Seeing how Iceberg was a decent guy and had even sent over several crates of fine wine, Takumi decided to humor him and agreed to join him for dinner.
But first, he wanted to swing by Dock 1 to check out how the ship's remodeling turned out.
When he arrived, Takumi saw the ship moored by the dock. The front of the ship had a giant chicken head ornament, two wings attached to its sides, and the propellers, originally on the sides, were now placed behind the wings. The hull was more or less intact, but the overall look was… not great.
Takumi stood there, silently processing it all.
"Hahaha! What do you think? Pretty impressive, huh?" the old shipwright beamed proudly from the dock.
Enel came storming out of the ship's cabin, clearly irritated. "Are you kidding me? You need to change it back right now! Or I swear, I'll show you what divine retribution feels like!"
"What? You don't like it?" The old man scratched his head, muttering, "I figured the young folk would love something like this…"
Enel noticed Takumi, instantly transforming into a bolt of lightning and appearing in front of him. He pointed dramatically at the overly decorated ship. "Look at this! How can you stand this?"
Takumi's gaze shifted to the shipwright, and in a calm tone, he asked, "How long to fix it?"
The shipwright thought for a moment before responding. "If we start right away, we can have it done by tomorrow. The ship's not too big, so changing the exterior won't take long."
"Do it," Takumi ordered. "Get rid of all that flashy nonsense. Make it simple and practical."
"Well… alright then," the shipwright sighed. He then spotted two workers hauling lumber and called out to them. "Hey, Harry! Kaku! Get over here."
The two men dropped the wood they were carrying and jumped over a low fence.
"What's up?" asked Harry, the older of the two, sounding curious.
The shipwright gestured toward Takumi's ship. "This ship's exterior needs to be remodeled again. Make it plain and functional. I want you and Kaku to prioritize this project for today."
Harry nodded in agreement.
Kaku glanced at Takumi, gave a friendly wave, and smiled as a greeting.
Takumi barely acknowledged him, not bothering to return the gesture.
Enel gave Harry and Kaku a skeptical look. "Just those two? You're telling me they can get it done in a day? And isn't that long-nosed guy a rookie here?"
"Don't worry about it," the shipwright chuckled. "Harry's been in this business for ten years. Kaku may be new, but he's a quick learner. He's already mastered the basics. Trust me, these two can handle it."
Enel glanced at Takumi, waiting for him to decide.
Takumi was indifferent, replying casually, "Fine. We'll be back for it tomorrow morning."
With that, he turned and began walking away.
Enel followed, still not satisfied. "Are you sure we shouldn't recruit a shipwright for the crew? It'd make things easier."
"We're not recruiting," Takumi said firmly.
Enel fell silent, frustrated but dropping the subject.
Later that evening, Takumi and Enel crashed at Iceberg's place for dinner. On the way back to the inn, a sudden glow caught Enel's eye.
"Huh? That looks like it's coming from Dock 1… I need to check it out!" Enel frowned, then turned into lightning and bolted toward the fire.
Their ship was irreplaceable, after all. Back when they were on Skypiea, it had taken Enel's crew a long time to build it.
Takumi watched as Enel sped off. After a moment of consideration, he decided to follow.
By the time he arrived at Dock 1, the workers were scrambling to put out the fire.
"Damn it, these pirates have been causing trouble non-stop lately. They almost burned down the entire factory!"
"Good thing we had Lucci and Kaku here. Otherwise, this place would've been toast. Who knew they were so good in a fight?"
"Yeah, we owe it to them. Alright, enough talking—let's put this fire out!"
The shipwrights hurriedly fetched water. Thankfully, with Water 7's abundant water supply, they managed to control the blaze fairly quickly.
Takumi made a beeline for his ship.
It had been caught in the fire, with part of it burned.
Kaku was already working on fixing the damaged areas.
Sensing Takumi's presence, Kaku glanced back, grinning. "Haha! Don't worry. The part that burned was mostly replaceable wood. The keel wasn't touched, so the structural integrity is fine. I'll have it patched up in no time. The only downside is that it'll be ready by noon tomorrow instead of the morning."
Takumi stared at Kaku, then asked, "Where's Enel?"
"Oh, that tall guy? He went after the pirates who set the fire. Said he'd finish them off." Kaku continued working on the ship, casually chatting. "By the way, your ship's pretty impressive. I took a closer look today, and the engineering is top-notch. A few of the gears were loose, though. I tightened everything up for you. It should hold up better now."
Takumi silently observed Kaku.
He already knew Kaku was a quick learner, but he hadn't expected him to be knowledgeable about the ship's inner workings, especially the mechanical parts.
"Haha! You don't mind, do you?" Kaku laughed.
"No," Takumi replied flatly.
Just then, Enel returned, looking annoyed despite having easily dealt with the pirates.
"Those idiots! I went too easy on them!" Enel fumed.
Takumi shot him a glance. "Let's go."
Enel looked at the ship Kaku was still working on and couldn't resist complaining again. "Look at it! It's still a wreck! What if something like this happens again? We can't fix a ship, and I'm telling you, we need a shipwright on board!"
Takumi: "…"
This guy was like a broken record.
Fine. If you want a shipwright so badly, let's see what you can do.
Pointing at Kaku, who was busy with repairs, Takumi said, "By noon tomorrow, if you can convince him to willingly join us as our shipwright, he's yours."
"What?" Enel looked shocked. "You mean it? You'll let us have a shipwright?"
Takumi gave a quiet nod.
Enel glanced at Kaku, his enthusiasm dampening. "But couldn't we find someone with more experience? This guy's just a rookie…"
"Just him," Takumi said, cutting the conversation short as he walked away.
Kaku was an undercover agent from CP9. Convincing him to leave was as close to impossible as it got. In fact, Takumi doubted Enel could pull it off.
But since Enel insisted on having a shipwright, Takumi figured he'd give him an impossible target.