Now then, continuing where we left off.
This time we're on yet another Sky Island.
This one falls under Sue's Territory, and as usual, it's one of the islands where various crops are being cultivated.
Since the Summit War, Sue had officially become an Executive of the Golden Lion Pirates, and she'd gained subordinates of her own, their numbers steadily growing.
To be more precise, while they served under Sue as subordinates, Sue herself didn't really think of them that way. She treated them as fellow farmers. There were quite a few people like that.
Think of it like Leona's situation with the Merveille Animal Kingdom.
And along with that, the scale of the agricultural operations had expanded too, with more and more islands being tilled, managed, and turned into farmland. Not just islands that Papa had sent flying, either. They'd bring natural Sky Islands into the waters near Merveille (or should that be the skies near Merveille?) and pioneer farmland there.
The Sky Island environment is incredibly well-suited for growing crops and plants. Things grow at amazing speed to amazing sizes, and the weather stays nice all the time, so it's actually ideal for agriculture.
On top of that, recently Mama's selectively bred crops have been incredibly productive with high yields, so...
Also, it's not limited to Sky Islands. They've established regular agricultural land down on the Blue Sea too, growing all sorts of things.
Beyond Sue's personal hobby, this also serves as part of a larger initiative to create employment in Non-Affiliated Nations and impoverished countries.
The revenue is pretty impressive, honestly. They earn legitimate income that would put most Pirate Crews to shame, and they use it to feed the citizens living in their Territory.
The person I'm introducing this time is one of those "fellow farmers," and... how should I put it, a girl in a very unique position.
"Suzu-samaaaa, I'm all done washing the soil 'round here."
"Oh, is that so, Luwen? Good work. Could I ask you to do that area over there next?"
"Sure thiiing. Leave it to me."
The girl called Luwen spoke with a noticeable rural twang.
She looked like she was still a child. Roughly... the appearance of an early-to-mid elementary schooler, maybe? She seemed happy to be given tasks by Sue, whom she adored, and she was beaming with a soft, lopsided grin.
Then, with thundering footsteps, she headed toward the spot Sue had indicated.
Why would a child's footsteps be so heavy? Simple.
Luwen was a child, yes, but not a human one. She was a Giant.
And not just any Giant, either. Like Oars and Little Oars Jr., she was of the Ancient Giant Race. Small horns grew from her head, and the fangs visible in her mouth were already a bit sharp.
But her proportions were those of a normal child, and aside from her size she looked like a slightly chubby little girl, so honestly, she was pretty cute.
She had become Sue's subordinate relatively recently.
Sue's subordinates (or fellow farmers) actually include quite a few Giants, come to think of it.
In addition to the fishermen Bobby and Pogo, she'd later met another pair of Giant pirates, the father-daughter duo Pansfry and Lily, and they became... well, not so much underlings as companions, or friends.
Pansfry, the father, was a skilled cook and a kindhearted soul who shared food with the less fortunate. He'd steal provisions from evil pirates, cook them up, and feed them to people in need.
At first, he'd actually been trying to raid a Pirate Ship under the Golden Lion Pirates' umbrella for supplies. But it just so happened that the ship he targeted was the one Sue was riding while making rounds of their Blue Sea Territory (agricultural land, as usual).
Things were tense for a moment, but once Sue learned why they wanted the food, she nodded and said, "Oh, is that all?" and offered them some provisions from their side.
Only within the limits of what she could authorize on her own discretion, of course.
That encounter led to a friendship, and now they had... not a superior-subordinate relationship, but a cooperative one.
Sue provided food, and Pansfry and Lily used it for food distribution or helped with related Golden Lion Pirates operations. Their goals aligned perfectly. A win-win relationship.
Incidentally, Lily is also an Ability User. She ate the Mini-Mini Fruit, which allows her to shrink her body down to microscopic size despite being a Giant.
