Plans with and without results

Several days passed after the company meeting after Fred's return and Stephen and Fred followed the usual routine whenever Fred returned from one of his bloodthirsty and lucrative business trips.

They trained normally… well, at least with the peculiar concept of normality that Fred and Stephen had become accustomed to.

They studied and worked on their various private and joint projects normally... well, if the high level of complexity, productivity and multitasking that Stephen and Fred had become accustomed can be considered normal

They rested normally... well, they practically didn't rest at all. Except when they slept 95% of the time they were studying, working and training... and they almost never sleep thanks to Fred's [Dream Killer]

But overall everything was very normal for them, even for Marlon and Roxanne. They had already resigned themselves to changing the children's pace of life, so they lived their lives accepting everything as if it were more or less normal.

There was just one refreshing element out of this stressful abnormal normality. 

"YOHOU!

Look Fred! I am flying! I am flying!" Said Perona, who was flying in her astral form while her real body rested on the bed. "Look! Look!"

Since Perona arrived on the island, as she accepted a contract that wasn't fully read, she began training under the supervision of Fred to develop her Akuma No Mi. 

The first and most important step was to help Perona learn how to create her astral form! An extremely useful Horo Horo No Mi ability to fly, spy, distract, combat and exist without worrying about getting hurt… or at least that's what Fred's know right now.

However, learning this useful skill wasn't as easy as it seemed at first...

Fred tried several moderate ways to help Perona manifest this ability. But none worked, so he moved on to plan B, which the Steel family disapproved 

Make Perona train physically to the point where her soul would like to leave her body!

And after three days following this very unpopular training method, the results became evident.

"See! I was right! As usual!" Said Fred, proud that his controversial method had had the results he initially expected… even if it was partly an excuse to exercise the sedentary Perona. "You can criticize my methods, but not my results."

"WE'RE PRECISELY CRITICIZING YOUR METHODS!!" The entire Steel family shouted in unison, "You're extremely extreme and exaggerated in absolutely everything you do!"

They were partly right... and Fred was aware of that.

"If you're going to do something you have to do it well, to the last consequences" Fred responded proudly despite knowing that it wasn't a compliment.

From training, studying, working, resting... and even his goals and moral convictions, Fred pressed them to extremes to guarantee his success!

One of the old problems from his past life was that he did exactly the opposite. Fred often left things half done, didn't try hard enough and constantly excused his lack of action. Therefore, overall, he failed to do virtually anything he set out to do.

That's why he didn't want to make the same mistake in this life!

Fred firmly believed that he had the obligation and need to give his all at all times in any facet, no matter how small and insignificant it might seem

Excellence isn't an act, it's a habit!

A teaching that he wanted to transmit to the people around him, especially to newcomers like Perona.

But none of that mattered to Perona now...

"YUUUPI!!! I just fulfilled one of my dreams!

I CAN FLY!!!"

She was happy! Extremely happy to be able to fly like every child... and adult... dreams of!

But not only that, she was also extremely happy to fulfill the goal of the tortuous training that left her on the verge of collapse every morning. She had finally learned to separate her soul from her body, thus being able to fly through the skies, pass through walls and not feel the muscle pain that was touring her immobile body 

That meant that she should no longer continue training! After all, what need was there for an astral projection to be physically strong and fast?

It's common sense!

"Yes, I'm happy for you, but...

Now that you have finally achieved it, the excuse that you're too tired to study now is also over.

And also the excuse that you're too tired to train in the afternoon because you have studied earlier, after all you're in bed resting"

But Perona discovered that her common sense wasn't so common for her Boss!

"Demon! Tyrant! Abuser! Child exploiter!

You've fooled me!

I'm sure you had this all planned from the beginning!" Shouted Perona, feeling completely betrayed by everyone around her to be active, disciplined and competent... something that she wasn't going to allow "But bad for you! In this state I can't study properly!

I can't turn the pages of books, take notes or solve problems

So forget about making me study in astral form!

Horo-horo-horo-horo-horo!"

Fred verbally attacked the girl harshly by surprise, but Perona, faced with the great need to not continue participating in the infernal training and study sessions, her ten-year-old girl neurons went beyond their limits to create a brilliant counterattack.

"Hmm..

Yes, you're right, that's a problem...

