"What?!" The man gripped the railings of his orange ship. Eyes wide in surprise. His open double breasted penny coat disturbed as he did
"Don't tell me you sailed the Grand Line with that! Tell me you at least got someone like the Karri Transport Company to take you!"
The Karri Transport company was one of the Many Shipping Companies that specialized in picking up people from the blues and transporting them to other blues or parts of the Grand Line on a schedule. There was even a dock for them in Louge Town! Though, the Red Sashes were never near it. The company even had the ability to travel through the Calm Belt. Though at a hefty mark up
"Haha- What! No! Sailed her here all the way from Reverse Mountain!" Leroy Proudly declared
"Brrrrrahahaha!" The man rolled a deep guttural rolling B and R before bursting into a laugh "You lucky sonsofbitches!"
"A Caravel as small as that! Wow! No wonder it's all beat up!" He wiped tears from his eyes "I haul lumber, and I'm no pirate like you- Given the Jolly Roger. But even I wouldn't sail on anything less than Carrick of at least a large Size."
In the World, Ships weren't just labeled by size, but also by size. There could be Galleons the Size of the Palm, and Caravels the Size of Galleons. But the Palm was a 'Standard' sized Caravel. The Default Size. Where the Ship in front of them was known as a Large Galleon. Twice the size of a typical one
"You must got a real nice and gracious Klabautermann watching over you." He chuckled under his breath, walking away.
"Klabautermann?" Leroy questioned, looking over to Raven "They're said to be spirits that come to or from a ship's spirit to help those sailing it. They are also known as Clatter-Men, or Rumble Makers. Some images are rather cute"
She smiled gently. "Jolly Chubby cheeks and cute pipes hmhmh." She gave a chuckle with a larger smile and closed eyes.
"So you sayin. Or- That guys sayin' that the Palm might be alive?" Kále peaked one eye open.
"Well- Perhaps. Theres a bit too many stories out there of Ships speaking to their Owners or hearing whispers of advice or hearing reassuring words at the worst possible time. Even when sailors are utterly stranded and alone."
"Aww!" Leroy fell to the ground, sprawling his arms out in a hug against the deck "We love you too Palmy."
"Some interpretations of the story say that it is the Ships spirit." Raven added.
"How cute!" Kirk almost squealed with his hands to his mouth
It was like no time at all that the Fifteen minutes passed and the sound of rushing water filled the air. Leroy jumping to attention and running forward and onto the palm. He watched with a keen and focused interest.
The sound of the water cascading into more rumbled through the waves and up the wood of the Palm in a minor vibration. It was only another minute before the lock was fully lowered, and the rope blocking was detached and dragged across.
The workers in blue began waving their hands, calling for the Ships to move forward.
The Ships lowered the sails as little as possible, and with a slight fluctuation of the water beneath them, and a breeze, the ships were pushed forward into the opening. Big enough to fit nine entire ships in it.
Raising the sails, the ships came to a stop with many meters of clearance between them and the three walls.
With barely a noise, the water lock rose again through the sea, and sealed the ships into the confined space, with only a beam of light from the sun above leaking in.
The sound of rushing water flowed in from the top of the opening! And then from the other sides of the walls as well! Quickly beginning to raise the volume, and lift the ships up!
"This is way nicer than the Jet Stream." Noir jest with his hands in his pockets
"Wow! Look at that!" Dezzi said as Them and Leroy watched in excitement, pointing to the waterways
It took only a few minutes for the entire volume of the water lock to push the whips up into the next section! Sun beaming in as the slowly peered over the top!
"What?!" Kirk said with excitement.
The entire area around them was like a miniature ocean. An artificial sea of water with buildings sat atop floating within them!
"Now this is a reason to be called the water capital of the world!" Small walls that protruded from the sea that connected to the water lock lowered, letting the Ships flow out of the water.
"It seems that there's a constant current. Moving the ships around in different directions." Raven observed.
"Not only that, I can tell that there's different currents going in different directions like lanes in a street for horses. I'll set course to the one thats moving to the right."
The area of artificial ocean was far large enough to more than comfortably sit even the biggest of ships. Even something big enough for giants could float around these currents without issue.
Kirk did as he said, and found the current to take the palm down the right side, close to the edge of the city. Many docks sat dotted on the edge of each for ships to be docked.
The buildings up on this level were far more complex. The view from a distance did them a disservice! The buildings were multistory, and were fit into the canals next to them with no issue at all. Some canals went into the buildings themselves instead of having front doors!
Smaller ships could be seen that held no sails floated into the buildings, some had large sidewalks that connected to bridges to other streets. Some canals were small, with only enough space for dinghies, and others were large enough that the Red Sashes saw the Galleon from before float into one of them without issue!
"This entire place is meant for ships." Jeanne murmured
"Yeah, but there's also plenty of space for people too." Noir added