Dr. Wolf's Secret Base

Early the next morning, while everyone was still asleep, an old man came into their house.

After a chaotic scramble, everyone got dressed and took their seats in the living room.

"I heard some noise from your place last night, so I guessed you were back."

The old man looked at Rod and Nerl, his eyes full of warmth, then turned his gaze to Nia and Grey, who was lying in bed.

"So these are the companions you found. Looks like you've decided to set sail."

"It's been a long time, Dr. Wolf."

Rod greeted the old man with a grin. When they were young, Dr. Wolf had looked after them a great deal.

When Rod had first crossed over, he'd been just a little kid, and Nerl had been even younger. If Dr. Wolf hadn't taken them in, it would have been hard for two children to survive in this world. Even with Rod's cheat, he might not have lived long enough to grow up.

Dr. Wolf looked at each of them, his eyes filled with emotion.

He had watched almost all these boys grow up: Rod and Nerl, then Luo, Pekoms, and Shakky. In his heart, they were just like his own children. He had always known they were not the sort to settle for an ordinary life.

Besides, they had been preparing to set sail ever since they were children, and he had seen all of it.

"As your friend, this is all I can do for you. Come with me!"

With a mysterious smile, Wolf beckoned to them and led them toward the woods behind the mountain.

A look of understanding flashed through Rod's eyes. He fell in behind Wolf, leading the way. Nerl ignored Grey's protests, hauled him out of bed, and tossed him onto Bepo's back. Then they all followed into the depths of the woods.

"This is it. My laboratory."

They made their way through the woods. After going about four kilometers in, Dr. Wolf stopped in front of a rock wall. He tapped a spot on it, revealing a switch, and pressed it. A door suddenly opened in the wall.

The group looked on in amazement and followed Dr. Wolf into the hidden chamber behind the rock wall. They walked down a long flight of stairs. The walls on either side had clearly been modified, and gave off a faint glow.

Pekoms couldn't help exclaiming,

"I can't believe you really have a secret laboratory! You old sneak—you kept this from us all this time! Nobody could resist a secret base this awesome!"

"You little brat! So you never believed me when I told you about it?"

"You're the sneaky old man! How could you hide such an awesome secret base so well?"

Pekoms's eyes were bright with curiosity and excitement. He felt the thrill of an adventure.

"Huh? A scientist!?"

Grey, who had been lying across Bepo's back, suddenly perked up and craned his neck, looking around the hidden laboratory.

"Listen, I'm a genius inventor. I've been working on a flying machine. Once I finish my invention, traveling to other islands will be much easier. Everyone will be able to reach them directly in a flying machine, instead of drifting across the sea."

"I see. That's quite an interesting idea. I'm Grey, a scientist. My dream is to build a battleship even more powerful than the legendary Hades!

"But that flying machine you mentioned—what will power it, and how will it stay airborne? And if it's flying through the sky and encounters strong turbulence, how will you keep it safe? How will you cushion its landing so it can touch down smoothly...?"

Following Dr. Wolf's train of thought, Grey immediately fired off a string of questions, while rapidly working through the possibilities in his head.

"Whoa! What an amazing ship!"

"I can't believe there's a ship hidden down here!"

"Could it be for us?"

Several cries of surprise interrupted Grey's nonstop chatter. They followed Wolf to the very bottom of the laboratory, where they saw a beautiful ship resting on an underground river.

However...

"This ship isn't completely finished yet, is it?"

It was clearly a half-finished vessel. Only the basic framework had been built; the mast and the design of the deck were still unfinished.

"That's right. I'd planned to give you my submarine, but it seems you didn't like it very much."

Under Wolf's mildly reproachful gaze, Rod turned away awkwardly.

The yellow submarine that had sailed alongside Luo in the original story was quite nice, but Rod still preferred a more conventional sailing ship, with a huge deck where he could lie in the sun.

"You brats can give me a hand. I'm sure you'd like to finish your own ship yourselves!"

"Leave it to me!"

Grey excitedly jumped off Bepo's back and stared at the half-built ship.

At last, he had a chance to bring his ideas to life!

"I'll warn you now: we don't have the materials to build your super battleship here."

"I know, I know."

Grey answered dismissively as he rushed up to the unfinished hull and ran his hand over it, almost entranced. All sorts of ideas spun through his mind.

"I'll just remind you of one thing: don't install too many cannons. We don't have enough people on board to operate them."

Seeing that Grey had disappeared into his own world, Rod could only shout the warning in his ear.

The fact that his dream was to build an invincible battleship that surpassed Hades made it clear he was a serious firepower enthusiast.

After Grey assured him he understood, Rod turned to Dr. Wolf.

"Looks like our shipwright wants to do it all himself."

"Isn't the boy still injured?"

Looking at the bandages wrapped around Grey, Wolf hesitated.

"Ha ha ha! Didn't you upgrade your equipment right after you fell out of the sky?"

"Hmph!"

Hearing Rod bring up his embarrassing mishap, Wolf snorted, then waved them off, urging them to hurry out.

"Then let's go buy some supplies. There's a lot to prepare before setting sail."

Over the next few days, Grey threw himself into building the pirate ship and had heated discussions with Dr. Wolf about all sorts of designs.

Bepo and Luo busied themselves helping them. They had both helped Dr. Wolf with mechanical work since they were children, so they had some experience in that area.

Besides, they were about to part ways, and Luo wanted to spend a little more time with the old man who had always looked after him.

As for Pekoms and Shakky, they took Rod and the others to nearby Joy Town to buy supplies. Unlike Rod and the others, who had only later ended up wandering here, the two had grown up in town and knew every shop inside and out.

Time flew by, and half a month passed in a flash. With Grey's enthusiasm running high, their pirate ship took shape day by day, and was finally completed one morning.