"I really didn't expect this!"
Crocus wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
"To think Gaban would have a junior like you, and one who 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 marvelous place. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to 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...
"Recruit new crew members and get a pirate ship of our own," Mark said after thinking it over.
They had too few people right now. Even the Straw Hat Pirates, who followed an elite route, had roughly twice as many members as they did when they entered the Grand Line.
Many things were inconvenient to handle.
After all, the pirate ship Moss did not belong to them. Leaving aside its appearance, its interior was fine for a short stay, but if they kept sailing on it, they would definitely grow uncomfortable.
This ship had once belonged to Arlong of the Fish-Man Tribe.
"Companions and a ship?"
Crocus took a swig of fine wine, rose to stretch his arms, and stared at the Moss for a long 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, then answered:
"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 over two hundred million Beli from him as well.
After deducting their daily expenses, they had roughly five hundred million Beli in total.
That did not even include the value of the Moss. Its cannons and the ship itself were worth around four hundred million Beli.
All things considered, his current assets totaled roughly one billion Beli.
After pondering for a moment, Crocus pointed north and said to Mark:
"About ten nautical miles in that direction, 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 the ship I have now?" Mark asked with a frown.
Five hundred million was no small sum, yet in Crocus's eyes, that money could only get him a fairly decent pirate ship. That was not what Mark wanted.
Besides, in his view, the Moss had probably cost two or three hundred million Beli to build. Its durability and construction materials were both quite good.
"This pirate ship won't do!"
Crocus spoke with disdain.
"Take a ship like this to the New World, and in a few days it'll become a pile of scraps."
Though he had not boarded the Moss, his many years of experience as an old pirate naturally allowed him to judge the quality of a ship.
Hearing Crocus speak so poorly of the Moss—
Chiu Chiu could not stand it any longer and shouted, "Old man, what kind of eyes do you have? This ship came through the siege of a thousand-man fleet completely unscathed. 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, he was upset to hear it insulted like this.
Crocus's gaze shifted between Chiu Chiu and the Moss for a moment before he suddenly grinned.
"Little bird, since you say that, how about we run a test?"
"What kind of test?" Chiu Chiu asked.
Crocus gave a mysterious smile and turned to Mark.
"Mark, is that all right?"
A test of the ship? Mark nodded, feeling a trace of anticipation.
If the Moss truly was as inadequate as Crocus claimed, then replacing the ship had to be moved up the agenda. Otherwise, he and his companions would face great danger while sailing the seas.
Crocus took a somewhat rusty iron rod from inside the room and stopped beside the Moss. Mark and the other two followed closely behind, all wanting to see how Crocus would test the ship's durability.
"This method of testing a ship's durability was taught to me by an old friend at the Solomon Shipyard. Watch carefully!"
Holding the iron rod, Crocus stepped onto the Moss's deck and stopped before the mast. Pointing at it, he said, "Masted sailing ships are the most common kind 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 his iron rod.
"Once the mast has a problem, the ship loses its ability to sail the sea."
Crocus lightly placed the iron rod against the joint between the mast and the deck, then pressed down with his arm.
A faint crack appeared at the connection between the mast and the deck.
It was not very clear, but Mark and the other two saw it plainly.
"And on your ship, because the shipwright's workmanship was lacking, combined with all the wind and rain it endured without proper maintenance, gaps have already formed between the mast and the deck."
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, and everyone aboard will be buried in the sea."
Chiu Chiu was left speechless.
Mark and Daisy's expressions changed as well.
Crocus then walked to the ship's bow!
A ship's keel extended from there.
Crocus forcefully drove the iron rod into the bow. In an instant, more than half of the rod's length—over a meter—sank inside.
When he pulled the rod back out, it was covered in dark wood chips. Mark and the others could clearly see that the chips 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 grave.
Daisy and Chiu Chiu also remained silent.
The keel was something that basically everyone with even a little knowledge of ships understood.
It was the main body of a ship.
If the inside of the main body was damp, that meant the ship's interior had already begun to rot.
Crocus had been too conservative.
If they sailed this ship through the Grand Line, they might all be wiped out.
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 original shipbuilder had not been skilled enough, but the fundamental reason the ship had become like this was that there was no shipwright aboard.
If they had someone who understood ship maintenance, the Moss would not have ended up in this condition.
This only strengthened Mark's desire to find suitable companions.