Another successful batch of SMILE Devil Fruits, seven in total. But it was one that had his attention, a lilac apple with purple spots. It had been by far the most difficult SMILE he'd created, but the effort had been worth it.
"FB, come here". He gestured for the Digital Human to come closer, who had been watching him work this entire time. "What do you know about Mewtwo?".
"A genetically modified clone of the Mythical Pokemon Mew, a weapon of war. The strongest Psychic Pokemon in the world, capable of creating storms, earthquakes, or crushing entire skyscrapers with its mind alone. It could easily erase and modify memories, and thanks to its status as a Psychic Type it can easily perform thousands of calculations in mere nanoseconds". FB answered, her gaze locked onto the lilac and purple fruit. "I assume you wish me to eat it?".
"Correct... Although I suggest turning off your ability to taste". Aleister suggested, watching as she took hold of the fruit and took a bite out of it, chewing before swallowing. Nothing seemed to have happened, at least until-
FB's eyes began to glow, her entire body radiating with an overwhelming psychic presence that even Aleister could feel, the master falling to one knee and gritting his teeth. Marvelous, while he'd already had high hopes after seeing the power of the Kori siblings, Mewtwo was on an entirely different level!
After a few seconds, FB's eyes lost their glow and her aura of power had disappeared, the Digital Human almost tripping if not for her creator grabbing her and helping her stand.
"How do you feel?". Aleister asked, worried for any side effects.
"Good, really good, my process power has tripled, and while I still require experience with this power, I am confident I can easily manage the Digital World". The Digital Human glanced to her hands, a purple glow covering them as her master smirked, before glancing to the six remaining SMILE Fruits.
While Mewtwo's power was truly absurd, that didn't mean the other Fruits he'd made weren't powerful, some perhaps even more so.
The immortal phoenix, Ho-Oh.
The legendary bird of ice, Articuno.
The content mover, Regigigas.
The light eater, Necrozma.
The source of the Terastallize phenomenon, Terapagos. Also the only known Pokemon to resist the almighty Master Ball.
But it was the sixth SMILE Fruit that truly grabbed attention, even now is seemed to radiate with the sheer power contained within. Power worthy of a god, the power to rule all of space if it was mastered.
"The Creator of Space, Palkia...". Aleister grinned as he stared at the SMILE Fruit, and he already had a perfect target in mind for who could bring out this Fruits true power.
Items gained.
- Ho-Oh SMILE Fruit. An artificial Devil Fruit that houses the power and form of the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh.
- Articuno SMILE Fruit. An artificial Devil Fruit that houses the power and form of the Legendary Pokemon Articuno
- Regigigas SMILE Fruit. An artificial Devil Fruit that houses the power and form of the Legendary Pokemon Regigigas.
- Palkia SMILE Fruit. An artificial Devil Fruit that houses the power and form of the Legendary Pokemon Palkia.
- Terapagos SMILE Fruit. An artificial Devil Fruit that houses the power and form of the Legendary Pokemon Terapagos.
- Necrozma SMILE Fruit. An artificial Devil Fruit that houses the power and form of the Legendary Pokemon Necrozma.
FB has now gained a massive power boost with her Devil Fruit, I'd say at this point she could probably hack or at least destroy a Shard all by herself, but I'd suggest giving her time to practice before throwing her right in. Add in the Super Computer and X-Antibody? She'd be one of the most powerful hackers in the existence, but I would suggest training before trying to use all of those together less FB destroy herself from the sheer power.
When Faust had invited Joseph to meet him, he had expected a frail old man, who while he still had fire his body couldn't keep up... But Joseph Johnathan was not an ordinary old man.
The dude was built like a fucking brick house, despite having a prosthetic hand and apparently being from World War Two, Joseph clearly hadn't let himself go.
"You've given me quite an impressive profile, Joseph. Experienced in battle and commanding small squads of soldiers, I'll admit with the time thats passed, I expected someone a lot more... Frail". Faust spoke calmly, receiving a chuckle from the older man.
