OP: My Aircraft Carrier Evolves#82+83: Seizing the Paramecia Castle-Castle Fruit! The Peak of Reverse Mountain, a Wonder of the World!

Before the banquet had even ended, Jin and Reiju made their exit.

Gion politely declined Rear Admiral Enru's offer to chat after the festivities and stay the night at the base, instead heading back to their warship.

"So, Kujaku, what did you think?" Gion asked.

"Hm? Think about what?" the Lieutenant Commander replied, a look on her face like she was dying for the latest gossip. "Oh, him? He’s alright. Sunny, handsome... but he's a king, so you know he's a player."

She was a few years younger than Hina and on good terms with her, which made her current schadenfreude all the more obvious.

Gion sighed and flicked her on the forehead. "Have you spent this entire evening thinking about the king?"

"Huh? What else would I—wait, what were you talking about, Gion?" Kujaku asked, a look of pure confusion on her face.

Her wide, innocent eyes were those of a college student.

Gion pressed a hand to her forehead. Vice Admiral Tsuru is so brilliant... how did she end up with such a "brilliant" granddaughter?

"I was asking for your assessment of Lunia Port," Gion clarified. "And of Rear Admiral Enru."

"Oh!" Kujaku had the grace to look embarrassed. "I thought... you were worried about Hina! Well, when we were coming into port, I saw at least a dozen pirate ships. We ran into pirates on the road, and I even saw Marine soldiers drinking with pirates in the taverns. Lunia Port is out of control. It's a place where you can't tell the soldiers from the pirates."

Gion nodded slightly.

"Headquarters has debated the situation in Lunia Port for a long time. Do you know why they've never acted?"

"Why?"

"Because this port provides Headquarters with three billion Berries in military funding every year. On top of that, Rear Admiral Enru has close ties with the various kingdoms of the West Blue, and he has backers in the World Government. He pays his Heavenly Tribute, and for the most part, he keeps the peace here. He's never made a mistake."

Kujaku was surprised. He's that good? Most Marine branch bases she knew of needed funding from Headquarters, they didn't generate revenue.

"But..." Gion continued, "Rear Admiral Enru wants his son to be the next base commander, which goes against the wishes of Headquarters. That's why they sent us. To gather evidence and deal with Captain Onoran, legally and legitimately. But we can't upset Rear Admiral Enru and disrupt Lunia's economy. It has to be a smooth transition."

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The next day, at noon.

The thick curtains were drawn, plunging the room into a false night.

Reiju awoke with a lazy yawn.

Beneath the covers, her long, smooth legs shifted, disappearing and reappearing. Her eyes were still hazy with sleep.

Seeing that Jin was gone, she simply rolled over and went back to sleep.

—————————

Inside the Bounty Hunter's Guild.

Jin was sitting on a sofa.

"Marine Headquarters will never let Captain Onoran take over," he said. "Vice Admiral Gion is most likely here to handle the situation."

He hadn't spoken much with Gion last night, but he'd picked up on the subtleties. Rear Admiral Enru, though he appeared calm, was desperate.

Gion, though she seemed friendly, was keeping her distance.

And looking at it from another angle...

Rear Admiral Enru had built Lunia Port up over twenty years. That was a testament to his ability. Headquarters had allowed it, a tacit understanding between them. But to try and install his son as his successor, to turn the port into a family business... that was undermining the Marines, embezzling their assets.

Headquarters wasn't about to be taken for a ride.

"I just hope the next commander isn't some hawkish, stubborn old fool," Crocodile said. "That would make things difficult."

"I doubt it," Jin replied. "Vice Admiral Gion didn't come in and flip the table. That means she's looking for a peaceful resolution. As long as Rear Admiral Enru doesn't push his luck, she won't make any major moves. Pirates fight for power with swords and guns. The Marines are much more subtle. And even in the worst-case scenario, you're smart enough to handle it. I have no doubt about that."

It was a compliment to Crocodile, but also a show of trust and recognition.

Ruling through strength alone only inspires fear, not respect. And it certainly doesn't win loyalty.

A warrior will die for a lord who understands him.

It was just basic manipulation. Who didn't know how to play that game?

—————————

That afternoon, Jin woke Reiju up.

After returning to the docks, he picked up Capone Bege from Daz Bonez.

