Winds of change were sweeping across the world. From the Four Seas to Jaya, from the first half of the Grand Line to the New World, the tides were shifting.
For the Nightfall Pirates, however, none of it brought urgency.
They remained steady and composed, calmly preparing to set sail once more.
Although the three new pirate ships required numerous additions and modifications, the work did not take long. The Galley-La Company had mobilized a large number of top-tier master shipwrights and veteran craftsmen. With that level of manpower and expertise, everything was completed within just a few days.
The workmanship was impeccable.
The finest materials available had been used. The best craftsmen in Water 7 had overseen every joint and seam. Even the decorative carvings were crisp and exquisitely detailed.
This was an order worth ten billion Berries. Galley-La had no intention of tarnishing its name. In truth, these ships were among the finest they had ever built. To a shipwright, a ship was like a child. No one would deliberately mar their own creation.
Moreover, the Nightfall Pirates had a fearsome reputation across the seas. No one dared cut corners.
If anything took time, it was the weapons.
The primary cannons had to be forged from scratch, and that responsibility fell to Otto.
Otto worked with astonishing efficiency. After consuming the Weapon-Weapon Fruit, mechanical arms could extend from his body to assist him. Multiple articulated limbs moved in coordination, forging intricate components piece by piece before assembling them into complete systems.
At Teach's request, Otto also carried out several secret modifications to the Queen Anne's Revenge.
On the surface, nothing appeared different.
Inside, however, hidden compartments had been carved into the hull. Concealed mechanical arms lay dormant within the structure, along with covert weapon systems powered by Otto's proud Life Mechanical Technology. He had also integrated energy systems derived from ancient lunar technology.
That energy system bore striking similarities to the technology described in the blueprints of the Ancient Weapon Pluton.
Previously, it had only been speculation. Now Otto was certain.
Pluton's blueprints incorporated technology that originated from the moon.
When the moon's people descended to this planet long ago, fragments of their knowledge must have been passed down. Otherwise, a warship like Pluton could never have existed.
Yet most of that knowledge had been lost or destroyed.
Eight hundred years ago, the ancient Great Kingdom had stepped into what could only be called the domain of gods. Its destruction and the founding of the World Government might well have marked a regression in the world's technological progress.
It had taken eight centuries for someone like Vegapunk to reappear and once again approach that forbidden domain.
As for the mechanical arms Otto created, they were alive in a limited sense.
They could not act autonomously. They required a connection to a living person's spirit. Every mechanical arm and mechanical hand was tethered to its controller's life force and intent.
Now, all those arms were connected to the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Teach had transformed the ship into a floating fortress of war, and further upgrades would follow in the future.
Still, there was one final step.
"Captain, giving life to the Queen Anne's Revenge is extremely difficult."
Otto frowned as he faced Teach's request.
His Life Mechanical Technology did not truly grant life. It granted spirituality. It allowed cold machinery to respond to a living will.
Machines could not generate independent consciousness. Someone had to control them.
A ship fighting on its own, its mechanical arms moving freely without a handler, that was another matter entirely.
He understood Teach's idea. If the Queen Anne's Revenge possessed its own consciousness, it would no longer require a pilot for every system. The ship itself could think, react, and fight.
It was an intoxicating concept.
"Otto," Teach said with a faint smile, "all things have a breath."
Otto understood the reference.
Observation Haki. The realm where a swordsman sensed the breath of all things before cutting steel. The principle was the same.
Everything possessed life.
But in Otto's eyes, the Queen Anne's Revenge was newly born timber and steel. Legends spoke of the fairy of the ship, but those spirits required time and fortune. A brand-new vessel could not possibly possess one.
"My technology can give it life," Otto said slowly. "But what about consciousness? Do we wait decades for it to form on its own?"
He had studied Pluton's blueprints. At its core lay something extraordinary.
Pluton was a living ship.
Its Klabautermann had been integrated as a core component.
How such a spirit could be used as material was beyond him.
Waiting for the Queen Anne's Revenge to naturally give birth to one felt absurd. Klabautermann were sea legends. Few claimed to have seen one. Most dismissed them as sailor's fantasies.
"Consciousness?" Teach smiled faintly. "Doesn't it already exist?"
He turned toward the window.
From his elevated vantage point, he could see the harbor of Water 7 below. Five pirate ships were docked there, the Nightfall Pirates' flag snapping in the wind.
Otto followed his gaze.
His pupils shrank.
"You mean… the Lucky Goddess?"
Teach nodded.
From afar, he seemed to glimpse a small figure seated upon the mast of the Lucky Goddess, gently swinging its legs. It turned toward him, smiled, and slowly dissolved into mist, sinking back into the hull.
