Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Guidance
The journey aboard the Fortune's Favor continued.
Although Galdino had agreed to join Noah's group, Noah didn't immediately send him to the training camp. Galdino was already 21, a bit older than the usual recruits. So, for now, Noah assigned him to stay aboard the ship.
Their current destination was the White Mountain Kingdom, a famous country in the South Blue known for its Longarm Tribe inhabitants. One notable native of the kingdom was Scratchmen Apoo, future captain of the On Air Pirates.
Noah's goal was to locate the Tone-Tone Fruit, a Devil Fruit yet to be consumed by Apoo. However, its proper name should be the Instrument-Instrument Fruit.
In the One Piece world, three music-related fruits had appeared: the Sound-Sound Fruit, the Song-Song Fruit, and the Tone-Tone Fruit.
From how Apoo later developed his abilities, the Tone-Tone Fruit seemed to turn its user into an instrument-based superhuman.
On the other hand, Uta's Song-Song Fruit focused more on song and melody-related abilities, while Antoni's Sound-Sound Fruit harnessed the physical properties of sound vibrations.
The three fruits had distinct powers but with some overlap.
Through a tarot card reading, Noah had confirmed that the Tone-Tone Fruit was within the White Mountain Kingdom.
As they sailed full speed toward the kingdom, Galdino had no choice but to endure Noah's relentless teachings. Aside from cultural lessons, Noah made him study Haki, combat training, and ability development.
Watching Galdino create wax soldiers and various wax weapons, Noah calmly reminded him, "Your shaping ability is impressive, but you still haven't grasped the true essence of the Wax-Wax Fruit."
"True essence?" Galdino, semi-literate at best, looked puzzled. Clearly, he didn't understand what wax truly was.
"The essence of wax is solidified fat. Understand? The wax you create with your ability is actually paraffin."
Galdino squeezed a wax ball in his hand, and soon, it melted into a pool of oily liquid.
Noah continued, "Paraffin is wax, but so is butter, soap, and various other oils and fats. They all share the same fundamental properties."
Noah pulled out a row of test tubes from his card storage, each containing different types of wax: paraffin, lignite wax, beeswax, insect wax, whale wax, lanolin, wood wax, rice bran wax, coconut wax, butter, soap, cheese, and more.
Galdino picked up a piece of butter, feeling its composition.
After a moment, he transformed the wax liquid in his other hand into butter.
"Lord Noah, it seems butter isn't that special. I can do the same with paraffin," Galdino remarked.
Noah shook his head. "Every material has its unique qualities. It's rare for two substances to share the exact same properties. Can you eat paraffin? Butter, on the other hand, provides nutrition—something paraffin cannot do."
Galdino pondered this, eating the butter and discovering characteristics he hadn't noticed in his previous wax creations.
"You can combine butter and cheese, adjust their proportions and composition, and create cream wax, an emergency food source," Noah suggested.
In Noah's view, the Wax-Wax Fruit was essentially a superior version of the Cheese Fruit, the Butter Fruit, and the Soap Fruit.
Although the Wax-Wax Fruit couldn't create permanent wax items from nothing, it could modify existing oils and fats on a large scale. For example, paraffin oil could be transformed into butter, cheese, soap, or beeswax, or vice versa. This kind of modification was the real direction for developing the Wax-Wax Fruit's full potential.
Besides these special wax products, Noah pointed out other development paths:
"Your current use of the Wax-Wax Fruit is too superficial. As a Devil Fruit user, you should know that water neutralizes your powers."
Galdino nodded. "Yes, I know that."
"But what you don't know is that the Wax-Wax Fruit is one of the few Devil Fruits that can allow its user to enter seawater."
"What? I can go into the water?"
"Wax is waterproof. Try it for yourself."
Excited, Galdino quickly coated himself in a layer of wax and dipped his hand into a bucket of seawater.
To his delight, his hand was fully submerged without the usual weakness Devil Fruit users feel in water. He couldn't contain his excitement. "This is amazing! I can swim in the sea again!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Noah warned. "While the wax coating is waterproof, it's also fragile. If you're attacked by sea creatures or enemies, it could break easily—and you'd be dead in an instant."
Gulp! Galdino shuddered at the thought of the wax breaking while he was underwater, the mere idea filling him with dread.
"Also, you haven't considered another issue: the wax coating works like a wetsuit, but you're not a Fish-Man. You can't breathe underwater. You need to solve that problem too."
"Lord Noah, surely you have a solution?" Galdino now regarded Noah with even more respect.
"There are two options. One, carry a breathing apparatus with an oxygen tank. Two, create artificial gills."
The first solution made sense to Galdino, but the second left him feeling completely out of his depth. The difference in intellect between him and Noah became painfully clear. "Artificial gills? Where can I buy those?"
Noah gave him a disappointed look. "Are you really this dense? Didn't you eat the Wax-Wax Fruit? Why can't you make them yourself?"
"Uh..." Galdino pointed at his face awkwardly. "Make them myself? That sounds... difficult."
"Idiot! Just catch some fish and mimic the structure of their gills!" Noah scolded, exasperated by Galdino's lack of creativity.
"Oh! That could work! You really are amazing, Lord Noah!" Galdino slapped his palm in realization, grateful for the insight.
This was a common scene during Noah's training sessions with Devil Fruit users.
To speed up Galdino's development, Noah had a strict regimen: every day, he would throw Galdino into the sea for two hours, binding him with a rope to maintain his wax coating and wax gills underwater.
The rest of the time, Kuro pummeled Galdino with Armament Haki, forcing him to endure physical pain while also attempting to awaken Observation Haki.
On their journey to the White Mountain Kingdom, Galdino truly experienced the meaning of "pain and pleasure."
Of course, Noah also emphasized ideological education, teaching Galdino the harsh truths about the world through word and action.
One month later, the Fortune's Favor arrived at Yuzu Island in the White Mountain Kingdom.
Disguised, Noah's group docked at Yuzu Port, preparing to gather information about the kingdom.
Inside a bar near the port, Noah and Galdino sat drinking tea, listening carefully as they gathered bits of intelligence from the bartender and a few patrons.
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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 shoutouts 𝘁𝗼:
•Leroy
• Jonathan Bailey
𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 50+ chapters 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!
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