Well then, go back to your body, take these... medicines... to regain you energy and sit at the table to study while you use that training machine that daddy Marlon made for you yesterday."

A counterattack that was counteracted by another of greater intensity that hit Perona's brain hard, leaving her without arguments or ability to defend herself or even act with dignity.

"KYAHHAAAHHHHHH!!!

NOOO!!!

NO MORE TRAINING!" Perona screamed, so scared that her soul returned on its own to her body and her body, despite being completely stiff after the infernal training, managed to draw strength from some unknown place to jump towards the only being that could protect her...

"NO! NO!

No way!

You won't turn my Perona into a hyper-efficient monster like you!" Shouted Roxanne, protecting poor Perona with her hug. Ready to defend her from her own family to guarantee that the girl had a minimally normal childhood.

"It's for her own good, mom" Said Stephen, trying to mediate between both parties. "I make sure that Fred is... proportionated... with his training and studies" 

Stephen was once in exactly that same situation.

Since he was little, Stephen knew that Fred's torturous training could be good for his personal growth, but he obviously didn't want to go through that inhumane torture for anything in the world.

But one day… he realized that he would have loved to suffer this torture from the beginning. A regret that Stephen didn't want Perona or any of his loved ones to suffer in the future, not if it could be avoided.

It may have been cruel and harsh at the beginning and later and... always, but in the end Stephen was sure that Perona would appreciate not having something similar to what other human beings call life in order to be a better version of herself in some years.

"How can you treat an adorable ten-year-old girl like this?

At this rate she will hate you and you will regret when she becomes a stunning woman" Roxanne said completely indignant and disappointed, especially with Fred, whom she was looking at "I really thought that [Mr Investor] had brought his future girlfriend home...

I was really delusional…"

"Huh?"!? Everyone exclaimed, even Perona, who suddenly lost the urge to cry due to shock.

That phrase caught everyone by surprise! They didn't know how to respond to this controversial comment!

Should they make a bad joke? Should they pretend that that hadn't happened? Should they hit her on the head with a magazine for having those thoughts? Should they deny it in a tsundere way? Should they take Roxanne to therapy? ¿They should call the FBI?

No one knew how to respond, except the person most harmed by this statement, Fred.

Aunt Roxanne…

Do you really think we have time for girlfriends considering the amount of time, work, patience and money it requires?" Fred responded with total apathy "Us precisely?"

Roxanne didn't need to ask what he meant by that.

It was more than evident just watching them work, train, and produce resources at the same time!

Wearing heavy, restrictive training suits, they pedaled madly with their legas to produce electricity for the house and island and with their arms, hair and mechanical arms, they ate and performed multiple complex tasks at the same time. after having trained hard on the beach. They hadn't stopped for a single moment from working and training at that pace since they returned from their serious training on the beach this morning and they wouldn't stop until the serious afternoon training 

And they wouldn't even stop at night! They haven't slept for days!

The breaks they took could be counted in seconds, precisely the seconds they needed to move between the house, the training place, the laboratory and other places.

They already squeezed every second until there was no drop and still complained that they needed more hours in the day to achieve their business and personal goals at the ideal time.

They definitely didn't have time for anything else, much less a girlfriend...

"Honey, accept it...

It will take you a looong time to see your grandchildren and Susan's grandchildren..." Marlon said, comforting his wife in one of the usual depressions of mother who has a son who doesn't meet with anyone except his family "If that day comes...

Not all women are as lucky as you.

STEE-STEEL-STEEL!!"

A more or less comical situation that sweetened that day full of unbridled training, study and work.

Berep-berep-berep! 

Berep-berep-berep!

And this situation was interrupted when the company's Den Den Mushi started ringing

Berep-berep-berep! 

Berep-berep-berep!

Everyone except Perona became tense when they heard the Den Den Mushi ring, so much so that the room became completely silent except for the sound of the snail phone with a face similar to Fred's, which didn't stop ringing.

"I'll go," Roxanne said, volunteering so that the children and her husband wouldn't interrupt their work.

Perona, the only one who didn't know what was happening, was surprised at how the atmosphere in the room changed so suddenly with that call. Everyone had a very serious face, especially Fred who suddenly stopped working and training, something that had never happened since she had known him.

And that was starting to worry her!

It was more than evident that everyone was waiting for an important call, but…

Who was the person they expected to call them?

Why was it so important? And...

