"Hey, Rogers-oniichan, let's go check out that shop. Since we don't have many people, a pirate ship around thirty to forty meters long should be enough for us!" Aiqi said helplessly. She hadn't expected this shipbuilding island to suddenly change its policies.
"Yeah… but it won't always be like this." Rogers clenched his fists, annoyed with himself. Too weak—he couldn't even get a proper ship that satisfied his crew…
"Thank you for the information, boss!" Aiqi sweetly thanked the tavern owner. After asking for the location of the weapon shop, she settled the bill, then left with Rogers.
"It's such a hassle… it's my fault… otherwise we wouldn't be—" Rogers muttered with guilt.
"What's there to blame yourself for? Remember, this money is just a loan—you still owe me! Hmph!" Aiqi puffed up her cheeks, swinging her cute little mushroom head.
"Zehahaha, got it!" Rogers's gaze softened slightly. This little girl… she was actually trying to comfort him.
The two of them followed the directions the owner had given.
Gradually, the streets thinned out, giving way to forest paths by the coast. At the edge of the forest stood a massive house, built facing the sea. Its design was strange—it looked like a tank.
"So cool!" Rogers's eyes lit up instantly, his blood boiling like the hot-blooded youth he once was.
"What's so cool about that?" Aiqi was utterly unimpressed, keeping her calm.
"This is a man's romance! Of course you wouldn't understand!" Rogers shouted, full of excitement. Back in his previous life, he could never even touch something like a tank. At that time, he was obsessed with cars, sports cars of all types, but he never had the chance to own one…
"Oh." Aiqi's face didn't change at all. She walked straight up to the door, ready to knock.
"Why so direct? What if someone scary shows up inside?" Rogers said nervously, though his body had already rushed forward to stand beside her, waiting for her to knock.
Aiqi rolled her eyes and knocked. At first, there was no response. Just as she raised her hand to knock again, the door swung open.
A figure nearly two meters tall appeared. It definitely wasn't human—it was more like an iron lump shaped like a person. Its eyes glowed red, and with a stiff, metallic voice it spoke:
"Hello… two people—no, I should say hello to you both. What is your business?"
Its voice was as stiff as its full-metal body.
"A machine… a robot?" Rogers's words tripped over each other from excitement.
"What a weird thing. Why can it even talk?" Aiqi wrinkled her nose, full of disdain. A clunky lump of iron like this was far from her aesthetics.
"We came to buy weapons… uh, we're looking for your boss." Rogers couldn't stop circling the iron man, knocking here, tapping there, like a curious child. "You're a robot, right? You are, aren't you? You must be!"
"I am not called a robot. My name is Iron Man No. 1," it replied stiffly, its tone as dumb as its movements.
"No. 1? That means there are more of you? Zehahaha, interesting! So interesting!" Rogers was thrilled.
"Oi, Rogers-oniichan, don't forget why we came!" Aiqi scolded, pouring cold water over his excitement.
"Ah, I'm just… gathering intel!" Rogers stroked Iron Man No. 1's arm, feeling its steel-like hardness. "And honestly, we really need this kind of weapon! Isn't it awesome? Robots, man!"
"I think they're completely unnecessary," Aiqi said flatly, her little face cold.
"Ah? Customers, is it? You came to buy weapons?" A lazy voice drifted out from inside the shop. A moment later, a giant of a man appeared before them.
Rogers was tall himself, about 1.9 meters, and Iron Man No. 1 was over 2 meters. But this newcomer? He was nearly 4 meters tall, wearing only shorts and an unbuttoned shirt that exposed his massive, muscular chest.
"You two, come in. Seems I should at least offer some tea." The man gestured for them to enter.
Inside, Rogers's eyes nearly popped. Weapons of all kinds filled the shop, and another figure identical to Iron Man No. 1 stood there. He looked at the man with glowing eyes and blurted,
"Hey, these are robots, right?"
"Robots? Something like that, I guess." The man frowned but didn't deny it.
"You're amazing! To actually make robots!" Rogers's voice shook with excitement. In his past life, he never got close to anything like this—yet here, in a supposedly primitive world, he was staring at them!
"It's nothing special. They move only because of my ability." The man admitted casually, ushering them to a table.
Rogers's excitement crashed. His dream of real mecha shattered. "So it's just… Devil Fruit powers…"
Aiqi sat down without a ripple of emotion. But she was curious. "You said ability… you're a Devil Fruit user?"
"That's right. I ate the Puppet-Puppet Fruit. I can turn dead matter into my puppets. These two iron men? I built their bodies myself and gave them life with my power." He patted the two metal giants with pride.
"The Puppet-Puppet Fruit? That's actually pretty strong!" Rogers's eyes widened, his mind spinning fast. "If you can turn dead things into puppets… then what about corpses? Human corpses should work too, right?"
"Probably, yes… but without my direct control, puppets have very little intelligence. Like these two iron men—without me, they can only tell friend from foe and perform basic tasks. Of course, if I focus, I can control them fully at will." The man scratched his head, thinking. Rogers's words had sparked something he hadn't considered before.
Rogers's pupils shrank. Controlling the corpses of powerful fighters? That would make this Fruit terrifying—an army of controlled warriors at his beck and call.
Even Aiqi's face paled. What had sounded like a useless fruit now felt horrifying when Rogers framed it that way.
"But remember," the man added seriously, "my puppets don't retain memory. Even if it's a corpse, I can only use the body itself, and it can only fight with what I already know how to command."
(It would essentially be the same as Moria's zombies—dead bodies fighting only with the abilities stuffed into them.
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T/N:
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