Luffy are still admired their new ship, he was running in circles, laughing like a child.
"This is amazing! Our very own ship!" Luffy shouted, hopping onto the bow which had very unique design, its sheep-shaped figurehead.
Jack, however, wasn't just admiring the Going Merry. He was thinking, 'If we're going to sail the Grand Line, this ship needs to be stronger. The waves, the storms, the enemies we'll face… a normal keel won't survive.'
He still remembered how, in the original timeline, the Going Merry was eventually broken beyond repair at Water 7. The main reason was damage to the keel, the most important part of any ship. Once the keel was damaged, no amount of repair could truly save it.
Because of that, the first thing Jack wanted to upgrade was the keel.
He turned toward Luffy. "Captain, I have a request."
Luffy tilted his head. "Huh? What is it, Jack?"
"Permission to upgrade the ship."
Everyone froze when they heard that.
"Upgrade… the ship?" Usopp blinked. "You mean, like adding cannons or something?"
Jack smirked. "Not exactly. I'm going to make the Going Merry nearly indestructible."
Nami crossed her arms, clearly skeptical. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
"First, I need the captain permission," Jack said, turning back to Luffy.
Luffy grinned and nodded without hesitation. "Okay, Jack!"
Jack walked toward the bow and gently placed his palm on the Merry smiling figurehead. He closed his eyes, and a soft golden glow spread from his hand, pulsing down into the ship.
The cosmic energy flowed deep into the keel and he did it without altering the ship outward appearance, Jack changed the internal structure of the keel, transforming it from ordinary wood into vibranium.
He deliberately left the rest of the ship untouched.
Jack knew that if he upgraded everything now, Franky might never feel needed later and if Franky didn't feel needed, he might never join the Straw Hat Pirates.
For now, strengthening the keel alone was more than enough.
They need... No he need franky for his template character progress.
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "You changed it to metal. ."
Luffy leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "Ooooh, Shiny!"
The merry head and the keel had become shiny, Jack power had changed the properties of wood into a vibranium metal and this is not a normal metal but a metal that are not magnetize, anti rust and capable of absorbing vibration or impact, the most advanced metal in MCU.
The entire ship seemed sturdier, as though it had just been reforged.
Jack exhaled, lowering his hand. "Done."
Nami crouched down and knocked on the keel. "Metal? Won't it rust."
Jack grinned. "Nah... This is not a normal metal, this is vibranium and it is easy to bend it and it is anti rust. Stronger than steel, harder than seastone. You could ram this ship onto a stone and the stone would break first."
"Vibra-what-now?" Usopp asked.
"Think of it as the strongest metal in existence," Jack explained.
Luffy jaw dropped. "Whoa! So Merry is super strong now?"
"Yes," Jack said proudly. "She won't break easily, not from storms, not from cannon fire, not even from sea kings."
Luffy jumped up and down on his ship. "THIS IS AWESOME! JACK, YOU'RE AMAZING!"
Zoro smirked. "Heh. Guess we won't have to worry about the ship snapping in two anymore."
Even Nami, looked impressed. "If that's true… this ship might just survive the Grand Line."
Usopp wiped a tear dramatically. "Going Merry, you're even more beautiful now…"
Jack chuckled at their reactions, he still remember bucky arms are always being destroyed when fighting others using normal metal.
But when he changed it into Vibranium, even Sentry the most powerful superhero at that time cannot broken it. The Vibranium arm has more metal and mass, unlike Captain america shield, that is why it was ridiculously strong that even sentry cannot broke it in half.
Kaya and Merry looked surprised, "you can change something into metal?"
"Yes, my ability is matter transmutation," replied Jack.
"Amazing, so is it only metal you change?" asked Kaya.
"Nope," he then showcasing his ability put it on the ground and the ground suddenly become small river. Then he touched the branch and he changed it to a meat and Luffy when he saw the meat grab it from Jack hand.
Kaya smiled and said, "With this I feel relieved, that means Usop won't need to starve."
Everyone become silent even Luffy who just ate half the meat stopped eating, they looked at Usopp.
Usopp who become embarassed looked around.
"Captain, you said you are inviting me to join your crew?"
Luffy smiled, so are you agreed to join?
"Yes," smiled Usop. "I will be the captain."
"I am the captain," rebuked luffy angrily.