Enel took out the Den Den Mushi and glanced at it.
"Sote?"
He answered the Den Den Mushi, saying casually,
"What's up, Sote?"
"Material?"
"What material."
"I see."
"Alright, leave it at headquarters for now."
"I'll come by later."
Enel stretched.
"So troublesome."
Thinking about having to escort it back on a warship, Enel felt a sense of existential despair.
Looking at the robots still busy moving treasure, he scratched his head and said to a giant robot,
"Just take this warship with you."
The giant robot tilted its head, confused.
Enel waved his hand.
"I'm leaving."
*Zzzt—*
Lightning instantly split the sky.
Leaving behind a stunned giant robot and a pile of smaller robots...
***
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The principal's office at the Marine Academy.
Morris stood by the window, smiling, watching the graduating students train.
"Good, good."
"The entire academy's morale has been boosted."
"I think we can do this every year."
Terrified by Zephyr, the students genuinely believed they wouldn't graduate, and they were all training like mad...
Seeing the seniors training like this, the underclassmen dared not slack off...
Zephyr sat on the sofa, looking at some documents, and said,
"Indeed."
"It's necessary to find someone to play the role of a strong opponent who suddenly attacks."
"If things are too smooth, it's not good for their growth."
"This time revealed significant problems."
Morris turned around.
"Then it's decided."
"What are you looking at? You've been poring over that stuff for ages."
Seeing Zephyr's serious expression, Morris was curious.
Zephyr put down the documents with a frown.
"That was too close."
"If Sote hadn't gone with them this time."
"I might not have made it back myself."
"Security work still needs to be strengthened."
He hadn't felt much at the time, but after returning and investigating the profiles of those two pirates, and considering the monstrous physique described by Sote, Zephyr now felt a chill. If it had just been him, he would have been done for.
Morris walked over, sat opposite Zephyr, and picked up the documents and reports.
"Is that so..."
After reading through it several times, his brow furrowed.
"Good heavens... he was fine even with a broken lumbar spine."
"Whitebeard's son?"
"Is it true?"
Zephyr let out a soft scoff.
"Of course it's fake."
"How could that idiot Whitebeard have such an idiot son?"
"However, his strength might not be weaker than Whitebeard in his youth."
"I wonder where that fellow found him."
Morris picked up the document on Miss Bakkin.
"Miss Bakkin?"
"Whitebeard's lover?"
"They're impersonating even the dead."
"Interesting."
"Stayed on Whitebeard's ship..."
"Roxx's crew, huh?"
He ran through the members of the Roxx Pirates in his mind, then shook his head.
"I don't recall."
Zephyr chuckled.
"Where would you recall?"
"The Roxx Pirates had so many people."
"They had countless subordinate fleets, and some just used his name to cause trouble."
*Crash—*
Glass shattered as Enel, transformed into lightning, burst in.
"Yo, Grandpa."
"Instructor Zephyr."
Zephyr nodded, and Morris chuckled and cursed,
"You rascal."
"Pay for my glass."
Enel smiled.
"Hai~ Hai~"
"I'll pay for a hundred pieces together."
"Where's Sote? I don't sense him."
Zephyr said,
"He went to support the Sabaody Archipelago."
"Sakazuki caused too much destruction."
"There's not much left here at HQ, so everyone's been sent to clean up and rebuild."
"Oh, and that guy's body is in the cold storage of the training warship."
"You can pick it up yourself later."
Enel made an okay gesture.
"Understood."
"Then I'll head over to Uncle Sakazuki's place first."
His body transformed into lightning and he shot out.
Watching Enel rush off, Morris quickly called out,
"Invite Sakazuki over for dinner tonight!!!"
The lightning instantly vanished, and a fading voice came from a distance.
"Unnnnnderstood~~~~~~"
Morris shook his head and smiled.
"This kid..."
Zephyr also smiled.
"Be content with what you have."
***
Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago.
Naval Branch Base Hospital.
Demura, lying in a hospital bed, said respectfully to the Den Den Mushi,
"Yes, yes, no problem."
"Alright."
*Click—*
The sound of the Den Den Mushi hanging up echoed.
Demura breathed a sigh of relief, put down the Den Den Mushi, and called his adjutant.
"Find an excuse for that warship we sent away earlier, and report it uniformly later."
"Make sure there are no loopholes."
Seeing Demura's stern expression, the adjutant nodded heavily.
"Yes!"
Falsifying accounts... simple!
***
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Sakazuki's home, the second-floor study.
Sakazuki, having hung up the Den Den Mushi, looked at Enel, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Alright."
"Tell me, what's the progress on your research?"
Enel tossed an orange in his hand.
*Crack—*
"The overall architecture is complete. All that's left is simulation."
"Once we have enough simulations, we can start construction, but the simulation time might be a bit long."
Sakazuki nodded.
"Good."
"We have enough time."
Enel let out a soft 'mm.'
"By the way, Brother Udon."
"Let's see your Devil Fruit ability."
He tossed the orange in his hand towards Barrett.
Enel was very curious about the ability to multiply objects.
The Pluton's main cannon, which he and Professor Vegapunk had redesigned, was scaled down several times.
And the key was this Doubling-Doubling Fruit.
*Crack—*
Barrett caught the orange and thought for a moment.
"30 times."
A semi-transparent film covered the orange.
*Vroooom—*
The orange instantly hit the ground, so large it almost touched the ceiling.
Enel was stunned.
"Hiss—"
"How is that possible!"
"30 times shouldn't be this big."
"It's cumulative amplification."
After the shock, he stood up with a solemn expression, walked over to examine the orange, and tried to lift it from the bottom.
"No, no, something is very wrong."
"Brother Barrett, you have to come with me."
"We must rigorously test the amplification effect and the basis of the magnification."
Currently, it was calculated based on a direct amplification of a hundred times, designed to be capable of piercing the Red Line.
But the effect of this Doubling-Doubling Fruit was clearly not just a hundredfold amplification; it seemed to be cumulative.
If that was the case... not being able to calculate the magnification precisely could be troublesome...