Hina was quick to act.

  In no time, she returned with a rge basket filled with a chaotic assortment of fruits—bananas, apples, pineapples, melons, and pears.

  Smoker ied the sele, nodding in approval. “Not bad. These shapes cover most Devil Fruit appearances.” He paused briefly, then muttered, “As for that sugare… let’s put it aside for now.”

  Hina, puzzled, asked, “What do you need all these fruits for?”

  While Smoker was known for his appetite, his cravings typically leaoward meat. Fruits were more of an afterthought.

  Smoker casually slung an arm over Hina’s shoulder, grinning mischievously. “I’m about to duct a grand experiment. If it succeeds... well, you’ll see.”

  "If it works," he thought to himself, "I’ll never have to worry about getting Devil Fruits again!"

  Before Hina could press further, the door suddenly burst open with a loud kick.

  Startled, Hina leaped away from Smoker as if struck by lightning, while Smred at the intruder, his eyes practically spitting fire.

  However, whe a good look, he froze in fusion. "Who the hell is this guy?"

  The man standing there was gaunt, filthy, ragged clothes. His face was covered in grime, and part of his scraggly beard looked singed.

  The moment the man spotted Smoker, his eyes lit up. “Smoker! I’ve been searg for you for days!”

  Smoker’s jaw dropped. “Dr. Aubrey?! What happeo you?!”

  The once-dignified stist now looked like he had crawled out of a disaster zone. Yet, Aubrey didn’t seem to care. He was too excited to notice he’d interrupted something, grabbing Smoker’s hand with fervor. “Smoker, it’s a success!”

  Smoker blinked, bewildered. “What are you talking about? What’s a success?”

  “Everything! Everything you talked about before—we made it happen!”

  “What?!”

  Smuely remembered a drunken night where he’d been rambling to a group of stists about firearms teology from his previous life. His expnations had been disanized and inplete at best, barely making sense.

  Ahese mad geniuses had actually made something out of his drunken nonsense?

  For stists like Aubrey, a clear dire oal was often enough to spark innovation.

  Gripping Smoker’s hand, Aubrey rattled oedly. “You were right! Granuted gunpowder dramatically improves power and burn efficy!”

  “And the onballs! ical shells are far more effective than round ones, and we even added some alloys to enhaheir performance…”

  “And don’t fet the AK-47 design you mentioned—”

  He stopped himself, waving his hands. “Fet it! e and see for yourself. We’re dug test shots today!”

  Without waiting for a response, Aubrey started dragging Smoker toward the b.

  “Wait! Slow down!”

  Smoker, unsure where the frail-looking stist got such strength, couldn’t resist being pulled along. He cast a longing g the basket of fruits, relut to leave them behind, but ultimately gave in and followed.

  ---

  **On the deck,** a ly arranged array of equipment awaited testing: a heavy on, a set of ical shells, a set of round shells, two rifles, several magazines loaded with bullets, and an eager group of stists and marines buzzing around.

  Smoker picked up one of the rifles, iing it closely. Its design and structure bore a striking resembo the AK-47 from his past life, at least 70-80% accurate.

  He ran his hand along the stod barrel, noting how smooth and well-crafted it was. The parts fit together seamlessly. “This… this is incredible. You achieved this in such a short time?”

  Aubrey puffed up with pride. “Of course! Never uimate the ons b!”

  Then, as if remembering something, he sighed. “But holy, we owe much of our progress to a Shaping Fruit user. They mold materials into any form, which sped up the prototyping process signifitly.”

  “Still,” Aubrey added, “while she’s great for creating samples, mass produ is aory. There’s still a long way to go.”

  Smave a small smile. “Every journey begins with a siep. At least we’ve taken the first one.”

  Aubrey, reassured, burst into ughter. “Exactly! Progress is unstoppable!”

  The testing began.

  They fired a few shots into the sea with the on, thehe rifles to shred a row of targets. Aubrey, clipboard in hand, and the other stists were giddy with excitement as they collected data.

  Suddenly, a rge hand reached over and snatched the clipboard away.

  The stists gred at the intruder, ready to tear into whoever dared interrupt their work.

  But their anger fizzled out when they saw who it was.

  Zefa and Sakazuki stood before them.

  Smoker had summohe admiral and vice admiral to showcase the results. After all, if he could impress them, seg funding for future research would be a breeze.

