Chapter 75

Hepha picked up the Devil Fruit placed inside the machine. She looked around the room for a journal that Vegapunk most likely used to write in. Men like him usually love recording what they do.

"Knowing him, he should have a journal for each project he works on," Hepha said.

Hepha walked to the worktable placed on one side of the room. She sat on the chair to relax a bit and placed the unknown Devil Fruit on the table. She checked the drawers under the table to see if that was where Vegapunk kept his journal.

"Aaaand jackpot," Hepha said after spotting a journal on the third drawer she opened. She took the journal and placed it on the table in front of her. She pushed her chair closer to the table before opening the journal to read it.

With a finger tracing the lines on the journal, Hepha skimmed the contents of the pages. It was filled with scribbles and sketches. It looked as if the one writing in the journal was always in a hurry, which is most likely true given how and who Vegapunk is. She eventually arrived on the last page that had writings on it.

[Finally! The Navy has found a Devil Fruit for me! They said they went through great lengths to acquire it, which means they'll be expecting something out of me… which is something I can easily do! I have many unsubmitted but successful projects, after all! I believe I deserve some kind of reward. Which is why I put in a strange request, asking for a specific Devil Fruit… a Zoan! One with soft fur so I can create the most comfortable blanket for the sleep I rarely get!]

"Seriously?" Hepha felt her eyebrows twitch.

[That was all I requested. A Zoan Devil Fruit that gives its user soft fur! I don't believe it's my fault they spent resources procuring this Mythical Zoan for me!]

"Seriously?" Hepha said, for a second time. She then looked at the Devil Fruit in front of her. "A Mythical Zoan? And you left it here?"

Hepha leaned back on her chair. The rarity of the Devil Fruit in front of her flabbergasted her. Mythical Zoans are even rarer than Logias, after all.

"How could he even forget about a Mythical Zoan?" Hepha rubbed her temples. "I guess his abnormally huge brain is starting to hinder him…"

Hepha still couldn't comprehend why Vegapunk would leave such a valuable Devil Fruit. But, she tried not to think about it. It already happened, so she just had to accept it. She went back to reading the journal and finally found the Devil Fruit's name.

Mythical Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Baihu.

"A white tiger…"

Hepha looked at the Devil Fruit. She sat there staring at it for a few moments when an idea struck her. Since Vegapunk intended to use this fruit to create a blanket of all things…

"This Devil Fruit is perfect for Kotatsu! HAHAHAHA!"

Hepha got up and took the Devil Fruit in her left hand. She then walked to the DFOB Machine and stood in front of it. She pressed a few keys on the touch screen that operated the machine to carry out its self-diagnosis function.

A few minutes later, the results came out for Hepha to read. It said that the DFOB Machine was fully functional. She was happy to receive the pleasant news.

"Now then, Awakening Clear Sky came at the perfect time," Hepha said as she took the Clear Sky Hammer in her right hand. "I guess I should be thankful too that this machine has its own power generator."

Clear Sky, Hepha's unique hammer, indeed had a massive leap in quality after its Devil Fruit Awakened. Hepha was surprised when it happened. After tempering the Ebony they found in Blackwood Island, Hepha realized that she can use it to improve Clear Sky.

And so, Hepha used Ebony in reforging Clear Sky. The end result satisfied Hepha greatly, but she somehow didn't feel that Clear Sky already reached its peak. She had a feeling that Clear Sky can still be improved further.

After Hepha improved Clear Sky in the forge she had in the Ashen Dragon, something happened that shocked her greatly. As she gave Clear Sky a few test swings, she suddenly found herself as tall as Eri. She effectively shrank to be as tall as a seven year old child. When she let go of Clear Sky, she returned to her normal size. At that moment, she knew that the Devil Fruit power of Clear Sky Awakened. She assumed it was because she improved its quality to an even greater level.

It took a while for Hepha to master the Awakened power of Clear Sky. She could turn as small as an ant, and she was confident that she could turn as big as a giant if she wanted to. Testing it out on a ship is an idiotic move, after all. Everything Clear Sky touches can be made smaller or bigger.