She puts that power to good use helping with harvests on Sue's fields and orchards. By shrinking herself to match the size of a tree, she can easily pick fruit growing in high places.
But enough about Lily and Pansfry.
It was those two who, at some point, introduced Sue to the Ancient Giant Race girl I just mentioned: Luwen.
Luwen was born and raised not in Elbaf, the Giants' homeland, but in a different settlement. Whether through atavism or some other quirk, she'd been born with the characteristics of the Ancient Giant Race.
That settlement was in a situation where food was never exactly plentiful.
Securing enough food for bodies the size of Giants isn't easy, so in a sense it was inevitable. Even hunting Sea Beasts and Sea Kings day after day, just maintaining their way of life would have been a struggle.
In such a village, life was especially hard for Luwen.
Ancient Giants are even larger than ordinary Giants, and they consume proportionally more food.
But they couldn't give Luwen special treatment.
Fortunately, she was never abandoned. She received the same rations as the other children, but since that wasn't enough for Luwen, she was always hungry. Driven by hunger, she stole from the village food stores again and again, until finally... she was cast out.
Still a child, Luwen couldn't hunt adequately on her own. She was starving, on the verge of death, when the father-daughter pair Pansfry and Lily rescued her.
Then, through their introduction, she met Sue, who could guarantee her a full belly every day, and... she became Sue's subordinate.
Now, in exchange for helping with Sue's various farming tasks, she eats delicious meals to her heart's content every day and lives happily.
And this same Luwen was one of the people who had newly become an Ability User through a "Devil Fruit from the future."
Just recently, she had eaten a Devil Fruit of her own volition.
While I was explaining all this... Luwen reached the spot Sue had indicated, squatted down, and plunged both hands deep into the ground.
Then, as she worked them around... massive amounts of bubbles started rising from where her hands were buried.
The Paramecia Bubble-Bubble Fruit. That was the fruit Luwen had eaten.
In the Original Work of One Piece, it was the power used by Kalifa of CP9.
It turns the user into a Soap Human who can produce bubbles from their body, capable of washing, polishing, and cleaning anything. When a person touches the bubbles, their "power is washed away," leaving them unable to exert strength properly.
Kalifa had leveraged that property to use it as a debuff technique when fighting Nami and Sanji, or to guard against attacks with bubbles, but... Luwen used it differently.
Devil Fruits really do give a completely different impression depending on the user... This was a perfect example.
Right before my eyes, Luwen dug up the ground as if scooping out a bathtub and mixed it all around, spreading bubbles throughout. The entire plot of land earmarked for cultivation was becoming a mass of frothing, gurgling suds. It looked like a bubble bath.
What she was doing was using the Bubble-Bubble Fruit's cleansing power to thoroughly wash and separate toxins and other harmful substances from the soil.
With this power, even environments as contaminated as the Poison Island where Sue once lived could have their soil restored to clean, healthy condition in no time.
Then, once the soil had been thoroughly lathered and washed, Sue would use the Mud-Mud Fruit's power to churn the whole thing together and rinse the bubbles away, and... presto, clean soil. On top of that, Sue's mud would replenish nutrients, putting the land in a state where quality crops could be grown immediately.
Now, for those of you thinking, "Even if it cleans the soil, is it really okay to smother it in that much foam?" Rest assured, it's perfectly fine.
If this were real soap or detergent, the bubbles would contain chemicals harmful to soil, which would be a problem. But Luwen's bubbles are generated by her power. They only possess the property of "washing things clean" and contain no detergent-like chemicals whatsoever.
They're supremely convenient bubbles that can "remove dirt and make things clean" in complete defiance of logic.
So in theory, you could even use them to rinse rice or wash vegetables without any issues. ...The visual would be absolutely terrible, though.
Furthermore, these bubbles can even wash liquids, so if soil contamination is caused by groundwater, she can permeate the bubbles all the way down and clean everything. She has a degree of control over the bubbles she produces.
