Water 7

Water 7.

It was a world-famous island. Its renown was roughly on par with Enies Lobby, though it leaned toward shipbuilding.

Yet in this Great Age of Pirates, its fame might be even greater!

Swain and Norton sailed the seas for nearly a month to reach Enies Lobby from the South Blue.

During this month, Swain did not idle either, beginning to "lecture" Norton. He wanted to teach Norton how to use Haki.

After all, no matter how formidable one's innate talent was, without the ability to use Haki, one would never step into the tier of powerhouses.

Fortunately, Norton truly lived up to being a native "god" of the former Red Line; learning new things came very quickly to him, and prior to this, he had already possessed a unique understanding of these two types of Haki—he had simply lacked someone to guide him.

Under Swain's guidance, a mere month was enough for him to master the use of Armament Haki and Observation Haki.

It made him feel that some people really made others despair by comparison.

After all, it had taken him half a year to learn them!!

In fact, at a normal speed, the journey was estimated to take another half month, but Swain had already eaten all the food he had prepared in advance, and on top of that, Norton got seasick!

That was right, he actually got seasick!

Swain had no choice but to use his Devil Fruit ability to accelerate the seawater, sparing half a month of travel time to arrive at Water 7.

The moment they stepped onto the island, people enthusiastically swarmed around them.

"Are you two brothers visiting Water 7 for the first time?" a ruddy-faced young man asked as he crowded close.

Swain nodded, while Norton behind him wore an expression of utter indifference.

Taking one look at Norton's unusual appearance, the young man figured he would be difficult to deal with, and he did not force his hot face against a cold butt.

"My name is Burke! I'm a resident of Water 7. If there are places you want to go, I can show you around," he introduced himself to Swain.

"My name is Swain!" he introduced himself in return.

He wasn't particularly worried that someone might recognize him; Momonga and Onigumo would take at least two months to return to Marine Headquarters, and along the way, they would also stop at various Marine branches.

Calculating the overall time, it might take even longer, and by the time Swain left Water 7, his bounty poster would probably only just be finalized.

"Is this brother here to commission a ship or a weapon?" Burke inquired.

Swain hadn't expected custom weapons to be available here, though on second thought, it made sense—if they could build ships, how could they not forge weapons?

"Are there any famous weapon workshops here?" Swain asked, then handed Burke a small tip.

Seeing the money given to him, Burke's face instantly lit up with joy.

He eagerly replied, "You can rest easy, brother! I'm the walking encyclopedia of Water 7, so you asked the right person!"

"The most famous weapon workshop here is Luke's Workshop."

"The most renowned shipyard belongs to Mr. Tom, but..." He leaned in and lowered his voice. "He was seized by agents because he built the Sea Train."

"The shipyard is currently run by his apprentice, Cutty Flam."

Swain naturally knew all of this.

Tom had built the Oro Jackson, carrying Roger to complete the task of sailing the Grand Line.

He had also been targeted by the World Government because of this, and shortly afterward, he was captured by CP0 agents and sentenced to death.

Burke introduced that this Luke was a true master blacksmith, and every year many big figures came to him to commission weapons.

He waved his hand to signal Burke to lead the way to Luke's Weapon Workshop, and along the way, he requested a partial map of Water 7.

He had originally wanted the complete one, but Burke insisted to the death that only half a map existed.

Realizing this was probably how the man made a living and that he wouldn't hand a complete map over to a stranger anyway, he dropped the matter.

He needed to go to the weapon workshop to have something made for Norton that could conceal his identity.

Because his Lunarian Tribe identity was far too conspicuous.

While his strength was not yet formidable, he naturally had to keep him hidden for a while.

Even with strength as formidable as Kaido's, King still kept his face concealed, and after Zoro sliced off his helmet, he killed everyone who had laid eyes upon his face.

Shortly afterward, Burke led them to Luke's Weapon Workshop. Swain gave him a bit more tip money, and he sensibly took his leave.

"May I ask if Master Luke is home?" Swain asked politely.

Seeing only an old man inside the house polishing mechanical parts with extreme concentration, he seemed not to have heard Swain speaking to him at all.

Swain had no choice but to ask again with a helpless sigh.

Yet the old man still did not answer, remaining seated before the unpolished components.

Seeing the old man show such a lack of manners, Norton grew somewhat angry, feeling this was an insult to Swain.

He moved to step forward and question him, but Swain held him back.

He shook his head to signal that he must not.

Then he politely retreated, stating that he would return to visit tomorrow.

When tomorrow came, it was still the exact same scene as yesterday, making Norton so angry that he declared he would teach this old codger a lesson.

The third day was just the same.

After all, he was a renowned master blacksmith, yet three visits in and he hadn't said a single word—this was getting a bit disrespectful!

Anger began to stir in Swain's heart as well. In his own words, once and twice, but never thrice!

He decided to make one more trip tomorrow, and if the man still showed such disrespect, he would tacitly allow Norton to give him a taste of his own medicine, making him understand that not every pirate would treat him with guest-like courtesy.

When the third day arrived, the old man was still sitting there polishing parts.

"May I ask if Master Luke is here?"

Seeing that it was Swain again, the old man finally spoke up: "I am Luke, old as I am."

"What kind of weapon are you looking to have forged?"

Finally... he had finally spoken.

If he hadn't answered this time, Swain was going to walk right up and check whether he was deaf and mute, and if not, just give him a sound thrashing and be done with it.

"I want a set of armor forged!"

Luke looked at the two young men before him, a trace of interest in his eyes.

"Forge armor?"

"Is it for the one on the left?"

Swain looked very surprised, and Norton grew alert.

It looked as though he might strike at any second.

"Hahaha! Don't be so tense," Luke laughed.

The atmosphere eased slightly.

"Master truly has eyes like torches," Swain said.

Yet his tone was exceptionally calm, making it impossible to tell whether it was praise or a warning.

Swain had already guessed that the moment this old man laid eyes on Norton, he had known he was a Lunarian.

Would a person like this be ordinary?

"I once forged a set of armor for someone similar to this boy."

Luke seemed to be reminiscing as he continued, "Though by now, I'm afraid he... has already betrayed the meaning behind that armor."

Norton listened in utter confusion, but Swain understood completely.

So the armor on King's body had been crafted by him as well.

As for his final sentence, the purpose of forging that armor back then had been to protect King, yet the grown, formidable King had instead used it to oppress the people of Wano Country for Kaido and suppress the common folk.

Wano Country was not an affiliated nation of the World Government, and when facing a force like that, it naturally possessed no power to resist.

He guessed that the old man's refusal to engage with them earlier had also harbored this sort of lingering resentment.

Fortunately, Swain's attitude made him feel that they were not the kind of people Kaido and King were.

Deducing these things and stringing them together provided the answer.

"Then is the old gentleman willing to forge it for us?" Swain asked, his tone also softening considerably.

"Of course. To save a life is still worth making a move!"

"However..."