One Piece: It All Started When I Found Shanks' Arm

Chapter 68: The Black Cat and the Flagship

After seeing the Gat off at the pier, Shane's group—four people and one wolf—made their way toward the Whale Shipbuilding Company.

The address wasn't far, just a short walk from the docks.

Following the conspicuous neon sign, they arrived in just a few minutes.

Shane had called ahead, so a line of more than a dozen executives in sharp suits was already waiting in the lobby of the Whale Company headquarters.

At the head of the line was a spirited, white-bearded old man wearing a monocle, with a gilded "Chief Shipwright" badge pinned to his chest.

The moment Shane's figure appeared behind the revolving glass doors, he led the group in a sharp, ninety-degree bow.

"We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival, Lord Shane! I am Gandalf-Ford, and on behalf of the entire staff of the Whale Shipbuilding Company, I welcome you to our headquarters!"

"You're too kind, Mr. Gandalf-Ford," Shane said, quickly stepping forward to shake his hand.

After a brief exchange, the old shipwright respectfully presented him with a parchment scroll. When unrolled, it was over two meters long.

In the center was a detailed cutaway diagram of the ship, surrounded by dense, handwritten annotations.

"This is the inspection checklist prepared according to your requirements. Please allow me to personally give you a tour. The new ship is in Dock One. This way, please!"

Gandalf-Ford bowed, gesturing for them to follow. He only straightened up to lead the way after Shane had started walking.

The other executives once again bowed deeply at their departing backs.

"Hey, Kuina," Nojiko whispered, her eyes shining as she leaned close to the young swordswoman's ear. "Do you think there will ever be a day when we receive this kind of treatment from people, even when my brother isn't around?"

"How childish," Kuina glanced at her, her expression flat. "I am destined to be the World's Greatest Swordswoman. It's only natural that I would be respected and revered by the people."

"You get into character even faster than I do!" Nojiko hissed, baring her teeth.

…

The group followed Gandalf-Ford down a long corridor.

No one noticed that, in a corner of the street outside the reception hall, two strangely dressed individuals were watching them leave through the glass window.

"Sham! You saw it too, right?" said a fat man dressed like a tabby cat, a bell tied around his neck, letting out a strange cackle.

"Of course, Buchi. There's no mistaking it," said the skinny, green-haired man hunched beside him, greedily licking his lips. "That pure white katana… it looks ordinary, but according to the identification method the Captain taught us, it's definitely a famous sword of incredible quality!"

"That sword is worth at least fifty million Berries, minimum! And on the black market, you can't even find one for sale."

"Should we make a move?"

The fat man, Buchi, extended his sharp claws, eager for action.

"It's worth a shot! But just the two of us… it's not a sure thing! Not a sure thing!"

The skinny man, Sham, patted his partner's shoulder. "Let's go! We'll report back to Captain Kuro immediately! Hehe, we've hit the jackpot this time. We're sure to be praised for this. A fat sheep like this… he'll definitely want to handle it himself!"

...

A short while later, the group followed the corridor into a new area behind the main building.

Over a dozen ship docks with transparent glass domes were lined up in a row. All the completed but undelivered ships were housed here.

Each dock had its own waterway leading out to connect with the open sea.

Gandalf-Ford led them to the most impressive one, Dock One. He smiled, looking at the group with a hint of pride, and pressed a button.

"Here we are, Lord Shane. Please, admire my most prized creation of the past decade!"

A steel gate dozens of meters high rumbled open, and everyone instinctively held their breath.

"Whoa! What a huge, cool-looking ship!!!" Nojiko's eyes went wide, and she was the first to gasp in awe.

It was dusk, and the crimson twilight streamed through the skylight in the dome, washing over the ship's figurehead. It was a magnificent silver wolf, its head thrown back in a silent roar, with a pair of wings sprouting from its sides, giving it the appearance of a divine beast.

Behind the figurehead, the streamlined hull, a dark brownish color, was bathed in the sunset. It was long and sleek, exuding a sense of both elegance and power.

It was sixty meters long, fifty-six meters high, and twenty-two meters wide at its broadest point. It had a two-masted design: the foremast had a square sail, while the mainmast had a triangular lateen sail.

Looking up from below, with the white sails furled, the two massive masts stood as straight as swords, towering and majestic, pointing toward the heavens.

"Sir, did this ship really only cost three hundred million Berries? Even without the twenty million you knocked off, that doesn't seem like enough," Nojiko said, her heart pounding as she looked up at the towering masts. She couldn't help but turn to the old shipwright.

"The material costs were around that much, yes. The Adam Wood alone accounted for two hundred million," Gandalf-Ford laughed heartily. "As for the labor costs and profits… hehe, to have the honor of building a flagship for Lord Shane is something every shipyard in the East Blue would beg for. Who would quibble over such things?"

Shane, standing beside them, just smiled, momentarily speechless.

Whether it was exposing the plot on Cherry Blossom Island or later eliminating Arlong and his ilk, he had only acted because trouble had come directly to him.

Who could have predicted that the people of the East Blue would lift him up so high, viewing him as their hero and their pride?

"The training rooms with steel-plated walls are in the bottom hold. Your initial request was for two, but we added a third one for you. The open-air dojo is on the second-floor balcony, and the training equipment is already installed. As for the kitchen, it's built to the highest standards, and together with the food pantry, it's over two hundred square meters."

Gandalf-Ford continued his enthusiastic tour. "In addition to all that, there's a tangerine grove, a lounge, an aquarium, a library, a billiard room, a hot spring bath… all the daily necessities you could want, we've got them all!"

"In short, the interior is even more impressive than the exterior! I guarantee you will be satisfied!"

"Wait a minute!" Nojiko suddenly remembered something. "Mr. Gandalf-Ford, something's not right. Where are the cannons? I don't see a single cannon port on this side. Are they all concentrated on the other?"

"Well, about that…" Gandalf-Ford hesitated, looking a bit troubled. "The original design included twenty cannon emplacements, but later…"

"Later, I specifically contacted them and had them canceled," Shane said with a grin. "Let me ask you, if a cannonball was flying toward you, what would be your first reaction?"

"Me?" Nojiko pointed at herself. "Hmm… I guess I'd put on my gauntlets and punch every single one of them right back where they came from."

"Kuina?"

"I would cut them down with one slash," the black-haired girl answered, her tone cool and concise.

"Mr. Zeff?"

"Heh heh, these old legs of mine aren't just for show. I'm confident I can kick back any cannonball."

"Well, there you have it," Shane said, spreading his hands. "And I don't even need to say what I would do, right? Since everyone has their own special skills, and we'd be too lazy to fire the cannons anyway, what's the point of installing them?"

I've read over a thousand chapters of the manga. No one important ever gets killed by a cannonball!

"Oh, that makes sense—" the others said, a look of realization dawning on their faces.

"Err…" Gandalf-Ford wiped the sweat from his brow. "Well, uh, perhaps everyone would like to go aboard and have a look?"

"Awoo!"

Before he could finish, Gin excitedly charged forward, running up the gangplank straight to the bow to inspect the figurehead that looked so much like him.

"Captain, shall we go up and take a look?" Kuina asked, turning her head to Shane.

"Mmm," Shane nodded with a smile. In a flash, he used Moonwalk to land on the deck. The other three followed, zipping up in an instant.

They left Gandalf-Ford standing there, stunned. He looked up at them, completely dumbfounded.

These are Lord Shane's companions? How can they all fly? No wonder they said they didn't need any cannons…

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