Chapter 68: The Black Cat and the Flagship

After seeing the Garter off from the dock.

Siano and his group, four people and one dog, headed toward the Great Whale Shipbuilding Company.

The address was not far, located just a short distance from the dock.

Following that conspicuous neon sign, they arrived after merely a few minutes of walking.

Siano had called ahead to make contact, so inside the Great Whale Company's headquarters lobby, more than ten executives dressed in suits and leather shoes were already lined up waiting.

Leading them was an old man with a white beard, vigorous and spirited, wearing a monocle, with a gilded badge reading "Chief Shipwright" pinned to his chest.

Upon spotting Siano's figure appearing behind the glass revolving door, he immediately led everyone in a synchronized ninety-degree bow.

"We have been waiting for a long time, Lord Siano! This old one, Gandalford, on behalf of all employees of the Great Whale Shipyard, welcomes your esteemed presence to our company!"

"You are too polite, Mr. Gandalford." Siano hurried forward to shake hands.

After a brief exchange, the old shipwright solemnly handed over a parchment scroll, which stretched two meters long when unfurled.

In the center was a structural cutaway diagram of the vessel, while the surroundings were densely covered with various explanatory notes.

"This is the acceptance checklist drafted according to your requirements; please allow this old one to personally guide you on a tour. The new ship is in Dock Number One; please follow me!"

Gandalford bent at the waist to make an inviting gesture, straightening up to lead the way only after Siano began to walk.

Meanwhile, the remaining executives once again performed a synchronized ninety-degree bow toward the departing backs of the group.

"Hey, Sister Sister Guyina."

Nojiko, watching with envy, quietly leaned close to the young swordswoman's ear, "Do you think that someday, even without Big Brother present, we might also receive such courtesy from the common people?"

"Naive."

Sister Sister Guyina glanced at her expressionlessly, "I am the World's Greatest Swordsman; being revered and treated with courtesy by the masses is only natural, isn't it?"

"You're getting into character even faster than I am!" Nojiko bared her fangs and roared.

The group closely followed Gandalford into the corridor.

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

"Sham! You saw it too, right?" The fat man, dressed like a tabby cat with a bell tied around his chest, let out a strange laugh.

"Of course, Buchi, there can be no mistake."

The thin man with green hair, hunchbacked and bent over, greedily licked his lips, "That snow-white long blade looks ordinary, but according to the identification method the Captain taught us last time, it is absolutely an extraordinary named blade!"

"That blade is worth at the very, very, very least over fifty million Berries, and even in the underworld, it is priceless due to lack of supply."

"Shall we make a move!"

Fat Buchi extended his sharp claws, eager to try.

"Worth making a move! But relying just on the two of us is unstable! Unstable!"

Thin Sham patted his accomplice's shoulder, "Let's go! Return immediately to report to Captain Kuro. Heehee, we have Achieved Great Merit this time; just wait to be praised. With such a fat sheep, he will surely want to handle it personally!"

A short while later.

Following the corridor, the group entered a new area at the rear of the building.

More than ten docks with transparent glass domes were lined up in a row; all ships completed but not yet delivered were located here.

Each dock exit had its own waterway extending outward to connect with the outer coastline.

Gandalford led the group to the most luxurious Dock Number One, smiled as he looked around at everyone, and somewhat proudly pressed a button—

"This is the place, Lord Siano; please admire this old man's most proud work from the last decade or so!"

The steel gate, dozens of meters high, opened with a thunderous boom, causing everyone to instinctively hold their breath.

"Wow, what a huge and handsome ship!!!"

Nojiko widened her eyes, unable to restrain herself from exclaiming first.

It was dusk, and the ruddy twilight poured through the skylight in the dome onto the figurehead, which was unmistakably a silver wolf looking up and roaring, with wings sprouting from its ribs, resembling a god.

Behind the ram, the streamlined hull bathed in the sunset was predominantly dark brown, slender and sharp, yet retaining an elegant beauty.

Sixty meters long, fifty-six meters high, twenty-two meters at its widest point in the middle, it featured a two-mast structure, with the foremast carrying square sails and the mainmast carrying vertical triangular sails.

