Over the next few days, Riberra Sami divided his crew into several teams to gather information on the various shipyards.
The feedback quickly came in—and the situation was more complicated than expected.
Just as Riberra Sami had anticipated, Water 7, as the most renowned shipbuilding hub under the World Government's affiliated nations, possessed a well-established guild system and deep-rooted professional traditions.
When Riberra Sami proposed commissioning a ship capable of handling the harsh conditions of the latter half of the Grand Line—while also boasting extreme speed, heavy firepower, and exceptional durability—any experienced shipyard owner immediately understood that this was far from a standard merchant vessel.
And since Riberra Sami couldn't produce any documents from a kingdom or corporation, their identities were quickly exposed.
More than seventy percent of the major legitimate shipyards and well-known foremen flatly refused.
"We only take orders from merchant guilds, cruise companies, and kingdoms."
"Apologies, our schedule is booked for the next three years. Please leave."
Some didn't even bother hiding their wariness and disdain. If not for the obvious danger posed by the Jellyfish Pirates, they might have called the guards outright.
"Bah! Bunch of snobs!"
Back at their temporary meeting spot—a small tavern—a crew member who had been gathering information gulped down a mouthful of alcohol.
"It's not like we're not paying!"
"Exactly! The Beli we've got could buy ten of their ships!" another chimed in.
Marcus analyzed calmly, "That's normal. They've got families and livelihoods here. Building a ship for pirates means risking being blacklisted by the Navy. The risk is too high. Unless…"
"Unless what?" Aldo asked, eyes wide.
"Unless we offer a price high enough to make it worth the risk… or find shipyards that aren't so legitimate—or are simply more daring."
Feich picked up the thread. He had just returned from probing some underground channels and had made some progress.
Indeed, beneath the surface of outright refusals, about thirty percent of shipyards had quietly indicated they were open to negotiation.
But their prices were all outrageously high.
"A standard two-mast sailboat goes for around ten to thirty million Beli on the market. They're asking fifty million as a starting price—and that only guarantees basic sailing capability. Custom features and reinforcements? Forget it. And we'd need at least a three-mast ship. At those prices…"
(A two-mast sailboat is similar in scale to the Thousand Sunny, generally considered a medium-sized vessel.)
"One old foreman said he could take the job, but we'd have to pay in full upfront. No guarantee on the timeline, and we'd even have to source some of the materials ourselves."
"Isn't that just daylight robbery?!" Aldo nearly smashed the table in anger. "Boss, how about we—"
Riberra Sami raised a hand, cutting him off, and shook his head.
"Aldo, calm down. This isn't a place where we can throw our weight around. The shipwrights of Water 7 are closely connected. If we break the rules here, we won't just offend one or two foremen—we'll offend the entire shipbuilding industry of Water 7. At that point, forget building a ship—we might not even be able to buy a proper keel."
"More importantly, we don't need just any ship that can sail. We need a vessel that can carry our dreams, a partner that can weather storms with us. That kind of ship can't be forced out with violence."
Aldo exhaled heavily. Though still dissatisfied, he sat down in silence.
He knew Riberra Sami was right.
Just then, a young crew member who had been sent to investigate deeper into the canal districts rushed into the tavern.
"Boss! I found him! He's real! Tom—a fish-man. He's not that old, but he's already pretty famous in this area!"
"Oh? Tell me more."
"Everyone says he's a genius. His craftsmanship is incredible. Even veteran shipwrights admire his ability to solve difficult problems and design innovative structures. But…"
The crew member hesitated.
"But what? Don't drag it out!"
"But… his price is outrageous. He said if he personally designs and builds a ship from scratch—one capable of handling any sea in the Grand Line—the base price is… two hundred million Beli."
"How much?!" Aldo thought he had misheard.
"Two hundred million. One hundred million for top-grade materials—wood, steel, sails, and various special components. He said if he's going to build it, it has to be the best. The other hundred million… is his design and labor fee."
Even the crew member found it hard to believe as he spoke.
"And that's just for a two-mast ship. If it's a three-mast ship… it's five hundred million."
The tavern erupted instantly.
"Five hundred million?! Why doesn't he just rob us outright?!"
"That's enough to buy ten large ships elsewhere!"
"A young shipwright dares to ask for that kind of price? Is he insane?! What kind of craftsmanship is worth a hundred million?!"
But Riberra Sami fell into deep thought.
Five hundred million Beli… was it really that expensive?
Decades later, Luffy's crew only spent two hundred million to build their ship, right?
Ah, that's right…
After the Enies Lobby incident, the wood cost for the Thousand Sunny alone was two hundred million.
And the craftsmanship and design from Tom's disciples were free, thanks to the Straw Hats helping them.
Besides, the Thousand Sunny was only a medium-sized ship. What we need is a large vessel—the materials alone would be on a completely different scale.
At this point in time, for a young Tom to quote five hundred million—it sounded shocking, but thinking it through…
…it wasn't entirely unreasonable.
"Five hundred million Beli…" Riberra Sami murmured. "Heh, interesting. Looks like this Mr. Tom has quite the confidence in his skills."
He raised his head, a glint flashing in his eyes.
"Money isn't the problem. Tell him—we accept the price."
"Boss?!"
Aldo and Feich were both stunned.
Even after their recent windfall, five hundred million Beli was still far beyond what they currently had in liquid funds.
"The Beli from our gold, plus the goods Kahailo will be sending soon—that's more than enough to cover it. Five hundred million only sounds expensive."
He paused, then muttered softly to himself:
"And besides… if we can recruit this future legendary shipwright onto our ship ahead of time… then five hundred million might just be the most worthwhile investment in the world. A Tom in his twenties… should be far easier to persuade than the old fish-man decades later."
A young Tom would be full of passion and ambition—eager to prove himself, and more easily drawn to thrilling adventures…
"Boss… that smile of yours looks kind of sinister…"
Aldo muttered, eyeing Riberra Sami's expression.
Riberra Sami snapped out of it and quickly wiped the smile from his face.
"Ahem. Get ready," he said, standing up. "Let's go meet this young shipwright."
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