  Zefa observed the test results, his calm expressioraying subtle tremors in his fingers.

  *What have I just witnessed?!*

  The ical shells, while their full power was uain, had already shown an increased range of ohird. The newly designed automatic rifle had a firing speed ten times faster than standard bolt-a rifles.

  *(Bolt-a rifles typically fire 20-30 rounds per minute, while automatic rifles fire 600-800 rounds per minute, excluding reload times—a tenfold difference.)*

  This was groundbreaking—a development that could elevate the Navy’s overall strength.

  As a high-ranking Navy officer, Zefa uood the Navy’s current struggles all too well.

  Since Roger’s decration ighe Great Pirate Era, pirates had sprouted up like weeds across the world, putting immense pressure on the Navy. Worse still, the allure of "freedom" and "dreams" led many young talents who should have joihe Navy to instead embrace piracy.

  This imbance was taking its toll.

  Three geions of the Navy

  Zefa’s geion, the first, was a golden age. Legends like Garp, Sengoku, and Zefa himself represented unmatched strength, while Tsuru stood as an unparalleled strategist.

  The sed geion, Sakazuki’s, romising, with three monstrous talents oh to being admirals. Even though Garp’s son had defected, the remaining rising stars like Gion and Tokikake held solid potential.

  But the third geion—those born into the Pirate Era—was a stark trast. Their quality had drastically deed.

  Aside from Smoker and Hina, Zefa hadn’t seen any particurly remarkable recruits in years. This reality weighed heavily on him.

  The Navy’s current power recarious.

  They could crush any pirate crew individually but cked the strength to maintain full trol.

  This created a frustrating stalemate: if the Navy showed too much force, the indepe pirate crews would band together, esg the flito full-scale wars.

  Breaking this deadlock seemed impossible uhey somehow produced a dozen more admirals ht to overwhelm the New World.

  Otherwise, any efforts would only result in more dispced individuals turning to pirader the devastation of war.

  But this research ged everything.

  While these innovations wouldn’t pose a direct threat to the New World’s elite pirates, they could swiftly eliminate pirates in the Four Seas and Paradise regions. Over time, as the New World’s pirates lost their supply of fresh recruits, their influence would naturally wane.

  It was like dealing with a massive tree—perhaps you couldn’t chop it down ht, but you could boil its roots with scalding water day after day.

  Seeing Zefa arrive, Dr. Aubrey’s joy alpable, his mustache twitg with excitement.

  “Admiral Zefa! What brings you here?!”

  The stist, having been cooped up in the b, was pletely unaware of ret events.

  “It’s been a while, Aubrey,” Zefa replied with a warm smile. “I’m no longer an admiral, just a retired old man.”

  Dr. Aubrey vehemently shook his head. “Nonseo me, you’ll always be an admiral! If it weren’t for you standing yround back then, the Sce Division would have been disbanded. You’re the reason we exist today!”

  Smoker, overhearing this, was surprised. *Zefa has such deep ties to the Sce Division?*

  It made sense now—Zefa, unlike most, had access to advaools like the prosthetic crusher arm. Smoker had assumed it erk of his rank, but clearly, there was more to the story.

  ---

  Zefa watched another round of test firing, even volunteering as a target to endure shells and bullets himself. Satisfied, he eventually left with Sakazuki.

  On the way, Zefa suddenly asked, “Sakazuki, what do you think of Smoker?”

  Sakazuki sidered briefly before responding, “A capable all-rounder—skilled in both bat and intellect.”

  Zefa smiled wryly and nodded. “Ihat kid is full of surprises. His st achievement hasn’t even been rewarded yet, and now he’s made another major tribution. Holy, I’m at a loss as to how to handle him.”

  “Well, I’ll leave it to Sengoku and Tsuru. They’re better at figuring these things out.”

  Then, turning serious, he added, “And about that st matter—have you and Zean made a decision?”

  Sakazuki met Zefa’s gaze with firm resolve. “We will strictly follow orders.”

  Meanwhile, back with Smoker and Hina.

  After returning, Smoker locked the outer door securely. Using his Logia powers, he slipped through the crad into the room, cradling his stash of fruits with a sly grin.

  “This time,” he chuckled darkly, “not even the Five Elders could make me open this door.”

  He ughed maniacally, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Kyahaha…”