Chapter 409: Swallowing the Fruit, Infinite Fusion!

Franky reached out, picked up the fruit from the table, his eyes revealing desire and surprise.

This was not the first time he had seen a Devil Fruit.

Previously, he had also seen with his own eyes the Float-Float Fruit that Gao Wen temporarily held without an owner.

Yet he had never felt anything like this moment, as if his very soul were drawn to the fruit before him, unconsciously cradling it in his hands.

A natural fit?

Gao Wen nodded slightly.

He had seen such a situation once before with Xiang Keluo; Blackbeard, Straw Hat, and the earlier Cat Brothers were similar examples.

Devil Fruits possess a certain degree of self-awareness and will choose masters who match them.

Once such a compatible pairing is formed, a chemical reaction occurs, and the user's development of the fruit's abilities becomes as fast as riding a rocket.

Xiang Keluo developing the Kamaitachi Fruit to the point of awakening in just over two years is the best example.

Among the vast ocean of Devil Fruits, the one most compatible with Franky is undoubtedly this Swallow-Swallow Fruit.

Franky was already skilled in mechanical techniques, even capable of modifying his own body alone.

Although he left behind a weakness that could be called comical due to his inability to modify his back, it was enough to prove his superhuman talent.

In the original timeline, after obtaining part of the technical manuscripts left by Vegapunk, he integrated and digested them within a mere two years.

While completing his own thorough modification, he even created absurd things like the General Franky.

In his hands, the Swallow-Swallow Fruit would likely be played with in countless ways.

"I understand."

Without a shred of hesitation, Franky picked up the Swallow-Swallow Fruit from the table and put it into his mouth.

The strange taste stimulated his oral cavity, immediately turning Franky's face as red as a pig's liver; he forced it down through the nausea but felt no change.

It was only when he habitually raised his hand to touch his chin that he discovered his chin had somehow turned into metal.

The teeth in his mouth also became incredibly sharp, emitting a crisp sound as they clamped together.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Sparks flew from Franky's mouth.

Seeing this, Gao Wen was about to speak words of comfort, but then realized he had worried too much.

"So cool!"

Holding a mirror in one hand and touching his alloy chin with the other, Franky grinned, looking at his mouth full of serrated fangs with an expression of pure ecstasy:

"SUPER!!!"

"Pervert, truly a pervert!"

Clearly, this appearance matched Franky's aesthetic unusually well.

Seeing this, Gao Wen also felt relieved.

Immediately, he took Franky to a port on the outskirts of Camelot and, pointing at a damaged warship, said:

"Try to swallow that thing and fuse with it."

Franky nodded and immediately activated his ability.

His large metal mouth opened at once and rapidly expanded; in a mere instant, it grew to a diameter exceeding twenty meters, slowly swallowing the pirate ship.

This scene caused people around to repeatedly turn their heads, thinking they were seeing things.

Smoker, leading the guards on patrol, stopped in his tracks; looking at Franky swallowing the warship in one gulp, he understood in his heart:

"A ability user?!"

"Judging by the performance, it should be the Swallow-Swallow Fruit that the Captain has been searching for."

The fact that Gao Wen was searching for certain Devil Fruits across the world was long no secret in Britannias.

One of them was the Swallow-Swallow Fruit.

Smoker did not know the reason, but he was quite curious.

However, upon seeing Franky's ability at this moment, he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed:

"Being able to swallow a ship in one bite is indeed a decent ability, but if that's all there is to it... Wait!"

"What the hell is that thing?!"

Smoker's expression changed abruptly, his lips slightly parted; he didn't even notice the cigar in his mouth falling to the ground.

The guards following him also looked at the scene before them in astonishment.

They saw that after swallowing the warship, Franky's body rapidly expanded; within a few breaths, he transformed into a strangely shaped humanoid warship.

Franky's lower body completely turned into a ship, his legs became propellers, a row of cannons extended from his chest, and the merchant guild emblem on the sail was replaced by Franky's red five-pointed star!

The design was as bizarre as bizarre could be, shocking everyone's jaws off!

"Lord Franky has turned into a ship!"

"No, he has fused with the ship he ate; is this the power of a Devil Fruit?!"

"This is amazing~!"

"But this design... Hahahahaha—!"

Laughter resembling pig squeals erupted from the crowd.

Hearing this, Franky felt not the slightest embarrassment; instead, he immediately struck his flamboyant pose, joining his arms together to form a five-pointed star, and shouted loudly:

"SUPER!!!"

"Franky... Captain!"

……

The crowd burst into laughter.

Only Smoker's expression grew increasingly astonished, until finally, his pupils were trembling uncontrollably!

He thought of Pluton.

Although Gao Wen's group constructing Pluton within the Inner Sea of Britannias remained a secret, Smoker, as a candidate for the Knights of the Round Table, had once inadvertently heard related information.

Combining this with the ability to merge the Devour-Devil Fruit with whatever was swallowed...

"Don't tell me the Captain intends to merge Franky with Pluton?!"

This possibility immediately arose in Smoker's mind:

"Wouldn't that result in a battleship capable of thought and perfect self-control? And if we further consider the Gravity-Gravity Fruit and the Float-Float Fruit, wouldn't this become..."

"An airborne battleship capable of destroying a nation with a single shot?!"

"Add to that absolute air superiority, and this thing... could even easily destroy the world!"

What Smoker did not know was that his speculation coincided perfectly with Gao Wen's thoughts.

If the plan to construct Pluton proceeded smoothly, perhaps only Franky, as its creator, could control Pluton, and only Franky was most suited to become Pluton's helmsman.

Fujitora would serve as Pluton's stationed Emperor-level combat power,

while the existence of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit could also ensure Pluton possessed absolute air superiority.

No matter who dared to fly up and attack, a single Gravity Blade would send them, ship and all, sinking into the deep sea.

Simply put: only I am allowed to fly; you are not.

In this way, Pluton's mobility would be maximized, avoiding being locked onto by Uranus, thereby achieving a mutual balance with the World Government, and even forming a strategic suppression against the World Government and the Marines.

If it truly reached that stage, with the terrifying combat power accumulated under Gao Wen's command, there would be too many things they could accomplish.

Seeing his speculation confirmed, a slight smile inevitably appeared on the corner of Gao Wen's mouth:

"Since it can fuse with swallowed battleships, developing the ability further to fuse with Pluton is only logical."

Franky froze, instantly releasing the fusion and spitting out the battleship from within his body, then turned to look at Gao Wen, his eyes shining brightly:

"Captain, was this your plan from the very beginning?!"

"Ah."

Gao Wen nodded:

"Indeed, that was the intention."

"SUPER!!!"

Franky was extremely excited.

At this moment.

He felt that all the private additions he had originally prepared to sneak into Pluton, such as the giant robot and the Phoenix Cannon meant to propel the entire Pluton into flight, could all be discarded!

Compared to truly transforming into a battleship and roaming the seas, what use was a giant robot...

Wait!

Who said Pluton cannot transform into a giant robot?!