ONE PIECE: Lone Sails

In the weeks that followed, Noah set aside his treasure-hunting dives into the sea's depths. Instead, he made discreet trips to Rogue Town, amassing steel, shipbuilding tools, materials, and navigation instruments. By day, he trained relentlessly; by night, he labored in the northwest corner of the bay, constructing a hidden dock. The site, once a coastal hillside, was transformed through sheer effort. Noah, Vic, and the others hollowed out the slope, carving a cavern fifty meters high and sprawling across nearly thirty thousand square meters. A tunnel, wide enough for ships, was chiseled through the cliff, its exit framed in steel and camouflaged with a rock facade.

The secret dock took a month and a half to complete. Ajie, the family's apprentice boatman, worked alongside Noah each night, crafting their second vessel. Uncle Joseph, Joshua, Anthony, and others pitched in, hauling materials and components. Though Noah lacked formal training as a naval architect, this wasn't a traditional wooden sailboat—it was a steel submarine, a practical choice for his family's needs.

The first submarine had been a rudimentary affair, but this one, dubbed the Nautilus, was a deliberate creation. Fifty-six meters long, with a displacement of four hundred tons, it could house twenty people comfortably. It boasted hybrid propulsion—water jets, pedal-driven propellers, and electric motors—along with a battery system, an air exchange mechanism using stored reserves from Noah's cards, electric lighting, an independent washroom, a diving chamber, a food storage compartment, a rest area, a cockpit, and an omnidirectional periscope.

To maximize interior space, Noah reimagined buoyancy control. Instead of relying solely on water injection and drainage, he used his cards to add or remove iron blocks. With iron's density seven times that of water, this innovation shrank the ballast tanks to a seventh of their original size, more than doubling the crew's living space. This design, however, was unique to Noah—his Card Fruit made it possible, rendering the Nautilus unusable by others without similar abilities.

Safety was paramount. Unlike the first submarine, which lacked escape measures, this one was equipped. Noah ordered thirty high-end diving suits from a Rogue Town supplier, a purchase costing over forty million Berries. When lives were at stake, money was no object. He also sourced high-strength alloy steel to reinforce the submarine's frame. In total, the Nautilus cost nearly five hundred million Berries, excluding their labor.

By September 1503, the submarine completed its sea trials. On September 11th, the family gathered in the secret dock, gazing at the sleek steel vessel with pride. Noah tugged away a red cloth draped over its hull, revealing the name painted in bold letters: Nautilus.

"Family!" he called out. "Let's board and set sail for the sea!"

One by one, they stepped aboard, including Uncle Joseph, whom Noah gently insisted join them. On Starfish Island, their hardware store was left in the care of two hired clerks, while the manor and orchard were sealed. The hardware workshop, wind turbines, and dock equipment were stowed away in Noah's cards. They didn't know when—or if—they'd return. Should the dock be discovered in their absence, Noah refused to let their home fall to ruin or plunder.

The Nautilus glided through the underwater tunnel, emerging from the secret dock into the boundless ocean. As they breached the surface, Noah instructed Joshua and Mary to alternate using their Observation Haki, scanning their surroundings while honing their skills. Joshua's Haki, like Noah's, excelled in wide-ranging perception, covering a kilometer in every direction. Mary's talent leaned toward emotional insight, detecting others' feelings within a hundred-meter radius.

Inside the submarine, duties were assigned. Uncle Joseph manned the periscope, with Tomani as his backup. Joshua and Mary served as security, monitoring the environment. Vic and Anthony powered the pedal propellers in shifts. Lilith navigated, Lillian cooked, Alei handled logistics, and Ajie maintained the vessel.

"Full speed to Shields Town," Noah ordered.

Lilith studied the chart, tracing a route with her pen. Shields Town lay in the northeast of the East China Sea, part of the Clover Kingdom on the main Clover Island. Their journey would take them past Hobby Island (home to Cocoyashi Village), Moonlight Island (site of Xiluobu Village), the Organ Islands (where Orange Town stood), and finally to their destination.

Noah had little interest in crossing paths with the so-called protagonists along the way. Apart from Nami's family, their fates diverged sharply from his own. Luffy's lineage was a tangled web of power: a Marine Vice Admiral grandfather, a Revolutionary Army leader father, a red-haired Yonko mentor tied to the Celestial Dragons, and brothers linked to One Piece's legacy and revolutionary causes. Zoro descended from the Shimotsuki clan, trained by a master with ties to Wano and the Revolutionaries. Usopp was the son of a Red Hair Pirates sniper. Sanji hailed from the Vinsmoke family, warmongers of devastating reach.

Nami, though, was different. Born in the ravaged Oykot Kingdom, she lost her biological parents to pirates and her adoptive mother, Bell-mère, to further tragedy. Enslaved by the Arlong Pirates for over eight years, she and her village suffered deeply. If Noah were in her shoes, joining any pirate crew—let alone the Straw Hats—would be unthinkable. Luffy's later inclusion of Jinbe, a fish-man, would only twist the knife. Without Luffy's pivotal role in toppling Arlong, Nami's alliance with the Straw Hats would never have formed. Even then, the crew's failure to eliminate Arlong, Colonel Mouse, and their ilk left Cocoyashi Village vulnerable—a glaring oversight.

Had the World Government's Five Elders any foresight, the Straw Hats would have been crushed long ago. A simple trap—kidnapping Nami's sister, Kaya, or other loved ones—would lure Luffy's crew to their doom. Their survival hinged on luck and the government's incompetence.

Thus, Noah's crew steered clear of the protagonists. Nami, now just two years old, lived free of Arlong's shadow, her adoptive mother still a retired Marine. The time for contact had not yet come.