"Oh?"
"So these beads actually increase mental power directly?"
Elric held the two pale, luminescent beads in his palm, examining them with renewed interest and genuine surprise.
He had been contemplating this exact problem recently—his mental strength had always significantly lagged behind his explosive physical power. The gap had been widening with each Devil Fruit consumed. He never expected the solution to literally drop into his hands from random monster kills.
Without any hesitation, Elric tilted his head back and swallowed both beads simultaneously.
The moment they dissolved in his throat—
Ding!
The system's notification chimed clearly in his mind.
[Mental strength increased by 50 points.]
[Neural processing efficiency enhanced by 40%.]
[Cognitive capacity expanded.]
Elric felt the changes immediately and viscerally.
A strange, pleasant cooling sensation spread from deep within his brain, flowing down his spine like refreshing water through parched channels. It felt like invisible neural threads were reconnecting, tightening, optimizing themselves automatically.
His thoughts became noticeably sharper, faster, more orderly and structured. Information processing that had felt sluggish before now flowed effortlessly.
His mental power stat jumped dramatically, rising straight from its previous embarrassingly low baseline to something approaching respectable levels.
Elizabeth's earlier speculation based on preliminary analysis had been completely, perfectly correct.
She really is impressively competent, Elric thought with appreciation.
This woman wasn't just academically book-smart or good at memorizing formulas. She possessed genuine scientific intuition and practical analytical ability—rare even before the apocalypse.
Elizabeth watched him quietly throughout the process, observing the subtle changes in his expression as the enhancement took effect.
Then she suddenly spoke again, her tone slightly awkward and uncharacteristically hesitant.
"By the way..."
She paused, seeming to struggle with how to phrase something.
"Those three fruits you mentioned earlier—the Slippery Fruits and the Azure Dragon Fruit—are they really only going to be distributed through that contribution competition system?"
Elric raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly with amusement.
"Of course. That's what I announced publicly. Why do you ask?"
Among all the women gathered earlier during the distribution ceremony, Elizabeth had appeared the calmest and most detached—almost disinterested. Elric had even assumed she didn't care much about either the beauty-enhancing Slippery Fruit or the combat-focused Azure Dragon Fruit.
Now it was abundantly clear—she cared deeply. She just couldn't bring herself to openly compete or beg for favoritism like the others.
Pride, perhaps. Or scientific objectivity refusing to acknowledge base desires.
Elizabeth turned her head slightly away, avoiding direct eye contact, and snorted with obvious disdain.
"You really are completely shameless."
Her tone carried genuine exasperation mixed with reluctant admiration.
"In the safe zones across the country, superpowered individuals train obsessively every single day. They push their bodies to absolute limits, expand their tolerance for ability crystals through brutal conditioning, and constantly risk their lives in combat zones just to grow marginally stronger."
She gestured broadly, encompassing the luxurious laboratory and floating island beyond.
"And you?"
"You spend literally all day thinking about women, indulging in pleasure, building a harem... and somehow you still become exponentially stronger than everyone else combined."
She shook her head with disbelief.
"If the people struggling in those safe zones knew about your actual method of power acquisition, they'd be absolutely furious. Violently, murderously furious."
Elizabeth sighed deeply, the sound carrying genuine confusion.
To her, scientific mind, it was completely illogical and unfair.
Others exhausted themselves chasing even minor power increases through conventional methods.
Elric simply enjoyed life—and overwhelming power chased him, falling into his lap as system rewards.
The universe clearly had no sense of justice or meritocracy.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something relevant, Elizabeth continued more casually, though her eyes watched his reaction carefully.
"Oh, right. Speaking of safe zones..."
"In the East Coast Safe Zone where I came from originally—aside from Captain Olivia, there are actually several other women who are extremely beautiful by any standard."
She tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"Some are daughters of high-ranking military commanders—protected, well-fed, pampered even in the apocalypse."
"Others are like Olivia—elite superpowered members of the Group with both beauty and combat ability."
Elric's eyes immediately lit up with interest.
"Oh?"
So the safe zone wasn't just militarily strong and well-organized—it was essentially stacked with high-quality potential targets who met his system's strict standards.
If those women Elizabeth mentioned were even remotely close to her own score or Olivia's evaluation, then that place was practically a treasure vault waiting to be plundered.
Originally, the East Coast Safe Zone had been geographically distant, and Elric hadn't planned on getting directly involved with their politics or resources.
But now?
With the Azure Dragon Fruit's flight capabilities fully mastered, distance and conventional danger no longer mattered at all.
He could literally fly there alone if he wanted, covering hundreds of miles in hours rather than days of dangerous ground travel.
Elric lowered his gaze, mind already racing through multiple strategic approaches and planning several steps ahead.
Infiltration? Direct confrontation? Diplomatic approach? Each had merits worth considering.
Elizabeth noticed his intensely focused expression and pouted slightly, her tone turning distinctly sour.
"It seems you really can't forget Captain Olivia, can you?"
Her voice carried an edge of genuine jealousy poorly concealed.
"Just mentioning her name once makes you think this intensely and calculate this hard."
"Should I be concerned about my position?"
Elric chuckled and suddenly pulled her directly into his arms without warning, ignoring her token resistance.
"Oh?"
"Academician Elizabeth... are you actually jealous?"
He grinned teasingly.
"I thought someone who publicly swore to devote her entire life to pure science and research wouldn't care about petty emotional things like romantic competition."
"You—let go of me immediately."
Elizabeth's voice was cold and commanding, but her rapidly reddening ears completely betrayed her actual feelings.
"I still need to continue the physical-strength enhancement potion experiment I was working on."
"You're wasting valuable research time with this nonsense."
She said it with conviction, but she notably didn't actually pull away or make any real effort to escape his embrace.
Later that day, after the laboratory generated another 100 base upgrade points through their activities, Elric immediately accessed the system and upgraded the floating base island yet again.
The entire island expanded slightly—perhaps another fifty meters in radius—and a completely new functional area unlocked from the system rewards.
Music Room.
When Elric investigated, he found the space fully equipped with every imaginable instrument. Grand pianos, acoustic and electric guitars, violins, cellos, electronic synthesizers, drum kits, sound mixing equipment—everything a professional musician or casual hobbyist could possibly want.
Afterwards, Elizabeth rested comfortably against Elric's shoulder, her earlier protest apparently forgotten, and spoke softly with unusual vulnerability.
"I need assistants for the laboratory."
"There are far too many concurrent experiments and research projects. I can't handle everything alone anymore without compromising quality."
Elric nodded without any hesitation, already running through available candidates mentally.
"Alright, that's reasonable."
"I'll assign Elsa, and Emma to help you as research assistants. They're intelligent, detail-oriented, and—"
But Elizabeth shook her head firmly, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"No."
She looked up at him with unusual seriousness, her scientific pride evident.
"They're not suitable for what I need."
"I don't need obedient helpers who just follow instructions and run errands."
She emphasized each word carefully.
"I need people who can think independently."
"I need actual scientific minds, not pretty assistants."
There is 70 chapter Advance, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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