Chapter 43 - The new ship

"You said you want to build a new ship… Do you have a blueprint?" Franky asked while approaching us slowly.

"Not really, though I know how I want it to look" He looked frustrated while scratching his head when I said that.

"You must be pirates" he presumed before he spoke again "We're quite busy now, so it might take longer than you usual" He stated.

'They must be busy building the Sea Train, that means Franky is going to build it instead of Tom' I said in my head "No problem".

I proceeded to tell him the details about the ship, how I want it to look, the size…etc.

"You said you got Adam Wood? Bring it here…I'll send someone for you when it's finished" he said while turning his back and leaving.

'I'll make him join me once he builds the ship' I thought as I proceeded to leave. When we got back to the ship, I sent Enel to take the Adam Wood back to Tom's Workers workshop and we waited for several days after that.

"*Chew*-*Chew*…*Gulp*…This food is pretty good!" I commented while taking another bite from the Sashimi, a sea food dish that consist of very fresh raw fish, kind of like Sushi.

I'm currently having a meal in an inn by my own. I was sitting on a chair near the counter with a newspaper beside me.

"Glad you like it" The waitress said with a smile, she is a beautiful woman with short brown hair, sky blue eyes, long eyelashes, and a beauty mark near her mouth. She is wearing a sleeveless short tank top with an open zip yellow sweatshirt and black pants. She also has ear piercings shaped like a star.

"You're a good cook" I said, she served drinks to some people before she replied to me.

"It's my job"

I looked at her for a second before I spoke "You seem to cook and serve at the same time. It must be pretty tiresome"

"We're short on staff lately, so I have to do the job of two people…Well, it's fine by me since I get paid more"

"First time I see a ripped waitress…" I said looking at her six pack.

"It's hard times, you never know when you need to defend yourself"

"True…What's your name by the way?" I asked her.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I might take you out on a date" I casually replied while taking a sip from my drink. She raised an eyebrow while looking at me in interest.

"Well, I never dated a pirate before…It's Amber"

"Ashen…How did you know I'm a pirate?"

"Carrying two swords, no uniform, we also have people like you here from time to time" She stated before she went to take order from some people. A few moments later, I heard the bell door sound and a lot of footsteps, as around twenty people entered the place.

I didn't bother to turn around and proceeded to take another sip from my drink before one of them sat next to me while the other bunch occupied the free tables.

"Welcome to The Lush Puppy Inn!" She greeted them.

"Pfffftt!!…Hahaha, that name is really stupid, the owner must have been high as fuck while coming up with something like that!" I said while laughing loudly. Her face turned red from embarrassment before she turned to me.

"You're making my job harder. I'll kick you out next time!" She said angrily before she approached the man beside me and took his order.

"Please serve some good food and drinks to my crew"

'That voice is familiar' I glanced at the guy sitting beside me.

"Huh?..." x2. We were both surprised when we had eye contact.

"Haa! You're that guy back from East Blue!...Ashen!" a red haired young man said as he pointed his finger towards me in surprise.

"…Shanks?!!" I looked at him in disbelieve 'How the hell did we both ended up at the same island, at the same time, and at the same inn on top of that?'.

"It's been a long time how have you been? You look a lot stronger than you were before!" he said with a big smile, he seems to have the same laid-back attitude as the anime.

"Acting all friendly when you almost killed me last time, you're really something"

"Come on that's in the past let's enjoy some drinks together, it's on me!" he said in a jovial manner while he asked Amber to get me another drink.

"Shouldn't you already be in the New World?" I asked him, since it has been a year and a half since we last met.

"It took me a while to go recruit these guys" he pointed behind him. There were some new faces in his crew, the one who stood out the most was a fat guy wearing a bandana on his head Lucky Roux, there was also Limejuice, Bonk Punch and his monkey, and a bunch of others that I don't remember their names.

"But I'm surprised you still remember my name" I said to him.

"*Gulp*-*Gulp*…*Slam*…Blah! How can I forget it when you're always causing trouble? We seriously had to leave East Blue after what you did…The marines went nuts!"

"Captain, you said you fought each other. maybe you should be careful, he might still want your head for revenge!" Lucky Roux shouted from the back, while taking a large bite from a piece of meat. He was talking about me.

"Hahaha, you guys should relax, I don't think he is that type of guy!…Now, drink-drink, let's have some fun!" he said to me.

"You're here to fix your ship?" I asked him.

"Ah, it took some damage after a big fall!"

"A big fall? Don't tell you were in sky island?" It was the only explanation since it's in the same road that he is taking.

"Ohhh! You were also there, come on tell me about it"

"You even melted the gold and took it with you, your power is pretty useful!" Shanks said in excitement.

"Captain! Maybe you should have him join us, next time we could melt the whole city and take it with us!" Someone of his crew said.

"Good idea, though I don't take devil fruit users in my crew, I'll make an exception…What do you say? want to join us?"

"Like hell I would!"

"Hahaha! I expected an answer like that"

'Its fun being around this guy, but I'm still going to beat his ass for what he did to me in East Blue once I'm strong enough' I though. We kept chatting for a while after that before they left a few hours later.

"You seem to know each other" Amber said while looking curious.

"Kind off…Well, time for me to go" I said, as I got up from my chair after I left some money on the counter "Keep the change"

"Thanks…Are you going to come back?" She asked me before I left.

"Maybe. Well, have a good day!"

After that, I went to Tom's Workers to check if the ship has been built yet. When I arrived, I saw Franky outside talking to someone before he changed his gaze to me.

"You're here! I was going to send someone for you!" He said before he approached me "Your ship is ready…And I got to say it's a true beauty!" he looked excited while speaking not like the first day. He proceeded to lead the way.

When we arrived, the ship was all covered.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, show me" I was waiting in excitement, they proceeded to uncover the ship immediately after that "You were right…It's a true beauty" I was looking at it in astonishment.

It's a three masted galleon which has a length of 50 meters, with black sails that had my flag printed on it and soot colored hull. There was a figurehead shaped like a winged demon decorating the prow of the ship.

The rigging of the ship had three masts. The fore and main masts were rigged with a course, a topsail and a topgallant, while the mizzen had a topsail and a lateen.

Beneath the ship's helm, is the captain's quarters which is very spacious compared to the old ship and is equipped with all sorts of luxuries and means of comforts, I even had him build me a pool table.

Near the middle of the ship is the crew's quarters, where the crew members will sleep. While the lowest part of the ship is used for storage like food and ammunitions.

The ship is also equipped with 21 cannons, eight on the upper deck, twelve on the lower gun deck and one on the ships bow.

(Here is a picture)

"I even had Tom-san consultation on some things" Franky stated.

'He's really talented, now I want him even more in my crew'

"You look satisfied, you should give it a name" he said while standing next to me "Have you thought of something?".

"Let's see, how about…"

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(Leave your name suggestions, I'll pick the best one)