Franky's steel body involuntarily broke out in a cold sweat.
"Just his presence alone is this terrifying?"
He stared at Straw Hat Luffy, goosebumps rising all over his unmodified flesh.
'How could there be someone so strong?'
Before coming here, he had prepared himself for a sacrifice.
He thought he was ready to die for Water 7. But he never expected the gap to be this vast.
'Is this what a pirate with a 450 million berry bounty feels like?'
And beside him stood the silver-haired man, Ray—also with a 450 million bounty—who hadn't even lifted a finger yet.
The rest of the crew just watched with casual disinterest.
Franky felt utterly desperate.
Even if he fought with his life on the line, he probably couldn't even scratch them.
Worse, he had just tried to kill them. What if they vented their rage on the city?
He deeply regretted his recklessness.
After years of easily crushing pirates with bounties in the tens of millions, he had grown arrogant.
He thought he could at least hold his own.!
His mind raced.
He needed to stabilize the situation. Even if he had to grovel, he needed to keep them calm first, then find a way to warn his brother, Mayor Iceburg.
Suddenly, Franky recalled what the orange-haired navigator had screamed earlier.
"Our money still needs to be used to repair the Going Merry and buy a new ship!"
A spark of hope lit up in his mechanical brain.
He knew what to do!
Gathering his courage, Franky shouted toward Luffy.
"I apologize for my reckless behavior! But I hope to make a deal with you—as long as you spare my underlings!"
Luffy blinked.
The rest of the crew also looked confused.
'He's giving up already?'
Well, they hadn't intended to kill anyone anyway.
But since the other side had opened fire first, they couldn't just let them go easily.
That would be unworthy of the title "pirate."
Sanji and Zoro jumped down from the Going Merry, flanking Luffy.
The Monster Trio stood before the trembling cyborg.
Zoro stepped forward, his hand resting on his sword hilt, a murderous expression on his face.
"A deal? That would be letting you off too easily."
Franky swallowed hard.
The green-haired swordsman radiated an aura of pure death.
'Is this it? Are we finished?'
Just then, Zoro smirked confidently.
"Tell us your proposal first. Then we'll decide how many of your limbs you get to keep."
Franky opened his mouth to speak, but Sanji interrupted with a look of mock astonishment.
"Wow, Moss Head! Were you in the mafia before? You're so smooth with the threats! Seems I underestimated your talent for villainy."
Zoro froze.
The intimidating atmosphere he had worked so hard to build shattered instantly!
"Shut up, Curly-brows!"
Luffy burst into laughter. "Shishishi! See? Zoro really doesn't look like a good guy! He's scarier than the bad guys!"
Chopper, watching from the railing, added fuel to the fire.
"That's right! My first impression of Zoro was that he was a real villain too! He smells like blood and booze!"
Sanji nodded solemnly. "Great minds think alike, Chopper."
"YOU BASTARDS!" Zoro roared, veins popping on his forehead. "Are you all looking for a fight?!"
To Franky's astonishment, the three most terrifying pirates on the dock began brawling with each other like children in a sandbox.
Dust clouds rose as they kicked and punched each other.
Franky felt as if ten thousand reindeer were stampeding through his heart.
'What is happening?'
Looking at how they behaved, were they really the ruthless criminals the newspapers described?
A crew that fought their captain with smiles on their faces?
Something wasn't right.
And that Straw Hat kid... his strange power had knocked everyone out, but it hadn't killed anyone.
Franky's thirty years of life experience kicked in.
These guys were different.
"AHEM!" Franky shouted, interrupting the brawl.
"Straw Hat Kid! To express my apology, I can help you modify this old ship and build you a new one!"
The three brawlers froze mid-punch.
They turned to look at him, revealing four bruised and battered faces.
Zoro wiped a bit of blood from his lip and frowned.
"Are you really more skilled than the foremen at Galley-La? We already have an agreement with them."
Franky bristled.
His pride as a shipwright flared up!
"Tch! Aside from Iceburg, those foremen's skills are far inferior to mine! I'm the best shipwright in the underworld!"
He crossed his massive arms. "I won't charge for the labor. But you'll need to cover the material costs yourselves."
Before Luffy could agree, Nami screamed from the deck, her eyes turning into berries.
"NO! You have to provide the materials too! Compensation for emotional damages!"
Everyone sweated.
When it came to stinginess, Nami was truly the King of it.
Franky hesitated.
He was essentially a prisoner, so negotiating was risky.
But if he was going to build a ship, he had standards.
"Listen!" Franky said seriously. "I want to use wood from the Treasure Tree Adam to build your new ship. It's the strongest wood in the world! The Pirate King's ship, the Oro Jackson, was made from it!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled. " The Pirate King's ship?! SUGOI!"
"However," Franky sighed, "Adam Wood is incredibly expensive. Even on the black market, it costs nearly 200 million. I can't cover that."
After weighing the pros and cons, Nami gritted her teeth.
A ship that could sail to the end of the world was worth the investment.
"Fine," Nami declared. "But there's a condition! You have to modify the Going Merry first to prove your skills! If you do a bad job, we're taking your hand!"
Franky grinned.
"Deal!"
Throughout the entire process, Ray leaned against the mast, watching silently.
He was secretly pleased.
Getting Franky to build the Thousand Sunny was going to be easier than he thought.
Originally, he expected a long, dramatic struggle to recruit the cyborg.
But Franky was a man of principle.
He wanted to save his subordinates, and perhaps unconsciously, he wanted to atone for attacking them.
Ray knew Franky wouldn't sabotage the work.
As a disciple of Tom, Franky had too much respect for the art of shipbuilding. He would pour his soul into any vessel he touched.
'At most', Ray thought, 'he'll try to stall for time to contact Iceburg.'
But that didn't matter.
Luffy had Kokoro's letter of introduction. Iceburg wouldn't move against them without cause.
So, the modification of the Merry and the birth of the Sunny were secure.
Ray looked toward the city skyline.
'Now... I just have to wait for the other shoe to drop.'
Because in Water 7, peace never lasts long.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator