"I have no intention of making you do hard labor, Robin."
Cyrus turned his head and said with a smile to Robin beside him.
"This is just your training!" Robin blinked upon hearing this.
Wasn't that still hard labor?
Tom and the others watched Cyrus and Robin talk, waiting on the side.
Only when they saw Cyrus turn back did Tom continue speaking.
"The ramming figurehead hasn't been installed yet. What kind would you like?"
The Fish-man Tom pointed to the bow of the ship, clearly wanting to hear Cyrus's thoughts.
"As for the figurehead, do you have any ideas?"
Hearing this, Cyrus asked for Robin's opinion, as she was one of the few important crew members.
"Well..." Robin thought for a moment, then lowered her head and looked at the two masks in her hand.
Seeing this, Cyrus immediately turned to Tom.
"A rose. The figurehead should be a rose!"
'A flower?'
Cyrus's words stunned Robin, who was about to offer her own suggestion. Tom and the others were also a bit curious.
But the ship belonged to Cyrus, so since he wanted a rose figurehead, no one would raise any objections.
Tom immediately had Cutty Flam and the others get to work on it.
"The materials used for this ship are exactly the same as those for Pirate King Roger's ship, but it's more advanced. After all, the Pirate King's ship was built many years ago."
Tom looked at the ship before him, seeming very emotional.
"This should be the last ship this old man builds."
"What, you don't plan on leaving?"
Hearing the tone of the Fish-man Tom, Cyrus asked with confusion.
"The shipyard in the City of Water Seven.... is my life's work."
Tom turned to look at Cyrus.
"I'm very grateful for your help before, but the World Government will not let me go."
"That's strange. I don't recall the Marine conducting a large-scale capture of Pirate King Roger's crew. Why would they come after you, a mere shipwright?"
Robin looked at Tom and asked.
"This..." Tom was taken aback by the question, a bitter smile on his face.
"Because he's too weak, so he's easy to bully." Cyrus said with a wave of his hand.
"Oh, I see!" Robin nodded, indicating she understood.
Tom was speechless.
'Whatever,' he thought.
'It's not like what he said is wrong.'
"Speaking of which, what are you planning to name this ship?"
Robin surveyed the brand-new vessel, knowing she would be sailing the great sea on it from now on.
She asked for Cyrus's thoughts.
"The Rose Hunter Ship!"
Cyrus looked at the ship, thought for a moment, and gave it a name.
'Rose Hunter?'
"Does 'rose' have some kind of symbolic meaning to you?"
The bow was going to be fitted with a Rose Ram and now the name also contained "rose."
Robin felt the flower must represent something.
"The Poor man Rose!"
Cyrus stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the ship.
"It represents a certain will and a final, brilliant flourish."
The idea for the Hunter Guild had indeed come from an anime he had watched in his previous life.
The Poor man Rose represented that guild master's resolve to face a powerful enemy with no fear of death.
"Well, it might sound a bit unlucky, but whatever, it's just a name."
Cyrus smacked his lips, muttered to himself, then turned to look at Robin.
"What do you think?"
"It's fine. It's even related to my ability!" Robin said.
As she spoke, two arms sprouted from her shoulder, then scattered into a flurry of petals.
Seeing Robin use her ability didn't surprise Tom in the slightest.
"Do you need the ship's name painted on the hull?" Tom asked.
"No need!"
Cyrus waved his hand, then looked at Tom.
"I'm going to establish a Hunter Guild. Many hunters will join in the future, and we'll probably need a lot of ships."
Cyrus's words puzzled Tom.
He looked at Cyrus, waiting for him to continue.
"Rather than waiting in this city for World Government agents, why not become a member of the guild?"
"I'm being targeted by the World Government, you know," Tom reminded him.
"You don't need to worry about that. The World Government has a lot on its plate, they won't pay too much attention to you."
'That doesn't sound right,' Tom thought.
His expression stiffened.
But he did begin to consider it seriously.
He now knew Cyrus's identity. In the Grand Line, or even in the New World, he was a powerhouse.
"I understand. I will consider this matter carefully." Tom pondered, not giving an immediate answer.
"What is there to consider? Do you want to die that badly?"
It was Robin who spoke.
She could see that Cyrus seemed to want to recruit the Fish-man shipwright, so she went straight to the point.
"I'm not the only one here."
Tom naturally understood Robin's meaning.
But here in the City of Water Seven, he also had a group of students.
"Isn't that perfect? You can all just join the guild. It's just a title, anyway," Robin said again.
Tom was taken aback.
He looked at Robin, then at Cyrus.
'Are they planning to take me and all my students in one package deal?'
"The ship is quite large. It should be able to hold a good number of people. You can think it over carefully before I depart," Cyrus said, then leaped directly onto the ship.
Robin followed closely behind, boarding as well.
Tom watched the two of them board, standing frozen for a moment with a serious expression.
The matter of the Pluton Blueprint wouldn't end so easily.
Now that the World Government knew about it, they certainly wouldn't give up on the blueprint so readily.
Even if he died, as long as the World Government hadn't obtained the blueprint, they would surely target his students.
"That Fish-man doesn't seem interested."
On the ship, Robin followed behind Cyrus, strolling around as she spoke casually.
"It's fine either way. What I said is true; the Hunter Guild will definitely need people who can build ships later. After all, this is the sea. If he doesn't agree, I'll just have Crocodile find someone himself."
"You really like delegating things to others."
Robin shook her head, speechless.
"Of course. Anyone would want to take it easy if they could. Besides, isn't that what I got Crocodile for?" Cyrus said with an air of perfect self-assurance.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say, Guild Master."
"Naturally. Most of the miscellaneous tasks will be handled by Crocodile, and my personal matters will be handled by my little secretary, Nico Robin."
As Cyrus spoke, it was clear he had already decided he wouldn't be doing any work himself.
Robin was even more speechless.
'Who's my little secretary? I'm older than you, you know!'
Of course, she didn't say this out loud.
If she did, Cyrus would probably say something even more ridiculous.
"It's so spacious!" Robin exclaimed as she walked around the ship.
Although this ship was much smaller than the massive vessels on the sea, it was far larger than the boat they had been using before, and its functions were much more complete.
After all, their previous boat had been far too small.
It felt crowded with just a few people on board.