Seeing their nervousness, Vic cut to the chase and stated his purpose directly, even nodding in apology for his intrusive visit.
However, while he was talking, his mind was not idle. His Observation Haki had already spread out, not too far, but directly enveloping the entire shipyard in his Observation Haki.
Vic had already developed his Observation Haki to the point where he could see the real scene, so he naturally absorbed every detail of such a small place into his mind.
Hearing Vic's words, the four humans and the frog visibly breathed a sigh of relief; they were just glad they weren't there to check the Pluton Blueprints.
They also understood why this young naval officer had been able to find this place. The entire Water 7 was famous for its shipbuilding industry, with numerous shipyards and excellent craftsmanship.
In this world dominated by the ocean, ships are the most frequently used means of transportation, so it's no surprise that every shipyard on the island is doing brisk business and there's no spare space.
The only reason they would have vacant shipyards is because they stopped building ships here to develop the Sea Train. It was inevitable that this rear Rear Admiral would find his way here. Once they understood this, they became less wary.
"Although we have spare docks here, I am currently just a death row inmate on probation. Your World Government is going to execute me, so why should I help you?"
It's quite reasonable that Tom, who possesses the Pluton Blueprints, knows some historical secrets. In addition, the World Government's system of slavery has turned many Fish-Man and mermaids into slaves of nobles, so it's impossible for him to have any goodwill towards the World Government!
Furthermore, Whitebeard is currently protecting Fish-Man Island under his flag, and he used to have a good relationship with Roger, so naturally he is more inclined to side with the pirates!
Being able to create Sea Train before his death was already incredibly selfless, so he naturally had no goodwill towards the World Government's henchmen, the Navy, and spoke to them with a somewhat sarcastic tone.
"Navy! Please leave. You are not welcome here!"
The one who said this was Iceburg. Just like his name, he had a somewhat cold personality during his youth and harbored resentment towards the World Government for wanting to execute his master.
As a teenager, he couldn't hide his emotions, and his disgust for Vic was directly expressed in his tone. However, he didn't dare to say anything too outrageous, for fear of implicating his master.
He truly respected his master Tom and always wanted Tom to get rid of Franky, that troublemaker, for fear that Franky might do something that would affect Tom.
But in the end, Tom still died because of Franky, and Iceburg harbored resentment towards Franky for a long time. However, he probably realized later that the weapons and ships Franky built were just an excuse, and the real purpose was still the blueprints for Pluton.
That's why he later reconciled with Franky and entrusted Franky with the blueprints for Pluton, but on the surface the two were still estranged, all to lull the World Government into a false sense of security.
It's just that the World Government's agents are too skilled; they even know the color of the underwear he wears every day.
"Hey! You're a naval officer! Want to take a look at the weapons I developed? I'll sell them to you cheap. They're super genius inventions, you definitely won't be disappointed!"
"You can equip your warships with these; they're far superior to any current weapons. I'll take you to see them after the Aqua Laguna have passed!"
Franky knew they weren't there to search, so he didn't think too much about it. His first thought upon seeing Vic was to sell him the weapon he designed and make some money to recoup the studio's losses.
They haven't taken on shipbuilding business for several years. They also need to buy a lot of materials and equipment regularly. Even with a large fortune, they can't afford it. Vic seems quite friendly, so he might be easy to fool.
Franky tried to walk over to Vic for a closer look while he was talking, but Iceburg pulled him back with a gloomy expression, inwardly cursing Franky to death.
Just because the Navy says they're not here to search doesn't mean they aren't. Maybe they're just using this as an excuse to get close. And just because they say they're from the Navy doesn't mean they are. Do you think you can believe everything they say? Are you trying to detain them outright? You're practically trying to get everyone killed!
These were Iceburg's true feelings, which he naturally wouldn't say to Vic's face; he wasn't a simpleton.
Seeing Iceburg's actions, the giant toad immediately strode forward from behind, blocking Franky's path. Kokoro didn't say anything, but looked at Tom with concern.
While the group was talking, Vic's Observation Haki had already scanned the entire shipyard before finally focusing his attention on the small room where Tom and the others had just been.
There are a lot of blueprints and documents here, but Vic still managed to find the design blueprints for Pluton, which were placed on the workbench, just covered up with other blueprints.
It seems that the three of them were indeed studying the design blueprints for Pluton, but they had to cover it up hastily because of Kokoro's reminder. They may also have known that the most dangerous place is the safest place, so they simply placed it on the workbench and then covered it up with other blueprints.
Although the blueprints for Pluton were being suppressed, and there was a huge stack of them, it didn't stop Vic from showing the slightest sign of anything unusual in front of everyone at Tom's Workers.
However, he used the Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability to remotely control the movement of electrons. Originally, the charges on the blueprints were all balanced, but he directly controlled two adjacent pages of the blueprints to become the same charged.
Based on the principle that like electrons repel each other, the blueprints flipped by themselves, and Vic recorded it directly using his Observation Haki.
In order to make the most of his time, he didn't examine the contents of the drawings in detail, but planned to retrieve them from his memory and read them carefully when he had more time.
However, he also saw the weight and complexity of Pluton. The drawings were complete and detailed, including a schematic diagram of Pluton as a whole, as well as detailed breakdown diagrams of each component, and many text labels and names!
However, many parts of things from eight or nine hundred years ago have different names now, and there are some things I've never even heard of before.
However, Vic noticed that the paper quality of the blueprints didn't seem to be from eight or nine hundred years ago, and he began to doubt whether it was the original blueprints. Perhaps Tom had made a duplicate to prevent any mishaps?
However, Vic didn't have time to think about these things right now; he just wanted to quickly scan all the blueprints and memorize them.
"I think the judges on Enies Lobby made some mistakes in their verdict against you. You're just a businessman or a shipbuilder."
The World Government hasn't stipulated that doing business with pirates is a crime. If it were, there would be too many criminals, and none of them would survive!