"As good, if not better than the Oro Jackson...?" I murmured with a wry smile as I turned to look at the Black Pearl, dismissively shaking my head without bothering to give voice to my thoughts.
I loved the Black Pearl as much as I loved any of my crewmates, and I would never replace her with any other ship, but comparing her to the Oro Jackson is a bit too much, even in my opinion, biased as it was.
"You'll understand what I mean once you get a decent shipwright," Kokoro remarked with a shake of her head, dropping the subject, despite having picked up on my skepticism.
"That's why we're heading towards Water 7," I said, smiling as I looked at Kokoro. "We were capable of protecting the Black Pearl from suffering any damage other than minor scratches here and there so far..." I said as I scratched my head.
"But we need someone capable of fixing any real damage just in case..." I concluded with a sigh as the image of six angry vice-admirals chasing behind me came to my mind.
"Oh! In that case, look for someone called Iceburg in water 7..." Kokoro said as she retrieved a piece of paper and a pen and began writing something.
"He should know about most decent shipwrights on the island..." Kokoro finished as she folded the paper after she finished writing. "Tell him Kokoro sent you his way, and he'll help," she concluded, offering the sheet to me.
"Will do, thanks," I said with a nod as I took the note and put it in my pocket without opening it. "We've held you from your duties long enough, Kokoro," I added, my eyes unconsciously drifting to Kokoro's alcohol bottle while holding a chuckle.
"It's about time we set off," I concluded as I gestured for my crewmates to get ready to depart, and they obliged as they began jumping back into the ship while saying their goodbyes.
"That's quite alright..." Kokoro replied as she took a sip from her bottle, letting out a drunken hiccup. "You're welcome to visit any time you want," she concluded with a genuine smile, letting out another hiccup.
I nodded at her and gave a slight wave while smiling at the little girl, Chimney, as I jumped back into the ship. "Our destination is just over the horizon. Set sail," I instructed as I stood in my favorite spot on the Black Pearl's brow, and my crewmates obliged, unfurling the sails as the winds pushed us towards our destination.
...
"I already saw it in the anime, but still..." I muttered under my breath, sighing in astonishment as I gazed at Water 7's silhouette in the distance getting closer and closer. "It's..."
Overwhelming was the only word that came to my mind as I looked at the gigantic structure in front of my eyes. The island itself wasn't that big compared to other places we visited, like Alabasta. It was one relatively big landmass, surrounded by an archipelago of smaller islands in all directions, but it differed from any other place we've seen so far.
It looked beautiful, majestic, and goofy, all at the same time.
The city of Water 7 looked beautiful, thanks to how beautifully the red rooftops of the many buildings scattered in its seven sections, divided by water canals, came together with the industrial grey of the walls.
It looked majestic thanks to the said tall grey walls and gates that would put giants to shame and how high above the sea level the city itself was.
And finally, it was goofy in design, thanks to the gigantic fountain overlooking the entire city and pouring water into the canals, dividing the island into seven parts.
All in all, it looked like a weird mixture of Venice, a gigantic fountain, and a sea fortress.
"This is Water 7...?" Elly said in an astonished tone as she jumped off the crow's nest, having forgotten to call out the land because of how weird the island she spotted looks.
"It's something else, isn't it?" I said with a chuckle as I turned to look at Elly, ruffling her hair to snap her out of her daze and chuckling as she slapped my hand away.
"But it's hardly the weirdest thing out there..." I added with a shake of my head. "There are islands in the sky... islands under the sea... islands covered in cake... and even islands covered in thunder in the grand line," I added, spreading my arms apart.
"I get how you feel though," I concluded with a shake of my head.
...
"We'll have to hide the ship outside of the city," I remarked as we neared Water 7 while gesturing towards a small patch of land outside the city's walls.
"We can go inside by foot or rent Yagura bulls to traverse the city," I added while gesturing towards a large building outside of the city's giant walls.
"Yagura bulls...?" Law remarked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the building.
"The city doesn't have streets. It has water canals," I replied with a wave of my hand. "You can think of Yagura bulls like carriages. You'll understand once you see them yourself," I added with a shrug.
"The people of this island aren't really hostile towards pirates since a good chunk of their business comes from us, but we can't leave the ship unattended," I explained as I suddenly remembered the incident where Franky's family attacked Zoro on the going merry.
"There are a lot of gangs and bounty hunter groups here, so we'll need to take turns watching over the ship," I concluded as I turned to look at my crewmates, my eyes settling on Bob in particular.
"Not this time, captain," Bob said with a shrug, playing with the tip of his mustache. "I have some business to attend to here before I can take a shift," he added with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Then I'll take the first shift," Law calmly said with a nod. "I'm not interested in this place anyway," he added with a wave of his hand as he leaned on the Black Pearl's railing.
"I'll stay too!" Bepo said as he copied Law, leaning on the railing next to him with the same posture, much to Law's bemusement as he looked at the polar bear mink with twitching eyes.
"Well, it's settled then," I said with a nod. "We don't have any particular goal here, so you guys can take your time and relax, but stay away from Blueno's bar and the Galley-la headquarters," I added as I cleared my throat.
"There are government agents in these places and don't ask what they're doing here. We're better off not opening this particular can of worms," I explained as I cleared my throat again, shaking my head.
"But what about finding a shipwright and talking to that Iceburg person, captain?" Kozue asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I'll talk to Iceburg myself since he's in Galley-la headquarters, and I'll see how he can help us," I replied with a shrug. "I'll let you guys know if he couldn't provide any help, but keep an eye out for any potential shipwright recruits while you're out there anyway," I concluded as I nodded at my crewmates and jumped off the ship.