Looking up from below, the Bai Fan were furled, and the two thick masts stood straight as swords, towering and majestic, pointing directly at the sky.

"Old sir, does this ship really cost only three hundred million Berries? Even counting the twenty million Berries that were waived, that shouldn't be enough, right?"

Nojiko gazed up at the top of the towering masts, her heart shaken, and couldn't help turning to look at the old shipwright.

"The material costs are indeed about that much; mainly, that single piece of Treasure Tree Adam wood accounted for two hundred million."

Gandalford laughed heartily, "As for labor costs and profits... hehe, being able to build a flagship for Lord Siano is an honor every shipyard in the East Blue would give anything for; who would still haggle over those details?"

Siano, standing nearby, smiled slightly, momentarily at a loss for words.

Whether it was exposing the conspiracy on Light Cherry Island back then, or later eradicating the various pirate crews represented by Arlong, it was all merely because they crossed his path, so he dealt with them as a matter of convenience.

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

"The training rooms cast from steel on all four sides are in the hold; your initial request was for two, but we added an extra one for you. The open-air kendo dojo is located behind the second-floor balcony, and the training equipment has already been installed. As for the kitchen, it was built to the highest standards, and together with the ingredient storage room, it covers over two hundred square meters."

Gandalford continued to introduce enthusiastically, "In addition, there is a tangerine grove, a lounge, an aquarium, a library, a billiards room, a hot spring bath... all daily necessities are fully equipped!"

"In short, compared to the internal structure, the exterior is nothing; it will absolutely satisfy you!"

"Wait a moment!" Nojiko suddenly remembered something, "Mr. Gandalford, something's wrong. Where are the gun emplacements? Why can't a single gun port be seen here? Are they all concentrated on the other side?"

"Well..." Gandalford paused, looking somewhat troubled, "In the original design plans, twenty gun emplacements were preset, but later..."

"Later, I specifically contacted you to have them canceled." Siano grinned, "Let me ask you, if cannonballs were attacking you, what would be your first reaction?"

"Me?" Nojiko pointed at herself, "Hmm... I suppose I would think about putting on my boxing gloves and blasting every single one of them back?"

"And Sister Sister Guyina?"

"Slash them with one sword strike." The black-haired girl's reply was cold and concise.

"Mr. Zeff?"

"Hehe, my legs aren't just for show; I'm confident I can kick back any cannonball."

"Then isn't that settled?"

Siano spread his hands and played an imaginary accordion, "Needless to say for me, right? Anyway, everyone has their own unique skills; we're too lazy to even fire cannons, so why install cannon platforms?"

Having read over a thousand chapters of the manga, what serious person would actually get blown to death by a cannon!

"Oh, that makes sense—" Several people exclaimed in simultaneous realization.

"Uh..." Gandolf wiped his sweat, "Um, how about we all go up and take a look first?"

"Awooo!"

Before the words had even faded, Gin was already excitedly rushing ahead, running straight along the gangplank to the bow to study that figurehead which bore a striking resemblance to himself.

"Captain, shall we go up and take a look too?"

Sister Sister Guyina turned her head to look at Siano.

"Mm."

Siano nodded with a smile, his form flashing as he instantly stepped onto the deck using Moon Walk, while the other three followed, whooshing up in an instant teleportation.

Only Gandolf remained behind, startled, looking up at the figures above with a dumbfounded expression.

So these are Lord Siano's companions? How is it that every single one of them can fly? No wonder they said just now that cannon platforms were completely unnecessary...

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【I already have two proposals in mind for the ship's name, but to gather wisdom from all, I'm also soliciting suggestions from everyone in this chapter's comment section; let's see if there's anything that sounds even better.】

Thanks to Bu Ru Dao, 08a, and My Ghost Mother Minamoto no Yorimitsu for their donation support. This chapter got stuck in review for so long; I racked my brains unable to understand why, until half a day later I realized it was because Butchi's full-body image exposed Nami's nipples; I snipped it with a 'click' and it passed review instantly.

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(End of Chapter)