Chapter 10: The Supernova Golden Lion
"Mr. Brook, you're suggesting installing a small screen on a Den Den Mushi? Like the display connected to a Den Den Mushi?"
A senior technician from the World Economy News Paper looked at Brook with a puzzled expression. In an Image Den Den Mushi, the one responsible for observing and recording was relatively small, while the one projecting images was much larger, requiring significant energy to sustain continuous transmission.
For example, during the Paramount War, the snail recording the battlefield was compact, while the one broadcasting the footage live to Sabaody Archipelago was much larger. The same applied to Impel Down—small snails were used for surveillance, as they were easier to conceal, while the ones displaying the footage in the monitoring room were much bigger.
"Yes, is it possible?" Brook asked.
"It's possible to install, but small Den Den Mushis simply don't have the stamina to project images for long before becoming exhausted and falling into dormancy."
The technician pointed out the limitation. The concept of using large Image Den Den Mushi for long-distance video communication already existed, but their range was limited. In most cases, a regular Communication Den Den Mushi was more practical—it could mimic human speech just as well.
Additionally, Den Den Mushi were fragile, lazy, and generally specialized in only one type of signal transmission or function. Juvenile Den Den Mushi, for instance, could only communicate over short distances, typically within the same island. Over time, selective breeding had refined their roles: those trained for photography lost their communication abilities and instead transmitted images via an external signal printer; those used for recording only captured footage, while projection snails were solely for display...
In short, these creatures were simple-minded and couldn't be overloaded with too many functions.
Still, the technician agreed to modify dozens of juvenile Den Den Mushi for Brook, attaching small screens to their shells via wired connections, similar to the receiver on a landline telephone.
When Brook saw the result, he thought it resembled an early touchscreen phone, connected internally by a cable and attached to the snail's shell.
As soon as one of the juvenile Den Den Mushi was fitted with the device, the screen flickered on for a few seconds before dimming.