He had no interest in the power struggles of Lunia Port. It was just a naval drama.

Still, a man like Rear Admiral Enru, with his administrative skills... he would be perfect for Hannabal Island...

From what he'd gathered, Enru really had built Lunia Port from the ground up with his own two hands. He wasn't a good Marine, but he was an excellent manager.

Of course, he couldn't have done it without the platform the Marines provided. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Jin left a message with Crocodile: if things really went south, he could offer Enru a way out.

Wilson, back in Hannabal Island, had been wanting to resign for a while now. He preferred the vastness of the open sea to the drudgery of paperwork.

Unfortunately, Jin was short on suitable candidates.

—————————

The situation unfolded just as Jin had predicted.

Vice Admiral Gion conducted an investigation and captured the captain of a pirate crew who had been doing Enru and his son's dirty work.

From him, she obtained proof that the two were involved in fencing stolen goods and laundering money for pirates—enough to have them both thrown in jail.

But she didn't arrest them. She simply laid the evidence before them and let them make their own choice.

That night, a "pirate riot" broke out in Lunia Port.

Captain Onoran died a hero's death.

Rear Admiral Enru, overcome with grief, submitted his resignation.

That, of course, was the official story.

According to Crocodile, what had actually happened was that Captain Onoran had made a desperate gamble. He and his loyal men had tried to ambush Gion and her squad, to get the evidence back and silence the pirate captain.

He had overestimated himself and underestimated the caliber of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral. Gion had cut him down with a single stroke.

Enru had only one son. With him gone, what was the point in fighting for a legacy?

—————————

This all happened a few days after Jin and his crew had left Lunia Port.

The first thing Jin did was have the carrier absorb the Kilo-Kilo Fruit. After a strange, rippling motion, a hazy light began to glow.

A new, illusory "domain" appeared before his eyes. Unlike the "active" domains of Zoan fruits, Paramecias were quieter, more subdued, but he could still feel the latent power within.

Once the fusion was complete, Jin experimented with the fruit's power, first on himself.

His weight instantly dropped. And even after he reached 1 kilogram, it continued to decrease, though the energy consumption increased.

Finally, his weight bottomed out at 100 grams.

But his strength, his power, remained unchanged. At 100 grams, he could still throw a devastating punch. He just needed to get used to the feeling.

He let out a long breath and was nearly blown away by the force of it.

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The Fruit had a variety of applications.

For example, if he turned a thousand-ton warship into a 1-kilogram object, he could literally carry it around.

In combat, he could touch an enemy and manipulate their weight. Although it wouldn't diminish their strength, the constant shifts would throw them off balance, a powerful debuff.

More interestingly, with the Kilo-Kilo Fruit integrated into its system, the demonic carrier could now "fly."

After fusing with the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, he had the carrier absorb Bege.

He seized his Castle-Castle Fruit.

As its name suggested, this fruit allowed the user to become a fortress. It was a fruit that offered almost zero increase in individual combat power, even more of a "utility" fruit than the Kilo-Kilo Fruit.

Bege had actually developed it to a respectable level. He had his entire pirate crew stationed inside his body. Anything that entered his body was miniaturized.

And when it was time to fight, he would command his internal forces to fire a barrage of bullets and cannonballs, which would return to their original size upon leaving his domain, unleashing a massive amount of firepower. Or he could just unleash his army of pirates and overwhelm his opponents with sheer numbers.

His weakness was that his "castle" body was exposed and vulnerable to attack. Against a top-tier fighter, he was just a punching bag.

But in Jin's eyes, this fruit was a perfect match for the demonic carrier.

For a person, it was too weak, too functional.

But for the carrier, its functionality was off the charts.

Fusing with the fruit would allow everything inside the carrier to be "miniaturized," effectively giving it even more space.

Furthermore, Jin could now use the fruit's power to arrange the carrier's internal layout as he pleased. Before, he had been reluctant to expand the internal space because it was difficult to organize. But now, he could turn the interior into a "city."

Yes, a city. Not a castle.

Bege's was a castle because that was what fit his perception, the common model of a "fortress" in the West Blue.

But Jin's idea of a "city" was something else entirely.

A city could have different levels, different districts.

The farming lab, the Munch-Munch factory, a Germa 66-style castle... before, they had all been crammed into one space. Now, he could separate them into different "layers," which would also improve safety and efficiency.