'I hope the others find something I can use to improve Clear Sky even more…'

Hepha focused back on her present task. With Clear Sky in her right hand and the DFOB Machine in front of her, she knew what she should do. Hepha gently touched the DFOB Machine with Clear Sky and used its Awakened Size-Size Fruit. What Hepha intended came to reality. The DFOB Machine shrank to a size that can fit in Hepha's pocket. Hepha made its mass change as well so it looked as light as it looked.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I can't wait to crack open some skulls with this hammer!"

Hepha picked up the mini DFOB Machine and put it in her pocket. She looked around a bit more, but was disappointed to find that everything else in the room was just junk. Hepha left the room whistling a tune in delight of her 'fruitful' find.

…

Ace watched Soma and Burgess fight. As expected, Burgess fought like he looked. Each strike from Burgess was heavy and would definitely hurt. But, Soma was no pushover. Burgess hasn't even landed a blow on Soma since he was dancing around Burgess, leading the rhythm of their combat.

Despite the number of blows Soma landed on Burgess, the hulk of a man didn't look too hurt. Burgess barely slowed down. It was as if the only blows that hurt him were the critical ones. Some of Soma's blows were merciless. He had no qualms aiming at… sensitive spots.

"Oof. That has to hurt," Ace said after Soma landed the fifth knee strike on Burgess's family jewels. This time, Burgess visibly stopped and stumbled.

"Man, you're strong," Soma said. "You're not going down at all!"

"Going down… I don't do that!" Burgess said after the pain of Soma's last strike subsided. "That's what women do for me!"

"Still have time to joke, huh?" Soma didn't look like he was disturbed that he had little effect on Burgess. "I guess it's time to take you seriously."

Ace was curious what Soma meant. So, he focused more attention on Soma. To his pleasant surprise, Soma's whole body was coated in Armament Haki. Under Ace's Observation Haki, Soma's skin turned into shiny black. Of course, those unaware of Haki like Burgess didn't see the change that took place with Soma.

'Since when did Soma learn Armament Haki? I thought he was still struggling with Observation?' Ace was pleasantly surprised at Soma's Armament Haki. One glance was all he needed to know that Soma had a better grasp of Armament Haki than all those who were new to Haki in the crew.

With his body covered in Armament Haki, Soma charged at Burgess. The hulking Burgess didn't put much effort in defending against Soma's blows and instead tried to catch his smaller opponent. That was a great mistake, and Soma took advantage of it. Using Haki made each of Soma's strikes much stronger than before. Burgess was surprised at the sudden spike of Soma's strength. Each elbow and knee that landed on Burgess was able to make him stumble and groan in pain.

Soma was rather merciless with his attacks. With his speed and power, he pummeled Burgess and made him kneel. But, he didn't stop there. Ace watched Soma seemingly release stress on Burgess by treating him like a punching bag. Due to the pain, Burgess stopped trying to attack and just tried to shield himself. Soma's relentless flowing combo eventually broke when he made Burgess lie down on the snowy ground face up.

"So? You learned your lesson?" Soma asked Burgess as he stood over him.

At the moment, Ace was still using his Haki. After Soma asked Burgess his question, Ace's Observation Haki flared. With his Future Sight, he saw that Burgess was actually only pretending to be beaten. With Soma standing over him, he would grab Soma by the heel and proceed to pound him on the ground again and again until Soma was broken and bleeding, laughing in glee as he did it. It would all happen in the span of three seconds.

Ace moved quickly. Just as Burgess attempted to grasp Soma's ankle, Ace stopped him. His foot landed on Burgess's hand with a crunching sound.

"Ahh! My hand!"

Ace broke the hand of the sore loser that was Burgess. He then turned to Soma.

"You forgot something," Ace said with a smirk.

"...I know," Soma said with a sigh after a few seconds when he realized what just happened.

"And? What is it? What did you forget?" Ace wanted to make sure Soma knew the mistake he made.