"I've been a lucky shit, no questioning that sir, a mix of good genes, good eating, and a lot of effort to keep myself like this... But no denying my body's starting to fail me, I've probably got a few years left before I croak". Joseph had no hesitation in how he spoke, even as he was talking with the most dangerous man in the city.
"Confident are you? No fear of what I could do to you?". The master asked, curious about the first member of A-Team he'd met.
"I've lived a long life, while I certainly wouldn't mind getting a few years back, I'm not scared of dying ether. My family lives far away enough you can't reach them, you've got nothing to threaten me with besides torture... And I've experienced enough of that that it doesn't really scare me anymore". Joseph kept his calm tone even as he spoke, only a glance to his prosthetic hand hinting at what must have been a deep mental trauma.
Faust smirked behind his mask, yes, Joseph Jonathan was proving to be exactly what he wanted. Reaching under his desk, he presented a purple potion.
"Something that will restore you to the prime of your youth, and knock you out so we can perform the surgery needed to give you Artificial Parahuman powers". He explained, the old soldier observing the bottle for a few seconds before drinking it in a single gulp, his eyes quickly becoming glassy as he slumped in his chair.
The master stood up and picked up the taller man, he had work to do.
A few hours later.
Faust had given Joseph a few hours to get used to his new powers and age regression, leaving him in a training room to practice. So when he came in, he was expecting the damaged walls and dozens of destroyed drones, a man sitting on the floor and drinking from a water bottle.
"Adjusting well I hope, Joseph?". The master asked, receiving a nod from the newly created Demi-Servant.
"Part of me was expecting to wake up in an alleyway missing organs, or as one of those creepy soldiers of yours if the rumors are right. I'm pleased with the fact I actually got what was promised on the contract". Joseph smirked, tossing a dagger up and down.
"Rumors about my soldiers?". Faust asked, he'd not really been paying attention to the rumors of Brockton Bay.
"Ya don't know? Theres a rumor going about that all those soldiers are homeless or criminals kidnapped and transformed into identical copies, apparently some brat saw under a couple of their helmets and said they all looked the same. I'm hoping thats just bullshit though". The soldier looked distinctively uncomfortable as he said that last part, drawing a chuckle from Faust.
"I can assure you, none of those soldiers are former criminals or homeless, and all work for me completely willingly".
Joseph Jonathan is most certainly not a Jojo reference, he just happens to share some similarities with Joseph Joestar.
When he had decided to take a trip around the world, Aleister had been hoping to see some beautiful sights, the Niagara Falls being one he truly wanted to visit...
"BUG BLASTER!". Keramon unleashed a blast of energy that tore through another parahuman, while Faust unleashed his own blast of lightning that fried a large Parahuman who had tried sneaking up on him.
"I just wanted a peaceful trip! And instead I run into a literal CULT!?". Faust screamed angrily, his body glowing with red-black electricity, his Conqueror's Haki unleashed as a wave of energy that passed through the attackers and caused them to pass out. "Fucking bastards! Who the fuck sets up a cult to Leviathan at Niagara Falls!?".
The master grabbed one of the parahumans who had passed out, slapping him to wake him up and instantly activating a Hypnosis spell that placed the unknown under his control.
"What group are you apart of? Why were you set up in Niagara Falls?". Was he dealing with just a random Endbringer cult? Or were they connected to The Fallen?
"We... We serve the will of the great beast, Lord Leviathan, we aimed to use this location to kidnap visitors and have a Master at our base brainwash them into obedient foot soldiers. We... We wished to bring down the Guild, so our lord may have an easier time bringing civilizations to their final judgement...". The cultist slowly spoke, his unconscious mind trying to resist but after being hit by Conqueror's Haki and then a Hypnosis spell? He stood no chance.
"So your just a bunch of lunatics with no greater connections then?". Faust shook his head, before glancing to Keramon. Well, at least his partner would still have some form of fun today. "Keramon? Hunt".
The Virus let out a laugh as his mouth glowed with energy, unleashing a blast that vaporized the cultist his partner had been holding. The two quickly finished off the remaining cultists, and then headed towards their camp.
Bond up.
Keramon: 9.
Well, that wasn't what we were aiming for, but Keramon's happy. With this, we can reach Mega, but we'll need to do something big to get to Bond 10 and potential for Ultra.
