After bringing the four scientists into his fold, York didn't just give them money; he gave them a direction.
He gathered Vegapunk, Judge, Scien, and Caesar on the deck of their research vessel.
"Why can a person only eat one Devil Fruit?" York asked, pacing before them. "Have you ever deeply considered the mechanics behind that limitation?"
The four geniuses frowned, intrigued.
"I suspect it operates on a genetic level," York continued, dropping a bomb that would change the course of global science. "To put it in terms you can study, every living being has a core biological blueprint. Let's call it the Lineage Factor."
Vegapunk's eyes widened behind his glasses.
"This Lineage Factor acts as the vessel for a Devil Fruit's power. Currently, a normal human's 'vessel' shatters if a second fruit is introduced. But..." York smirked. "If you can isolate, map, and thoroughly research this Lineage Factor... you might be able to modify the vessel. You could theoretically create a dual-fruit user, or even a triple-fruit user!"
The silence on the deck was deafening.
Then, chaos erupted.
"The biological blueprint! The blueprint of life itself!" Vegapunk gasped, a sudden, blinding flash of inspiration hitting him.
Judge's eyes burned with manic intensity. "If we can map this 'Lineage Factor', we wouldn't just understand Devil Fruits... we could clone living beings! We could manipulate human potential!"
Without another word to York, the four scientists scrambled back into the bowels of the MADS research ship, frantically yelling equations at each other. The theoretical foundation for the world's greatest scientific discoveries had just been laid.
With the scientists occupied, York and Stussy turned their attention to logistics.
The Adam Wood purchased from Elbaf was currently stored inside the Mirror World. Getting it in was easy—Elbaf had massive, giant-sized mirrors. But getting it out in Water 7 was a problem. The human-sized city didn't possess a mirror large enough to extract 100-meter-long logs.
They had to make one.
Using the island's abundant water, Dragon used his wind to rapidly cool and freeze a massive sheet of ice. York and Stussy polished the surface until it was perfectly reflective, then applied a dark, opaque coating to the back.
The practical durability of the mirror didn't matter. It only needed to reflect long enough for Stussy's Devil Fruit to recognize it as a doorway.
FWOOSH.
Through the towering ice mirror, massive trunks of Treasure Tree Adam were hauled out into the Water 7 scrapyard.
Tom, the legendary Horned Turban fish-man, dropped his tools. His eyes bulged in absolute shock.
"Is this... is this Adam Wood?!" Tom yelled, running his massive hands over the bark. "How did you get so much of it?! And it's already perfectly processed and aged! This is the greatest shipbuilding material in the world doing it with a DON!"
York smiled, letting Tom marvel. The shipwright was professional enough not to ask where a pirate got billions of Berries worth of giant timber.
They immediately began drafting the design.
York provided the initial concept: an Eastern-style Treasure Ship (a massive Junk), similar to the Da Ming fleets of his past life's history.
Tom took the rough sketch and perfected it. He changed the flat bottom to a deep, pointed hull for Grand Line stability. The bow was carved into the shape of a menacing Dragon, and the stern flared out like a Phoenix tail. The main cabin complex resembled a towering, multi-tiered Eastern palace.
But the most staggering aspect was its size.
Using the oversized Elbaf timber, Tom designed a true behemoth. The flagship would be 360 meters long and 150 meters wide. From the keel to the main deck, it stood 100 meters tall, not including the towering palace structures above.
It was a mobile fortress. It could easily house thousands of crew members, or even a specialized division of Giants, should York ever recruit them.
Construction began immediately.
Since they had nothing but time, York, Dragon, and Ivankov treated the construction site as physical training, helping Tom haul the massive Adam Wood beams into place.
Tom truly lived up to his future title as the world's greatest shipwright. In just a few weeks, a third of the massive hull had already been assembled. The launch date was approaching fast.
However, the peaceful days were shattered one afternoon.
York's advanced Observation Haki spiked. He dropped the beam he was carrying and looked out toward the horizon.
