Late at night, outside Water 7, at Franky House.
'Huff... huff...'
The rhythmic snoring of Franky's family members filled the air as they slept soundly.
Having ruthlessly earned a fortune by seizing and dismantling a large-scale pirate ship earlier that day, their celebratory banquet had been particularly lively.
Deep within Franky House, Franky himself lay sprawled on a sofa, wearing only his underwear and drooling in his drunken stupor.
"Ugh... this sake tastes awful. Give me cola," He mumbled, rolling over onto his stomach.
But at that moment, a hand silently materialized on his back.
With a gentle tug, a small door abruptly opened on his back.
As a Cyborg, Franky's physical senses had dulled, leaving him completely unaware of the intrusion.
Then, within his body, two eyes materialized out of thin air, as if searching for something.
In that body where circuits and machinery had replaced flesh and blood, the eyes quickly found their target.
A stack of documents hidden within Franky's body.
The Pluton Blueprint.
Originally, this secret was known only to Franky, or rather, to Cutty Flam and Iceberg.
But now, it was clear that one more person knew about them.
"Sorry, but although we're fellow cola lovers, I really do need to confirm something." Zishu murmured softly inside the Alternate Space.
Beneath his mask, Roy, his eyes closed, quietly flipped through the Pluton Blueprint using the Flower-Flower Fruit's (Hana Hana no Mi) ability.
Naturally, he had no interest in the complex warship structures and skipped right over them.
As he'd said before,, he already knew where the real Pluton was hidden, so he had no interest in building another one.
There was only one thing on the 'Pluton Blueprints' that interested him.
'Found it!'
Soon, he found the passage he was looking for on a page of the Pluton Blueprint:
{The hull, decks, and weapons of the ship are constructed from Pluton Alloy. This material exhibits exceptional Tenaciousness, stability, Tremor conductivity, impact absorption, heat and cold resistance, and can maintain its integrity in virtually any environment. A small amount of this alloy can dramatically enhance a weapon's power, making it nearly indestructible. It is the perfect War Alloy for crafting weapons and warships.}
{Alloy smelting materials: Arkham Fine Iron, Flower Stone, Seran Gold, and sixteen other precious metals..}
{Smelting must be conducted within the 'Eternal Flame'.}
"As expected," Roy muttered to himself after reading the passage.
"Pluton Alloy... just as Vegapunk logged it. Did he uncover clues about Pluton's construction while researching in that shipyard?"
Roy had also explored that dock not long ago.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything useful, or rather, anything useful seemed to have been taken away.
Even so, Roy could now piece together a rough picture of what had happened to Vegapunk over a decade ago.
This genius scientist had somehow discovered the secret of Water 7's 'ebb tide period' and found out about the small island in the southern sea area of Water 7 from ancient times.
According to Roy's current speculation, that special ancient island was most likely created by the ancient shipwrights of Water 7 themselves and was a "submarine elevator".
By harnessing the power of the Aqua Laguna, the shipwrights would use the islet to descend to the seabed, where they maintained an underwater dock for constructing the Pluton.
However, Roy still did not know how or why they did it.
But that was no longer important.
What mattered was that Vegapunk had taken advantage of the 'ebb tide period' to visit the island and build a temporary research facility there. He descended into the dock to conduct his exploration.
He must have discovered something extremely important inside the dock.
Among his discoveries, there must have been technologies related to the Lineage Factor, enabling him to make an experimental breakthrough with "Devil Fruit weapons."
But more importantly...
"Those words mentioned 'Infinite Energy,' so could the discoveries in that shipyard have been the inspiration for his future creation of the 'Mother Flame'?" Roy speculated.
The Mother Flame, a special energy source created by Vegapunk, possessed infinite energy and was known as the Eternal Flame. It served as fuel for the Ancient Weapons.
Now, it seemed that this energy had not been invented entirely by Vegapunk himself.
In the Pluton blueprints, the term 'Eternal Flame' was mentioned, although it was not the Mother Flame, the two types of energy sounded similar.
Vegapunk likely saw information about this energy source in the shipyard, which ultimately led to his successful creation of the Mother Flame.
This may also explain why Vegapunk took the elite materials away from the research facility, whether it was 'Pluton' or the 'Mother Flame', both were capable of destroying the world!
However, Roy was clearly concerned about something else.
"Pluton Alloy, the ancient 'War Alloy' that was lost to time?"
"If we sold this stuff, it'd be worth a fortune, right?"
He cared about the alloy itself, he didn't need to guess how sought-after it would be.
Although the alloy could not be used to manufacture a complete 'Pluton' after all, 'Pluton's' true power should lie in the 'Mother Flame' that drives it...
Even so, this war alloy was undoubtedly a top-level strategic resource.
Even a tiny amount would be enough to drive ambitious people mad!
'I remember Arkham Fine Iron is a specialty of the North Blue. Flower Stone is a renowned precious mineral from Kano Country. I haven't heard of Seran Gold, but judging by the name, it likely originates from the Seranar Kingdom in the South Blue."
Roy logged the nineteen metals required to manufacture the alloy.
It was undeniable that the metals he recognized alone spanned nearly all of the Four Seas and the Grand Line, and all were extremely rare minerals.
But Roy knew very well that this was just the beginning.
Although these nineteen metals were precious, they were not the most challenging aspect of creating 'Pluton Alloy'.
The true challenge lay in obtaining the Mother Flame, the primordial fire needed for smelting. Even Vegapunk might not have succeeded in creating such a thing yet.
Naturally, Roy himself was unable to create such energy.
However...
'"If it's just a matter of melting these metals and blending them together… then it might not necessarily require the Mother Flame."
This was the real reason why Roy had come here. He knew of a certain Devil Fruit that could accomplish this.
And quite coincidentally...
"The thing that controls the degree of form change of the "Giant Soldier's Hand" also happens to be near that Devil Fruit."
With a voice full of anticipation, he slowly turned and left.
...
"Hmm? Who's there?'
It was only at this moment that Franky, bleary-eyed, opened his eyes.
He looked at his body in confusion, he had just felt a strange itch in his stomach.
After feeling around and confirming that the Pluton Blueprints were still inside, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Must be my imagination." He muttered, then collapsed back down again.
(End of Chapter)
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