"But if you want to build the finest ship possible, you'll need the Treasure Tree Adam. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that wood here at the moment."
Tom spoke with some regret. The most satisfying ship he'd ever built in his life was the Oro Jackson, made from Treasure Tree Adam. But this time, if he used Adam for the keel again, he was confident he could create an even better pirate ship than the Oro Jackson.
"No problem. Leave that to me."
Though Adam was somewhat rare, it was still relatively easy to find at large auction houses.
"What about ours?"
Iceburg and Franky both looked at Shirakawa with hopeful eyes. Since he was getting one piece of Adam, getting another wouldn't hurt.
"You two—just use regular wood."
Shirakawa turned them both down flat.
For those giants, using Adam as their keel would be a complete waste. Giants generally weren't very careful with their ships—as long as it could sail and wouldn't sink, that was good enough.
"Don't be too disappointed, you two. For now, building ships with Adam is still too early for you."
Tom also offered them words of comfort.
"I understand, Master."
Though they said that, it didn't hide their dejection.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go find the Adam now."
"Go ahead. You can't really help much around here anyway."
"Oh, right—take this Den Den Mushi."
Shirakawa pulled a small Den Den Mushi from his pocket and tossed it to Tom.
"If you run into danger, call me immediately. I'll come right away."
"No problem."
After receiving the Den Den Mushi, Tom smiled happily. Didn't this mean their safety was now guaranteed?
With that, Shirakawa flew off. Watching his retreating figure, Franky asked Iceburg:
"Senior apprentice brother—is he really that strong?"
He hadn't felt comfortable asking while Shirakawa was still here. Sure, he'd seen the greatsword strapped to Shirakawa's back, but the guy didn't look like a master fighter at all.
"Of course. He's a pirate with a bounty of one billion berries now."
"A billion? Him?"
Franky exclaimed loudly, his voice filled with shock and disbelief. That guy actually had a billion-berry bounty?
"For real, senior apprentice brother?"
"Just wait."
Seeing Franky's unconvinced expression, Iceburg hurried back inside, rummaged around left and right, and came running out with a wanted poster.
"See for yourself."
Iceburg handed the wanted poster directly to Franky. Franky glanced at the photo on it—it was indeed the young man from just now. Then he slowly started counting the numbers beneath the photo, one by one.
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands... ten-millions, hundreds-millions, billions... it really is a billion?"
"See? Why would I lie to you? Believe me now?"
With that, Iceburg snatched the wanted poster back from Franky's hand.
"Then... I was disrespectful to him earlier. He's not going to kill me, is he?"
Franky remembered how he'd just turned Shirakawa away at the door. If Shirakawa wanted him dead, he wouldn't even have a chance to fight back.
"Relax. Shirakawa's not that petty."
Iceburg couldn't help but recall his first meeting with Shirakawa. Back then, he'd almost splashed a bucket of paint all over Shirakawa—thankfully, Shirakawa had dodged it.
Iceburg still remembered what Shirakawa had said at the time: "It's fine. Even if you'd hit me, my clothes wouldn't get dirty."
To this day, Iceburg thought Shirakawa had said that just to comfort him—little did he know Shirakawa had been telling the truth.
"The next time I heard news about him, he'd already left the Roger Pirates and formed his own crew, climbing step by step from a tens-of-millions bounty to today's one billion."
"Then what happened after that? Why did you think he was dead when you saw him again?"
Iceburg told Franky about the Silver Pirates' battle with the Navy that had made the newspapers.
"So... everyone thought Shirakawa was dead, but he's actually alive and well. That's what you're saying, right?"
"Exactly."
Franky was about to say something else when suddenly, heavy thumping sounds came from the entrance of Tom's Shipyard—thump, thump—the force of the knocks suggesting ill intent.
"Looks like trouble's here again."
Franky sighed helplessly, walked to the gate, and opened it. Standing outside was a one-eyed man, with a group of his underlings behind him.
Embroidered on his eyepatch was a skull motif. This bunch was clearly another crew of pirates.
"Tch, it's just a brat."
The one-eyed man said impatiently when he saw Franky open the door.
"Hey, kid, I'm asking you—I heard the guy who built the Pirate King Roger's ship is here. Is that true?"
One of the underlings spoke up very arrogantly.
"No."
Franky answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Then why is this shipyard called Tom's Shipyard? I heard the guy who built Roger's ship is named Tom, right?"
"This Tom isn't that Tom. They might both be called Tom, but they're not the same person."
"Oh, I see. Then we're leaving."
With that, the one-eyed leader gave the order, and all the members of his pirate crew turned and marched away en masse.
Franky closed the gate and let out a sigh of relief. Iceburg walked over and asked, "How'd it go?"
