But Ord twisted his arm a few times and felt no discomfort at all.
Watching Rogers's excited expression as he still clutched his hand, Ord swallowed nervously and stammered, "Rogers… your special trait… don't tell me… you like men?"
"No way, Rogers-oniichan?!" Aiqi gasped in shock. "That makes me feel so uncomfortable…"
To her, the blow was even heavier.
Rogers's forehead filled with dark lines. He roared at Ord, "I like girls! That will never change!"
Ord, realizing his thought had been pretty twisted, scratched his head and asked awkwardly, "Then what do you mean by 'special trait'?"
"Your ability!" Rogers snapped back. "Try controlling those Ironmen again and see if you can!"
Ord frowned and attempted to control Ironman No.1. To his shock, he felt nothing—no response from his puppet, no sense of his own Devil Fruit at all. Sweat formed on his forehead. "Could it be… Rogers, you…"
"That's right! My Dark-Dark Fruit can absorb Devil Fruit powers! Zehahaha!" Rogers released Ord's arm, letting the darkness vanish, his face twisting into a wild grin. "It doesn't matter if it's Logia, Paramecia, or Zoan—once caught by my Dark Water, the proud powers of any ability user will vanish! Zehahaha!"
"Rogers-oniichan, you… you're amazing…" Aiqi said in awe. It was the first time she truly realized how terrifying Rogers's power was. Until now, she thought he had foolishly eaten some weird Logia fruit.
"Of course! How could the fruit I chose be weak? Zehahaha!" Rogers basked in her stunned expression.
"Why do I feel so annoyed…? It's still just a Logia that can't even turn to elements…" Aiqi muttered sourly, irked by his smugness.
"Still a frightening ability!" Ord admitted, deeply shaken. Just imagining the possibilities was enough—this power was the bane of anyone who relied on their Devil Fruit.
Once Rogers let go, Ord tried again, and his ability returned. Ironman No.1 suddenly sprang to life, shaking itself as if waking from sleep. The puppet's dull eyes gleamed faintly red again as it muttered, "Release the ability, and I recover?"
"Well then, what's your answer?" Rogers asked solemnly.
Ord gazed at him for a long moment, then stood up and bowed slightly. "From now on, you'll be my captain, Rogers!"
Even bent forward, Ord was still much taller than Rogers, making the scene almost comical.
"Zehahaha! Then we're crewmates from now on!" Rogers laughed joyfully. Another powerful ally for his crew.
If Ord could control strong corpses, he could raise an army of titans.
The ideal targets would be those with strong bodies. After all, wasn't the zombie samurai Ryuma able to easily overwhelm Brook with just swordsmanship?
"Not bad at all…" Aiqi narrowed her eyes but didn't object. At least this man was a shipwright.
"Then I'll pack up!" Ord said immediately. Since he had chosen to join, he had to prepare.
There were plenty of useful things in this workshop.
"Let's see the ship first! A new ship!" Rogers exclaimed excitedly.
"…Fine." Ord sighed. Why did it feel like the shipwright was the one providing the vessel? "Follow me."
He pressed a button on the wall. A hidden passage opened, wide enough for his massive four-meter frame.
The three walked down and soon emerged into a bright underground harbor. Its exit opened directly into the sea. A platform extended out, and moored across the calm water was a ship.
It stretched about fifty to sixty meters long and over ten meters wide. Its hull was painted black, mostly iron. Its most striking feature was the sheer number of weapons—at least a dozen cannons lined the sides, with more mounted on the deck. The vessel carried one mainmast and a smaller secondary sail.
"Well? How's the ship I built?" Ord asked proudly. He had poured his heart into it, planning to use it for his own voyage—yet now it was falling straight into Rogers's hands.
"Perfect! Zehahaha! A real pirate ship! So many cannons—it fits the title!" Rogers beamed, thrilled. Though they were just four people, this vessel felt huge. He turned to Aiqi, "What do you think?"
"It's a fine ship. The streamlined hull will cut through water easily, and it should be fast too," Aiqi said with approval. As a navigator, performance mattered most to her. Weapons were secondary.
"Hahaha! I even captured a small Sea King with this ship!" Ord boasted, pleased his partners were satisfied. "It used to have even more weapons, but I reduced them to make her faster."
"Zehahaha! It's more than enough!" Rogers crowed. A shipwright plus a ship—what a bargain.
He noticed three or four more Ironmen like No.1 on board and asked curiously, "Ord, are those also your puppets?"
"Yes," Ord confirmed. "They can handle simple tasks like cleaning, and their firepower is fierce."
"Zehahaha, excellent! How many total?" Rogers asked.
"Five on this ship, plus two in the shop—seven in total. Don't underestimate them. They were expensive to make!" Ord replied proudly.
"They're just lumps of iron," Aiqi said flatly.
"No way! While mostly iron, their inner parts and joints use rare metals," Ord retorted, clearly offended.
"Rare or not, they're still just hunks of scrap," Aiqi said dismissively.
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T/N:
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