When Marcus returned to the Hub with Dalton, Koza, and Izaya, he found a scene that made him seriously reconsider his life choices.
Mighty had cornered Gan Fall and the Shandia Chief against the bedrock wall. Both old men were trembling, pressed flat against the stone like they were trying to phase through it.
To any casual observer, it would've looked like the dwarf was harassing them.
The moment Gan Fall spotted Marcus and his guests, the relief on his face was almost painful to witness. He immediately bolted toward them like a man escaping prison, the Shandia Chief right on his heels.
But then both men noticed the newcomers behind him and suddenly remembered they had reputations to maintain. They slowed to a dignified walk and started straightening their rumpled clothing, trying to salvage what remained of their dignity.
They'd just managed to compose themselves when Mighty walked up behind them.
The dwarf reached out with his broad, solid hand and slapped both of them on the ass.
SMACK! SMACK!
"Not bad for old guys! Still got some decent muscle definition!" he announced cheerfully. "Especially you, Mr. Skinny! You look all dried up, but those muscles are surprisingly firm!"
Gan Fall, who'd just received this "compliment," looked like the sky had fallen on his head. If he could've chosen to cease existing right then and there, he would have.
Marcus stared at the grinning dwarf, who seemed completely oblivious to the social disaster he'd just created.
He wasn't imagining it. This thing was actually...
"Creator!" Mighty turned those intense shining eyes toward Marcus. "Are these the guests I'll be serving?"
The moment those words left his mouth, both Koza and Dalton clenched involuntarily.
Izaya, however, just smiled warmly at Mighty like he was a charming young man.
Both younger men turned to stare at Marcus. Their expressions clearly asked: This service... he's serious?
Marcus noticed their horrified looks immediately. But he'd long ago adopted the philosophy that as long as he wasn't embarrassed, someone else would have to be.
He nodded seriously. "That's right."
"NO!" both men shouted in unison, looking ready to bolt for the nearest portal.
Marcus coughed lightly. "These gentlemen are kings. If we want to establish proper trade routes, they're major clients."
After his clarification, Dalton and Koza froze awkwardly as they realized they'd completely misunderstood the situation. They exchanged glances.
Dalton cleared his throat. "I mean, of course we're interested in the labor services. Who else would need them?"
Koza nodded vigorously. "Right, exactly. Labor. For carrying cargo."
All four men smiled stiffly at each other, nobody quite meeting anyone's eyes.
Marcus decided to abandon ship before things got even more uncomfortable. "You all handle the trade negotiations yourselves. I'm just here to create the workforce."
He pulled out his building staff and started mass-producing copper golems. The tool made the process significantly easier, he could select positions for the copper blocks and then place pumpkin heads in rapid succession without manual crafting each one.
Someone might wonder why he wasn't using iron golems instead. The answer was simple economics.
Iron golems required four iron blocks plus a pumpkin head. That was expensive as hell, especially when you needed to create multiple units.
Copper golems only needed one copper block and a pumpkin head, and they came with a free storage chest. Plus, they could automatically organize and sort items in containers, a massive quality-of-life feature.
The cost-benefit analysis wasn't even close. Copper golems won every time.
As he finished creating the workforce, the copper golem he'd previously possessed naturally emerged as the leader among the group. The other golems seemed to defer to Mighty's authority instinctively. But there was one problem: when Mighty stood facing someone, all the men found they could only maintain eye contact if they positioned themselves directly in front of him. Looking away felt like backing down from a challenge.
Mighty fixed Dalton with his eyes. "Good build on you, man! MUSCLES!"
Dalton trembled slightly under that penetrating stare but managed to force a smile. "I work out regularly."
Marcus watched this interaction and debated whether he should intervene. Ultimately, he decided that wasn't his problem anymore.
"You all work out the details. I'm done here, so I'll head out first." He backed toward the nearest portal. "Figure out how many workers you need with Mighty. If it's not enough, tell him to come find me."
With that, he fled the scene like his pants were on fire.
Behind him, the five visitors and an entire group of copper golems stood staring at each other. Countless pairs of bright, shining eyes watched the humans.
After their experience with Mighty's unique personality, all the men felt distinctly uncomfortable. They wanted to leave immediately, but this was the first official meeting between their respective islands in the Hub. Ending things too quickly would look bad.