"When did this happen?" Otto asked, stunned.
Teach did not know the exact moment the Lucky Goddess's Klabautermann had been born.
But when they descended from Skypiea to the Blue Sea, he had felt it.
He had felt the ship's joy.
That emotion had not been imagined.
The true birth likely occurred much earlier.
"Alright," Otto said at last. "I'll do it."
Granting life to a ship was actually easier than animating cold metal. The Queen Anne's Revenge was already complete. This would be the final step before departure.
The entire shipyard had been cleared. Members of the Nightfall Pirates guarded the perimeter. The Galley-La craftsmen had been dismissed. Nearly all of Water 7's available timber had already been used.
The ship's deeper modifications could not be seen by outsiders. To the world, they were simply installing heavy weapons.
Late that night, Teach went alone to the Lucky Goddess.
He sat upon the figurehead at the bow.
In his hand was a bottle of Monkey Wine. He had not drunk this in a long time. His supply was small, and this was the last bottle. He had always been reluctant to open it.
Tonight, he did.
Some crew members remained aboard. Kaguya was training below deck. Others lingered, unwilling to part from the ship that had carried them this far.
No one disturbed him.
Teach uncorked the bottle and inhaled the rich aroma. The scent drifted out over the sea on the cool night breeze.
He poured a cup and took a slow sip.
At some unknown moment, thick fog began to gather.
It rolled in silently, surrounding the ship until distant shapes vanished from sight.
Teach knew.
The Klabautermann had appeared.
Such spirits were often accompanied by mist. He could feel its presence behind him.
It sat back-to-back with him.
He had never expected the Lucky Goddess to give birth to a Klabautermann. Yet here it was.
Why it had been born no longer mattered. Perhaps it was fate. Perhaps Baccarat's Luck-Luck Fruit had nudged probability in their favor. After all, aside from herself, the one she most frequently blessed was the ship.
The Lucky Goddess had been well maintained, rarely heavily damaged, and had witnessed countless battles and journeys. It carried the sweat, laughter, and blood of the crew.
The air felt heavy.
Sad.
"I want to sail with you all again," came a soft voice from behind him. It sounded like a young girl, trembling slightly. "To fight together. To go to places we haven't seen yet."
It knew its fate.
The Lucky Goddess could no longer bear the Nightfall Pirates into the New World. The seas ahead were harsher. The materials of the Four Seas were outdated compared to the rare woods and metals of the Grand Line and beyond.
"We can still sail together," Teach said gently. "There's a place for you on the new ship."
The spirit paused.
"Really?"
"You won't be forgotten," Teach said. "From now on, you'll be the Queen Anne's Revenge."
A Klabautermann was tied to a vessel, yet its essence was not so fragile. If transferred properly, it would not vanish. It would change, but it would endure.
"But…"
"We need you."
Another voice broke in.
Baccarat stepped through the fog, her figure emerging like a phantom. Her eyes shone with curiosity as she looked toward the faint silhouette.
Others had approached the edge of the mist but did not intrude. Sensing something unusual, they waited outside. Baccarat, guided by instinct and perhaps by luck itself, had walked in.
Encouraged, the Klabautermann smiled.
"Then… please take care of me. Let's fight together."
Its form dissolved into light and sank into the ship.
The fog gradually dispersed.
When the crew gathered, Teach did not hide the truth. He explained the existence of the Klabautermann.
"To think such a thing exists."
"I've never seen one before."
"You will," Teach said with a grin. "Soon enough."
He waved them off.
"Get some rest. We set sail tomorrow."
At dawn, the crew rose early.
Today they would board their new ships.
And today, they would personally send their old ones to rest.
The massive gates of the shipyard creaked open, revealing a long, narrow waterway. Beneath the ships lay rail tracks extending all the way to the coast.
Large wheeled platforms supported the hulls, but even so, the sheer size of the three vessels demanded tremendous manpower.
"Mr. Teach…" the mayor of Water 7 said awkwardly. "Our craftsmen alone cannot move them efficiently."
"Go help," Teach ordered calmly.
Members of the Nightfall Pirates stepped forward.
News of the launch had spread throughout Water 7. Though the ships had been kept hidden, rumors of a ten-billion-Berry order had set the city buzzing.
There was no wall that could block every whisper.
Residents gathered near the launch site, eager to glimpse the new vessels.
The five older ships, including the Lucky Goddess, had already sailed to the shoreline to witness the event.
Reporters hid among the crowd. News Coo circled overhead.
The Nightfall Pirates were departing.
Ten billion Berries' worth of craftsmanship was about to touch the sea.
No one wanted to miss that moment.