As John continued spending his days with Vegapunk, the two gradually settled into a steady routine. Vegapunk began teaching him various topics related to science, especially subjects connected to mechanics and basic engineering.
The entire first month was focused on explaining the fundamentals of machinery, the nature of moving parts, the way materials respond under different kinds of pressure and heat, and the simple patterns that all machines follow. John absorbed these lessons at a pace that even Vegapunk did not expect.
Every time Vegapunk gave a long explanation, John would study it for a moment, think about it carefully, and somehow understand it with surprising accuracy. Vegapunk even admitted more than once that he had never taught someone who learned this quickly.
The closest student he ever had needed more than a year just to understand the same basics, and that student already had a working background in engineering before studying under him.
During this month, John did not only rely on studying and learning from Vegapunk. He also spent a large portion of his time training his body and improving his control over his Devil Fruit.
He remembered that Garp had once trained by punching the protective hull of a marine warship, and although John had nothing like that available on Karakuri Island, he found a similar approach.
With the metal he could manipulate, he created surfaces to strike repeatedly, and he trained by punching them for more than two hours each day. He also practiced lifting and reshaping metal to force his stamina to grow stronger.
Each time he used his Devil Fruit for extended periods, he could feel a steady pull on his endurance, and this constant drain encouraged him to keep improving.
His physical conditioning and his Devil Fruit mastery advanced quickly, and this fast progress was greatly supported by the Essence of Ideal Growth that continued enhancing every part of his development.
After the first month had passed, the initial phase of their large project finally began. John had discovered that he could combine a seismic scanning technique with the magnetic properties of his Devil Fruit.
When he applied this technique to the ground, he could sense the presence of iron and other metal-rich areas beneath the surface.
It was similar to feeling a vibration that responded differently based on what it touched, and this allowed him to locate pockets of iron with impressive accuracy.
As he practiced this more and more, the range of his scanning ability grew larger and more refined, which allowed him to mine the necessary materials for their project at a pace that far exceeded what Vegapunk originally predicted.
With the steady supply of metal materials increasing, Vegapunk began experimenting with new methods of alloy production.
He wanted to create a type of metal strong enough to withstand constant exposure to heat, cold, and the natural tension of being used for a structure that would affect the entire island.
The island-scale heater they were planning had to last for decades without suffering too much wear, and Vegapunk tested several different combinations of metals to find the one that suited their purpose the most.
John helped gather the resources needed for these experiments, while Vegapunk recorded every successful attempt and every failed result as part of his growing notes.
Even though Vegapunk paused his direct lessons for a while to focus on his experiments, John did not stop studying.
Instead, he used the time to read through countless blueprints that Vegapunk had created in the past.
Vegapunk had accumulated a large number of ideas, sketches, and half completed plans that he kept stored in his workspace, and John went through all of them with full interest.
Each blueprint expanded his understanding of machinery and gave him more insight into how Vegapunk's mind worked.
He studied them to learn the logic behind each design and to see which parts could be improved, simplified, or used as inspiration for new ideas.
Eventually, John reached a level where he could recreate most of the blueprints with almost perfect accuracy. He could understand how the mechanisms inside them were supposed to move, how the parts interacted, and what materials they required to function.
But even after gaining this ability, John did not want to simply copy Vegapunk's ideas. He wanted to create something of his own, something unique and something that only he could think of.
Because of this, he began paying closer attention to the nature of his Devil Fruit. After a month of constant training with both his body and his abilities, he had reached the point where he could cover an entire town with his magnetic influence without exhausting himself.
This capacity made him think that he could design something that took advantage of this large area of control, and he began forming the early ideas of a weapon or tool that only he could properly operate.
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Over the following months, John pushed both his Devil Fruit and his physical abilities to a much higher intensity.
He slowly realized that his body reacted better the earlier he forced himself past his limits, and this helped him grow at a steady and reliable pace.
His stamina increased to the point where he could support the use of his Devil Fruit for much longer periods than before, and he used this improvement to refine his control over even the smallest pieces of metal he handled.