A massive Marine warship with a distinctive, dog-head figurehead was cutting through the waves, heading straight for Water 7.
"It's Garp," York said grimly.
He turned to look at Dragon, who froze mid-step, a massive plank still resting on his shoulder.
"Your old man is here," York noted. "Have you thought about how you're going to face him?"
Dragon's expression stiffened. He averted his eyes. "Uh... how did he find us?"
"We've been parked in Water 7 for weeks," York shrugged. "Someone recognized our bounties and tipped off Marineford. It was inevitable."
Dragon gritted his teeth. He tossed the heavy timber aside and stared at the approaching dog-head warship.
"I'll go talk to him. A shipyard is no place for a fight."
Before York could stop him, Dragon's body twisted, dissipating into a violent gust of wind as he shot out over the ocean to intercept his father.
A minute passed.
Suddenly, a deafening SONIC BOOM echoed over the sea.
Dragon flew backward, hurtling toward the island faster than a fired cannonball. As he blurred past, York clearly saw the distinct imprint of a size-14 Marine boot stamped right across Dragon's face.
CRASH!!
Dragon smashed into the abandoned ship graveyard adjacent to Tom's workshop. The immense kinetic force tore through dozens of rusted hulls, nearly throwing Dragon entirely through the island and into the sea on the other side.
Whether Garp held back at the last second, or Dragon managed to stabilize himself with the wind, the young revolutionary barely skidded to a halt at the water's edge.
York's face darkened.
He wasn't angry that Dragon had been beaten. A father disciplining his son with the "Fist of Love" was family business.
But the trajectory Garp had launched Dragon on was reckless. The shockwave had torn through the shipyard, coming within meters of the newly constructed Adam Wood hull. If Dragon hadn't actively shifted his weight mid-air, a third of their new flagship would have been reduced to splinters.
"GARP!!"
York let out a low, vibrating growl.
He leaped from the scaffolding, soaring a hundred meters into the air. His entire body erupted in a blinding, sacred white light.
FWOOSH!
Down below, Tom grunted, staggering under the sudden mental pressure. In the distance, the civilians of Water 7 collapsed into deep, blissful sleep.
Out on the sea, the Marine soldiers aboard the dog-head warship groaned, their eyes rolling back as they slumped to the deck, incapacitated by York's AoE pleasure-drain.
Standing at the bow of his ship, Garp remained entirely unaffected, his immense Haki acting as an absolute shield. But seeing his entire crew wiped out before the battle even started made the old Hero's face contort with rage.
"This York... his ability is truly a pain in the ass!"
Garp didn't wait. He took three massive, running steps along the deck of his ship and leaped. The sheer force of his jump cracked the warship's bow, propelling him thousands of meters through the air, directly toward the shipyard.
"ATLAS D. YORK!!" Garp roared, his voice splitting the clouds. "JUST OBEDIENTLY BECOME THIS OLD MAN'S CATCH!!"
RUMBLE!
Thunderous black and red lightning burst from Garp's body. He pulled his right arm back, wrapping his massive fist in the pinnacle of Advanced Conqueror's and Armament Haki. The air around his fist began to emit a terrifying, crimson glow.
"Hmph! What you can do, I can do too!!" York snorted coldly.
He landed on a crane, using it as a springboard to launch himself back into the sky, meeting Garp head-on.
At the same time, York channeled every ounce of his Conqueror's Haki into his right fist. Though his Haki wasn't as overwhelmingly bright as Garp's yet, it possessed the exact same lethal, crushing density.
Garp roared: "Fist Bone—!!"
York roared: "Fist Bone—!!"
Garp: "GALAXY IMPACT!!"
York: "CRUSHING FIST!!"
Their fists struck out simultaneously, still meters apart in the air.
The ultimate, concentrated energy of two Supreme Kings collided. The sky above Water 7 split wide open, the roar of the impact drowning out the world.
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