77 Chapter 77

"I found something really cool! A shipwright's wet dream!" Doppol proudly announced.

Mihar bonked Doppol on the head with his rifle because of his choice of words. Doppol turned around to face Mihar, rubbing the spot on his head that Mihar hit.

"What was that for?" Doppol asked.

"There are children here!" Mihar answered.

Doppol paled in both realization and embarrassment. He turned to Tanya and Eri.

"G-Girls? Forget what I said, okay?"

"What's a wet dream?" Eri asked Tanya, not knowing what Doppol said.

"Forget it, Eri," Tanya said. "Doppol's just staying true to his title as the weird one in our crew."

"Man, I've been working so hard to erase that image," Doppol said with a sigh. "Anyway! This is what I found!"

Doppol revealed a blueprint for everyone to see. No one but him fully understood what it was showing. Although, since Hepha was a forgemaster, she had an idea about what the blueprint was showing.

"That's… a wing," Hepha said tentatively.

"Huh?" Doppol was confused at the lackluster reaction everyone showed, so he looked at what he was showing. "Ahh, wrong page. But you were right, Hepha! That was a wing for this!"

Doppol flipped through the papers he had and showed an image that everyone understood. They were impressed and marveled at the design, but a part of them was doubtful.

"A flying ship?" Eri seemed the most excited.

"That's right! HAHAHAHAHA!" Doppol beamed in pride. He wasn't kidding when he said that what he found was a shipwright's wet dream. "Our dear old Doctor Vegapunk left blueprints for a flying ship!"

"Would it work, though?" Tanya seemed the most skeptical. "The design looks… outlandish."

The appearance of the model of the flying ship that Doppol was showing indeed looked strange, even for someone that came from an island in the sky. The ship in the blueprints that Doppol was holding had wings and propellers in the front.

(A/N: Image of the flying ship here.)

"I agree with Tanya on this one," Mihar said. "If flying ships were indeed possible to make now, I'm sure everyone would hear news about it. The Navy would probably have them since Doctor Vegapunk is their lead scientist."

"I think there's a chance. No, I'm sure that blueprint is the real deal," Hepha said, surprising everyone. "I know Vegapunk. We… I had the chance to talk to him long ago. He doesn't fully trust the Navy and the World Government. He only works for them for the funds they give him."

"In that case… I guess there should be some trust to be placed in those blueprints," Tanya said. "Is it complete though?"

"It is!" Doppol answered with a nod. "I want to build it! No, I'll upgrade the Ashen Dragon again! I'll need a week. Do you guys think Ace would let me?"

"We won't be sure until we ask him," Hepha said. "What about you, Mihar?"

"I had a great find too," Mihar said. "Although I wasn't able to find weapons, I found the next best thing. We have the two of you with us after all."

"What did you find?" Doppol asked, since Mihar referred to him and Hepha.

"Same as you, Doppol," Mihar said. "I found blueprints."

Mihar showed everyone the blueprints he found. Hepha, Doppol, and Eri's eyes visibly widened. 

"Lasers?" Doppol seemed excited.

"Yeah! Weaponized lasers!" Mihar said. "I couldn't believe it when I found it! It feels like something straight out of a science fiction novel!"

"Is it as scary as it sounds?" Tanya asked.

"I'm sure it is!" Doppol said. "Are those blueprints complete?"

"Yeah," Mihar answered. "I have multiple versions of it. Laser guns, built in lasers for humanoid robot bodies, and even laser systems for ships!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! Our ship will be a beast!" Doppol laughed, clearly delighted at their successful raid in Vegapunk's Laboratory. "By the way, where's Vash?"

"We didn't see him," Tanya said. "I think he's still somewhere in the lab."

"Let me check," Hepha said before closing her eyes.

Hepha's accomplishment in Observation Haki was below Enel and Ace. Everyone kept quiet and watched Hepha's eyebrows crease in focus, trying to detect Vash's presence. It took around a minute for Hepha to cover the whole laboratory.

"He's not here," Hepha said to the others.

"Should we be worried?" Tanya asked.

"No," Hepha said. "Vash can take care of himself. There's an underground tunnel in this laboratory. I think he followed it out of this lab."

"Then I guess we should check it out," Mihar said, to which everyone except Hepha agreed.

"Before that, we should talk about something also important," Hepha said, gaining everyone's attention.

"Is it that Devil Fruit?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah. Listen here, you guys." Hepha held up the Devil Fruit in her hand for everyone to look at. "This is a Mythical Zoan!"

"..."

"No way!"

Hepha was dismayed at the fact that Tanya was the only one who had a notable reaction. She forgot that not everyone knows about Devil Fruits.

"What's a Mythical Zoan?" Eri asked. "It sounds strong! Can I eat it?"

"No, Eri. Sorry," Hepha said, patting Eri's head. "Don't you know that people can only eat one Devil Fruit?"

"No," Eri answered. "What would happen if I ate another one?"

"You'll explode." Tanya answered Eri's question bluntly and truthfully.

"Geh! Really?" Eri looked terrified. "That's… I'm glad I didn't eat another one. That's good to know!"

"Anyway, do you know what fruit that is?" Tanya asked Hepha, returning the conversation to the Devil Fruit that Hepha found.

"Fortunately, Vegapunk kept a journal," Hepha said. "He put the name of the fruit there. This is the Mythical Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Baihu."

"What's a Baihu?" Doppol asked.

"Some kind of white tiger," Mihar answered. "It's a mythological figure in some cultures."