Aleister glared at the single file on his computer, seeming so innocent and yet it was one of the most deadly programs he'd ever seen. If he wasn't literally cheating with what was essentially a Digital Goddess, he never would've found it no matter how hard he tried.
A program that sent literally everything he'd marked down in his computers (Thank God the X-Antibody, X-Program, and Digital World were in ether isolated computers or USB's), to what seemed to be a defunct space satellite.
"I've finished deleting all traces of the hacker's file, but the satellite was near completely ruined when some of Meltryllis's drones checked it, nothing remained of whoever used it or what information they've taken off with". FB explained, watching as her creator stood up, glancing to Medea as the witch checked the entire castle with her magic for anything the mercenaries left behind. Before finally glancing to where a single corpse rested, one of the mercenary leaders if their recordings are right. "You intend to summon his soul for interrogation?".
"Yes, while it will be my first time doing this, it should be easy enough". Aleister approached the corpse, holding out his hand and causing a ghostly, transluscent figure to appear. Sweat began to drip down his face as he did his best to control the soul before him. "What... Were your goals and objectives? How did you get in? Who did you work for?".
"W-we were hired, anomalously to attack Faust's castle, no clue who it was. W-we were just told to attack and loot what we could. T-the security s-systems let us in, some kind of hacker". The ghost stuttered, its voice having an echo quality to it.
"Did you carry anything that could compromise my computer network? Were you given anything by the one who hired you?".
"N-no, we only had the Tinker-Tech weapons we were given as part of the contract f-for raiding the castle". The ghost let out a groan as its form faded in and out, Aleister letting out sigh as he released the soul.
"N-nibelcole! Have you found anything from the Tinker-Tech weapons?". He asked the AI, who nodded.
"Each carried a signal that once activated, would allow easier hacking of nanomachines, its long been disabled and any clues to who our hacker was are long lost. But I did manage to use it to find a small selection of hacked nanomachines that were likely the ones to deliver the file onto our systems". Nibelcole explained to an annoyed Aleister, so thats how they got into his lab?
"Improve our network security, go over everything with a fine toothed comb. I have other safety measures I'll be putting into place".
After discovering the hack into his system, Aleister had made a couple changes to his castle. He'd moved his Teleportation Pads and Interdimensional Portal out of his lab and into separate rooms and guarded by multi-layed security doors.
The Teleporters would only work if you passed all the authorization requirements. A password, personal ID, and lasty their biometrics would be scanned (With the Infiltrator Units and other machines they must give a password, hardware token, and a facial scan to ensure their identity). Thjey could only accept transfers from pre-authorized locations.
Next, Aleister had the Machine Army construct an underground vault he could hold his more important items (Those he wasn't willing to put into the Gate of Babylon for whatever reasons), one of the ways to access the vault would be by magic teleport. The walls were constructed of Vibranium, with anti-teleport Bounded Fields. The other way to enter was through multiple security check points both mundane and magical of preventing intruders. Mantraps, motion detectors, camera's, vibranium and reinforced steel doors, while magical was Bounded Fields, the Argon Coin and dragon it summoned as a last resort.
Finally, alongside the Machine Army Drones, he had Bio-Tinkered monsters helping to defend his castle. Some were just big monsters, some small and fast, and some as humanoid as possible to pass as ordinary humans. Each and everyone will be made of vegetation, as that was easier to explain away if anyone discovered them.
Aleiser had tried recreating the werewolf maids using science, but that had been... Well, he could only create so much from the DNA he and Nia had access to, and considering the werewolf maids abilities came from mystic enchantments, cloning them wouldn't work.
That one failure aside, his castle had been massively improved in regards to defense. He wasn't so arrogant to think it perfect, but nothing less then an Endbringer could force their way inside. And he'd need those defenses when Humbaba arrived.
As he arrived in 'Space Space', Keramon instantly felt the energy of Digivolution fill him.
Keramon warp Digivolve to...
His body lengthened, his size increased drastically, and immense strength filled his limbs.
Infermon!