At the beginning he struggled to guide each individual piece while keeping everything stable in the air, but as his control improved, he reached the point where he could make a simple metal rod rotate precisely enough to behave like a drill.
He started by controlling two drills at once, letting them work side by side so he could get used to the sensation of dividing his focus.
As the months continued, he added more drills until he could operate several of them together without losing accuracy.
By the time a full year had passed, John was able to control more than a hundred drills simultaneously.
These drills could mine materials, gather them, and even help with processing tasks that he and Vegapunk needed for the project.
He also reached a level of familiarity with his Devil Fruit where he could create weapons simply by imagining the structure he wanted and assembling it mentally, allowing the metal to form itself without requiring long hours of physical assembly.
Among all the improvements John made throughout this period, one of the greatest breakthroughs came from his attempts to take advantage of magnetism itself.
After several experiments, he discovered a way to generate lightning in his surroundings by manipulating magnetic fields with enough precision.
This temporarily created an electrical field around him, and he and Vegapunk built a generator designed to absorb this energy.
By doing this, they gained access to a stable source of electricity that did not need to be connected to the island's existing supply.
This was important because they wanted to make sure that even if their project overloaded or burned itself out, other houses on the island would not be affected by the sudden loss of power.
John also spent much of his time studying the books and research papers that Vegapunk provided for him.
These included older drafts, theoretical notes, and problem sets that Vegapunk had created during his own learning process.
By reading through all of these, John quickly caught up to Vegapunk's level of knowledge, not only in mechanical science but in almost every scientific subject that Vegapunk had ever studied.
This helped him understand the full scope of Vegapunk's research, and it also allowed them to work together with fewer misunderstandings and interruptions.
One day, after reviewing the latest set of results, Vegapunk could not help but comment on John's progress. "You have a wonderful mind," he said. "With your help, we can create a world where people will not need to fight for energy sources, and we can find countless ways to cure illnesses that were once thought impossible."
John looked at him and shook his head slightly. "You're a smart guy, Vegapunk, but sometimes being smart is not enough," John replied. "You need to be careful and think about what people might do with your inventions. There will be people who try to take advantage of us if it benefits them, and once they get what they want, they will throw us aside. You should prepare plans to protect yourself so your work will not be used in ways you never intended."
Vegapunk stared at John for a few moments, thinking seriously about the warning. The thought stayed with him briefly, but before he could respond fully, his excitement returned when John tightened the last screw on the device they had been building.
They had already created more than twenty different versions of their island-wide heater. Most of these early attempts failed to match the effect they needed.
One model made the air so hot that water boiled instantly, while another created the opposite effect and lowered the temperature even further than before.
Every failure taught them something new, and each attempt pushed them closer to a design that satisfied their requirements.
Now, after months of adjustments, the two finally stood in front of their completed project. Both of them felt excited to test it.
They exchanged a short look, stepped into position, and pulled the two separate switches needed to activate the device.
Once the heater started running, they left the area because they knew it would take the entire night before the effect spread throughout the island.
The two of them then went home, where Vegapunk's mother had prepared dinner for both of them.
She treated John with the same warmth she gave her own son, especially after learning how much he had helped Vegapunk with all his projects.
After dinner, John and Vegapunk went to sleep, both looking forward to the results they would see the next day.
To make sure nothing dangerous happened overnight, they had created an alarm system that would alert them immediately if the device malfunctioned, and they kept the system active before heading to bed.
John slept peacefully until he was suddenly awakened by an extremely excited Vegapunk. Vegapunk rushed into the room, pulled the curtains open, and revealed a sight that neither of them had ever seen before.
For the first time since anyone could remember, sunlight covered a large portion of the island. The bright light filled the room, and John noticed that most of the snow outside had disappeared.
It was strange to see the land in such a clear state, and John quickly realized that the missing snow had likely been pulled into the underground mining system he created.
They repurposed this system into a form of sewage network that also gathered snow and converted it into usable freshwater in times of need.
John stared at the landscape for a long moment, appreciating the success of their work. The island that had always been buried in snow was now showing a glimpse of warmth that no one had ever witnessed before.