject can be 'fed' by rubbing ground food and water onto the gloves, it lost the basic intelligence inherent to Zoan fruits. Its feeding behavior is purely instinctual.]
[Due to lack of intelligence, the transformation is uncontrollable. It activates upon wearing, and the transformation range is limited to the hand area covered by the glove.]
[Flaw 2: The subject's ability affects the wearer—transforming them into a Giant. However, due to Flaw 1, only the hand transforms. The massive size change instantly tears the wearer apart. Tests show even steel machinery cannot withstand it.]
[Hypothesized Cause: Leather gloves are too form-fitting, or the 'Human-Human Fruit' intelligence is unique among Zoans.]
[Conclusion: Although this is the first successful fruit-imbued object, it is a failure. Recommend using non-Human Zoan fruits and non-wearable weapons (guns, cannons, swords) for future experiments.]
The document was clear.
"These gloves... were Vegapunk's first 'Fruit Weapon'?"
"Failed because the tech wasn't mature and the fruit was problematic?"
"Makes sense. Animals eating Human fruits gaining intelligence is one thing, but an inanimate object eating a Human fruit gaining human intelligence... sounds impossible."
Nezumi understood why Vegapunk labeled it a failure.
According to the file—wear the gloves, trigger uncontrollable transformation, hand turns into a Giant's hand while the body stays normal... Rip.
Definitely a failure.
"So the next experiment was Lassoo. That one was a success... well, mostly?"
Thinking of Mr. 4's slow-ass dog-gun, Nezumi mentally changed the period to a question mark.
But at the same time, he felt it was a pity.
"Human-Human Fruit, Model: Giant... that's a powerful ability."
Nezumi sighed.
Giants—the world's strongest warrior race.
Any elite Giant joining the Marines could easily become a Vice Admiral. A crew of Giants could become a legend of the era.
And the Awakening was an 'Ancient Giant.'
The strength of Ancient Giants was no joke. The former Giant King, Harald, had Ancient Giant blood and could fight evenly with Rocks D. Xebec, the 'King of the World.'
"If these gloves could be controlled, they'd be incredibly powerful weapons."
If he could use them, this clone would essentially gain a LV3 fruit slot, massively boosting his combat power.
But then, Nezumi paused.
He realized something...
"If it's a transformation issue with a Zoan fruit... there might be a way?"
He suddenly thought of something very effective for controlling Zoan transformations.
Thinking this, Nezumi quickly opened a door to his pocket dimension and stashed the document and the 'Hand of the Giant Soldier.'
He suppressed his excitement.
Even though he wanted to solve the glove problem right now...
"Since I'm already at the lab... I have to check the core area."
He looked at the unique ancient stone door in the center and raised his hand.
Click!
Passing through the door, he entered the true core of the laboratory.
And then... he froze.
He had imagined many things—precision instruments, ancient archives, maybe a Poneglyph.
But he hadn't expected this.
Behind the stone door lay a colossal spherical space.
The walls and ceiling were made of the same 'coating' Nezumi had seen outside.
They formed a giant bubble, making the space feel like it was submerged in the sea.
Inside the bubble, research equipment and bookshelves were scattered messily.
But that wasn't what stunned Nezumi—he was used to deep-sea views thanks to Zephyr.
What stopped his breath was what lay below.
He could clearly see...
In the deep, dark ocean beneath the bubble island... a massive steel jungle!
Unimaginably huge metal pillars crisscrossed below.
They were ancient, covered in rust, seaweed, and barnacles.
But from the outlines, Nezumi could tell what it was.
Giant mechanical arms, massive platforms, scaffolding...
"Is that... a drydock?"
As he made the judgment, Nezumi felt it was absurd.
A drydock this size?
What kind of ship was built here? Even a Giant's ship wouldn't need something this big!
"No... wait..."
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Nezumi realized.
A massive ancient drydock in the deep sea near Water 7...
He had a bold idea.
He walked quickly to the messy pile of equipment and bookshelves.
"Cleaned out... but sloppily."
A glance told him the documents had been removed, but not thoroughly.
Vegapunk had left in a hurry.
"Because of the World Government 'high official' mentioned in the intel?"
Nezumi guessed.
"Hm?"
Soon, Nezumi found something.
On a toppled desk, a few words were scribbled in pen.
They were inconspicuous enough that the fleeing Vegapunk seemed to have missed them.
[Pluton][Material? Pluto Alloy][Infinite Energy?]
Nezumi could barely make out the words.
But they were enough to confirm his guess.
"'Pluton'."
Nezumi was almost certain.
"This drydock... is where the shipwrights of ancient Water 7... built the Ancient Weapon, Pluton!"
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