"They don't build ships for pirates anymore? You know how pirates are—when they hear that, plenty of them went on rampages!" the tavern owner said with a pained expression. "This town has been wrecked by pirates more than once."
Rogers kept his head down, silently eating his meat. He was a pirate himself, after all.
Aiqi was much calmer. What's there to panic about? Neither of them had bounties yet. "But aren't there Marines here? There's a Marine base by the shore, and I saw patrols in the streets earlier."
"Marines? If they were really that reliable, would we be so afraid of pirates?" the old man shook his head, his eyes flashing with a strange light. "Their 'justice' is always late. By the time they arrive, the pirates have already done their damage."
"That really is hopeless…" Aiqi's eyes flickered thoughtfully. So the Marines here weren't just incompetent—they were despised.
"Marines were never anything good anyway…" Rogers muttered through a mouthful of meat.
The old man blinked, startled that this youngster dared to say it out loud. "It's true—Marines never return stolen goods to their rightful owners. They call them 'spoils of justice.'"
"Zehahahaha! Hilarious! Marines really are hilarious!" Rogers swallowed a mouthful and roared with laughter, mocking them.
"Young man, I don't disagree, but… saying it so openly could get you killed," the owner warned, sweating a little.
"What's the big deal? Old man, I'm a pirate!" Rogers threw back his head and laughed, his grin wide. "Zehahaha! If you can't even speak freely, how can you call yourself a free pirate?"
"You're… a pirate?" The owner's smile vanished. So his judgment had been wrong.
"Ugh, even food can't shut your mouth!" Aiqi quickly shoved a bottle into Rogers's mouth to stop him talking, then explained to the owner, "We only came here to build a ship. We're not looking for trouble."
"...I hope so." The owner's gaze grew wary.
"Hey, boss, as long as we don't say we're pirates, there won't be any problems, right?" Rogers asked naively.
The old man handed them two more plates of beast meat. "You can have a ship built. But the shipyards won't equip you with weapons. At best, you'll get a passenger ship. If you want cannons, you'll have to get them yourselves."
Rogers's mind instantly pictured it—enemy ships raining cannon fire on them, while their "pirate ship" could only sit there taking hits. No way. A pirate crew without cannons? They'd be laughed out of the sea.
"That won't do!" he said quickly.
"At least… is there any workaround?"
Seeing Rogers wasn't going to throw a tantrum, the old man relaxed slightly. Maybe these two weren't the cruel type.
"There's only one last option. On this island, there's still one weapon shop. Well… not exactly a shop—it's more like a weapons workshop."
"A weapon workshop?" Rogers perked up. No way am I sailing a passenger ship.
"The owner is… well, calling him a 'man' might not be accurate. He's… strange." The old man frowned, struggling for words. "But… if you want a ship built, he's also a skilled shipwright. The kind pirates usually like."
"What do you mean?" Aiqi asked, confused.
Rogers's eyes lit up, grinning. "Sounds interesting! Zehahaha!"
"He loves building weapons—crazy ones. Odd, twisted creations. Once, he even built a warship powerful enough to capture a small Sea King!"
"A Sea King? That's impressive!" Rogers stopped eating, wide-eyed. He'd never seen one in person.
"Hmm… not interested." Aiqi crossed her arms. For some reason, she had zero interest in this person. Maybe women just don't care about weapons.
"It is impressive. Otherwise, his workshop wouldn't still be in business. But…" The owner curled his lip, sneering. "His stuff is insanely expensive. And the materials? All looted from pirates. He's nothing but a crooked merchant."
"Expensive?" Rogers's face fell instantly. He turned toward Aiqi with a desperate look.
"Aiqi… do we even have enough money?"
"I don't know… Melo-neesan said we were only supposed to buy a decent starter ship here in the West Blue. Once we reach Water 7 in the Grand Line, that's when we'd build a perfect one." Aiqi looked troubled. She'd only brought a few tens of millions in beli—enough for a small, reliable pirate ship, but not something grand.
"Ugh…" Rogers slumped. This all came down to one thing—he had no money. Looks like he'd need to put his other plan into motion, and fast.
--------------
T/N:
Access 30 chapters in advance on my P@treon: [email protected]/FicTale
(Replace @ with a)
Thanks :)