"Don't worry. I sent them packing."
Franky gave himself a thumbs-up.
"Nice work."
Iceburg said to Franky. Iceburg's personality was somewhat timid these days, so dealing with this kind of people had become Franky's responsibility.
But before they could enjoy their peace for long, the gate was suddenly kicked in with brutal force. The same one-eyed man from before came storming back in, seething with rage.
"You little brat—you dared to lie to us!"
One of the men grabbed Franky by the collar and hoisted him into the air.
"Damn it—put me down!"
Franky struggled in the man's grip, shouting and thrashing.
But the man didn't let go. He freed his other hand and started punching Franky in the face, blow after blow.
"Damn you—let Franky go!"
Iceburg rushed up to the man and started hitting and kicking him.
"Get lost, you little pest!"
The man kicked Iceburg away with a single strike.
"Stop!"
Before the man could strike again, another voice halted his movements.
"I'm Tom. If you've got a problem, take it up with me."
Tom stepped forward.
"There you are—the fish-man, Tom."
The man tossed Franky aside the moment Tom appeared.
"If you'd come out sooner, these two kids wouldn't have gotten hurt this badly."
The man grinned maliciously at Tom.
Translate the chapter into smooth, natural English that reads like original web novel prose. Preserve the author's narrative voice, emotional tone, and stylistic rhythm without embellishment or omission. Keep all world building terms, power systems, character names, and titles accurate and consistent. Render dialogue with distinct character voices, personality, and subtext never flat or generic. Keep descriptions immersive and vivid. Adapt cultural references and idioms into natural English equivalents that retain the original meaning and flavor. When the original phrasing is ambiguous, choose the most coherent reading that stays faithful to the source. Under no circumstances add or delete content. The final text must feel human-written, not AI-generated. Now translate the following chapter: 第二百六十一章 新的变异 莉兰德拉女皇知道斗剑为什么不回来之后,陷入了沉思. 要是氪星帝国真的掌握了一大群斗剑星人的话,那他们还是赶紧选择投降为妙. 只有他们以及和斗剑战斗过的人才知道斗剑有多么可怕. 佐德这边,对于斗剑的基因研究倒是克隆出了很多卡尔拉克. 问题是,这些卡尔拉克都没有斗剑那么强. 或者说,它们只是普通人,斗剑是战士? 思考着为什么的佐德,忽然感觉到了熟悉的眩晕感. 不会吧,在这个时候觉醒新的能力? 会是什么超人? 佐德躺在了实验台上,黑皇后对他的身体变化进行检测和记录,方便之后佐德进行研究. 他没有注意到自己这次的变异,好像是等离子火花塔导致的,一万个等离子火花塔的光辐射穿过了佐德的生物力场的过滤,然后和佐德的细胞产生了反应. 这种变化没有一蹴而就,毕竟佐德变成毁灭日之后,自身的基因细胞已经非常稳定了,要撼动这种稳定性进行变异需要很长时间. 而恰好这段时间佐德一直待在氪星,身体吸收到了足够的等离子火花塔的光辐射,然后就开始了变异. 这次的变化异常的痛苦,让佐德反复煎熬,足足一个月时间才变化完成. 等佐德爬出实验室的时候,他已经感觉到自己的变化有多么可怕了. 这次的变异粉碎了他之前的大部分变异,除了毁灭日的变异没有被撼动之外,心灵感应,吸收能量和魔法超人都没了. 但是佐德却嘴角上扬,因为他已经一跃从全能天父级别,打破了那巨大的差距,晋升成为单体宇宙级的神明了! 这次的变异,佐德直接成为了"黑洞". 或者说,拥有百万黑洞吞噬之力的超人? 还是说,每个细胞都是黑洞奇点的超人? 黑洞超人! 掌握了黑洞的力量,物理界质量最大的存在,引力和磁力交汇的终极天体,宇宙最终极也是最狂暴的力量! 打个比方,现在佐德可以随手制造黑洞奇点,丢出去直接就能毁灭一个银河系大小的星系. 用来攻击也是无坚不摧,因为黑洞奇点的攻击足以抹除时间和空间,微观和宏观,无论是夸克还是普朗克,还是更小的量子都会受到黑洞的攻击的影响. 