Pirates

When Ferdinand heard Werther's laughter, he shuddered. He suddenly realized that now was not the time to get intimate with the girl, because there was still a god of death waiting behind him.

If he did not handle this properly today, it would no longer be a tragedy for him. It would be a complete disaster.

He himself might be fine, but from then on, he could only meet the girl at her lover's grave.

Ferdinand took the girl's hand and walked up to Werther.

"Six, this is my friend Werther. We came this time to ask your grandfather to forge some swords for us. Could you put in a good word for your brother? This is really important. Please make sure he agrees to help." As Ferdinand finished speaking, he secretly gave the girl meaningful looks.

After hearing Ferdinand's words, Liu looked troubled. Seeing him secretly signaling her, the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl failed to understand what her lover meant.

"Brother Ferdinand, my grandfather put down his hammer last month. He won't forge weapons anymore." After saying that, the girl looked apologetically at her beloved.

"That's right. Master has put down his hammer. Top-tier orders are handled by me now." The muscular man looked smugly at Ferdinand, as though he had finally beaten him in some regard.

It seemed the two knew each other already, and there was likely plenty of bad blood between them, not just rivalry over a woman.

The moment Liu said her grandfather had put down his hammer, Ferdinand felt that things were going badly. As for the muscular man's words, he did not hear a single one.

"Oh? So your grandfather is the only one in your family who can forge named blades?" Werther asked the girl softly, smiling brightly.

Before the girl could answer, the muscular man suddenly cut in.

"That's right. My master is the only one here who can forge named blades." He gave Werther a bland look, his face full of pride in his master's ability to forge named blades.

After hearing Werther's question, Ferdinand had wanted to say something, but he had not expected the muscular man to answer first.

Werther said nothing. He merely looked at Ferdinand, as if saying, You deal with it. If your method fails, I'll take over.

Sometimes, possessing an exquisite craft was not a good thing. Without the strength to protect it, it would attract "hungry wolves." And now, the Iron Tribe had attracted a "hungry wolf" named Werther.

Ferdinand leaned close to Liu's ear and whispered a few words. At first, Liu was merely curious, but soon her face turned pale.

"All right, I'll take you to see Grandfather. But Brother Ferdinand, you have to explain what this is about later. Why did you bring him here?" After saying that, Liu's face became even paler. Her eyes held blame and heartache, as if she had made some sort of decision as well.

Werther could tell that look was one of reckless love. Do not ask him how he knew, because the girl was looking at him as though she wanted to perish together with him.

That left Werther rather awkward. Why did this make him seem like some great villain? A pair of young lovers, forced by his pressure, with the woman intending to die together with the villain. It felt so melodramatic.

Then Werther thought it over. It seemed he really was playing the villain in this matter.

First, he had asked Ferdinand about swordsmiths. Then Ferdinand's provocation had angered him.

After that, Ferdinand had been forced to make a choice: abandon his sister, or drag his lover into danger? In the end, Ferdinand chose to protect his sister and brought Werther to his lover's family.

There had still been a good chance of getting through this after coming here. Even if they could not forge a named blade, Ferdinand had at least tried. Based on what he knew of Werther, the other man should have let him go.

Yet no matter how thoroughly he calculated, he had never expected that the only craftsman here capable of forging named blades had already put down his hammer.

Now Ferdinand could only place all his hopes on his lover's grandfather, hoping the old man would abandon his former stubbornness.

The girl led them into the house, stopped before her grandfather's room, knocked on the door, and called out, "Grandfather, it's me."

A voice came from inside. "Good granddaughter, come in quickly."

The door opened, and Werther finally saw this legendary smith, an old man named Tie Yi.

Within the Iron Tribe, the title of Tie Yi could only be inherited by successive clan heads who had forged at least one of the 21 Great Grade Blades.

This old man had no particularly striking aura. He was thin and not very tall, with short white hair, a clean-shaven face, and a kindly smile. There was no trace of Ferdinand's arrogance or stubbornness in him.

But only those who had dealt with him knew that although this old man named Tie Yi lacked the Iron Tribe's common flaw of arrogance, his stubbornness was famous.

Tie Yi was holding a cup of tea and playing chess with someone in the room.

And Werther realized he actually knew that person. More accurately, he was someone who had appeared in the anime: Capone Bege, wielder of the Castle-Castle Fruit.

Werther found things increasingly interesting, though he was also growing impatient.

He directly shoved aside Ferdinand, who was about to step forward and speak, then walked straight up to Tie Yi.

"You're the craftsman who can forge named blades, right? Forge two swords for me. These are the materials needed for sword-forging." As he spoke, he removed the box from his back and threw it onto the chessboard before the two men.

Since Werther had only been wanted for a short time, neither Tie Yi nor Capone Bege recognized him.

Tie Yi said nothing. This old man, already past fifty, had vaguely sensed something from the unusual expressions on Ferdinand's and his granddaughter's faces.

But Capone Bege did not notice. As a famous pirate and one of the Supernovas, he spoke up.

"Kid, can't you see I'm talking with someone? You have five seconds to disappear, or you'll die here." Capone Bege looked at Werther from the corner of his eye, a cigar clamped between his lips as he smoked leisurely.

Capone Bege had come this time mainly to buy some high-quality steel from Tie Yi, so he could forge a batch of quality weapons for his subordinates. After all, his crew's firepower greatly affected his own combat ability.

Relying on his high bounty and reputation, he had met this master smith. The deal was just about to be concluded when an interloper suddenly appeared, and a very arrogant one at that. Naturally, Capone Bege would not be polite to him. If this had not been Tie Yi's territory, he would have made a move long ago.

"Capone Bege, were you talking to me? Heh heh heh, heh heh heh. A mere Supernova dares to speak to me like that? Fine, I'll kill you first, then continue negotiating with this old man." Werther immediately activated Lightning Mode.

Since his twin swords were broken, Werther did not draw a blade. Instead, he coated his right leg in Armament Haki, then covered the Haki with lightning, intending to have some fun with this Supernova.