Why did those usually happy people have such a sad face right now?

"It's the Slowagon company" Roxanne said with a great smile with which she tried to recompose the tense atmosphere. "They say that in one week they will bring half of the materials you requested and the other half the following week"

"I see that's... good news" Fred replied without hiding his disappointment in the slightest "Back to work..."

It was evident from their reactions that this wasn't the call they were waiting for... and Perona, like anyone else, needed answers.

"Mommy Roxanne, will you explain to me later what's happening?" Asked Perona whispering in Roxanne's ear, who had just now returned to her side.

Perona could be a ten-year-old girl who was somewhat spoiled, temperamental, loud, capricious and quite tactless in general… but even she knew when it wasn't a good time to ask questions that might trigger long, awkward, sad responses from the people around her.

"Yes, tonight sweetie" Answered Roxanne, caressing the head of the little girl 

Tonight, just like one night five years ago, Roxanne would explain to Perona the same thing she explained to Fred about what happened to Fred's mother on the fateful day of her disappearance.

She was kidnapped by a Tenryūbito and most likely taken to Mary Geoise, along with the rest of the slaves.

Mary Geoise, precisely the place that a few months ago was attacked by the gyojin Fisher Tiger. The now legendary gyojin who scaled the Red Line with his bare hands and invaded the most important headquarters of the World Government freeing all the slave gyojin and allowing the rest of the Celestial Dragon's captives to escape as well, including Boa Hancock, Sandersonia, Marigold, and Koala 

After fleeing from that hell that some call the home of the gods, the vast majority of the slaves tried to return to their former homes like the girls already mentioned and... the same thing was likely to happen with Susan, Fred's mother.

'What're the chances that this could happen?' Fred thought pessimistically as he looked at the photo inside the pendant that his father gave him on the deathbed, where he and his two parents posed happily on the day he came into this world. 'Close to zero…'

Fred knew the horrible conditions the slaves lived in there. A normal person like his mother didn't have much chance of staying alive, not after thirteen years. 

Added to this low possibility of remaining alive until the day of escape was also the possibility that she could have escaped with the other slaves without having died in the attempt, having chances of flee and without being caught again. A somewhat poor possibility considering how difficult it's to access and therefore escape from the top of the Red Line.

The chances of rescuing her were almost zero even if Fred joined the chaos created by Tiger. So low and with such high associated danger that Marlon and Roxanne begged him years ago not to repeat the same madness he carried out when he freed all the kidnapped women from the Leech Pirates.

'It's hard to see him like this... and it makes me feel guilty' Roxanne and Marlon thought when they saw Fred's sad expression. 'But we can't risk losing you in vain

Norman and Roxanne wouldn't forgive us...'

Both knew him too well, extremely well… and therefore knew that beneath that facade of a cold, prudent, calculating and risk-averse man there was an extremely temperamental, fearless, intransigent, violent and vengeful boy ready to exterminate anyone who dared to damage something he considered precious

That's why they knew that even if Fred was aware of the great danger he could expose himself to by participating in the attack with Fisher Tiger or by even traveling to the Grand Line to try to find Susan despite the strong possibility that she was dead… 

He would do it...

He would do it even if he had to massacre marines, agents of the world government and even the Tenryūbito themselves... and thereby obtain the certain death sentence of confronting a Marine Admiral

For this reason, from the day he explained this future scenario to the whole family, Marlon, Roxanne and even Stephen begged him to use his Pact Magic to promise them that he would do nothing, not even actively look for her. The risk that the Government could obtain that information and decide that it was advisable to send assassins to kill a vengeful enemy with great potential was high.

With these restrictions to ensure that Susan and Norman's legacy didn't die in vain in a probably useless operation, the only thing Fred could do to help his mother in the event that she was alive and outside of Mary Geoise was to expand his fame as much as possible

But not only his personal fame, also promote his company in the media every time he could. This way, regardless of where Susan was, she could use Den Den Mushi's contact number, call them directly, and from there make a plan to bring her back with discretion

However, weeks passed and there was no news about her...

Nothing at all...

"Cheer up Fred, don't throw in the towel yet" Stephen said, trying to spread his usual optimism and joy "Apart from matters over which we have no control...