用来防御的话,简直就是坚不可摧,全身细胞都变成了黑洞奇点的佐德,无论面对什么样的打击都能直接无视并且吞噬壮大自己. 也就是说,魔抗不再是零,站着不动被对方使用魔法攻击,佐德也能无视了. "怪不得需要一个月的时间来变异,毁灭日的基因太稳定了,差点就变异失败了." 这一个月的时间,那种变异都是在跟毁灭日基因在对抗,折磨得佐德死去活来,毁灭日屡次被打得节节败退,但是很快又卷土重来,最后两种变化不得不进行了妥协. 而没办法对抗的心灵感应,能量吸收和魔法超人直接就没了. [看书福利]送你一个现金红包!关注vx公众[书友大本营]即可领取! 黑洞力量这种变化太过霸道,容不下其他变化,也就毁灭日能够跟它硬刚. 佐德看了看自己的手,细胞全部变成了黑洞奇点之后,他还算是生物吗? 而且,这也导致佐德自身的质量大得令人发指,如果解除生物力场的话,说不定会在一瞬间将数百倍银河系大小范围内的一切撕裂并且引发坍塌效应进而形成一个广域黑洞. 更重要的是,有了毁灭日和黑洞这两种变异,以后估计也不会变异新的能力了,当然,如果还是变异了,那可能是比毁灭日和黑洞更可怕的力量了. 但是佐德想象不出来这种力量. 他以超光速的速度来到了远离氪星帝国数千光年外的一颗恒星旁边. 随后,佐德尝试性的在手上形成了一个黑洞奇点,其恐怖引力完全扭曲了空间,层层叠叠的空间波动形成了类似时空乱流的景象,围绕着这颗黑洞奇点在其外围旋转.. 这个黑洞奇点质量比地球还大,诞生的时候,引力波就已经引起了恒星的反应. 他将这个黑洞奇点丢向了恒星,黑洞奇点所过之处,赫然形成了真正的真空地带. 沿途的一切包括高能粒子,光在内的一切物质,能量,都被其席卷而走. 然后恒星本身的引力就被黑洞奇点破坏,进而大量的恒星能量被黑洞奇点的引力捕捉,这种吞噬速度越来越快,恒星以肉眼可见的速度缩小. 进而整颗恒星都被黑洞撕裂成夸克吞噬殆尽! 原本恒星所在的地方,则是出现了一片球形的绝对寂静空域. 这片空域长宽高都超过数万公里,波及范围里一切物质都在短短一瞬间集体泯灭了一样. 回收了这颗黑洞奇点的佐德,感觉到自己又强大了不少. "摧毁一颗恒星都不需要一分钟的时间,而且有了黑洞力量的我,靠自己都能对抗无限宝石的力量了,也就不用担心灵魂宝石的威胁..." 佐德瞬间回到了氪星上,伸出了右手. 然后只见四周虚空之中出现了无数黑色粒子,唰唰汇聚在了佐德手中. 光影特效持续了数秒之后才消失不见. 佐德手中却是多出来了一枚弹珠大小的黑色小球. 这小球并没有黑洞奇点那种引起时空扭曲的力量. 但是构成这黑色小球的一部分材料. 却是中子星级的材料! 这样的材料,对于制造业和科研人员而言,绝对是不可遇不可求之物. 但是如果没有佐德的生物力场束缚的话,它携带的引力会在一瞬间摧毁周围的事物. "所以,这玩意根本不能正常使用啊." 佐德忍不住吐槽,中子星物质他也是曾经制造过出来了,但是这次制造出来的中子星物质已经是宇宙最大的中子星才能有的. 然而问题是这中子星物质没办法正常使用,它的质量引发的引力太过可怕,佐德想要弄出可以直接撞爆恒星的战舰看来还得花点功夫.
Chapter 261: New Mutation
Empress Lyrandra fell into deep thought after learning why the Swordbearer had not returned.
If the Kryptonian Empire truly had control over a large number of Swordbearer's people, then their best option would be to surrender immediately.
Only those who had fought alongside—or against—the Swordbearer understood just how terrifying he truly was.
Over on Zod's side, genetic research on the Swordbearer had successfully cloned numerous Kal-Els.
The problem was, none of these Kal-Els were nearly as strong as the Swordbearer.
Or perhaps—they were merely ordinary people, while the Swordbearer was a warrior?
As he pondered the question, Zod suddenly felt a familiar wave of dizziness.
No way—was he awakening a new ability at a time like this?
What kind of Kryptonian would he become now?
Zod lay down on the examination table. The Black Queen monitored and recorded the changes in his body, so that he could study them later.
He failed to notice that this mutation seemed to be caused by the Plasma Spark Tower. The light radiation from ten thousand Plasma Spark Towers had passed through the filtration of Zod's bio-field and reacted with his cells.
This transformation did not happen overnight—after all, since Zod had become Doomsday, his genetic makeup had already stabilized considerably. Shaking that stability to induce mutation would take a long time.
And coincidentally, Zod had remained on Krypton throughout this period, allowing his body to absorb enough light radiation from the Plasma Spark Towers to finally trigger the mutation.
