Inside a luxurious office within the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, a Den Den Mushi suddenly rang.
On the other side of the line stood Saint Roselith Seraphina.
Her voice remained calm.
"Father, do you have a moment?"
Seraphina had just learned about the impending execution of the legendary shipwright Tom.
A genius like Tom someone capable of creating the revolutionary Sea Train was nothing less than a national treasure.
Allowing such a man to be executed would be a monumental waste.
Once Tom fell into the hands of the officials of Enies Lobby, even if he survived the trial, he would almost certainly be tortured to death.
Seraphina could not allow that to happen.
On the other side of the Den Den Mushi
Victor glanced at the mountain of paperwork piled across his desk.
They were annual reports from the various nations that paid tribute to the World Government.
He stared at the stack for a moment.
Then immediately kicked his feet onto the desk and leaned back in his chair.
"Of course! Dad is completely free right now!"
The plump man grinned widely.
If his daughter wanted something, he would never refuse.
"Master Tom, the shipwright who built the Sea Train…"
"Can you save him, Father?"
"I value his talent."
"I want him to join my research team."
Seraphina spoke directly.
During her years living in Mary Geoise, she had gradually realized that the rules of this world were very different from those she had known before.
To better understand the mysteries of the world, she had once asked Victor to assemble a scientific research unit.
The team focused on studying strange phenomena across the seas.
Among them were topics such as the climate anomalies surrounding the Sabaody Archipelago and the legends of the floating islands known as Skypiea.
Seraphina had recruited meteorologists, engineers, scholars, and inventors.
All to satisfy her endless curiosity.
Unfortunately
Most of the individuals recruited had been mediocre at best.
Victor himself had no interest in scientific matters.
To him, the entire research project had been little more than a hobby for his daughter.
Eventually the research group faded into obscurity.
Even Seraphina had nearly forgotten it existed.
But now
A true genius had appeared.
And she had no intention of letting him die.
"Leave it to me!"
Victor laughed loudly.
"If my daughter wants someone, I'll bring him here even if he's hiding at the edge of the world!"
He snapped his fingers.
"Adolf."
From the shadows behind him stepped a tall figure wearing a white suit and a featureless mask.
One of the elite agents of Cipher Pol Aigis Zero.
Victor's personal protector.
Adolf.
"Find this man named Tom. I heard he built that sea train thing."
Victor waved his hand lazily.
Within moments, Adolf placed a dossier on the desk.
The efficiency of CP0 was unmatched.
The file contained Tom's photograph.
Tom was a massive fish-man with thick bull-like horns.
A Bull Shark Fish-Man.
His body was round and sturdy.
White whiskers framed his wide mouth, giving him a strangely gentle appearance.
Some people jokingly referred to him as a Horned Tanuki.
Currently, Tom lived in Water 7.
The judicial vessel sent by Enies Lobby had already departed to arrest him.
The charge?
Building a ship for Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.
Victor glanced at the report briefly.
"Pirate King? Roger?"
He shrugged.
"Who cares."
"Adolf."
"Use whatever method necessary."
"Bring him to Mary Geoise."
His tone carried absolute authority.
Adolf simply nodded.
"Understood."
His hoarse voice echoed behind the mask.
Meanwhile
In the bustling island city of Water 7, events were unfolding rapidly.
A conspiracy had already begun targeting Tom.
Several mysterious men had stolen warships built by Tom's apprentice.
Those ships suddenly launched an attack on the government vessel known as the Sea Court.
The Sea Court was a massive floating tribunal.
It carried judges and legal officers from Enies Lobby across the seas to conduct trials.
To the World Government, it symbolized the extension of absolute justice.
But now
The stolen ships opened fire.
Cannons roared.
Explosions shook the sea.
Within minutes, the Sea Court was reduced to burning wreckage.
The massive vessel sank beneath the waves.
Shortly afterward
A man with purple hair stepped forward.
"Nice to meet you."
"My name is Spandam."
"I represent CP5."
He extended his hand toward the rescued chief judge.
The elderly man with a white beard hesitated briefly before shaking it.
"Thank goodness you arrived."
"You saved my life."
Spandam smiled politely.
Inside, however, he was ecstatic.
Everything had gone exactly according to plan.
His real goal had never been the Sea Court.
What he wanted were the blueprints to the legendary Ancient Weapon
Pluton.
Spandam had long suspected that the greatest shipwright in the world Tom might possess them.
After all, Tom had once built the ship of the Pirate King.
But Tom was stubborn.
When Spandam first approached him with the matter, the shipwright had thrown him out of the workshop without hesitation.
Tom had absolutely no intention of helping the World Government obtain an Ancient Weapon capable of destroying entire islands.
Spandam had been humiliated.
So he devised a plan.
He stole the powerful warships built by Tom's apprentice and used them to destroy the Sea Court.
Then he blamed the crime on Tom's shipyard.
Soon afterward, Tom was dragged before a temporary tribunal.
The Chief Judge sat upon the bench and struck his gavel.
"Tom of Water 7."
"You are recognized for your great achievement in creating the Sea Train."
"However…"
"You also constructed the ship used by the criminal known as the Pirate King."
"Therefore, your merits and crimes cancel one another."
"But the recent attack on the Sea Court…"
"Will be judged separately."
Suddenly, a furious voice erupted.
"That's impossible!"
Standing among the accused was Tom's apprentice.
Cutty Flam.
"Those weren't our ships!"
"It was him!"
"Spandam is the one responsible!"
The accusation echoed across the courtroom.
Yet Spandam showed no fear.
Instead, he sighed dramatically.
"How ridiculous."
"Why would a government agent from CP5 destroy a government vessel?"
"Who would believe such nonsense?"
He sneered.
"Besides…"
"Those ships belonged to your company."
"Tom's Shipyard."
"And you built them."
He turned toward the young shipwright.
"Isn't that right, Cutty Flam?"
Framy clenched his fists.
Those ships were indeed his creations.
He had built them with pride.
His senior Iceburg had warned him many times about building excessively armed vessels.
But Framy had ignored the warnings.
He dreamed of building the greatest ship in the world.
A ship that could travel to the ends of the sea.
Just like the vessel of the Pirate King.
Again and again he experimented.
Again and again he built new ships.
Each stronger than the last.
But now
Those same ships had injured both Iceburg and Tom.
The attackers had used the weapons to wound them when they came to investigate.
Ships that harmed their own creators.
Ships that harmed their friends.
"That's not my ship!"
Framy shouted desperately.
Regret consumed him.
Those vessels were never meant for destruction.
At that moment
Tom suddenly broke free from the guards restraining him.
With a powerful motion, he punched Framy square in the face.
"Idiot!"
Framy stared at him in shock.
"You say those aren't your ships?"
Tom's voice thundered across the courtroom.
"Never say that again!"
Framy trembled.
"But I regret it!"
"If those ships never existed, none of this would have happened!"
Tom stared down at his disciple.
Then he spoke with unwavering pride.
"Listen carefully."
"Ships themselves are neither good nor evil."
"What matters…"
"Is the man who builds them."
A shipwright must always stand tall and take responsibility for his creations.
That
Was the pride of a true shipwright.
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