Finally, Koza gritted his teeth and began his presentation. He described Arabasta's specialty perfumes, textiles, and other trade goods.
After he finished, the others took turns presenting their own islands' resources and needs.
When Gan Fall and the Shandia Chief began their presentation about Skypiea, the atmosphere in the room completely changed.
"Skypiea actually exists?" Koza looked stunned. "I thought that was just a myth."
Dalton's expression shifted to interest, especially as Gan Fall described the unique properties of their island. "You're saying all plants on Skypiea grow significantly larger and develop special mutations?"
"That's correct," Gan Fall confirmed. "The altitude and unique atmospheric conditions cause—"
"What about medicinal herbs?" Dalton interrupted, leaning forward. "Can they grow larger too? Do the medicinal properties change?"
"They do grow larger," the Shandia Chief answered. "The effects can vary somewhat depending on the plant, but generally the potency increases along with the size."
Dalton's eyes lit up. "Then we need to establish cooperation immediately. Neverwinter has escaped food shortages thanks to external support, but we still can't obtain sufficient medicinal supplies. This has become a major obstacle to developing our nation's medical infrastructure."
Koza had been listening carefully, and now his expression turned thoughtful as well. "If plants grow larger on Skypiea, what about flowers? Would they produce more essential oils for perfume production?"
"Most flowering plants do show increased oil production," Gan Fall replied.
"Then Arabasta could definitely benefit from cooperation as well," Koza said.
Izaya sighed softly. "Unfortunately, we're limited in what we can offer. Our island can mostly only provide tropical fruits and some basic crafts."
The other three groups considered this. Asuka Island wasn't a nation like Arabasta or Neverwinter, it was more of a small tribal community. Naturally, their production capacity couldn't match that of proper kingdoms. But that didn't mean they couldn't contribute to the network.
Over the next hour, all four parties hammered out preliminary cooperation agreements. For the short term, they wouldn't need the copper golems' assistance, they were still just establishing contact and figuring out logistics.
As the visitors prepared to depart, Mighty stepped forward one last time.
"You sure you don't need me to provide special muscle-training guidance sessions?!"
All male visitors, regardless of age, suddenly moved very quickly toward their respective portals.
"What a shame! MUSCLES!" Mighty called after them.
The other copper golems, seeing that they had no immediate work to do, saw their bright eyes gradually dim. One by one, they reverted to motionless copper statues, conserving energy until needed.
But as the leader of the copper golems, Mighty remained active and enthusiastic.
"Time for training! MUSCLES NEED WORK!"
Above the empty bedrock platform, the rhythmic sound of marching chants and exercise counting echoed through the void.
"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!"
In a place where nobody was paying attention, the amount of soul sand had quietly increased again.
---
Meanwhile, Marcus emerged from the portal back on Skypiea, letting out a breath of relief.
How exactly did possession assign memories and personalities to these golems? The process seemed completely random. If he could control it intentionally, he definitely wouldn't have chosen to turn a copper golem into an overly enthusiastic bodybuilder.
At the very least, he would've... well, maybe not. As he thought about it more, he realized any alternative might've been worse.
"At least Mighty's just weird, not problematic," he muttered to himself.
As he was still processing his regrets, Gan Fall and the Shandia Chief emerged from another portal.
"That was fast. I figured negotiations would take at least a few hours."
Both men smiled and nodded, though they still looked slightly traumatized. "Despite some... minor incidents," Gan Fall said carefully, "we successfully established cooperation with all three parties."
The Shandia Chief added, "Being able to trade directly with the Blue Sea is invaluable for Skypiea. Even though our currencies are different, we can simply use berries for all transactions."
"Yeah, you've been collecting berries from visiting merchants for years," Marcus agreed. "You should have plenty of capital to work with."
Gan Fall's expression turned more serious. "By the way, is it really alright to leave Mighty alone in that space? There's nothing there. It doesn't look suitable for anyone to live long-term."
"Now that you mention it..." Marcus paused, thinking about the mechanics.
Iron golems and snow golems didn't need to consume anything when he wasn't possessing them. They were essentially animated statues that could function without maintenance.
But after possession, things changed. Goliath and Shira both needed to consume food from external sources once he'd given them true consciousness and personality.
Did that mean Mighty would need supplies too?