Clockwork Island - The island's dockyard.

Two hours later, Austin returned to the shore where 'Black Star' was docked.

Upon his arrival, he was welcomed by the sight of the freed people's reunion with their families.

He smiled at this beautiful and joyful scenery before departing directly to his ship.

On his way, he was stopped by the freed people who recognized him as the one who had previously released them from the factory.

The grateful citizens quickly surrounded him, bowing and thanking him for his previous help.

" Thank you, Sir! ... Thank you for your help ... We will never forget your favor!" Said one of the liberated people, followed by others who also expressed their gratitude.

" I was finally able to see my children again. Thank you ... Thank you, Sir!"

" I haven't seen my parent for two years ... Thank you, Sir."

Austin smiled, waving his hand gracefully, every time saying something different to the people who thanked him. " I only did what I had to do ..."; "Take care of yourself and stay strong ..."; " Let this be a valuable lesson you never forget in your life ..."; " I hope you will have a better future."

Austin quickly encouraged them before continuing his way toward his ship.

Soon, he arrived and found that his subordinates were already waiting for him at the front with two other strangers, a man and a woman.

When the two strangers noticed him, they approached and started expressing their thanks as well.

" Thank you for your help. We can't think of a way to repay you for freeing us from the Trump pirates." The woman bowed deeply, stating.

" We really appreciate your help. Feel free to ask if there is something thing we can help you with ... We will definitely do our utmost efforts to help you out." The man added.

When Austin saw the two strangers, it took him a while to recognize their identities.

' Ho! Aren't those two the ones who created this island and the parent of that kid in the movies.' - Austin thought.

' Well, now that my goal is to conquer and rule this world after cleaning all the filths for it, I'll eventually need many capable people to help me run and manage this world properly in the future.' - Austin thought. - ' So, I need to bring many talents under my wing, talented individuals in all the life aspects such as farming, economy, management, engineering, etc ... With these people, my job of leading and managing this world will become much easier.'

' And this island is full of talents, especially the engineers.' - Austin glanced at the man and woman in front of him and smiled, thinking. - ' But these two are on an entirely different level compared to the rest, which is evident from this marvelous island they personally created.'

' By saving the island residents, I manage to earn the support and gratitude of this island's citizens who are also engineers.' - Austin examined the two chief engineers before him, thinking. - ' But it's not enough in the case of these two! ... I need to leave an even strong impression on them because I'm sure I'll need their services in the future.'

' Of course, I can make them my 'subordinates', but they'll lose at least half of their memory and precious knowledge in the process, so I would rather not risk that!' - Austin thought. - '  ... Anyway, all I have to do is make them feel more in debt to me.'

Austin got an interesting idea, prompting him to grin in his mind. - ' Yeah, that's right, I know that their kid is alive, but they don't ... So, If I play this right, I can help the kid and reassure the parents while leaving a strong impression on them. A win-win situation!'

Austin nodded and decided to proceed with his plan.

The time Austin took to think and ponder about his plan was not even a second in reality. So, for the man and woman in front of him, they had just expressed their gratitude, and Austin replied almost instantly.

" It's Okay." Austin faked ignorance and asked, " By the way, who are you two?"

" Ah! We haven't introduced ourselves yet." The man smiled embarrassedly and added, " We are the chief engineers who created this island. I'm Nikola, and this is my wife, Martha."

" Oh! I see ..." Austin pretended to be surprised before he said with a gentle smile, " Nice to meet you. My Name is Ray D Austin, Captain of the Black Strom Pirates."

After shaking both Nikola and Martha's hands, Austin suddenly narrowed his eyes, looking straight into Nikola's eyes for several seconds. The latter became uncomfortable as he smiled wryly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Austin then did the same with the woman, Martha. He looked into her eyes for a long time until she started sweating profusely.

Martha felt like she was being stared at by some predator whose eyes were piercing straight through her soul!

The whole place was deadly silent, as the only thing that could be heard was the sounds of breathing.

The silence soon turned into an awkward situation as the duo felt very uncomfortable being looked at for a long time by Austin.

Moments later, Austin relaxed his eyes and finally spoke. " Hmm, interesting."

" I'm quite confused right now ..." Austin raised his brow, stating, " I can see Happiness in your eyes, which is obviously because you have been freed." Austin paused briefly and continued, " ... But I can also see an intense sadness and regrets in your eyes, so why is that ?"

The duo's eyes flinched for a moment before Nikola answered bitterly. " We created the Diamond Watch that was once this island's beloved masterpiece, but it has become later a chain used to enslave us."

" Humm! ... The scar in your soul is much deeper and painful, so I don't think that's the whole reason, right?" Austin smiled slightly, asking, " What caused this intense grief I'm seeing in your eyes?"

Nikola and Martha's eyes widened in shock before the latter's eyes started to water.

Noticing this occurrence, Austin pretended to understand something and said in apprehending. " I see!"

