The submarine continued its steady journey beneath the sea, while John remained fully absorbed in his research on the Lineage Factor and the genetic mutations that shaped the abilities of the Lunarian race.
Each day brought new findings, sometimes minor details and sometimes major leaps, until eventually, after months of patient work and constant adjustments, he finally discovered the specific genetic strain responsible for the unique traits Lunarians possessed.
The moment he identified it, John felt as if an entire door had been unlocked in front of him.
With this breakthrough, John began constructing a new project dedicated to modifying Narberal's body in a gradual and natural manner.
His intention was not to weaken or change Narberal as a person, but to remove the visible characteristics that made him an immediate target.
The wings were the largest problem, not because they were inconvenient, but because anyone who saw them could immediately identify him as a Lunarian.
John wanted to create a way for Narberal to fold the wings into his body without damaging them, allowing him to hide them whenever necessary. The change would be subtle and would occur slowly to avoid harming Narberal's natural structure.
During their next training session, John brought up another idea."Can you control the output of your flames? If you can adjust it, maybe you could keep the flames active in a controlled form that no one would recognize. Or at least activate them only when needed," John asked, while explaining the details of the project he was preparing.
Narberal listened silently, continuing to swing his sword in a consistent rhythm, as he usually did whenever they talked about training or future plans.
"I am not sure. I have never attempted something like that before," Narberal replied.
He tried to follow John's suggestion by attempting to manipulate the intensity of his flames, but it quickly became clear that his current level of control was still limited.
He needed to refine his mastery over his fire before he could suppress it fully on command or ignite it with precision.
Speaking of flames, John had unknowingly developed an unexpected ability while studying the genetic structure of Narberal.
After spending countless hours analyzing Lunarian traits, his Essence of Ideal Growth reacted in ways he did not immediately notice. One day, during an experiment, he accidentally generated a small flame on his own.
At first, the fire was noticeably weaker than Narberal's, lacking the density and heat that were closer to magma than ordinary fire.
But as John used it repeatedly out of curiosity, the flames began to grow stronger and more refined, slowly resembling the intensity that Lunarians were known for.
Narberal was shocked the first time he witnessed it. John stood with his hand open, producing a flame that behaved very similarly to his own, although John lacked the black wings and the signature fire on his back.
From Narberal's point of view, John looked almost like a natural user of the Mera Mera no Mi, which amused John because mastering a fire-based ability had always been one of the paths he wanted to develop toward.
This growth also brought him a bit closer to achieving something similar to Yamamoto's bankai, which he occasionally thought about during training.
Narberal was not the only one growing stronger. Over the weeks and months that passed, his improvement became more and more visible. His physical strength grew, his reflexes sharpened, and signs of awakening his own haki began to appear.
This progress made John genuinely satisfied, since haki was one of the first things he emphasized when he began training Narberal. Learning it early was necessary for any serious fighter in the future.
Narberal's fighting style also started to take shape. His consistent sparring with John allowed him to refine his swordsmanship every day. John did not treat him lightly during combat training, which forced Narberal to adapt, improve, and build his own method of fighting.
The more they sparred, the more Narberal recognized how much room he had for growth, and he took each correction seriously.
But the greatest change had nothing to do with combat, strength, or haki. It was Narberal's mentality. After spending years living in isolation, fear, and constant escape, Narberal finally began to step out of the darkness that had surrounded him for so long.
John treated him like a person and not a living trophy. He pushed him, cared about him, and spoke to him with sincerity. Because of this, Narberal started to feel something he had not felt in a very long time. He felt hope.
John intended to nurture that hope carefully. He wanted Narberal to grow stronger not only physically but also spiritually, because a strong, stable mind would directly influence the growth of haki.
And more than anything, John wanted to make sure that Narberal developed a sense of purpose strong enough to carry him through the hardships of the sea without falling back into despair.
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One day, John locked onto a nearby island after realizing that he and Narberal were starting to run out of various supplies.
Many of his projects required materials that he could not easily synthesize inside the submarine, so he decided it was worth trying his luck on the closest landmass detected by his Electromagnetic Devil Fruit.
Once the location was confirmed, both he and Narberal began heading toward it without wasting time.
Since Narberal's enhancement was still unfinished, he remained responsible for protecting the submarine. His task was simple. Anyone who attempted to board without permission was to be removed immediately.
John found this far more efficient than creating new weapons to handle intruders, especially ones that would most likely break or require unnecessary maintenance.
After several hours of steady travel beneath the sea, John felt the shift in the surrounding magnetic field and knew they were close. He released several of his spy cameras into the water, letting them surface and scatter across the shoreline. Narberal stood by him quietly, finished with his training for the day.
When the cameras began sending visual feedback, John expected to see a peaceful coastal area where he could land without trouble. Instead, the monitors displayed a chaotic scene that made him frown with disappointment.
The island was a battlefield. Soldiers were fighting in large numbers, and the ground was covered in rubble, damaged structures, and smoke rising from collapsed buildings. Civilians had been caught in the conflict.
Many bodies were lying on the ground, and several people who looked like ordinary residents were either injured or running for cover. John and Narberal continued to observe in silence as the cameras spread out, capturing more of the disaster.
Then one of the screens showed something that made John immediately pause. Among the collapsed stones and broken wood, a small baby was crying uncontrollably.
Two adults were lying beside him, unmoving, with their bodies positioned in a way that suggested they had been shielding the infant from falling debris. It was obvious that they were the parents, and it was just as obvious that they were gone.
John acted without hesitation. For the first time since leaving Karakuri Island, he brought the submarine to the surface.
The machine broke through the water while he simultaneously extended his control over the magnetic field surrounding the battlefield. Both groups of soldiers suddenly froze as every weapon in their hands lifted into the air.
Even bullets that had been recently fired lost their momentum and floated harmlessly in front of them.
He stepped out into the open, drawing the attention of both sides. The soldiers stared at him with a mix of confusion and fear.
One of them, clearly a high-ranking officer due to his uniform and confident posture, began shouting at him.
"Who are you? Why are you interfering with the war of Galzburg? You have no right to involve yourself. You are an outsider!" the man yelled. He continued shouting, even hurling insults at John, who found the display irritating and unnecessary.
John raised his hand slightly, and the swords, rifles, and various metal fragments under his control began shifting position.
He returned momentum to every suspended weapon, turning them into projectiles that shot through both armies.
The soldiers did not even have time to react. John did not stay to watch the outcome. He simply continued walking toward the location where he had seen the crying baby.
Once he reached the spot, he lifted the child from the ground and made sure the immediate area was safe. With both armies eliminated, he began gathering every piece of metal across the battlefield.
Broken armor, shattered weapons, fragments of machinery, and loose scraps all rose into the air as he pulled them together.
He crushed the mass down to a size that would fit inside the submarine, planning to melt everything later to create new alloys for his projects.
When he finally looked down at the baby in his arms, he took a moment to observe the child more carefully. The infant had blue-green eyes and blonde hair.
The combination seemed oddly familiar, although John could not immediately place why. His thoughts drifted back to the words of the ranking soldier, especially the mention of the island's name.
Galzburg.
The realization struck him after a few seconds. He had read about this place before.
Galzburg was the birthplace of Douglas Bullet.
John stared at the baby again, this time with a new understanding forming in his mind.Could this child be Douglas Bullet himself?
He remembered reading about Bullet's entire history on a wiki page long before arriving in this world, mostly because he had always thought the character's design and presence were interesting. Now, holding the infant in his hands, he could not help but wonder if fate had just placed that very person in front of him.