In the end, the Five Elders didn't kill Val.
Why? The answer was simple.
Loyalty—and how convenient he was to use.
A few minor mistakes could still be forgiven.
After returning to Marine Headquarters, Val dropped his previously humble demeanor. With an official decree in hand, he walked straight into Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office.
From now on, all investigations related to the 16th Division would be under Val's sole authority. All departments in the East Blue and Marine HQ were ordered to fully cooperate.
Barely a few minutes later, Val walked out of the office with a smug grin on his face.
Inside the office, Sengoku slammed his palm down hard on the desk.
His face was twisted with fury—but there was nothing he could do.
He might be the Fleet Admiral, but that's all he was. Just the Fleet Admiral.
That very same day, Val boarded a large battleship and set sail for the East Blue.
---
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
The newly built training center of the 157th Division was finally completed.
"System, initiate special trait selection!"
Ding! Selection in progress. Please wait...
Selection complete!
Building Trait 1: Physique Sculpting +80%
Building Trait 2: Stamina Consumption -30%
Would you like to engrave these traits, Host?
"No. Definitely not!"
Luo Lan rejected it immediately.
Physique sculpting...? What kind of ridiculous trait was that?
And the reduced stamina consumption—honestly, kind of pointless. It only applied during training sessions.
Sure, the first draw was free, but his luck had clearly been awful.
He glanced at his remaining points, plus the ones he'd recharged in the past two days.
Tch...
Just over 3,000 points.
Refreshing a single C-rank building trait cost 1,000 points.
Which meant he had exactly three more tries.
"System, refresh Trait 1!"
Ding! Refresh complete.
Building Trait 1: Adjustable Building Gravity (up to 10x)
Huh?
For a moment, Luo Lan didn't even react.
Adjustable gravity?
He quickly checked the trait description.
It was exactly what he thought—he could freely adjust the gravity within the building.
Even more impressive, individual rooms could be set to different gravity levels.
The adjustable range? 1 to 10 times normal gravity.
This was...
Absolutely insane!
No need to hesitate.
"System, engrave Trait 1!"
Ding! Engraving complete.
"Perfect. Now refresh Trait 2."
Ding! Refresh complete.
Building Trait 2: Structural Integrity +50%
...What use was that?
If enemies couldn't break in, the trait was pointless.
If enemies could break in, then no amount of extra durability would save the place—it would still be flattened in one strike.
Totally meaningless.
"System, refresh again!"
This was his final chance.
If nothing good came out of it, he'd have to settle for now.
After all, he was out of Berries.
Ding! Refresh complete.
Building Trait 2: All Trait Effects Doubled
Whoa.
Another new one.
All trait effects doubled?
Luo Lan immediately checked the detailed description.
Description: Doubles the effectiveness of other traits on the same building.
He sucked in a breath.
So that meant...
"System, engrave Trait 2!"
Ding! Engraving complete.
As the system's voice echoed in his mind, Luo Lan turned to gaze at the massive training center in front of him.
Comprehensive Training Center
Grade: C
Building Trait 1: Adjustable Gravity, up to 20x (includes Trait 2 enhancement)
Building Trait 2: All Trait Effects Doubled
Hot damn, this place was ridiculous now.
With a single thought, Luo Lan cranked the building's gravity to the max—20 times normal.
Then he adjusted several individual training rooms to different gravity levels.
Yeah, this was surprisingly convenient.
He couldn't help but admire his own work.
Just then…
"So this is the training center?"
"Gotta admit, it looks great. Tina's going to take a look around!"
Hina wasn't particularly interested in strength training equipment. Barbells, dumbbells—she'd seen them all back in the Elite Training Camp at HQ.
But the building itself? It was gorgeous. Everything was glass. Not a wall in sight.
Her curiosity was immediately piqued.
Of course, Luo Lan had no reason to say no.
Only, just as Hina stepped through the entrance, a sudden realization hit him.
Oh crap. I forgot to turn the gravity down!
The moment she entered, Hina was crushed by twenty times normal gravity.
Caught completely off guard, she immediately dropped to one knee, bracing herself with her right hand.
"W-What... the hell?"
A second later, the heavy force vanished—just as suddenly as it had appeared.
Her body felt light again.
She stood up, rolled her shoulders and tested her limbs.
Nothing felt off.
"Sister Hina, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Wait a minute... was that your doing?"
"Just a small... oversight!"
"Oh? Please, continue. Hina's listening."
She crossed her arms and glared at him, eyes sharp.
Luo Lan suddenly recalled a memory from his previous life:
An uncle sitting at the bedside, small notebook in one hand, pen in the other, scribbling something down.
Then, without lifting his head, he muttered:
"Go on. I'm listening."
The image was so vivid it knocked him out of the moment.
He shook his head and banished the thought.
"Sister Hina, you've heard of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, right?"
"I've read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. It's a Paramecia type, yeah?"
"Exactly. Well, this building functions similarly to that fruit—it can manipulate gravity within a set range."
...
What is this guy even saying?
How could that be possible?
Was he seriously trying to claim the building had eaten a Devil Fruit?
Sure, she'd heard rumors that the science division was experimenting with giving Devil Fruits to inanimate objects—but…
That was still far from successful.
Even Vegapunk hadn't cracked that.
And now this guy had made it work?
With a whole building?
Tina was stunned. Completely stunned.
Luo Lan had no way of explaining the system, and he wasn't planning to.
So all the future "miracles" of the 157th Division would need a plausible cover story.
And honestly, the "building ate a Devil Fruit" theory sounded perfect. Flexible, easy to justify, and impossible to disprove.
Hina was shocked!
Her mind filled in the blanks, and everything started to make sense.
No wonder the 157th Division always felt so strange.
So this was the reason...!
"Well then, sister Hina," Luo Lan stepped closer, grinning, "how about I set you up with a permanent private room in here?"
"Do it. Immediately!"