Visitors to the Shipbuilding Island

(This text has been given the Door-Door Fruit - Moving Form, and anyone who clicks on it will be teleported to Water 7 to become a ship slave.)

1473, the year of the Sea Circle Calendar. Water 7, sunny.

A black ship slowly entered the harbor. Standing on the bow was a black-haired youth, hands in his pockets, expressionless. Behind him were a burly man carrying Iron Club, a brute rubbing his fists, a silent blob of Paw, a bird-like figure with flames emanating from its back, a tall, thin man playing with shadows, a purple-haired man cutting things, and a pink-haired woman holding a sniper rifle.

And a retired old man wearing a gray training uniform with a wooden sword at his waist.

"Oh ho ho..." Kaido looked at the scenery of Water 7, "This place is more like a habitable place than Hachinosu."

"Nonsense." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hachinosu used to be a pirate's den, this is a proper city. How can you compare them?"

Lin Yuan jumped off the ship, his feet landing on the stone slabs of the dock. His Spatial Perception expanded, and within a radius of three kilometers, the location of every shipwright, the layout of every shipyard, and the number of drunkards in every tavern were all laid out in his mind.

"Found it," he said.

"What did you find?" Bullet asked.

"The legendary shipwright, Tom," Lin Yuan turned and walked towards the interior of the island, "Is having afternoon tea in the deepest part of Water 7, near Scrap Island."

"How did you know he was having afternoon tea?" Moria asked.

"That's what I saw with my Spatial Perception. He was holding a teacup, had a biscuit in his mouth, and was sitting opposite a large Nezumi."

"... Nezumi?"

"Hmm. A blue Nezumi, bigger than him."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Inazuma spoke up, "Does this world really have talking Nezumi?"

"Yes," Lin Yuan said without turning his head, "Not only can they talk, but they can also build ships."

Kaido grinned. "Oh ho ho... Interesting. Much more interesting than Hachinosu."

Tom's workshop was in the most remote corner of Water 7, surrounded by piles of scrapped ship planks and rusted parts. The air was thick with the smell of sawdust and machine oil, and a Blue Nezumi, as big as an adult, sat at the door with a cup of tea in its hand.

"Oh, we have a guest." Tom came out of the workshop, a towel draped over his shoulder and a hammer in his hand. He was a huge Fish-Man with two curved horns, dark blue skin, and a voice like thunder.

Lin Yuan stood at the entrance of the workshop, his hands in his pockets.

"Mr. Tom, I'm here to build a ship."

Tom sized him up and down, then glanced at the row of oddly shaped followers behind him. His gaze lingered on Kaido for a moment, then shifted to the sniper rifle in Ginny's hand, before finally settling back on Lin Yuan's face.

"Are you a pirate?"

"Yes."

How much is the bounty?

"1.5 billion."

Tom whistled. "Fifteen billion pirates building ships here? Won't the Navy come after me?"

Has the Navy given you any trouble?

Tom thought for a moment. "That's true."

He turned and walked into the workshop. "Come in. Help yourself to the tea and your chair. My Nezumi is shy, so please don't scare it."

The Blue Nezumi glanced at Kaido's Iron Club and silently moved two steps to the side.

The workshop was filled with half-finished ship hulls and design drawings. Tom sat in front of a workbench, put his hammer on the table, and crossed his arms.

"Tell me, what kind of ship do you want?"

Lin Yuan took a piece of paper out of his pocket and spread it on the table.

The paper only had three words written on it: The best.

Tom stared at the three words for five seconds, then looked up.

That's it?

"That's it."

"Size? Speed? Number of cannons? Armor thickness? You haven't specified anything, how am I supposed to build it?"

Lin Yuan leaned against the workbench. "You're a legendary shipwright. You ask me these things? What kind of legend are you then?"

Tom paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. The laughter shook the blueprints on the table. "Haha... Interesting! You're much more interesting than that Mary Geoise nobleman who came to see me the other day. That guy wrote twenty pages of requirements, like 'the bow must be gilded,' 'the cabins must be lined with velvet,' 'the toilets must be made of ivory'—it made me think he was building a ship for his honeymoon."

Kaido interjected, "So what did you say to him?"

Tom shrugged. "I said I couldn't build it. He asked why. I said I wouldn't build your Celestial Dragons' ship." He turned green with anger and left with the CP Agents.

"Aren't you afraid of retaliation?" Ginny asked.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Tom picked up his hammer and tapped it on the workbench. "I've built over four hundred ships in my life. Navy ships, pirate ships, merchant ships, civilian ships. Whoever asked me to build a ship, I'd build it. But I wouldn't build for the Celestial Dragons. Why? Because they wouldn't pay."

