The warships assigned to the Marine Headquarters are not bad, but they are all standard products, mostly made by apprentices who have just graduated from their training.
There aren't that many master craftsmen to build warships. The navy has a huge demand for warships, and master craftsmen usually coordinate the work of multiple warships at once. Therefore, their materials, skills, and expertise are completely incomparable to those of Tom's Workers.
"That's right! Vic! When you become Headquarters Vice Admiral, you can definitely apply to headquarters to have ships built here. I believe headquarters will agree!"
Wendy also didn't think highly of standard warships. They had sailed on them before and knew their quality all too well. They knew that if a gun battle broke out, the ships could very well be sunk.
" Mr. Tom's ships were really high quality. Back then, our merchant ship owner dreamed of owning a ship built by Mr. Tom. He always talked about his dream to us. Later, even after becoming a pirate, he wanted Mr. Tom to build him a pirate ship!"
Frodeku recalled the stories he had heard about Tom before he became a pirate. Back then, his Advanced Observation Haki was still unreliable, but he managed to foresee Vic's throwing knife. That was the beginning of their destiny, the beginning of his renewed vitality.
"You should be secretly happy! If you hadn't met Vic, you might have ended up in jail with that captain, and your talent would have been wasted. What a pity!"
When Barnett heard Frodeku talk about being a pirate, he also recalled their encounter that day. It was a strange fate that changed a person's destiny.
" Mr. Tom's ships are certainly good, but I'm currently learning shipbuilding techniques. Perhaps I'll be able to build my own warships someday. After we leave this island, everyone should keep an eye out for good metals and timber; we might need them then."
Vic hasn't decided yet whether the warships will be provided by headquarters or built by himself, and if he builds them himself, whether to build them in wood or metal.
If he were to build a wooden one, he wouldn't make it too complicated; speed would be the priority. He would need to seize the time to capture some influential pirates so that he could have a chance to become Marine Admiral.
If the ship were to be built using metal, it would definitely be powered by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which would be quite complex, requiring many functions to be incorporated, and it wouldn't be something that could be done in a short time.
However, his ship will eventually be a steel warship with external wheels or propellers, combined with other functions he envisions, ideally capable of being amphibious on land, sea, and air, and preferably even capable of diving. But this is the final version, and it needs time to plan it out carefully.
Barnett and the others exchanged bewildered glances. "Why are you trying to learn shipbuilding again? Did Tom force you? A person's energy really is limited! You should focus your time on your cultivation. We don't even have enough time for cultivation alone, how can you have time for anything else?"
This was their heartfelt sentiment. They felt they didn't have enough energy just from cultivating, but Vic was like a tireless robot, learning everything quickly and mastering everything he learned. Where in the world could there be such a person? It was pure cheating!
Ignoring their glares, Vic exchanged a few words with them and went straight to the warship's kitchen. All the ingredients for making desserts were there; he just needed to speed things up.
Fortunately, with the help of the Speed-Speed Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he quickly made quite a few snacks. Although he couldn't feed everyone present to their hearts' content, he could still give each person a taste.
Vic made the desserts and had Rebecca deliver them to the restaurant; she didn't care anymore. Barnett would naturally distribute the desserts. Vic now needed to hurry up and finish learning all the shipbuilding theory, and then ask Tom questions about things he didn't understand when Tom had time. He didn't know how long Tom would be monopolized by the old man.
So for the next few days, the weather outside the dock was terrifying, with strong winds and huge waves, a scene of utter disaster, and no one was active or wandering around in the entire Water 7.
One wrong move and you could be blown overboard by the storm, but inside the dock, the atmosphere was bustling with activity as Vic was completely absorbed in his in-depth research on shipbuilding, his theoretical knowledge rapidly increasing.
In addition to Vic's high mental strength, he can simulate the construction of all kinds of ships in his mind, and he will ask Tom for help whenever he doesn't understand something or feels something is not going smoothly.
The old man and Tom only hit it off at first, but their topics were limited, and both of them had their own things to do.
After that, the old man mostly stayed in the warship, contacting headquarters and the New World to gather intelligence, while Tom diligently taught Vic. Iceburg and Franky trembled beside the two of them. This new classmate was simply too powerful; the pace of learning was suffocating them. Fortunately, it was only for a few days, or they would have gone crazy.
Just as Water 7 was experiencing a devastating tsunami, a far-reaching communication was taking place in the New World.
On a Spring Island in a sea area of New World, the World Economy News Paper is located, and its president Morgans, is answering the phone in his office.
The caller was a reporter who had infiltrated the Flying Pirates under the guise of a pirate. This reporter hadn't called him for a while, and he had been killed by Golden Lion because the reporter's identity was exposed.
He was already making preparations to send someone to infiltrate the area again and to provide compensation to the reporter's family, but unexpectedly, the reporter, who had been out of contact for several months, contacted him again.
"President! Golden Lion Shiki has been killed! I almost died too! You absolutely have to release this Big News Morgans!"
The reporter's excited yet incredulous voice came through the Den Den Mushi. That's how reporters are; they're willing to risk their lives for a Big News Morgans.
"What! You said Golden Lion is dead! When did this happen? Who killed him?"
Morgans was also shocked. Golden Lion was a pirate force on par with Roger. Back then, Whitebeard wasn't interested in the One Piece; only Golden Lion and Roger were the strongest contenders.
Unfortunately, the Golden Lion was only powerful and had no idea where Laugh Tale was. In the end, he suffered heavy losses in a storm during his final battle with Roger!
Morgans was shocked to learn that such a person had been murdered. His intelligence network was not as strong as it would be a decade or two later, and he was unaware of events that had occurred several months earlier.
The main reason is that the battlefield was in the Calm Belt, and apart from Garp's warships and the Flying Pirates, there were no witnesses. If we count Sea Kings, then there were.
But the real reason was that the marines on the Dog-Head Warship had all been ordered by Garp not to spread this matter, Garp planned to use it to enhance Vic's prestige at a crucial moment.
The other remnants were the Flying Pirates. Garp ignored them, not believing they could escape the Calm Belt.