A week later, the appointment from Sengoku finally came down.
Ryder was promoted to rear admiral and officially took over the Sabaody Marine base.
Jin didn't waste any time. That very day, he booked passage on a ship heading for Water Seven.
Their belongings had been packed days ago—Styla had already stored everything neatly inside her bracelet.
There weren't many people seeing them off.
Just Jin and his people together, quietly boarding and slipping away.
In the papers, Morgans had run a short piece about Jin's resignation, which caused a bit of a stir—but the news cycle moved fast. Soon he was busy hyping someone else.
The big front-page story now was the Red-Haired Pirates.
Red-Hair Shanks had officially started carving out territory in the New World.
Rumors said he was determined to plant his flag there for good this time—and wouldn't end up like last time, beaten and driven out in disgrace.
Of course, not everyone was impressed.
"It's just some guy who got chased out once and now talks big," some New World pirates scoffed.
And then, predictably, they started moving.
Crews left one after another, heading into the New World to pick a fight with Red-Hair—
among them the William Pirates.
With Shanks stepping onto the stage, the New World basically went nuclear overnight.
Skirmishes erupted everywhere.
The Marines were forced to keep reinforcing bases near the Red Line just to keep the chaos from spilling over.
Meanwhile, pirates in Paradise—the first half of the Grand Line—saw hope.
If someone like Red-Hair could take territory in the New World, why couldn't they?
Whole fleets of pirates charged toward the New World without a second thought.
The New World had put it in simple terms:
The victor is king.
Clicking his tongue, Jin leaned back in his chair on the passenger ship and folded the newspaper closed.
"Tsk. Shanks, wherever you go, you just gotta stir the pot, huh…"
Señor Pink sat nearby, cigarette dangling from his lips.
"Can't be helped," he said. "The New World's always been like that. One tiny spark and the whole place blows up. In that sea, the biggest fist makes the rules—not even the World Government can really stick its nose in."
"Yeah," Jin nodded. "That sea's crawling with pirates like ants."
"Almost there, Jin," Ain called out.
She was nearby, correcting Shirohiko's sword form, but glanced up at the horizon.
Ahead, a massive, layered island rose from the sea—Water Seven.
"Waaah, so huge!"
Shirohiko, little Squirrel-tan, and Wanda, who had never been here before, stared, eyes shining.
A gigantic circular island spread before them, cut through with layered waterways and sea channels.
The island city was roughly divided into an inner ring (the central district) and an outer ring (the backstreets).
Seven huge shipbuilding docks were spread across the inner ring.
From a distance, the inner ring looked like a perfect circle, while the outer ring's width varied unevenly around it.
At the very top, an enormous fountain structure crowned the city, water cascading down like a gleaming crown.
"Tsk, tsk… no wonder they call Tom's apprentices geniuses," Jin muttered. "This place is ridiculous."
Their commercial ship docked at the port.
"Alright," Jin said, standing up. "We're building our own ship here, and that'll take some time.
"So—shop if you want, sightsee if you want, stock up if you want."
He waved them off, giving everyone free rein.
Then he and Kuro headed toward the shipyards.
They rented a few Bulls—the big sea-train snails—and the group split up.
By the time Jin and Kuro reached the main shipyard, it was already bustling.
Muscular workers with bare torsos hauled beams, hammered plates, and shouted orders across the yard.
"Welcome! You here to build a ship?"
A man who looked like a foreman approached with a professional smile, eyeing Jin and Kuro's bearing. They definitely weren't small-timers.
"Yeah," Jin nodded.
"Then you've come to the right place," the man said proudly.
"We're Water Seven—the greatest shipbuilding city in the world.
No matter what kind of ship you want, as long as the price is right, we can build it.
And the quality? Top-notch. No cut corners, no fraud, guaranteed."
He led them into an office.
Inside, a man with sunglasses and a cigar was reading the paper with his feet up.
"Vice President Barry, we've got clients here for custom shipbuilding."
"Yo."
The man put the paper down and came over, offering a hand.
"I'm Barry, vice president of the Galley-La Company.
"So—what kind of ship are you looking to build?"
Jin and Kuro sat.
Jin didn't waste words. He pulled a detailed blueprint from his bracelet and set it on the desk.
"Here. Take a look. Think you can handle it?"
Barry chuckled confidently.
"Handle it? You're talking to the vice president of Galley-La.
"You wouldn't believe the kinds of ships we've built. Our capabilities go way beyond what you can imagine, my friend—"
Then he actually looked at the blueprint.
His cigarette nearly fell from his mouth.
He could read the hull design. That was fine.
But after that—
"What the hell is that?"
Things like:
A wind-powered generator.
Huge lateral fan units on both sides.
Multiple internal mechanical systems he'd never even heard of.
We put cannons on the sides, Barry thought weakly. Cannons. These are… not cannons.
He flipped the pages.
Most of the "requirements" were understandable.
But so much of the internal structure was completely foreign to him.
Kuro spoke mildly.
"So? You up for it? If you're not, go get your boss. We'll talk to him instead."
"Uh…"
Barry swallowed.
"Dear customer, if you'd follow me… I'll take you to see our president. This one's beyond me."
He led them upstairs to the second floor and knocked on a door.
Knock, knock.
"Come in," came a voice from inside.
The door opened.
Jin saw a young man with blue hair, pen in hand, working through some numbers at his desk.
At this point in time, Iceburg basically controlled all of Water Seven.
Barry cleared his throat.
"President Iceburg, we've got some customers here with a ship design… I couldn't quite make the call on it, so I brought them up to you."
Iceburg raised his head, then froze for a moment.
Then he stood up quickly and extended a hand.
"I'm Iceburg, president of Galley-La."
He smiled politely.
"A pleasure to meet you, former Marine Rear Admiral 'Dragon Emperor' White Ghost, Arakaki Jin."
Jin arched a brow.
"I'm that famous now?"
Iceburg laughed.
"To be honest, I didn't recognize you at a glance. The pictures in the paper don't do your presence justice."
"N–NANI?!"
Barry finally processed the name.
His cigar dropped straight onto the floor.
"You… you… you're that guy?! The one who beat Kaido in the New World—Golden Dragon Emperor White Ghost?!"
"Please, sit, Mr. White Ghost," Iceburg said, as if this were all perfectly normal. He gestured them to the sofa, and his secretary hurried to bring tea.
Jin's gaze paused briefly on the secretary.
Lucci and the CP9 crew weren't here yet—if he remembered right, they only came after Iceburg became mayor.
Iceburg turned his attention to the blueprint.
"I have to say," he murmured, paging through it, "this design is… incredibly advanced.
"A ship driven primarily by electrical power, with sail as secondary support…"
He looked back up.
"In all honesty, Mr. White Ghost, I'll be direct with you.
"This ship won't be cheap. The mechanical work alone is extremely complex. I have confidence we can build it—but it's going to be a huge undertaking."
"I've got Adam wood already," Jin said calmly. "And I know you have a friend who's very good with machinery."
Iceburg's heart skipped a beat, though his face didn't show it.
Jin continued.
"Fifteen billion Berries," he said. "Build this ship.
"That 'friend' of yours doesn't need to show his face. Just have him handle the mechanical systems. I'll provide the materials."
"Fifteen… billion…"
Barry's breathing went shallow.
Good god. So that's what a real big-shot looks like.
Iceburg folded his hands, thinking.
"I'll need time."
Jin stood, already pulling something out of his bracelet.
"You've got one month," he said. "Here's the deposit."
He dropped ten billion Berries on the table like it was pocket change.
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