He then looked up at the sky for a moment before suddenly remarking, " He or She is still alive somewhere out there."

Both Martha and Nikola raised their heads with astonished expressions, they looked at Austin in disbelief, and the only thing Martha managed to voice was, " How?"

" Well, it's just a feeling ..." Austin paused and smiled, stating, " It's up to you whether you believe it or not."

Without waiting for the duo's response, Austin moved towards his ship.

Passing by the pair, he stopped momentarily beside Martha and put his hand on her shoulder, saying gently, " Stay strong. I have a feeling that you two will soon be meeting that person here."

Austin felt Martha's shoulders tremble as he spoke. He smiled and jumped onto the ship, followed by his subordinates.

Nikola was the first to recover from the shock as he yelled at Austin. " Thank you for assuring us about that person! He is our son!... We will stay here waiting for the day we meet him again!"

" I hope that will be very soon ..." Austin smiled, adding, " If fate allows it, we will meet again."

Nikola smiled with some tears in his eyes and bowed deeply, saying gratefully, " If you need our help in the future, you can always find us here."

Nodding his head in response, Austin turned to look at his subordinates and said, " Since everyone is here, let's sail then. "

" Roger that, my lord!" Everyone replied in unison before scattering onboard the ship.

'Black Star' departed toward the elevator, with the citizens behind waving at the ship, yelling 'goodbye' and 'thank you'.

Looking at the crowd of engineers with Nokila and Martha at the front, Austin waved his hand one last time before the elevator door closed.

The ship then went down, back to the sea, to continue their journey towards their next destination, Loguetown!

This is the story of how Ray D Austin, the future Absolute ruler of the world, met the future members and leaders of his engineering department, who would later play an important role in the architectural aspect of his future empire after conquering the world.

.....

After more than four hours of sailing, 'Black Star' has already moved far from Clockwork Island.

Austin, who was standing on the ship's deck with Sebas, suddenly turned to the old butler by his side and said.

" Call everyone to the storage room, and bring out those two from the prison as well."

" Yes, my lord," Sebas answered before leaving to do his task.

Austin looked at the sea and smirked, murmuring quietly, " It's All For One's time."

....

15 minutes later, everyone gathered in the storage room, including the two prisoners brought back by Sebas.

Examining the still-unconscious Honey Queen and Bear King, Austin smirked, thinking. - ' It's time to harvest your Devil Fruits!'

" Have you made sure that all the fruits on the ship are stored in the Inventory?" Austin asked his subordinates, who nodded positively in response.

" Good." Austin asked Brain, " Is there any island close nearby?"

" No, my lord." Brain explained." The closest one was Clockwork Island, but we've been sailing for four hours now, so we should be far away from it."

" Alright." Austin grinned and took out a basket filled with multiple fruits from his Inventory.

" Now, let's see where you are gonna run to." Austin smiled and pierced the Bear King's head with a Wind Bullet, finishing him off.

Shortly after, one of the apples on the basket started vibrating as it transformed into a yellow one with multiple symbols and lines on it.

Austin quickly took the apple and used 'Detect' on it.

_________________________

Kachi Kachi no Mi ( Hard-Hard Fruit ) :

• Category: Paramecia-type Devil Fruit
• Description: This fruit allows its user to harden the body at will, increasing their defensive capabilities. The user can also raise the temperature of their hardened body parts, which can increase the damage done to the opponent.

_________________________

Austin was overjoyed after he finished reading the description.

' It's really an overpowered devil fruit. Its hardening ability is similar to that of the Haki.' - Austin thought about this fruit's potential. - ' Imagining the combination of this Devil fruit, which is akin to natural Haki, with the real Haki gives me chills.'

' That combination will probably result in a body that is incredibly strong, similar to that of a diamond or at least close to that level of toughness.' - Austin sighed, thinking.- ' Thankfully, this idiot, The Bear King, was weak and didn't know how to use Haki. Otherwise, the battle wouldn't have ended so easily.'

Toro Toro no Mi ( Juice-Juice Fruit ) :

• Category: Logia-type Devil Fruit
• Description: This fruit allows its user to transform into an unidentified air-tight purple-colored liquid juice, enabling its user to flow through small spaces and attack with liquid blasts. The user is also immune to physical attacks, which simply pass through their fluid body.

_________________________

Austin nodded in approval. Even though it's not a particularly strong Devil Fruit, it's still a rare Logia Devil fruit nonetheless. Which would make its eater invisible in any place on the East Blue.

Of course, that stands correct as long as they don't encounter a Haki user or get attacked with a weapon made of sea stone.

Austin smirked, coming up with multiple uses for this underrated devil fruit.

But for now, he decided to focus on his others tasks. So, he stored the two new devil fruits in his Inventory.

Adding the previous fruit he got from Eldoraggo back then to these new ones, Austin now possessed three Devil fruits in his Inventory!

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