Chapter 284: A Shipwright Who Can't Build a Cannon Isn't a Good Pervert
Although Kaido personally held extreme disdain for the Seven Warlords, having fiercely brawled with Hanafuda multiple times, he acknowledged that they weren't entirely worthless. They possessed at least a baseline level of competence.
The fact that Yamato had managed to leave a tangible mark on Crocodile proved that her years of training under Nereus had indeed yielded highly satisfactory results. As long as her martial might was exponentially increasing, Kaido couldn't care less about any other details.
Kaido genuinely prioritized cultivating the next generation of his crew. However, his recruitment efforts had suffered catastrophic setbacks. Although the recruitment of Chameleone had somewhat bolstered their upper-tier combat power, and the integration of highly skilled Wano samurai stabilized their lower ranks...
Without an absolute, reliable right-hand man like Alber, the Beast Pirates' overall structural integrity felt significantly hollow.
To the current Kaido, Yamato was unequivocally his most ideal, highly anticipated future Vice-Captain.
As for the minor detail that his future Vice-Captain spent every waking second obsessively plotting how to violently beat him to death...?
Kaido didn't consider that an issue at all. After all, he firmly believed there was absolutely no universe where Yamato could ever defeat him, even with Nereus personally acting as her instructor.
While the World Government was holding an emergency conference to reprimand the Seven Warlords, the Donquixote Pirates operating in the North Blue were also experiencing significant internal personnel shifts.
The first-generation Corazon, Vergo, had officially departed the crew to covertly infiltrate the Marines as a deep-cover sleeper agent.
Simultaneously, the Marines' deep-cover sleeper agent—Doflamingo's biological younger brother, Rosinante—had officially assumed the mantle of the second-generation Corazon, continuing to silently leak critical intelligence to the Marines from right beside his brother.
This was precisely the hidden reason Doflamingo could never truly shake off Vice Admiral Tsuru. No matter how brilliantly he orchestrated his escapes, it was only a matter of time before the Marines flawlessly tracked him down again.
"Ah... what a beautifully bright, sunny day," Ginny sighed happily, leaning against the ship's railing.
"Hearing you say that feels incredibly weird," Luna muttered, stretching lazily beside her. "Why exactly does a vampire enjoy sunbathing so much?"
Luna was currently meticulously brushing her lush, pristine white fur under the warm sunlight. For the Mink Tribe, maintaining their fur was as essential and routine as a human brushing their hair.
"You should really go ask Lord Nereus that question," Ginny chuckled. "After all, he isn't afraid of the sun either."
"But Captain Nereus isn't here right now," Luna retorted, swishing her tail. "And as the only person in the entire world who has been artificially converted into a vampire, I'd say you possess absolute authority on this specific topic."
"It's not that I specifically love the sun," Ginny pondered, rubbing a layer of sunscreen onto her arm. "To be completely honest, ever since the conversion, I do occasionally feel much more comfortable and energized at night. But being out in the sun doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable either, so I don't mind it."
Similar curious inquiries arose frequently among the crew. As a secondary, artificially generated ability user derived from an Awakened Mythical Zoan, Ginny's unique physiology naturally sparked endless fascination.
For instance, given her infamous reputation as the crew's undisputed glutton, many wondered if her insatiable appetite for meat had translated into a similarly bottomless thirst for blood post-conversion.
However, she had never actually tested it. Ginny wasn't Nereus; her artificial conversion didn't grant her his terrifying, supernatural ability to telekinetically rip blood directly from an opponent's body.
If Ginny wanted to drink blood, she would have to do it the old-fashioned, primitive way: by physically biting someone's neck.
Her relatively average close-quarters combat skills didn't exactly support that hunting method. Furthermore, she hadn't been bored enough to stroll into a local hospital, purchase a massive crate of medical blood bags, and chug them just to test her stomach capacity. Thus, her true vampiric appetite remained one of the crew's great unsolved mysteries.
"Speaking of which, is this Water 7?" Ginny asked, peering through a spyglass at the approaching island. "It doesn't look nearly as prosperous as the geographical magazines claimed."
"That's because maritime travel has become incredibly dangerous," Luna explained. "I heard Mr. Tom's 'Sea Train' project is nearing completion. They're currently attempting to lay down the tracks across the ocean. Once the Sea Train is fully operational and reestablishes safe trade routes, this city's economy should recover rapidly...
"Inuarashi! Nekomamushi! Prepare for docking! We're arriving at the port!"
Their purpose for visiting Water 7 was simple: they had commissioned Tom's Workers to construct a brand-new, custom-built ship.
While stealing Marine warships—like Nereus often did—was certainly cost-effective, their crew was simply too small. Operating a massive, heavily armored Marine galleon with only a handful of people was a logistical nightmare.
