"Crack... k..."
Three days ter.
On an uninhabited isnd, a t three-meter statue ped down on a rge ore deposit, tearing through the mountain as it devoured huge ks of minerals. The once-mighty peak now bore a vast crater, and nearby, heaps of freshly synthesized copper, iron, aluminum, and other metals y in t piles. Squads of wax soldiers worked tirelessly, loading these onto Atntis.
"Ryan, about dohere?" El asked with a smile.
For three days, they hadn’t headed straight to Jaya Isnd in search of the City of Gold. Instead, they followed Lillian’s guidance, using her Gre-Gre Fruit ability to scout the surrounding isnds. So far, several isnds had bee utterly stripped by Ryan, a freshly minted Munch-Munch Fruit user who was dev anything valuable, particurly mineral-rich deposits. El had even produced a grove of rubber trees, letting Ryaract rubber sap for various stific uses and to assist Gerd iing a new Homies army.
“Whew, a bit full… but yeah, that should do it!”
Ryan, looking a bit bloated, let out a tented belch. His oversized jaws, lined with metal teeth, began to tract, returning to a mur size. He grabbed a k of ore ri copper, iron, aluminum, and tuook a few bites, and gulped it down, grinding it effortlessly.
"Munch Factory: Metal Refining!"
Suddenly, Ryan’s torso vulsed like a factory iion, and a panel in his abdomen swung open.
'g, k...' Out poured refined copper, iron, aluminum, and more, leaving everyone wide-eyed with amazement.
"Incredible…”
"He refihe minerals instantly!”
“Now that’s a serious ability!”
Aboard Atntis, Tsuru, Lily, and Linlin watched, uo hide their astonishment.
"Heh, that’s not all..."
Ryan chuckled mischievously. To everyone’s surprise, a gleamial statue, streamlined and intricately detailed, began emerging from his body. This figure wore armor and boasted three pairs of massive wings—like a six-winged fallen angel from myth.
"A fallen aatue?”
Gerd walked over, her t form lifting the bck statue easily. She examihe three-meter-tall figure, its six dark wings and menag sword in hand, detailed and imposing. Notig that its limbs, wings, and joints seemed fully articuted with plex meical systems, she looked at Ryan in surprise.
"Ryan, is this a robot?”
“This is my test creation,” Ryan grinned, proudly expining. "It’s a bat angel robot fed with high-strength, shape-memory metals that I perfected through repeated trials. It incorporates everything I’ve learned over the years."
"Not only is it equipped with a Gatling gun, capable of ung fmes and rockets, it also has a fme-propulsion system,” he tinued. “Though I activate basient, it cks any real intelligen its own and wouldn’t be capable of mubat. But with your Soul-Soul Fruit, it could gain a form of life, being a fully animated, amphibious bat unit capable of operating on nd, sea, and air.”
As he spoke, his eyes sparkled with excitement, turning eagerly to Gerd.
"Gerd-sama," Ryan said with enthusiasm, "I believe this aatue would be the perfeie vessel for the soul of that Holy Knight ander tured! It’ll wield incredible power!"
“Not only that, but I mass-produce simpler versions of these angel robots," he tinued. "With your Soul-Soul Fruit powers, you could breathe life into them as Homies, assembling a flying angel army equipped with swords, spears, and even firearms."
“When we move forward with our Totto Land Kingdom projed unch a full-scale war against the Wover, they’re in for a big surprise!”
Hearing Ryan’s bold vision, everyone—including El, Gerd, Tsuru, Linlin, Moss, Rock, Lily, and Little Oars—watched iaken aback by the idea. The memory metal he used to craft the robot was notably lighter than typical steel, and unlike wax, it had no weako fire. Its durability was astonishing, making the idea of an iructible, tireless angel army even more intimidating.
"Brilliant!" El said with a grin, nodding approvingly to Gerd. "Let's make it happen!"
"I'm looking forward to it!" Gerd said, iing the angel robot that Ryan had made with the shape-memory metal. She held up the repligel robot, ready to activate it.
Without hesitation, her eyes narrowed as she unleashed the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit. Her hands glowed with a visible spiritual aura. "I grant you life; arise in the form of a fallen angel… Lucifer!”
With that, Gerd eled the 30 years’ worth of life essence she’d taken from Saint Howard, the captured Holy Knight ander, p it all into the angel robot. Instantly, the once-lifeless figure became a unique Homie.
In a fsh, the angel robot opes eyes, and an anthropomorphic faed within the helmet. As Gerd released her hold, the six dark wings fred open.
With a powerful downdraft, Lucifer took flight, nding firmly on the ground before kneeling and bowing. "Master!”
“Address me as Gerd-sama,” Gerd replied, pointing to the isnd ahead. "Lucifer, attack the isnd at full power—I want to see what you do!"
"As you and, Gerd-sama!" Lucifer replied, spreading his six wings and rising into the air. From his shoulders, bck gun barrels emerged as meical systems engaged.
'Ratatat... ratatat...'
Fmes erupted from the barrels, and bullets rained down iless waves. The shots tore through a massive tree, shredding it to splinters and felling it with a loud crash.
Then his right arm lifted, revealing several small rocket unchers.
'Boom... boom...'
A series of explosions filled the air as rockets were unched, creating massive craters on impact. Fiery light and thick smoke surged skyward, and the area ahead was reduced to smoking ruins.
Lucifer extended his right hand, from which emerged a dark barrel. In his palm, blinding fire gathered as he decred, "Bzing on!"
The air shimmered with heat as a powerful stream of fire surged forward, engulfing the forest in a bzing inferno.
In the instant, Lucifer’s six wings beat forcefully, propelling him forward with incredible speed. His sharp gaze was fixed oarget as he swung his sword, unleashing a massive energy ssh.
"Holy Light Ssh!”
The air parted as the giant ssh ripped through the fmes, leaving behind a jaw-dropping trench carved into the ground.
