Chapter 61: The Mother Flame? Pluto Alloy!
Late night, outside Water 7.
Franky House.
Snore... Snore...
The sound of snoring filled the air. The Franky Family members were fast asleep.
They had just dismantled a large pirate ship they looted today, making a tidy profit, so tonight's party had been particularly lively.
In the deepest part of the Franky House, Franky, wearing only his speedo and completely drunk, was slumped on a sofa, drooling.
"Mmph... booze sucks... gimme cola..."
He mumbled incoherently, rolling over onto his stomach.
But at that moment, a hand silently appeared on his back.
With a gentle pull, a small door opened on his back.
As a cyborg, Franky's physical sensations weren't as sharp, so he felt nothing.
Then...
Inside his body, a pair of eyes bloomed from nowhere, searching.
Amidst the circuits and machinery that had replaced flesh and blood, the eyes quickly found their target.
A stack of documents hidden inside Franky's body.
It was... the blueprints for Pluton.
This was a secret known only to Franky—or rather, Cutty Flam—and Iceburg.
But now, there was one more person sharing this secret.
"Sorry about this. Even though we're fellow cola enthusiasts, I need to check something."
Inside the pocket dimension, Nezumi whispered.
Under the mask, Roy closed his eyes, using the Flower-Flower Fruit ability to quietly flip through the blueprints.
Of course, he had zero interest in the complex battleship structure and skipped it entirely.
As said before—he knew where the real Pluton was. He had no interest in building another one.
In the blueprints, only one thing interested him.
"Found it!"
Soon, he saw the content on a specific page.
[The hull, deck, and weaponry are constructed from 'Pluto Alloy'. It possesses extreme durability, stability, shock absorption, and resistance to heat and cold. It remains stable in almost any environment. Adding even a small piece can drastically increase weapon power. It is nearly indestructible—the perfect 'War Metal' for weapons and warships.]
[Alloy Smelting Materials: Arkham Refined Iron, Flower Stone, Theran Gold... a total of nineteen precious metals.]
[Smelting must be performed within the 'Eternal Flame'.]
"Just as I thought..."
Reading this page, Roy confirmed his suspicion.
"'Pluto Alloy'... it matches what Vegapunk recorded. He found clues about Pluton's construction in that drydock?"
Not long ago, he had explored the deep-sea drydock.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found much—or rather, anything useful seemed to have been taken away.
But even so, he could now piece together what happened to Vegapunk over a decade ago.
The genius scientist somehow learned the secret of Water 7's 'Ebb Tide' and the ancient island in the southern waters.
According to Roy's current theory, that ancient island was likely an 'undersea elevator' built by the shipwrights of ancient Water 7.
Using the power of Aqua Laguna, the shipwrights would descend to the seabed via that island to construct Pluton in the deep-sea drydock.
How they did it, and why, Roy didn't know yet.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was that Vegapunk went there during the 'Ebb Tide,' built a temporary lab, and descended to explore the drydock.
And he must have found something incredibly important there.
Including some technology related to Bloodline Elements, leading to his breakthrough in 'Devil Fruit Weaponry.'
But more importantly...
"Those scribbles mentioned 'Infinite Energy.' So the discovery in that drydock might be the inspiration for the 'Mother Flame' he creates in the future?"
Roy guessed.
The Mother Flame—a special energy source created by Vegapunk. Infinite energy, the undying fire capable of powering Ancient Weapons.
It seemed this energy wasn't entirely Vegapunk's invention.
The Pluton blueprints mentioned an 'Eternal Flame'—though not the Mother Flame, it sounded similar.
Vegapunk likely found data on this energy source in the drydock, eventually succeeding in creating the Mother Flame.
This might be why Vegapunk took the core data from the lab—both 'Pluton' and the 'Mother Flame' were things capable of destroying the world!
But clearly, Roy wasn't focused on that.
"Pluto Alloy... the lost 'War Alloy' of ancient times?"
"If I sell this stuff, it should be worth a fortune, right?"
He cared about the alloy itself. He knew without guessing how sought-after it would be.
Even if the alloy alone couldn't build a complete Pluton—since Pluton's true power likely came from the 'Mother Flame' driving it—this War Alloy was still a top-tier strategic resource.
Even a tiny bit would drive ambitious warlords mad!
"Arkham Refined Iron is a North Blue specialty... Flower Stone is a precious mineral from Kano Country... Theran Gold, never heard of it, but probably from the Therannel Kingdom in the South Blue..."
Roy memorized the nineteen metals required.
Even the ones he recognized were incredibly rare minerals from all over the Four Blues and the Grand Line.
But Roy knew.
While these nineteen metals were rare, they weren't the hardest part of making 'Pluto Alloy.'
The hardest part was the 'Eternal Flame' or 'Mother Flame' required for smelting. Even Vegapunk might not have fully perfected it yet.
And Roy certainly didn't have the ability to create such an energy source.
But...
"If it's just melting and fusing these metals together... I might not need the Mother Flame."
This was the real reason Roy was here.
He knew of a certain Devil Fruit that could achieve this.
And coincidentally...
"The thing I need to control the transformation of the 'Hand of the Giant Soldier' is also near that fruit."
Muttering with anticipation, he slowly turned and left.
"Mmph... Hm? Who's there?"
Only then did Franky open his eyes groggily.
He looked at his torso in confusion—his stomach felt itchy just now.
He patted himself down, confirmed the blueprints were still safe inside him, and sighed in relief.
"Must be my imagination."
Muttering, he collapsed back onto the sofa.
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