Ship Problems

"Honestly, I never expected this!"

Crocus wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

"To think Jaba had a junior like you, one who even inherited the same kind of weapon he used."

Crocus glanced at the massive axe on Mark's back and smiled faintly.

"What are your plans from here on out? The Grand Line is a magical place. If there's anything you don't understand, you can tell this old man."

Mark fell silent for a moment at those words.

The Grand Line was different from the East Blue. The world here was vast.

As for plans...

"Recruiting new crew members and getting a pirate ship of our own," Mark said after thinking for a moment.

They had too few people right now. Even the Straw Hat Pirates, who took the elite route, had roughly twice as many members when they entered the Grand Line.

It was inconvenient to handle many things.

After all, the pirate ship Moss was not theirs. Setting aside its appearance, its interior was fine for short-term living, but if they sailed on it indefinitely, they would definitely grow uncomfortable.

This ship had belonged to Arlong of the Fish-Man Tribe, after all.

"Companions and a ship?"

Crocus took a gulp of fine wine, stood up, and stretched his arms. He stared at the Moss for a while before suddenly saying:

"This old man can't help you with companions, but as for the ship, Mark... do you have money?"

Mark was taken aback before answering:

"Yes... around five hundred million Beli."

When they defeated Arlong, there had been around three hundred million Beli aboard the ship.

When he defeated Krieg, he had obtained another two hundred million or so Beli from him.

After deducting their daily expenses, they had roughly five hundred million Beli in total.

That did not even include the value of the Moss. The cannons and the ship itself were worth around four hundred million Beli.

All told, his current assets were worth around one billion Beli.

Crocus pondered for a moment, then pointed north and said to Mark:

"In that direction, about ten nautical miles from here, there is a Solomon Shipyard. Its shipbuilding techniques rank among the best in the entire sea."

After glancing at Mark, Crocus continued:

"Five hundred million Beli should be enough to get you a fairly decent pirate ship."

"Fairly decent? Crocus, what do you think of my current ship?" Mark asked with a frown.

Five hundred million was no small sum, yet in Crocus's eyes, it could only get him a fairly decent pirate ship. That was not what he wanted.

Besides, in his view, the Moss had probably cost two or three hundred million Beli to build. Its toughness and construction materials were both excellent.

"This pirate ship won't do!"

Crocus spoke disdainfully.

"If you took a ship like this to the New World, it would become a pile of wreckage within days."

Though he had not boarded the Moss, with his years of experience as an old pirate, he could naturally tell whether a ship was good or bad.

Hearing Crocus speak so poorly of the Moss, Chiu Chiu could not stand it any longer. He shouted, "Old man, what kind of eyes do you have? This ship once came through the siege of a thousand-man pirate fleet completely unharmed. It's not as bad as you say!"

He had personally spent a long time modifying the ship's appearance into what it was now.

Naturally, Chiu Chiu was angry to hear it criticized like that.

Crocus's gaze lingered between Chiu Chiu and the Moss for a moment before he suddenly grinned.

"Little bird, since you say so, how about we run a test?"

"How do we test it?" Chiu Chiu asked.

Crocus smiled mysteriously and turned to Mark.

"Mark, is that all right?"

Testing the ship? Mark nodded, feeling a faint sense of anticipation.

If the Moss truly was as bad as Crocus said, then replacing it had to be moved up the list of priorities. Otherwise, he and his companions would face great danger sailing the sea.

Crocus took a somewhat rusty iron rod from the room and stopped beside the Moss. Mark and the other two followed close behind, all wanting to see how Crocus would test the ship's durability.

"The method for testing a ship's durability was taught to me by an old friend at Solomon Shipyard. Watch carefully!"

Holding the iron rod, Crocus stepped onto the Moss's deck and stopped before the mast. He pointed at it and said, "Masted sailing ships are the most common type of vessel on the sea, and the most important part of one is this main mast."

He tapped the thickest mast standing on the deck with the iron rod.

"Once the mast has a problem, a sailing ship loses its ability to travel across the sea."

Crocus gently placed the iron rod against the joint between the mast and the deck, then pressed downward with his arm.

A faint crack appeared where the mast connected to the deck.

It was not clear, but Mark and the other two saw it plainly.

"As for your ship, the connection between the mast and the deck has developed gaps because the shipwright's craftsmanship was inadequate. On top of that, it has endured wind and rain without proper maintenance."

He turned to Chiu Chiu.

"You have never experienced how harsh the weather in the New World can be. If you sail a vessel like this, you won't even need a particularly powerful natural disaster. One storm will send everyone aboard to the bottom of the sea."

Chiu Chiu was speechless.

Mark and Daisy both changed expression.

Crocus then walked to the ship's prow!

A ship's keel extended outward from there.

Crocus forcefully drove the iron rod into the prow. In an instant, more than half of the rod, which was over a meter long, sank inside.

When he pulled the rod back out, it was stained with dark wood shavings. Even Mark and the others could see that the shavings were damp.

"I don't need to explain this one to you, do I?"

Crocus handed the iron rod to Mark.

Mark nodded, his expression grim.

Daisy and Chiu Chiu also remained silent.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of ships knew about the keel.

It was the main structure of a ship.

If the inside of that structure was damp, then the ship's interior had already begun to rot.

Crocus had been too conservative.

Sailing this ship through the Grand Line could very well lead to their complete annihilation.

Only then did Mark realize how important it was for a pirate ship to have a shipwright.

The Arlong Pirates probably had no shipwright. Perhaps the builder's skills had been poor, but the fundamental reason the ship had ended up like this was that there was no shipwright aboard.

If they had had a shipwright who understood how to maintain a vessel, the Moss would not have become like this.

This only deepened Mark's desire to find suitable companions.