"Robot Merry, so cool!"
Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp had stars in their eyes, exclaiming as they crowded around the newly born Merry.
Charles asked the Merry for his own wishes, and instead of using the Rebirth Cradle to reincarnate him as a human, he built him a mechanical body.
The Merry wanted to keep sailing with the Straw Hat Pirates, but he didn't want to be protected all the time; he wanted to protect his crewmates too.
So rather than reincarnate as a powerless human child, he ultimately chose to become a mechanical lifeform.
Charles and the Straw Hats' shipwright, Franky, drew up the designs together. Then Charles personally forged all the parts and finally built the Merry's body.
Franky truly was a genius who could develop cola-powered black tech; at least on the mechanical architecture he made up for Charles's shortcomings.
As for the exterior, Charles naturally didn't go with Franky's proposal—Franky's sense of aesthetics was, well, hard to describe.
Taking Baymax's armor from Big Hero 6 as a reference, Charles designed the Merry's new body.
Despite having the build of a seven-year-old, his current combat power was among the best in the entire Straw Hat crew.
There are machines in the world of Fairy Tail too, but those machines don't run on science—they run on magic. There's even a mechanized race that exists by virtue of machine magic.
Charles wasn't particularly adept at it, but he'd studied that magic. So he implanted the core transmutation array of machinery magic into the Merry's body, giving him the ability to shape metal according to his will.
Now the Merry could transmute swords, chainsaws, and other cold weapons, as well as hot weapons like machine guns, rocket launchers, and flamethrowers—practically a full-spectrum war machine.
With further study he could even upgrade himself; building black-tech weapons like laser cannons and railguns wasn't out of the question.
Once Charles saw the Merry had fully gotten used to his new body, he could leave with an easy mind. It wouldn't do to keep Kuma tied up forever, after all!
After saying goodbye to the Straw Hats, Charles hauled Kuma onto Zhongming's back, then he and Stella hopped aboard as it took off.
"Buru buru buru…"
As Charles was checking the direction with the Log Pose, a strange sound rang out.
Charles followed the sound to Kuma and pulled a Transponder Snail from his pocket.
The snail's shell bore a paw-print pattern, but at the moment it had mimicked the face of a bearded old man.
Transponder Snails were a unique marvel of this world; not only could they communicate over distance, they even came with "caller ID."
"Click!"
After a moment's thought, Charles lifted the receiver from the snail's back.
The snail perfectly echoed the arrogant tone of the voice on the other end: "Kuma, have you not completed your mission? Why haven't you reported in?"
Charles said, "If you're looking for Kuma, he's not in a position to talk. If you have something to say, I can pass it along."
Realizing he wasn't speaking to Kuma, the tone on the other end shifted, and the snail's face clouded over.
"Who are you? Where is Kuma?"
In a very casual tone, Charles said, "No need to get worked up. It won't help anyway."
The snail was silent for a beat, and Charles could almost see the stress lines the snail mimicked popping on its forehead.
"Do you realize who you're speaking to?"
Charles chuckled. "Someone who can take that tone with the Tyrant Kuma… If I'm not mistaken, you're one of the Five Elders who run the World Government—the Warrior God of Science and Defense, Saint Saturn, right?"
Saturn snapped, "Since you know who I am, you still dare speak so rudely? Who are you?"
"Then allow me to introduce myself," Charles said. "I'm Charles, a mage of Fairy Tail. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Saturn's expression smoothed out. "So it's you—the brat who defeated Crocodile. Now you've set your sights on Kuma?
I'll warn you: the Warlords are nothing but mad dogs on the World Government's leash, so we had no issue with you beating Crocodile.
But Kuma is different. He is of special use to the Government. Your best option is to leave his side immediately.
We actually think highly of you. Don't make us remove you for making the wrong choice."
Charles sneered. "How terrifying. The lofty Five Elders resorting to crude threats and bribes."
Perhaps hearing the edge in Charles's tone, Saturn's voice turned harsher. "This is your final warning. Do not choose wrongly. Some errors, once made, carry consequences you cannot easily bear."
Charles burst out laughing. If they'd come this far, he'd drop all pretense. "Old man, you've been riding high too long!
Here's the deal: I'm holding on to Kuma. If you want him, come take him yourself. Show me these 'consequences I can't bear.'"
Mary Geoise, Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle: Saturn stared at the Transponder Snail that had closed its eyes as the other party hung up, his face oddly twisted.
To be honest, he couldn't even remember the last time anyone had spoken to him in such a tone.
As someone at the very pinnacle of power in this world, Saturn was truly "second to one."
Even ordinary Celestial Dragons had to adopt a deferential posture before him.
That someone would dare openly provoke him—Saturn needed a moment before the anger even set in.
He crushed the snail's handset in his grip, uncharacteristically failing to restrain his temper.
Charles didn't care how mad Saturn got; he felt refreshed. If Saturn got angry enough to come himself, so much the better.
It had been a long time since he'd met such a purely vile villain; fighting that sort of foe was all the more motivating.
As Charles politely tucked the snail back into Kuma's pocket, the silent Kuma suddenly spoke. "You provoke the Five Elders like that because you know the Marines have no bandwidth to target you now?"
Charles caught what lay between the lines. "No bandwidth? What are the Marines up to?"
With his usual calm, Kuma said, "You don't know? The Marines are preparing to go to war with the Whitebeard Pirates. All elite forces are converging on Marineford."
A question mark might as well have popped over Charles's head. "Hold on—the Marines are going to war with Whitebeard? What happened?"
Kuma replied, "Some time ago, Admiral Aokiji encountered Fire Fist Ace, Whitebeard's second division commander, in the first half of the Grand Line. They clashed, and Ace was captured.
Marineford has announced he will be publicly executed. Given Whitebeard's nature, he will attempt a rescue. The war is now inevitable."
Charles rubbed his temples. He'd taken care of Blackbeard, and Ace still wound up in Marine hands.
He'd seen it in other worlds too: history-shaping events would bend another way toward the same endpoint even if he intervened.
But by the same token, it wouldn't be the first time he'd changed the final outcome.
He'd already eliminated Blackbeard—if the Paramount War still ended the same way as in the original, wouldn't all that have been for nothing?
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