This means that unless the geology or climate itself is fundamentally unsuitable for crops, any land, no matter how polluted or parasite-infested, can be "washed clean" and converted into farmland. That is Luwen's power.
A soil washing specialist, combining the nature of her ability with the massive body of the Ancient Giant Race.
Incidentally, the reason Luwen chose this ability was because "she wanted to help Sue, who looked so sad watching crops fail to grow in poor soil." Despite having no prior knowledge about the Bubble-Bubble Fruit, she said she just had a feeling it could be used that way.
And one more thing. She is an Ancient Giant possessing physical capabilities surpassing even ordinary Giants, but she doesn't like fighting. She wants to keep doing agriculture alongside Sue forever, growing delicious crops together. A gentle heart.
Because of that, she apparently didn't want a Devil Fruit that directly enhanced combat ability.
Also, beyond soil washing, she's handy at reshaping terrain as needed and clearing away rocks or mountains that are in the way, making full use of her enormous body. She cheerfully tackles all sorts of farm work.
Yeah, if that's what she wants, then I think that's great.
She looks so happy these days, and... seeing that kind of contented face makes me happy too.
***
Now, I'd originally wanted to continue this flow by introducing the new Ability Users among Alice's subordinates, but... due to certain circumstances, that'll have to wait for another time.
...No, it's just... it's hard to introduce them, okay?
That girl went full Greed mode when selecting both the abilities and the Ability Users, so no matter how I try to describe it, R-18 content keeps creeping in...
And it's not like she just indulged her hobbies, either. She made sure it was all practical too, and the subordinates she chose were genuinely talented and promising, so I can't exactly scold her too hard...
At this rate, Alice's inner circle is going to become an elite squad drenched in an aggressively pink aura that has no business existing in a shonen manga world, and I seriously don't know what to do about this...
Hasn't this girl been approaching Mama-level problem child status more with each passing year...?
And how on earth did she find beautiful girls who share her "both ways" preferences and also have aptitude for combat and whatnot? Where? How? What star was that girl born under?
"Tantal! Lupupu! How long are you gonna sleep?! It's hunting time! You've got forty seconds to get ready!"
"Oh, for real, Lady Alice? Some tasty-looking prey showed up?"
"You sound so excited... Is this someone you've had your eye on for a while?"
"The biggest catch in ages! The Crimson Pirates and the Katyusha Pirates have started a turf war inside our Territory and they're tearing the place apart! Both crews are headed by gorgeous women with killer bodies, and they're absolutely prime quarry! We're snatching every last one of them before the Marines can grab them, so hurry up, let's go!"
"Ohhh, a big haul after so long! If I remember right, both captains have the same tastes, so the crews they've got are high-caliber, men and women alike... I'm getting fired uuup!"
"W-waah, that's amazing... they both sound so lovely... Oh, b-but wait, you two! I-I haven't put my pants on yet... A-at least let me wipe off first..."
"..."
...Glad they're having fun.
Hm, what is it, Alice? Oh, yeah yeah, okay okay, I got it.
I'll let the Marines know. "As a Shichibukai, I'm dispatching my subordinate pirates." Go on, go have at it.
...So, um, as you can see... I introduced as much as I could manage, but these two, Tantal and Lupupu, this is all I can share for now...
The details of their Powers and everything else will have to wait for another opportunity... if one ever comes.
***
Now then... of the new Ability Users being introduced this time, one remains.
That person is currently at the residence where I normally live.
She's helping me with work in my workspace as a writer.
In the atelier attached to my Study.
"How's this?"
"Hmm, the ornamentation should be a bit more subdued... more rugged, maybe. That's the kind of character this is supposed to be... But then again, this is a main character, so there needs to be some individuality, just nothing too obvious, you know?"
"Hm... Then, like this?"
Listening to my requests, she... Marianne... sent her paintbrush flying across the canvas before her at incredible speed.
On that canvas, large as a wall... or rather, the entire wall surface had become the canvas, and in mere seconds, a meticulously detailed illustration was complete.