Captain Mcnugget's new body is ready

Made of the most resistant and hard stainless metal we have, with sharp wings and feathers, diamond-tipped beak and claws and also floats in the water like a duck would

Just as you asked me"

And so it was, in front of him was a small, but sturdy bird sculpture made almost entirely of steel, with an internal mechanism to float in the water and a small entrance to its interior from the ass that Stephen had made in the lasts minutes.

"He looks small, much smaller than Hawky..." Said the astral body Perona, who unable to contain her curiosity, approached the work table despite the danger "And they aren't exactly the same.

Hawky is cuter"

She wasn't unaware of what Fred and Stephen were trying to do creating this little minimally lethal toy. With Fred's ability and this half-made gadget they intended to give Captain Mcnugget a more resistant and lethal body .

However, what she saw wasn't exactly what the girl imagined at first.

"It's not even important that it looks like a bird, although it's something that helps somewhat to create a better final shape and more quickly.

What's really important is that they have the same mass

Once I do my magic everything will adapt to the actual size of...

CAPTAIN MCNUGGET!" Fred responded, highlighting the name of his pet as he introduced his concentrated lineage factor into the hatch located in the butt "Now I just need to add his genetic material through the ass hole, wait for Stephen to perfectly weld the entrance so that nothing gets in or out of there...

It's somewhat paradoxical, but that's the funny thing..."

Seconds later, after Stephen finished the welding process and left some time for the metal figure's ass to cool, Fred applied his ability to the figure and it began to mutate. 

The small figurine progressively increased in size until it reached the size of the falcon they knew so well. Its surface, despite maintaining the shine and hardness of steel, was losing rigidity. It was as if two materials were merging and maintaining the best qualities of each one.

The hardness of steel and the flexibility of flesh!

A strange biometal that became more and more alive with each passing second, until finally a hawk with metallic luster even in its internal organs and eyes was reborn stronger than ever again in the Steel house.

And he took off with complete normality! As if he were made of normal organic matter!

"Woah!

A steel falcon, with surprise tricks that flies perfectly! Said Fred, proud of his work "The first member of my future army of low-cost bionic animals that would dominate this world

MUA HAHAHAHAHA!!!

…

Oops, I said it out loud..."

"KYAHHH!!!"

"He says he loves it and doesn't feel anything strange at the moment" Said Fred, acting as interpreter for the entire family "Yes, he doesn't feel anything strange in the ass either."

There didn't seem to be any problems with the new Captain Mcnugget.

He didn't even seem to have a problem eating the cookies that Perona offered him, which he could eat and digest without any problem even though his internal organs were now metallic.

The experiment had been a resounding success.

"I am glad

We will update you as we have better technology" Stephen said as he happily stroked the metallic feathers of his new favorite living being "But before we eat we will do a few resistance tests to know the limits of your new body

Tests that would have started right now, but...

"MMM..."

Fred started acting weird, even more than usual...

"He... hehe... hahaha...

MUA HAHAHAHAHAHA!

YEAH! YOU WERE LATE!

MUA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

It wasn't uncommon for him to laugh evilly with an evil inhuman face, but usually he did it with some kind of context that could justify it

A context that seemed non-existent right now

And most worrying of all, he got up from the stationary bike, stopped working, training and started looking out the window towards the sea

"What's wrong Fred?

Are you gassy?" Asked Marlon, the worst hypochondriac detective around "You don't have to laugh and stand up to camouflage the sound and smell of the fart."

We're in family"

"Family, get ready" Said Fred, completely ignoring Marlon's comment to communicate something important. "I have a feeling we'll have a visitor in a few minutes."

---

Minutes later

A fleet of five ships from afar finally saw land after many hours of travel

And in one of those five ships, the largest, the one in the middle leading the expedition, the lookout carried out his duties. Report what almost everyone had already seen to the highest ranking man on the ship.

"Father, we see Narhad, what are your instructions?"

"Simple...

Raze the island to the ground and kill every living thing you find, but I want Fred alive

I want to personally skin him with his own knife and then hang his skin in the center of Ballywood so that everyone can see it during the day of the great meeting" Said the mafia boss Capone Bege, who despite greatly preferring firearms he didn't let go of the knife of his enemy until now

A knife that Fred purposely impregnated with his subtract and with which he could tell that Bege was approaching his position with the purpose of killing him and everyone who was in Narhad

Just like Fred had planned

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You'll be able to see 8 chapters in advance in my Pa-treon

pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371