"Mihar's right," Hepha said. "This is a Devil Fruit that turns its eater into that mythical white tiger. I don't know why Vegapunk forgot to take something as precious as this with him, but I'm not complaining."

"HAHAHAHA! This Vegapunk person seems interesting!" Doppol said. "You guys think we'll meet him someday?"

"Who knows? I won't count on it," Hepha said. "He's probably stuck on a remote island somewhere, busy with dangerous experiments. Anyway, what do you guys think of feeding this fruit to Kotatsu?"

"Mreow?"

Everyone turned to Kotatsu. The moment the big cat heard his name, he instantly perked up.

"I think that's a great idea," Mihar said, agreeing to Hepha's idea with a smile.

"You don't want to eat it, Sensei?" Eri asked.

"Not really," Mihar said. "Besides, think about it. If Kotatsu turns into a big white tiger with soft fur, wouldn't that make cuddling with him even more enjoyable."

"...that sounds so nice!" Eri said after imagining herself riding Kotatsu as a big white tiger into battle.

"What about the others in the crew without Devil Fruits?" Tanya asked.

"Vash is an incredible marksman. He wouldn't like eating a fruit that would make his skills worthless," Mihar said, speaking up for his fellow sharpshooter.

"Terzo is a sword addict. He wouldn't want a Devil Fruit that won't help him improve as a swordsman," Doppol said.

"Soma is rather fond of martial arts," Hepha said. "I don't think he'd want this kind of Devil Fruit."

"Will Ace agree?" Tanya asked. "Maybe he'd want to sell it. Feeding it to Kotatsu seems like a waste. No offense, Kotatsu."

"Mreow?"

"We're not really short on gold right now," Doppol said, knowing exactly how rich they were right now because his Doubles were in charge of accounting and finances as well.

"Well, that settles it then!" Tanya said. "We feed it to Kotatsu!"

Everyone forgot about Teach.

"Here, Kotatsu," Hepha said after crouching down, her hand holding the Devil Fruit extended towards Kotatsu. "Eat up! Devil Fruits are delicious!"

Everyone who knew that Hepha said a blatant lie did their best to not smirk at seeing Kotatsu eagerly approach Hepha. They watched Kotatsu gobble down the Devil Fruit that Hepha was holding. The big cat took the whole fruit in one bite.

Everyone couldn't stop laughing after they watched Kotatsu's expression go sour after realizing that Devil Fruits tasted like vile garbage. Kotatsu was about to spit out the chewed up Devil Fruit in his mouth when Hepha forced his mouth closed.

"That's a Mythical Zoan, Kotatsu!" Hepha said. "You need to swallow it! HAHAHAHA!"

The poor cat had no other choice to swallow the Devil Fruit he chewed up. It was either that or let the vile taste in his mouth linger even longer. With one disgruntled gulp, Kotatsu swallowed the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit. After doing so, Kotatsu ran around while sticking his tongue out and shaking his head. He looked like he was doing everything he could to get rid of the vile taste that he just had to endure.

Everyone watched Kotatsu run around, eager to see if changes would happen on his body. It was Mihar that noticed something first.

"Hey, guys," Mihar said. "Strands of Kotatsu's fur is turning white."

Everyone soon realized that Mihar was telling the truth. Soon, the changes were noticeable even for someone with poor eyesight. All of Kotatsu's orange fur turned white. Then, another big change came. Kotatsu got visibly bigger. Kotatsu didn't stop growing in size and shape until he was big enough to fit Eri in one paw.

If that wasn't enough, what Kotatsu did next surprised them the most.

"What the hell, Hepha? I thought Devil Fruits tasted great?" Kotatsu hissed at Hepha.

"..."

"What's wrong with you guys?" Kotatsu asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost! Geh! Is there a ghost behind me?"

Kotatsu turned around to see if there was a ghost behind him like the scaredy-cat he is. He soon turned back around after realizing that there were no ghosts.

"Hey! Did you guys just fool me again?" Kotatsu asked. "Wait… why are you guys so small?"

"YOU CAN TALK NOW!"

"..."

"..."

"I CAN TALK NOW?"

Everyone was pleasantly surprised at Kotatsu's new ability. They expected Kotatsu to transform into the big and majestic beast he was now, but hearing him talk was the last thing they ever imagined.

"This is great!" Eri said with a beaming smile as she ran up to Kotatsu and hugged his leg. "I always wished you could talk!"

"Woah, Eri! You're even smaller now!" Kotatsu said to Eri.

"You just got big, Kotatsu," Mihar said, looking up at Kotatsu. "Your fang's thicker than my thigh now!"

Hearing what Mihar said made Kotatsu take a closer look at himself. His eyes visibly widened after seeing his new paws that were wide enough to smash three children of Eri's size at once. His mystical white fur with black stripes seemingly glowed with power and energy. His muscles felt like they could explode with how much force he felt he was capable of exerting.

"I… I'm amazing!" Kotatsu said, his eyes glowing with vitality.

Kotatsu felt himself brimming with energy and wanted to shake it off by leaping around in celebration. However, they were soon interrupted.

The large metal doors that served as the entrance to Vegapunk's laboratory. The Royal Aces looked at whoever opened the doors. From outside, they saw a large platoon of marines. Both parties seemed surprised to see each other, but not for long.

"The Royal Aces!" one of the marine officers said, recognizing the faces that belonged to Ace's crew. "Get them!"