Right now, Marianne and I were in the middle of creating character design sheets for Fullmetal Alchemist, my work that was being adapted into a comic.
Marianne was now my direct subordinate and an Executive of the Golden Lion Pirates. At the same time, she also served as my dedicated illustrator for my work as a writer.
So this kind of work was squarely Marianne's job. I'd convey the image in my head to Marianne, and she'd give it form. In seconds.
Marianne's artistic speed and precision honestly rivaled my own writing speed.
Based on the design materials we created this way, the comic adaptation writer would then turn the prose into a Picture Story.
The drawing materialized on the wall canvas in the blink of an eye.
What she'd just drawn, by the way, was the armor worn by the protagonist's younger brother in Fullmetal Alchemist. Since it was drawn at actual size, you could examine every fine detail.
...And that wasn't all.
The illustration Marianne had just drawn on the wall.
It slowly materialized, as if emerging from the wall's surface, and... stood before us. Its texture became like real armor, its footstep clanking against the floor.
Marianne and I examined the armor from all 360 degrees, giving directions like "make this part more like this" and "okay" as we corrected the fine details.
Marianne revised and corrected the materialized armor on the spot, redrawing it in real time. With each passing second, the armor drew closer to the image in my head.
After a few minutes, armor that matched my mental image perfectly was complete.
When I gave the okay, Marianne pulled out a sketchbook and, while looking at the completed armor (still materialized), began drafting the final design sheets.
Front view, rear view, side view, top view... broken down by individual components... The resulting design illustrations were extraordinarily detailed and precise.
"Done, Sue. Take a look."
"Let me see... Perfect! Thanks, Marianne!"
"You're welcome."
With that, Marianne deactivated her Powers, and the materialized armor reverted to its original drawing.
Those in the know have probably already figured it out.
The Paramecia Brush-Brush Fruit.
A power that allows the user to materialize their drawings into real objects.
If I remember correctly, it appeared around the middle to end of the Dressrosa Arc, belonging to a companion of some Samurai or other... No good, I've completely forgotten the name.
Personally, I consider this Devil Fruit to be at least as perfect a match for Marianne as Mama's Op-Op Fruit was for her, if not more so.
As I mentioned, Marianne's artistic skill and speed are the pinnacle among any illustrator I know. And the drawings she can materialize range freely from weapons to food to buildings and beyond. She can materialize anything, and apparently the quality of the materialized object scales with artistic skill.
For example, she could draw monsters or robots, materialize them, and have them fight in her place, or guard her. That kind of application would be easy.
The drawback would be that materializing powerful drawings takes a correspondingly heavy toll on Marianne. Physically, Marianne is... to be blunt, not what anyone would call strong. She's at a non-combatant level, so her stamina isn't great either. She does have more physical endurance than an ordinary civilian, at least.
But even that can be worked around in plenty of ways... Man, Marianne really did get an incredible card to play.
Besides, everything I just described is about using this ability as a combat asset. Using it for peaceful and cultural purposes, like what we're doing right now, is far more meaningful and fun.
So for the time being, let's not overthink it and just enjoy focusing on the work.
"Okay Marianne, next. Military personnel, but... there are a lot of them, so let's nail down the uniform design first."
"Mm, got it. Something like Marine uniforms... that's not it, right?"
"Right. It's more like a regular army serving the nation itself, so... Oh, but not heavy armor or anything bulky and grandiose. Something stylish..."
And so, each person indulging their hobbies to varying degrees... the numerous Devil Fruits from the future were gradually being put to effective use, steadily becoming a source of power for the Golden Lion Pirates.
The "two years" had already reached the halfway point. In the remaining year... the Original Work of One Piece would surely begin moving dramatically once more.
How much stronger and larger could we, the Golden Lion Pirates, grow before then? Surely, around the time those two years come to an end, the circumstances surrounding us will start shifting significantly too...
To be continued...