In short, the Castle-Castle Fruit gave the carrier a greater degree of plasticity, allowing it to be remodeled under the concept of a "city."

And could a "city" only be one kind of city? A city of traps, a fortress, an ancient city...

Why not all of them?

There was a saying among One Piece fans: there are no useless Devil Fruits, only useless Devil Fruit users.

There was some truth to that.

The same fruit, in the hands of different people, could be developed in vastly different ways, based on their perception.

With a lack of vision, even a powerful fruit could be wasted.

Take Eustass Kid, for example. He was basically the Magneto of the Pirate World, a fruit that should have been on the same level as the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. And he had turned it into a scrap-heap power.

—————————

The peak of Reverse Mountain.

It reached for the sky.

A string of balloons pulled the demonic carrier into the sky. Under the influence of the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, it was incredibly light. With its massive size and light weight, it easily caught the updraft and ascended to the summit.

Having been here before, Law, Robin, and the others were a little more used to it this time. But they were still amazed at the demonic carrier's new method of ascent. It was just too powerful.

The air was thin up here, and the sudden change in altitude left them a little lightheaded. But the people of this world were tough.

They adapted quickly.

Jin had stopped here because he had seen a true wonder of the world.

Above them was the black night sky, dotted with a few scattered stars.

The roar of the currents filled their ears.

To the west and north, the sun was setting, a red orb half-submerged in the sea, its last rays shimmering on the water.

To the east and south, a crescent moon hung over the sea, its pale light casting a cool, beautiful, almost melancholy glow.

"Incredible."

"It's beautiful."

"Unbelievable."

Everyone was in awe.

Even Kuma, Judge, Wolf, and Sanji brothers had come out to watch.

The world was split in two. The sun and the moon were in a state of transition. It was a magnificent sight.

As the sun in the west and north finally sank below the horizon, the sun in the east and south began to rise.

Sunset and sunrise, at the exact same moment.

The light bathed Reverse Mountain, the demonic carrier, and everyone on board.

Standing on the summit, Jin suddenly understood what it meant to stand on the peak of the world, with night and day divided at his feet.

A sense of grandeur, of majesty, of having embraced the world, welled up inside him.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

"WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"

"LOOK OUT!!!"

Suddenly, a series of panicked screams came from the south-flowing current.

A pirate ship shot up to the summit. But they hadn't taken down their sail, and the wind was blowing them off course, straight toward the Red Line.

If nothing changed, something was about to change, permanently.

At that speed, a collision with the hard red earth would be fatal.

Jin glanced over. "Kuma,"

Kuma looked up. He leaped from the ship, and with a single, powerful push, he was hundreds of meters away.

Just as the pirate ship was about to crash into the Red Line, Kuma appeared between them, a single hand outstretched.

"A person?!"

"How can there be a person on top of the Red Line?!"

"AAAAAAAAAH! WE'RE GONNA HIT HIM!"

"MAMA! I WANNA GO HOME!"

A paw-print-shaped bubble of air shot out from Kuma's palm and rapidly expanded into a massive cushion.

THWUMP!

The pirate ship slammed into the bubble, and though the bubble was compressed, it absorbed the full force of the impact.

"What?"

The crew, who had been crying and preparing for death, were stunned.

"What happened?"

"We're... we're saved!"

The crew, who had been huddled together in terror, were now overcome with relief.

"That guy... is that... Kuma the Tyrant?!"

Before they could get a good look, they felt the ship bounce back and return to the main current. The rushing water carried them away.

"Hey! Look! Up there! A ship..."

"No way..."

"Am I seeing things? How can there be a ship on top of Reverse Mountain?"

"AAAAAAAAAH! LOOK OUT! WE'RE GOING DOWN!"

The pirate ship struggled against the current, but it was no use. It was swept over the edge and down into the Grand Line.

—————————

Five days later.

After stopping at the Twin Capes, Whiskey Peak, and Asuka Island to drop off some cargo, Jin returned to Drum Island.

There were still two weeks left until the end of Sea Calendar year 1518.

Jin announced that from now on, January 1st would be the national holiday of the Winter Blossom Kingdom, to be celebrated throughout the nation.

Drum Island, Hannabal Island, and Asuka Island all held their own celebrations.