The Ultimate Digimon instantly had to avoid a meteor storm, his mouth-cannon emerging and blasting another wave of meteors to dust, he glared at the Shard he was aiming for. It was a relatively small Shard, only the size of Pluto compared to the Earth sized ones he'd seen before. He launched himself towards it, unleashing a barrage of blasts that decimated a set of crystal spires.
"SPIDER SHOOTER!". Infermon unleashed another barrage of energy, decimating eveything around him, but his true goal wasn't destruction, but instead distraction. As he worked, a small human-looking figure jumped off his back onto the ground.
FB walked around the dusty crystal surface, wondering at she or Infermon would even need to use their X-Antibody, this was a low level Shard and ether of them alone could've dealt with it.
Then again, it was better to be safe then sorry... Finally coming across a series of cables, the Digital Human placed her hand against it, a wave of ones and zeroes traveling from her hand and connecting to the wires. In a second, she understood everything there was about this Shard, its history, its weaknesses, everything.
FB was already one of the greatest hackers in the world, add in the boost she got from eating the Mewtwo SMILE Fruit? This weak of a Shard was easy to hack, and whats what she did.
Within only five minutes of work, an entire Shard was under their control.
The air was awkward between Lakshmibai and Aleister, the Saber giving the master a disappointed look.
"Alright alright! I get it, I messed up and went against my word, but I wasn't exactly in the best position Lakshmibai! You try creating a strategy in half an hour!". Aleister rubbed the back of his neck, was one mistake really enough to piss the Saber off this much?
"Its been more then 'One' thing. I agreed to work with you despite your evil nature, because I believed you honestly wanted to help humanity. So far? I've seen only small things. Letting people out and into Brockton Bay? The only reason you did that was to prevent a rebellion and try and make the people like you. Giving resources to the USA? You want them to rely on you alone. But evil things? You used an entire planet for an experiment, toyed with the souls of others, you've even went and played god with creating an entire species with an inbuilt loyalty to you!". As she spoke, Lakshmibai's voice became more and more frustrated. "I've heard talk of you destroying the gangs and criminals of the world, but so far? I've only had your and your allies words to go by, many of which are slavishly devoted to you!".
"So your angry you've not seen any proof of me actually trying to help the world? Or how everything I've done is for my own benefit?". That... Actually made a concerning amount of sense. Medea barely had any morals, Okita had pushed hers aside in order to save a rotting world at any cost, Gorgon was just happy to kill humans, and Tomoe was loyal to her master even if she disliked some of his methods. But Lakshmibai was a good person, one who wanted to help people, and he'd not really done much of that lately.
Sure he was providing great healthcare and protection to those under him, but that was all so they'd want him as a leader. He wasn't actually doing anything that helped the world, despite his power to do so easily. Hell, with just his SMILE Fruits alone he could solve so many issues.
Kyogre could fix raising water levels, Kyurem could refreeze the ice caps, Eternatus could supply energy to an entire country with ease, Meltan could deal with any amount of scrap metal, Ho-Oh could banish storms with a wave of its wings, and Regigigas could move anything no matter how big.
If he could create a Suicune Fruit, he could purify any water no matter how filthy, with Groudon he could raise the land Leviathan had sunk and create entire countries worth of land, Xerneas or Zygarde could bring nature with them anywhere, restoring dying forests.
"I am... Sorry about not helping the world at large. I suppose I've been so focused on my own benefit, that I've ignored the world's issues I could easily solve". Aleister spoke carefully, trying not to anger Lakshmibai again. He didn't want to rule a ruined and decaying world after all. "With all the threats out there, I've not been able to focus on fixing the world. So how about we make a deal?".
"A deal?". The Saber looked suspicious, but willing to listen.
"You give me a bit longer, we know Humbaba is heading this way and have no idea what chaos it will cause. You let me finish off the immediately concerning issues, and then I'll focus on fixing the world". The master offered, although a part of him was worried he'd have to resort to altering Lakshmibai's mind with the special Command Seals given to him by Gaia.
But thankfully, uncomfortable as she looked doing it, Lakshmibai nodded in agreement.
Bond up.
Lakshmibai: 2.