The task

"Ming, is Robin all right?" Sanji asked Li Ziming with a worried look.

"Physically, she's mostly fine now. The real problem is her heart." Li Ziming shook his head helplessly. "We could be in serious trouble this time, so you'd better be prepared."

"That guy was really strong." Luffy pursed his lips. Even someone as fearless as he was had to admit that Aokiji was far stronger than any of them.

"He's the Navy's highest publicly known fighting force after the Fleet Admiral. You can't hold that position without being strong." Li Ziming shook his head. "I even suspect he wasn't using his full strength."

"That's true. Smoker, the guy we ran into back in Loguetown, was a Logia user too, but the two of them felt completely different." Zoro frowned. "With Smoker, I could at least get some sense of his strength. That Admiral felt like a bottomless abyss."

"What exactly is going on with Robin?" Nami asked. "Is it that serious?"

"It's complicated to explain. I'll tell you the details when we reach the next island." Li Ziming shook his head. "Right now, our priorities are reaching the next island and dealing with the problems with our ship, the Going Merry."

Li Ziming's tone startled everyone. Usopp fought down his unease. "Hahaha, Ming, what are you talking about? The Going Merry is still fine! We just need to find a shipwright on the next island to fix her up!"

"Is it serious?" This time, Luffy showed a calmness at odds with his usual behavior.

"I'll let Edward explain it to you." Li Ziming shook his head helplessly. "Come out, pipsqueak."

"How many times have I told you? Don't call me pipsqueak!" A childish voice startled everyone.

"What is this?" Sanji said in disbelief. "Could he be...?"

"Your illegitimate son?" Zoro looked at Li Ziming and Edward in surprise.

"Are you blind?" Li Ziming gave Zoro a smile that never reached his eyes.

"He's so cute!" Nami exclaimed delightedly.

"Who is he? Why haven't I ever seen him before?" Luffy asked in confusion. "Is he a new crewmate you recruited, Ming? But he's so little."

"I'm not little!" Edward snapped. "You bunch of jerks! I'm a ship spirit! Keep it up and I'll throw you all overboard!"

"A ship spirit?" Usopp was the first to catch on. "So you're the Going Merry? That figure I saw on Sky Island was you? You were the one who helped repair our ship?"

"Of course." Edward sounded pleased with himself.

"But why are you called Edward? Shouldn't you be called Merry?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"Merry is just the name of the person who built me. My goal is to become the greatest person in the world, so naturally, I took the name of the strongest person on these seas!" Edward declared proudly.

"I thought the strongest person was Pirate King Roger?" Sanji asked in confusion.

"No, the strongest man alive today is Whitebeard. His name is Edward Newgate." There were still traces of water on Robin's head. "So this is a ship spirit? How fascinating."

"Are you all right now?" The moment Li Ziming saw Robin come out, he abandoned Edward.

"Women before friends." Edward pursed his lips. "And here I am, facing a matter of life and death."

"Life and death?" Usopp grew anxious. "What's going on?"

"You know it too, don't you? My body has already suffered extensive damage, and my keel, the most important part, has been damaged beyond repair." Edward tried to keep his voice calm. "So I probably won't be able to keep adventuring with you anymore."

"No! No! What nonsense are you talking about? We can definitely fix you!" Usopp's eyes were full of desperation. "You'll sail the seas again! You won't fall apart!"

"Enough!" Luffy pressed down on his hat. "Can you really... not be fixed?"

"The keel is the most important part of a ship. Once it's damaged, the ship has suffered irreversible damage. We have no choice but to replace her." Li Ziming shook his head.

"Waaah, I'm sorry!" Luffy suddenly cried out. "I shouldn't have treated you like that! I even tore off your mast several times! I used to damage you so much!"

"It's all right!" Edward's eyes filled with tears too. "It's all right, really. Everyone has taken such good care of me, and I'm already happy with that. I've loved spending time with you all! It's just that my journey ends here. From now on, keep sailing for me too."

"No! We won't give up the Going Merry, even if it kills us!" Usopp suddenly grew agitated.

"Sorry." Li Ziming appeared behind Usopp and knocked him unconscious with a punch.

The Going Merry carried Usopp's memories of his hometown and of Kaya, so he was the one least able to accept abandoning her.

"Chopper, please look after Usopp." Li Ziming handed Usopp over to Chopper. "He got too worked up. I'm worried his body won't be able to take it."

"All right." Chopper's face was covered in tears. He clearly couldn't bear to part with the Going Merry either.

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Zoro didn't believe Li Ziming had brought this up just to make everyone sad.

"I don't know." Li Ziming shook his head, leaving everyone deeply disappointed. "But that doesn't mean there's no hope." Those last words lifted everyone's spirits.

"But this is only a guess," Li Ziming continued. "Edward is the Going Merry's ship spirit. If the Going Merry dies, Edward will disappear too. But the Going Merry is a ship, an object, and Edward is attached to her. So could we transfer Edward to another ship?"

"But how do we do that?" Luffy didn't understand. "How about we take the Going Merry apart and build a new ship out of her?"

"I already said I don't know." Li Ziming sounded helpless. "But our next city, Water 7, is practically a holy land for shipbuilding. Even the Pirate King's ship was built there, so there might be a way. I'm telling you this now because I hope everyone can find a solution in Water 7, as well as find a shipwright for our crew."

"What about a new ship?" Edward asked. "We should have a backup plan, right?"

"True, but I already have a suitable shipbuilder in mind for the new ship. Once we get there, I'll take the money and go straight to him, so you don't need to worry about that. Your main priority is finding a solution to the ship spirit problem." Li Ziming looked at Nami. "I may need to use the gold we brought back from Sky Island."

"Go ahead!" Nami's sudden generosity startled Li Ziming, but he figured it was probably for Edward's sake and didn't dwell on it.

"All right, everyone. Whether Edward can be saved is up to us!" Li Ziming gave them one final word of encouragement.

"Don't worry. We're not going to let Edward die like this!"

"Can this really be solved?" Robin hesitated, uncertainty flickering in her eyes as though she were thinking something over.