Conversely, the performance of smaller Marine patrol ships in the erratic weather of the Grand Line was relatively poor. Therefore, they decided it was best to simply order a custom-tailored vessel designed precisely for their needs, alongside several highly specialized, custom-built weapons.
The shipwrights of Water 7 were world-renowned for building incredible ships, but their expertise wasn't strictly limited to carpentry. When they built a ship, they built everything—including the heavy artillery and main cannons. Consequently, many master shipwrights were also highly capable weaponsmiths.
Inside Tom's Workers' bustling shipyard, Tom and his apprentices were hard at work.
The prototype engine of the first-generation Sea Train, the Puffing Tom, had already been fully constructed and successfully test-run on a short, localized track near the island. Currently, the monumental, back-breaking phase of laying the tracks across the open ocean was underway.
Although there were countless safety metrics still requiring rigorous testing, the immediate workload at the shipyard had temporarily lightened. This allowed them to occasionally accept external, highly lucrative commissions—such as Luna's custom ship and Ginny's highly specific weapon request.
BOOM!
A deafening roar echoed across the water. A massive, gaping hole was violently blown straight through the hull of an anchored target ship floating offshore. Seawater rushed in through the catastrophic breach, and within moments, the shattered vessel sank into the depths.
"Direct hit! Right in the bullseye!"
Franky pulled up his welding goggles, grinning widely. He looked incredibly satisfied with the terrifying weapon he had just forged. "The client is going to be absolutely SUPER thrilled with this masterpiece! I've flawlessly met every single one of their ridiculous design specifications!"
Pulling out a carving tool, Franky began proudly etching the name Cutty Flam into the weapon's massive steel barrel to mark it as his personal creation.
Standing nearby, Iceburg stared at the weapon with an expression of profound, utter incomprehension.
"An 88-millimeter caliber direct-fire cannon," Iceburg muttered, reading off the blueprint specs. "To guarantee maximum accuracy and range, you significantly extended the length of the barrel. But... the client explicitly demanded that it must not have a mounting carriage or a swivel base. Furthermore, the ship we built for them already has its own dedicated main cannons... What on earth is this monstrosity actually supposed to be used for?"
The weapon commission had been sent alongside the ship blueprint directly from Fish-Man Island. Logically, one would assume they were meant to be used together. While Iceburg vastly preferred building ships over weapons, he wasn't ignorant about artillery design.
The specifications requested didn't resemble a naval cannon, nor did they resemble coastal defense artillery. The inclusion of heavy-duty, ergonomic grip handles near the rear strongly suggested it was meant to be... handheld.
Franky, however, found the request perfectly reasonable and wasn't surprised in the slightest.
"Don't be stupid, Iceburg!" Franky scoffed, striking a dramatic pose. "With specs like that, it's obviously designed to be fired while resting directly on someone's shoulder! That's exactly why they requested a massive, reinforced trigger mechanism!
"You've seen how absurdly strong Mr. Tom is, right? The Fish-Man race is full of colossal, hulking monsters who easily have that kind of wrist strength! Using a massive cannon like this as a personal firearm is SUPER logical!
"Oh, look! The clients are here! Let me guess... this cannon is definitely for that guy!"
Franky confidently pointed toward the towering figure of Bartholomew Kuma walking among the approaching crew. Standing at nearly seven meters tall, Kuma dwarfed even Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. While the 88mm direct-fire cannon was rather small for a proper naval gun, it looked like it would fit perfectly in Kuma's massive hands.
A few moments later, Luna's crew officially entered Tom's Workers' shipyard.
However, when Ginny—who was arguably the shortest and frailest-looking member of the crew—casually walked up, hoisted the massive, multi-ton 88mm cannon that was literally larger than her entire body onto her slender shoulder, and happily tested the grip...
Franky's confident grin instantly shattered, his face freezing in an expression of absolute, brain-breaking shock.
"Well then, my dear Cutty Flam," Iceburg smirked, brutally elbowing Franky in the ribs. "Do you have anything you'd like to say now?"
Instead of answering, Franky's eyes went wide with manic determination. He began marching stiffly, straight toward Ginny.
"Franky! What the hell are you doing?!" Iceburg yelled, grabbing his arm.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Franky roared indignantly, struggling against Iceburg's grip. "There is absolutely no SUPER way a tiny, frail woman with string-bean arms like that can properly handle the recoil of the masterpiece I just forged! I'm going to take it back and give it to the giant guy!
"Could you honestly stand by and watch a magnificent ship you built get recklessly driven into a reef by someone who doesn't know how to sail?! This is an insult to my craftsmanship!"
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you