Everyone: "..."

"Just kidding," Tom laughed. "Actually, it's because they don't use the boat for trading or rescuing people; they use it for hunting in non- Affiliated Nation. My boat doesn't get involved in that kind of dirty stuff."

Lin Yuan looked at Tom and remained silent for two seconds.

"I didn't build ships to kill people."

"Then why?"

"To live."

Tom stared at him for a long time, then nodded. "Okay. The best ship. I'll take it. But you have to do me a favor."

"Explain."

"A giant Sea Kings has recently appeared in the waters east of Water 7. It's over two hundred meters long, bigger than a warship. It's blocking the shipping lanes, preventing merchant ships from passing and blocking the transport of timber for my shipbuilding. The navy sent people to fight it, but they couldn't defeat it. Two warships were sunk."

Tom pulled a nautical chart from under the table and pointed to a location. "This is its lair, ten thousand meters deep in the ocean. Ordinary ships can't go down there, so there's nothing I can do. But you're no ordinary person—a 1.5 billion bounty pirate, you must have some skills, right?"

Lin Yuan looked at the nautical chart without saying a word.

Kaido leaned closer for a look. "Oh ho ho... a two-hundred-meter- Sea Kings? I could crush it with one hand."

Lin Yuan looked at Tom. "You mean, I'll help you deal with that Sea Kings, and you'll help me build a ship?"

"Right."

When will the ship be finished?

"Let's see how fast you can solve it," Tom laughed. "If you solve it today, I'll start tomorrow. If you drag it out for a month, then we'll start a month later."

Lin Yuan stood up. "Ginny, location."

Ginny made a circle with her fingers, her eyes gleaming with purple light. After a moment, she frowned. "Ten thousand meters is too deep. My Glint-Glint Fruit can see, but it's very blurry. That Sea Kings's aura... is strange. It's not like an ordinary Sea Kings."

"What's wrong with it?"

"There's a metallic reaction inside its body... as if it's been modified."

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed. "Sea Kings?"

"Hmm." Ginny lowered her fingers. "Not sure who did it, but it definitely didn't grow naturally."

Tom's expression changed. "Modification... could it be that mad scientist?"

"Which one?" Kaido asked.

"Caesar Clown," Tom's voice deepened, "A former scientist of the World Government, a former colleague of Vegapunk. That guy specializes in human experimentation and weapon modification. If Sea Kings have been modified by him, it won't just be a matter of blocking shipping lanes."

"What's that?" Bullet asked.

Tom looked at the chart and remained silent for a moment. "It's a weapon."

Lin Yuan did not hesitate.

"Kaido, you're coming with me to the deep sea. King will provide support from above. Kuma, prepare for the catapult rescue. The rest of you, stand by."

"Me too?" Kaido slung his Iron Club over his shoulder.

"You're Mythical Zoan. You can fight even in water."

"Okay... fine! I've wanted to get a big one for a while now!"

Lin Yuan raised his hand and opened a door in the air. Behind the door was a vast expanse of dark seawater—ten thousand meters deep, devoid of light, only boundless darkness and immense water pressure.

"Walk."

He stepped inside, with Kaido following behind.

The door closed.

Ginny stood in the workshop, making a circle with her fingers, the purple light in her eyes illuminating half her face. "They've arrived... 10,000 meters. The water pressure is immense, Kaido's body is deforming... no, he's transforming."

"Where is Lin Yuan?" Jin asked.

Ginny's pupils contracted sharply. "Lin Yuan... he didn't transform. He simply opened a door beneath his feet, encasing himself in an air bubble. The Sea Kings... is just 500 meters in front of them."

How big?

"Three hundred meters. Bigger than Tom said."

The workshop fell silent for a moment.

Tom's grip on the hammer tightened slightly. "A 300-meter-long modified Sea Kings... even the Navy would have to run."

Ginny suddenly laughed. "No need to run."

"Why?"

"Because Kaido has already charged up there."

In the deep sea, a giant dragon and a giant serpent are fighting against a giant Sea Kings covered in metal armor.

The dragon bit the Sea Kings's neck, and the snake coiled around Sea Kings body. The sea was churned up, with undercurrents surging and even giant waves rising on the surface.

Ginny's voice came through the Den Den Mushi, trembling slightly. "Kaido bit through the Sea Kings's neck... its metal armor shattered... Lin Yuan opened a door above its head, and inside the door was... a volcano?!"

Tom's hand trembled. "A crater? Which crater?"

"I don't know. But the lava has already poured in. The Sea Kings are struggling... but they're not moving."

The workshop was deathly silent.

