“But this isn’t something that can be accomplished overnight. Ten years is my estimate. If everything goes smoothly… within ten years, we’ll be able to see Sea Trains running across the sea!”
“Seriously, why is your shipbuilding company located under such a remote bridge? It was a pain just finding the place!”
At that moment, a group of men in suits and ties arrived outside Tom’s workshop under the escort of several Marines. The moment they entered, they began complaining.
“As if we wanted to move here! It’s because of you peop…mmph!”
“Franky!”
Iceburg covered Franky’s mouth before he could finish what he was about to say.
Because of the matter of building a ship for Roger, Tom’s workshop had indeed faced discrimination from some people.
While some believed Tom was innocent, others thought he deserved what happened.
In Water 7, there were plenty of people who hated pirates.
Only today, after the authorities officially declared that Roger had stolen the ship, had public opinion begun to improve.
In Franky’s eyes, however, the root cause of everything was the interrogation Tom had been subjected to by those officials.
“Baka-berg! Don’t stop me!”
“You’re the one who’s creating trouble, Bakanky!”
The two immediately started fighting beside each other. Though they fought fiercely, they actually had a good relationship.
Franky’s real name was Cutty Flam. “Franky” was simply a nickname used by those close to him, and the same goes for the nicknames “Baka-berg” and “Bakanky”.
It was much like Shanks and Buggy fighting; they were nowhere near the point of falling out.
“Both of you, quiet down!”
Tom ended the dispute with a loving embrace, trapping one disciple under each arm, then turned toward the World Government officials with a smile.
“Sorry about that. You must be the people His Majesty Nereus mentioned who would be coming to discuss the project, right? I’m Tom. Feel free to ask me anything you need to know.”
“The specific details and required funding will be handled by dedicated staff who will liaise with you. That’s not my responsibility. I only need to ask you a few questions.
Water 7 will serve as the testing ground for the Sea Train, but this area is regularly struck by massive tsunamis. How will your railway deal with the ‘Aqua Laguna’?”
“It doesn’t require fixed tracks. The tracks will float a certain distance beneath the surface. The tracks only need to maintain direction, and the train will function like the slider that fastens a zipper.”
The World Government also had its own experts in certain fields, and the person sent to negotiate knew a thing or two about the subject. He felt that Tom’s explanation was reasonable enough, so they moved on to the next question.
“So how do you plan to deal with Sea Kings in the ocean?”
“Sea Kings rarely leave the Calm Belt. I’m currently researching a method where friction between the wheels and tracks will produce sounds that Sea Kings and schools of fish find unpleasant, allowing us to avoid their interference…”
In truth, Nereus had a much more direct method for driving away Sea Kings. He only needed to bring Chloe along the tracks once, and the Sea Kings would naturally understand certain things.
There was simply no need to do that. Letting Tom develop a sound-based deterrent was the safer option.
Given Fish-Man Island’s population composition of Merfolk and Fish-Men, if they suddenly claimed to possess a method for driving away Sea Kings without being able to explain the principles behind it, anyone knowledgeable enough could easily connect it to Poseidon.
Over the following days, Tom’s workshop experienced the World Government’s efficiency firsthand. Without direct orders from higher-ups, their procedures were extraordinarily cumbersome.
The people discussing funding only talked about funding. The people discussing routes only asked about routes. Nobody handled any work beyond their own responsibilities, and afterward everything had to be reconnected and coordinated again.
Their guiding principle was essentially “everyone governs their own territory.”
Tom enjoyed every minute of it. He loved the city and believed the Sea Train was its hope. Seeing the plan finally nearing implementation, he patiently coordinated with the World Government representatives without the slightest complaint.
Franky, however, had no interest in any of it. The constant stream of officials reduced the amount of time Tom spent teaching him shipbuilding, which made Franky increasingly dislike the entire group.
“Mr. Tom, no matter what anyone says, the greatest pirate ship in the world was built by you! Teach me the blueprints for pirate ships!”
“Tahahahaha, Franky! There are no such things as pirate ship blueprints in this world. Hang a skull flag on a ship and it becomes a pirate ship. Hang a seagull flag on it and it becomes a marine ship! No matter what kind of ship you want to build, a man should always hold his head high and be proud of the ship he built himself!
“I happen to have a set of blueprints here. You and Iceburg can study them together.”
In Tom’s eyes, Franky and Iceburg’s skills were already comparable to those of Water 7’s outstanding shipwrights. They were capable of standing on their own, so he entrusted the task to them.
However, these were not ordinary ship blueprints. They were submarine blueprints, something prepared specifically for Bullet.
Bullet had challenged Nereus once again not long ago. The result was unchanged. He was still instantly defeated in a single swift move.
To his credit, Bullet honored the agreement. Since he couldn’t win, he honestly served as one of Nereus’s private soldiers, handling various issues in the New World and growing stronger in the process.
The submarine had been prepared to make his movements more convenient.
After all, Fish-Man Island had nothing to fear from such things. Whether it was a coated ship or a metal-hulled submarine, Fish-Man Island could sink them with little effort.
The same principle applied to Sea Trains running along sea tracks. The Fish-Men could use their technology to construct this new transportation system, but they could just as easily destroy the tracks underwater without anyone noticing.
As long as it remained within the domain of the sea, it was still the home field of Fish-Men and Merfolk.
“A single-pilot operation system…”
“This is an assignment from Fish-Man Island. They need a vessel like this. Give it a try. If you can’t do it properly, I’ll cover for you.”
Tom trusted his own abilities, which was why he dared to hand such a task to his disciples. He would inspect the finished product himself in the end, and even if they didn’t do well, he could correct any mistakes.
According to his vision, once the Sea Train project was implemented, Water 7—the city that had once flourished through shipbuilding—would rise again.
By then, his disciples could build ships that carried their dreams and pursue those dreams themselves.
Even if they didn’t like building ships, dismantling them would be fine too. Fish-Man Island was recruiting skilled ship dismantlers as teachers, so there would always be a path forward for his disciples.
At the same time, a small team that had departed from Fish-Man Island arrived at Water 7. Their ship was carrying a considerable amount of lumber, sent as materials for Tom.
Ships were not a necessity for Fish-Man Island, but on these seas, ships represented prestige. Having a dedicated personal vessel was still necessary.
The people arriving now were delivering materials to Tom. Although he had accepted the Sea Train project, that didn’t mean it would be the only thing he worked on over the coming years.
“So you’re Arlong, right? Thanks for bringing all this. With Water 7’s current situation, getting lumber isn’t easy.”
Tom greeted him as if they were old acquaintances. Yet that single sentence left Arlong, who was carrying out this mission, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
Only Arlong himself knew how much effort he had put into reclaiming his own name and preventing it from becoming nothing more than “Shyarly’s older brother.”
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