"...never gloat unless your enemy is finished," Soma said. He looked annoyed at the treatment Ace was giving him, but it had to be done. Soma was only fifteen, after all. Still a kid in Ace's eyes.

"That's right!" Ace said before kicking Burgess on the temple. Burgess slumped, unconscious and unmoving. "Doubles! Carry this guy to Vash's clinic for me!"

"Yes, Captain!" A few Doubles immediately went to work, doing what Ace ordered of them. Burgess was so heavy that two Doubles were needed to lift one of his limbs.

"So?" Ace returned his focus back to Soma. "Care to tell me about it?"

"About what?" asked Soma with a small smile on his face. It was obvious that he was playing oblivious as to what Ace was referring to.

"Ohh, you cheeky brat," Ace said with a chuckle. "You know what I mean!"

"Nah, I totally don't!" Soma said in a sing-song voice as he shrugged, almost comically so.

"Fine, keep your secrets," Ace said before turning away to walk up the plank and board the Ashen Dragon.

"Wait, I was just joking!" Soma said. Ace stopped walking up and turned back to him with a grin.

"Was it Hepha?" Ace asked.

"...yeah," Soma answered with a nod.

"Was it good?" Ace asked again.

"...yeah. She taught me what she knew. She's a great teacher. A rather forceful one, though," Soma answered.

"Was it painful?" Ace asked again.

"Yeah. Our practice sessions involved her hitting me so that I could get a feel for it," Soma answered.

"I see," Ace said, his grin widening much to Soma's confusion.

"What's that ridiculous smile for?" Soma asked, but Ace didn't answer and just stared at him.

"..."

"..."

"Our boy Soma is no longer a virgin!" Ace shouted, patting Soma on both of his shoulders. "Congratulations! I didn't know you were already a true man!"

"Wh-What?" Soma blushed and fumbled on his words. "The fuck are you talking about?"

"We had a whole conversation about it!" Ace said. His words made Soma replay the conversation the two of them just had. Soma realized what happened. When under a different context, they really were talking about…

Soma's face turned incredibly red to the point Ace could swear he saw steam coming out of his ears.

"Oi, oi, oi! That's not what I meant! Stop! Erase that thought, Ace! Forget it! That didn't happen!" Soma said, putting his hands on Ace's shoulders to literally shake the picture of him and Hepha doing… things… out of Ace's mind.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't be embarrassed, Soma!" Ace said, standing beside Soma to put him in a playful headlock. "It's a natural part of life! Glad to see you finally LOVE women!"

"Shut up!" Soma said, forcing himself out of Ace's headlock on him. "That's not what happened at all!"

"Ahh, so Hepha wasn't the one that trained you with Armament Haki?" Ace asked.

"Wh-?" From embarrassment to confusion, Soma switched gears incredibly quickly. Ace did his best to hide his amusement. "Wait, I thought you were talking about-?"

"About what?" Ace asked.

"About… me no longer being a virgin," Soma said, his voice lowering to a whisper.

"Huh? I was talking about your Armament Haki virginity!" Ace said. "Damn, Soma! So, you see Hepha that way?"

"I don't!" Soma shouted, red from embarrassment once again. "Damn it! Quit it, Ace!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA-!" Ace's laugh was interrupted by a snowball to the face. It was thrown by Soma, of course. "Ohh, you don't do that and not get away with it!"

Ace turned into fire and quickly put distance between him and Soma. He crouched down and quickly collected snow in his hands. He threw it at Soma. Of course, Soma was prepared and dodged. But, Ace cheated and used Future Sight. So, the actual direction of Ace's throw with the snowball was aimed at where Soma dodged. The snowball hit Soma in the face.

Soma was about to retaliate when their impromptu snowball fight was interrupted by a few Doubles who called for Ace.

"Captain!" the Doubles shouted from the ship. "Someone's coming!"

"Who is it?" Ace shouted his question.

"It's… a man! He's riding a bicycle on the sea!"