A moment later, the door reopened.

Kaido emerged from the doorway, soaking wet, with several metal fragments hanging from his shoulders. His clothes were torn in several places, revealing his scale-covered chest. He had a huge Sea Kings tooth dangling from his mouth, which he spat onto the ground.

"Okay, all done."

Lin Yuan followed behind, his clothes completely dry. He walked up to Tom.

"The Sea Kings is solved. When do we start construction?"

Tom stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.

"Tomorrow."

He stood up, walked to the workbench, and pulled out a huge blueprint, spreading it on the table.

"The best ship, you say? What I, Tom, am best at in my life is building the best ships."

Lin Yuan looked at the blueprints, which depicted a warship unlike any he had ever seen before—a streamlined hull with three giant cannons arranged on the deck, sails designed to incorporate the propulsion principles of the Sky Island shellfish, and the material indicated on the keel was the Treasure Tree Adam.

"What's the name of this ship?" Lin Yuan asked.

Tom picked up his pen and wrote a line in the blank space of the drawing:

"Void."

Lin Yuan's lips curled up slightly.

"That's it."

Evening, in the tavern of the Water 7.

Kaido single-handedly devoured three barrels of rum, twenty plates of roast meat, and a whole roasted suckling pig. Ginny was keeping track of the bills, her hand nearly falling off from writing.

"Kaido, you've eaten so much, do you even have the money to pay for the ship once it's built?"

"Lin Yuan."

"Lin Yuan's money is my money too," Ginny said, biting her pen. "If you keep eating like this, we'll go bankrupt."

"Oh dear... I can still eat before I go bankrupt."

Ginny rolled her eyes and continued keeping track of the accounts.

Lin Yuan sat in the corner with a glass of water in front of him—he never drank alcohol, which was his usual style. Zephyr sat opposite him, holding a glass of sake.

"Instructor, what do you think of Tom?"

"Reliable." Zephyr took a sip of his drink. "I've seen his ships. Several of the navy's main warships were built by him when he was young, and they're still in use after thirty years. The quality is unquestionable."

"What about the modification of Sea Kings?"

Zephyr put down his glass. "Caesar Clown. I know him. He was a troublemaker in the Navy, all his experiments were illegal. After being kicked out, he built his own research institute, specializing in weapons trading. The World Government turns a blind eye because his weapons are indeed effective."

What if he cooperates with the Celestial Dragons?

Zephyr's fingers paused for a moment. "Then it's not just a weapon issue."

Lin Yuan didn't ask any more questions.

He held his water glass, gazing out the window at the night view of the Water 7. Gondolas glided slowly along the canals under the moonlight, and the gondoliers' songs drifted from afar. This was a world completely different from Hachinosu —peaceful, tranquil, and free of the smoke of war.

But Lin Yuan knew that this tranquility was merely an illusion.

Caesar Clown is modifying Sea Kings. The Celestial Dragons are laying the groundwork in Wano Country. Rocks is planning his final major operation. The Five Elders are waiting for him to make a mistake.

And he is building a ship in Water 7.

A ship that could carry them all into the eye of the storm.

Late at night.

Ginny sat on the roof of the tavern, making circles with her fingers. Her eyes gleamed with a purple light, her gaze sweeping through the night, across every canal, every bridge, and every house in the Water 7.

Then she saw someone.

A person wearing a black cloak stood in the shadows of the Scrap Island, holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand. His face was obscured by the hood, so his features were not visible, but his heart was beating rapidly—one hundred and twenty beats per minute. His body temperature was normal.

Ginny focused on his lips.

"... The modified Sea Kings was killed. It was someone from Hachinosu. Lin Yuan personally took action."

A hoarse voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi: "Understood. Keep an eye on it. Let me know when their ship is finished."

"Yes."

The cloaked figure hung up the Den Den Den Mushi and disappeared into the darkness.

Ginny lowered her fingers, her brow furrowed.

She jumped off the roof, went into the tavern, and whispered a few words in Lin Yuan's ear.

Lin Yuan's expression remained unchanged.

"Keep watching," he said. "Don't alert them."

Ginny nodded, turned and walked out of the tavern.

Kaido is still eating. Bullet is arm wrestling with the tavern owner. King sits by the window, the flames behind him dancing in the night wind. Moria plays with his shadow in the corner. Inazuma is helping Ginny organize the accounts. Kuma stands in the doorway, like a silent statue.

Zephyr, holding his wine glass, glanced at Lin Yuan.

"Is someone watching you?"

"Um."

"Who?"

I don't know. But I'll find out soon.

Lin Yuan picked up his water glass and took a sip.

(End of Chapter 67)