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"Despite his enigmatic past as a renegade monk, a past, Shaka's presence brought forth equally bewildering sights, such as his companion, White Dragon, consuming metal with impossible ease. This display, as shocking as Shaka's own history, left the Boa sisters questioning the very nature of what they witnessed."
"What... is this?"
"Is that... a Devil Fruit ability?"
"It actually swallowed all that metal..."
The three Boa sisters stared in shock as the giant panda, White Dragon, effortlessly chewed through cannon barrels and devoured heaps of metal scraps like it was nothing. Its razor-sharp teeth tore through the metal with ease, swallowing everything without a care.
"No need to be surprised," Shaka said, arms crossed and smiling. "This is the ability of the Swallow-Swallow Fruit."
"It can consume anything and integrate it into its body—or even synthesize new materials from it."
"White Dragon is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user. It has the Copy-Copy Fruit, which lets it replicate other Devil Fruit abilities."
"The Copy-Copy Fruit...?"
"That's incredible..."
"No wonder it can use different powers!"
The Boa sisters—Hancock, Sandersonia, and Marigold—were astonished. They looked at the giant panda with disbelief.
A panda with such a powerful Devil Fruit ability? That was beyond absurd.
"Chirp chirp!" White Dragon puffed out its chest, waving its paws proudly.
"Alright, alright, you're amazing. Now get to work!" Shaka said, giving it a playful pat on the head.
With a loud clatter, the panda suddenly opened its mouth wide.
To the amazement of the Boa sisters, it spat out a pile of gleaming metal ingots. The metal was smooth and polished, as if freshly refined in a factory.
Shaka crouched down and picked up a metal block about the size of a human head—though, to him, it was only palm-sized.
Squeezing it with some force, a sharp creaking sound filled the air.
Even though he held back, ensuring he wouldn't crush it completely, the metal still deformed under his grip, leaving deep fingerprints.
But within seconds, the metal block slowly regained its original shape.
"This really is a rare shape memory alloy, but the composition needs adjustment. The hardness could be improved," Shaka mused, eyes gleaming with interest.
At that moment, White Dragon suddenly spat out another object—a fully-formed, silver-white Gatling gun with sleek lines and a metallic sheen. Even the ammo belt was attached.
"It can do that too?!" Sandersonia was stunned.
"This isn't just a decorative model; it's a real, working machine gun!" Marigold exclaimed as she picked it up and examined it carefully.
It was a genuine weapon—far superior in quality to anything they had plundered from ships or crafted in their homeland.
"Let's test it."
She aimed at a distant pile of scrap metal and pulled the trigger.
Flashes of fire erupted from the muzzle.
A hail of bullets tore through the air, accompanied by a deafening roar.
The mountain of metal debris was instantly riddled with massive holes, even puncturing thick cannon barrels with ease.
The power far exceeded that of ordinary firearms.
"It made a weapon in an instant?!" Even Hancock, usually composed, was taken aback, her jewel-like eyes widening in surprise.
"White Dragon once copied the Weapon-Weapon Fruit's ability," Shaka explained. "I taught it about the structure and design of modern firearms. Thanks to the Swallow-Swallow Fruit, it can now directly manufacture complex, high-powered weapons like this Gatling gun."
Unlike the others, he wasn't particularly surprised.
After having White Dragon replicate the Weapon-Weapon Fruit, he had spent a great deal of time and effort training it to make full use of its abilities.
By now, the panda was well-versed in firearm mechanics, making this feat expected rather than shocking.
Over the next few days, the scrapyard echoed with the sounds of metal clanging.
Shaka immersed himself in his experiments, tirelessly testing different compositions for the shape memory alloy. His goal? To forge the perfect Zen staff.
Using White Dragon's Swallow-Swallow ability, he set up a makeshift lab, producing an array of experimental alloys. He crafted various weapons—guns, cannons, swords—each made from different ratios of shape memory metal.
Although Amazon Lily was a nation, it didn't have an overwhelming amount of daily affairs. Other officials and leaders handled administrative duties, so Hancock, as the Empress, had plenty of free time when she wasn't leading expeditions.
Every day, the Boa sisters personally brought meals to Shaka, checking in on his progress.
Of course, even if they hadn't, the enthusiastic citizens of Amazon Lily would've done so anyway.
Many of the female warriors Shaka had befriended in the past were now older, but most were still agile enough to cook and walk.
On the first day, the sheer number of meals they delivered blocked the entire entrance to his workspace.
It wasn't until Hancock issued strict orders against unnecessary disruptions that the older warriors finally stopped bringing food.
With the Swallow-Swallow ability at his disposal, many of the complex steps involved in forging and refining weapons were drastically simplified—or outright skipped.
Weapons created using this method weren't inferior to traditionally forged ones. If anything, they were even stronger.
As time passed, and after many adjustments to the alloy's composition, the metal's hardness was finally approaching perfection.
Inside the makeshift lab, a dazzling array of experimental weapons lay scattered about—each one powerful and cutting-edge.
Though they were merely test models, the sight of them left the Boa sisters speechless every time they visited.
"The rumors were true..." they thought.
Shaka—"King of the Underworld"—was indeed a super-genius, just as the world claimed.
Science, medicine, weapon forging—he excelled in everything, not just dabbling but mastering each field.
It was unbelievable.
It was awe-inspiring.
"Shaka-sama, you're truly incredible!" Sandersonia and Marigold were completely starstruck, treating him as their idol.
Even Hancock, who prided herself on being aloof and confident in her beauty, found herself quietly captivated.
Each time she visited, watching Shaka work so intently—his sharp features illuminated by the glow of molten metal—her gaze lingered longer than she intended.
For the first time, the proud Empress realized something.
"Charm" wasn't exclusive to women.
A perfect man like him exuded a natural allure.
And resisting it... wasn't so easy.
"....."