"Tom?"
Hocka frowned slightly, muttering the name to himself, feeling vaguely familiar.
Suddenly, Hocka remembered something and said in surprise, "Is that the fish-man ship builder from Water 7?"
"Yes." Tiger nodded. "You should know him, right?"
Of course Hocka knew him.
After all, Tom was also considered a legendary figure among the fish-men.
And in fact, Hocka knew even more than Tiger imagined.
After settling in Fish-Man Village, influenced by Rowan, the villagers began to pay attention to world events in the newspapers.
Although not many of them could read.
Hocka also didn't know many words, but since he had finally settled down, he wanted to read newspapers or books himself, so he often went to the neighboring town of Yuba to ask for help.
After all, Alabasta was a super power, and there were many talented people in the country.
Some teachers, having heard about the origin of Fish-Man Village, voluntarily opened temporary classes in their spare time, taking in fish-men or humans who were willing to study.
Over time, Hocka learned many words and could understand daily newspapers.
And recently, a piece of news caught Hocka's attention.
In Water 7, a brand new sea transportation tool was created, called the "Sea Train"!
It was a train that could travel on the sea, with its tracks fixed on the surface of the water, connecting two destinations to achieve fast transportation.
The train made sounds that sea monsters hated, and the rails could float on the sea without being affected by storms or waves, making it a genius design.
Two things really caught Hocka's attention.
The first was the core design idea of the Sea Train.
According to the newspaper, the Sea Train could achieve fast transportation between two destinations, and passengers didn't need to worry about wind, waves, or beasts at sea.
If the Four Seas Alliance's fixed shipping routes connected two places through "politics and ideas," then the Sea Train truly achieved extremely fast transportation between the two places on a "physical level."
Hocka thought that Mr. Rowan would be interested.
At the same time, Hocka was also very concerned about the second thing, which was the creator of the Sea Train.
His name was "Tom," a horned fish-man.
Just saying this name might not be widely known, but Tom had done something.
That thing was enough to make his name known throughout the world!
As a ship builder, Tom once built the Oro Jackson for the Pirate King Gol d. Roger.
That legendary ship, which had completed the feat of traveling around the world, earned Tom the title of the world's best ship builder, and also made him a "major criminal" of the World Government.
…
Ten years ago, in Sea Calendar 1498.
Gol d. Roger surrendered and was executed in his hometown of Loguetown.
Tom was also arrested by the World Government at that time, boarded a judicial ship, and was tried by the World Government.
The result of the trial was undoubtedly a death sentence.
But Tom proposed the idea of the "Sea Train" in court.
The judge was also shocked by the potential future that this idea could bring, so he sentenced Tom to a ten-year suspended sentence.
If the Sea Train could be completed after ten years, then Tom would have his "merits and demerits offset" and be exempt from the death penalty.
Time passed, and Tom succeeded.
He created a new future, saved Water 7, the former "world ship factory," and was even about to bring new prosperity to the surrounding islands.
But just when everyone thought that Tom would be exempt from the death penalty and become famous as the "father of the Sea Train," unexpected things happened.
According to the newspaper, Tom actually remotely controlled battle ships and attacked the judicial ship representing the World Government!
Few people believed this, but it really did happen.
…
In fact, only a few people knew the truth.
Ryan Rowan might also be one of them.
Tom held the blueprints for the ancient weapon Pluton!
Spandam, the commander of CP5 at the time, tried to seize the Pluton blueprints, but Tom refused.
Holding a grudge, Spandam used the "Franky Battle Ship" created by Tom's apprentice, Cutty Flam, to attack the judicial ship.
In order to protect his apprentice, Tom voluntarily confessed, using his merit in creating the Sea Train to offset Flam's crime of attacking the judicial ship.
In the end, Tom accepted the "death sentence" that had been suspended for ten years with a smile.
…
No.
Things didn't seem to have developed to that point yet.
At this moment, Tom had already confessed his guilt and was being held on the judicial ship. Soon, he would be sent to Enies Lobby via the Sea Train to be executed.
In other words, Tom's "legal death" was already certain. To save his life, one could only consider it from a perspective "beyond the law."
Tiger could only think of two ways to save Tom:
Either break him out of prison, or ask for help from those who were beyond the law themselves.
…
Hocka blinked. "I didn't expect you to know the world's best ship builder!"
After all, Tom had left Fish-Man Island for many years, and he and Tiger didn't seem to have any points of contact.
"Tom has a merman brother who is my friend."
Tiger explained, "He contacted me to ask if I had any ideas. It just so happened that you..."
Speaking to this point, Tiger was a little embarrassed.
He wanted to say, "It just so happened that I heard the news that you became a Warlord of the Sea, so I wanted to ask if you had any ideas."
But when he got to this point, Tiger found it difficult to speak.
What kind of person was he?
Even when facing the Celestial Dragons, Tiger never lowered his head in resistance. How could he now be thinking of using his friend's status as a "Warlord of the Sea" to save another friend?
In fact, Tiger really wanted to try to break him out of prison, but the ship escorting Tom was not a regular war ship, but the Sea Train developed by Tom himself.
When the Sea Train was running at full speed, even fish-men couldn't get close!
The idea of breaking him out of prison was simply impossible.
Hocka understood what Tiger meant. After thinking for a while, he slowly said, "In any case, let's go see Mr. Rowan first. He might have a way."
It wasn't that Hocka was being overly cautious, nor that he didn't want to help.
But...
Hocka still didn't know what the so-called "Warlord of the Sea" could do...
…
The Sun Pirates stayed in Fish-Man Village to rest.
Hocka led Tiger to the capital Alubarna to discuss countermeasures with Rowan.
After a day of rushing, the two arrived at the royal palace of Alubarna and entered the reception room.
At this moment, Rowan was sitting in his seat, his fingers extending several tiny grains of sand, outlining a vivid "butterfly" in the air.
He watched the butterfly's wings with great interest.
When Tiger came forward, Rowan stood up, shook hands with Tiger, and then listened to Hocka explain the information that he already knew.
Then, Rowan sighed with a bit of helplessness.
After all, they were fish-men and couldn't fully understand the meaning of the Warlords of the Sea to the World Government.
He explained to Tiger:
"The World Government provides the Warlords of the Sea with legal identities. While enjoying legal identities, the Warlords of the Sea must also be prepared to respond to the World Government's call at any time. The relationship between the World Government and the Warlords of the Sea is only this."
"The Warlords of the Sea have no power to bail out a World Government death row inmate, because they themselves are 'criminals'."
Rowan's words made Tiger very disappointed.
In that case, he could only try to forcefully intercept the Sea Train.
Although, based on the Sea Train's speed, he couldn't catch up with it at all.
Hope was slim...
But just as Tiger was about to thank him and leave, Rowan suddenly reached out and stopped him.
"The world's best ship builder Tom is a well-known man!"
Rowan smiled.
"If it were him, he would probably want to walk off the judicial ship in a glorious way, right? Otherwise, as a fish-man, he would have run away long ago. Even with his family, he would have the ability to leave Water 7."
"But he didn't run."
"Because Tom wants to resolve this matter in an honorable way."
"Sometimes, you don't have to resort to force in everything."
"Why not consider resolving the problem in a glorious way, like Tom?"
"Glorious" was Tom's catchphrase.
Tiger was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Do you have a way?"
After all, the man in front of him was an emperor from eight hundred years ago and also the leader of the Four Seas Alliance.
He must have some methods that ordinary people couldn't imagine!
Then, Tiger heard Rowan say:
"We can talk to the World Government about the facts and reason."
Tiger: "..."
What the heck?
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