The change was agonizing. Zod suffered through torment and excruciating pain for an entire month before the transformation was complete.
When Zod finally crawled out of the lab, he already understood just how terrifying his new power was.
This mutation had shattered most of his previous abilities. Apart from the Doomsday transformation, which remained untouched, his telepathy, energy absorption, and Magic Superman abilities were all gone.
But Zod's lips curled upward—because he had vaulted straight past the Skyfather level, shattering that immense gap, and ascended to become a deity on the Universal level!
This mutation had turned Zod directly into a "black hole."
Or rather—a Superman possessing the devouring power of a million black holes?
Or perhaps—a Superman whose every cell was a black hole singularity?
Black Hole Superman!
He had mastered the power of black holes—the most massive existence in physics, the ultimate convergence of gravity and magnetism, the universe's most ultimate and violent force!
For example, Zod could now casually create a black hole singularity and hurl it out to annihilate an entire galaxy-sized star system.
Used offensively, it was indestructible—a black hole singularity attack could erase both time and space, the macroscopic and microscopic. Quarks, Planck-scale particles, even smaller quantum entities—all would be affected by the black hole's assault.
Used defensively, it was virtually impenetrable. With every cell in his body transformed into a black hole singularity, Zod could simply ignore any attack and absorb it to grow stronger.
That meant his magic resistance was no longer zero—even if he stood still and let someone hit him with magic, Zod could now ignore it completely.
"No wonder it took a whole month to mutate—Doomsday's genes are too stable. It almost failed."
Throughout that month, the mutation had been locked in constant struggle against Doomsday's genes, torturing Zod mercilessly. Doomsday's traits were repeatedly pushed back, only to rally and strike again. In the end, the two transformations were forced into a compromise.
The abilities that couldn't withstand the pressure—telepathy, energy absorption, and Magic Superman—were simply erased.
The power of the black hole was too domineering to coexist with other abilities. Only Doomsday could stand toe-to-toe with it.
Zod looked at his hands. Now that every cell had become a black hole singularity—was he even still biological?
And more than that, his mass had become so ludicrously immense that if he ever released his bio-field, it would likely tear apart everything within a range hundreds of times larger than the Milky Way, triggering a collapse effect that would form a supermassive black hole in an instant.
More importantly, now that he had both Doomsday and the black hole transformation, he probably wouldn't mutate any new abilities in the future. Of course, if he did, that power would have to be even more terrifying than Doomsday and black holes combined.
But Zod couldn't even imagine such a power.
He traveled at superluminal speeds to a star thousands of light-years away from the Kryptonian Empire.
Then, experimentally, Zod formed a black hole singularity in his hand. Its terrifying gravity completely warped space, creating layer upon layer of spatial ripples that swirled around the singularity like temporal turbulence.
The singularity's mass was greater than Earth's. The moment it was born, its gravitational waves had already triggered a reaction from the star.
He hurled the black hole singularity toward the star. Everywhere it passed, a true vacuum was created.
Everything along its path—high-energy particles, light, all matter and energy—was swept away and devoured.
Then the star's own gravity was disrupted by the singularity. Massive amounts of stellar energy were captured by the black hole's gravitational pull, the rate of consumption accelerating faster and faster. The star visibly shrank before Zod's eyes.
In the end, the entire star was torn apart into quarks and completely consumed!
Where the star had once been, a spherical zone of absolute silence now appeared.
This void stretched over tens of thousands of kilometers in every direction. Within its range, all matter had been collectively annihilated in an instant.
Zod recalled the black hole singularity, feeling himself grow significantly stronger.
"Destroying a star doesn't even take a minute. And with the power of black holes, I can stand against the Infinity Stones on my own—I no longer have to worry about the threat of the Soul Stone..."
In an instant, Zod returned to Krypton and extended his right hand.
Then, countless black particles materialized from the surrounding void, converging into Zod's hand with a rushing sound.
The light effects lasted several seconds before fading.
In Zod's hand now sat a small, marble-sized black sphere.
This sphere did not possess the spacetime-warping power of a black hole singularity.
But the material composing part of this tiny black sphere—
—was neutron-star-grade matter!
For manufacturing and scientific research, such material was priceless—something one could only dream of obtaining.
However, without the restraint of Zod's bio-field, the gravity it carried would instantly destroy everything around it.
"So, this thing can't actually be used normally, huh."
Zod couldn't help but complain. He had created neutronium before, but this time the neutronium he'd produced was on the scale of the universe's largest neutron stars.
The problem was, this neutronium couldn't be used practically. The gravity caused by its mass was simply too terrifying. It seemed he'd still need to put in more work if he wanted to build a warship that could smash straight through a star.
/-\
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