"Pirate flag..."
Dier didn't awkwardly deny his pirate identity—after all, it was just a label.
Even if he claimed to be a travel group, no one would believe him. Before finding Morgans, the World Government could call him whatever they wanted.
So he had no objections to flying a pirate flag.
But he didn't have any ideas for its design either.
"Got any suggestions?"
Robin's eyes lit up as she nodded vigorously, "Yes! And it's already drawn."
Letting go of Dier's hand, she pulled out a neatly folded paper from her pocket.
Dier took it and examined it closely—it was the classic skull and crossbones.
Except the skull had wild white hair like weeds, its hollow eyes replaced with swirling patterns. The crossbones became two bloody arms, with the right hand clutching a pocket watch.
"How is it?"
Facing Robin's expectant gaze, Dier calmly pocketed the design, "We'll keep it for now and discuss it later."
Robin's sketching skills were good, but her aesthetic sense...
That abstract dragon Kanjuro would paint in the future was probably her favorite creature.
"Speaking of which, if we get a study, we should buy some books to improve artistic taste."
Robin's smile remained unchanged as she silently stepped on his foot twice.
As they chatted and walked on, dusk fell, and Dier's body gradually emitted a soft white glow.
Soon, they reached the cave where the submarine was docked.
Dier laid eyes on the submarine he'd been longing for once more.
Compared to the Sunny, this submarine lacked a lawn, an observation deck, a helm, or a figurehead sculpture.
Dier and Robin climbed to the second level—the largest deck area that could be considered the main deck.
Two lounge chairs sat there, where Hina and Perona were enthusiastically discussing what luxurious furniture to buy.
For pirates, their ship was their home.
Having stayed as guests on others' ships until now, the two women never considered buying furniture.
But with their own home, of course they wanted to decorate it properly.
Wolf had cleaned up, no longer looking like a charcoal face.
With bandages around his head, he wore a large red sun hat, a floral shirt with shorts, and sandals. He was currently hunched over a table beside the lounge chairs, writing something.
Dier peeked over and saw it was an operations manual and safety precautions.
Noticing his presence, Wolf looked up and complained with a frown:
"You're seriously understaffed. Just four people total, and one's barely five years old—more likely to cause trouble than help."
"Three people could barely operate it, but that's just moving it. Steering and observation would require two people alone."
"By the way, who's your doctor? There's an excellent operating room in this submarine."
Dier shook his head—they didn't even have a navigator, let alone a doctor.
But he didn't think it was a big problem. They could just station two crew members in the control room—consider them the ship spirits of this vessel.
"Tch, what a waste," Wolf sighed, standing up and heading toward the interior.
"Follow me. I'll show you the internal structure of the Little Red Flower Invincible."
The second-floor deck where everyone currently stood only had a single two-story building shaped like the character "mountain". The front of the first floor housed the submarine entrance, allowing direct access to the submarine's interior while also serving as the crew's meeting room. The rear of the first floor contained a circular room that functioned as the ship's kitchen. The second floor doubled as an observation deck, with direct access to the roof of the circular room below.
Descending to the first floor revealed most of the ship's rooms—each crew member's quarters, bathrooms, toilets, etc. The rear of this floor also had a circular room serving as the ship's storage, with a secondary mast protruding from its roof.
Due to the need for submersion, most rooms on the ship were fully enclosed structures. Even the doors and windows were specially designed—not only waterproof but also highly pressure-resistant.
Going further down to the underwater first floor (B1) housed critical rooms like the operating theater, research lab, and energy room.
The floor below that (B2) was the control room, where the ship's steering wheel was located. A massive searchlight at the front could illuminate the seabed ahead.
The ship's bottom featured six evenly arranged cylindrical devices that could expel gas to propel the vessel forward. The two outermost cylinders on each side were extended—capable of not only propulsion but also launching torpedoes for attacks.
With so many specialized installations, the ship's maximum capacity was limited, estimated at thirty to forty people. In the original story, Law's pirate crew of twenty had lived quite comfortably.
"During dives, some heat from the machinery will accumulate in the cabins, so don't wear too many layers. The water purification system has two stages—first-stage produces True Water for heated showers and washing, while second-stage creates drinkable freshwater."
"All that makes sense, but is this energy room serious?" Dier pointed at the energy room ahead in astonishment. "Such an advanced ship powered by... burning coal?"
The energy room was a simple square chamber filled with firewood and charcoal. A one-meter diameter circular hole in the wall served as the fuel intake—whatever was thrown in would generate electricity for the entire ship.
"What's wrong with burning things? Isn't civilization essentially about boiling water and throwing stones anyway?" Wolf shrugged, even proudly raising an eyebrow. "This energy room is my proudest invention—I call it the Everything-Burning Lord. Toss in anything flammable—charcoal, fuel oil, even a few bottles of rum if you're desperate."
"Oh, and besides the doctor and navigator, you're missing a shipwright—or rather, an inventor. You can't just nail some planks to fix a damaged submarine."
"I've got plans for that." Dier waved his hand—he'd indeed considered this long ago.
Finding a qualified shipwright wouldn't be quick, but he had his miraculous superpowers to fall back on:
"Kali Dier can grant ships self-repair capabilities."
"Kali Dier can grant ships self-upgrading capabilities."
"Kali Dier can grant ships autonomous navigation capabilities."
Though he hadn't acquired any of these abilities yet, he had some new ideas to experiment with.
That was to impose limitations on abilities, thereby reducing their intensity and making it easier for him to obtain them.
For example,
After eating three biscuits, plucking five strands of hair, and dancing for an hour, Kali Dier could grant a ship the ability to repair itself.
Whether it would work or not was uncertain, but another comic was already in the works.
In the comic, he played the role of a villain obsessed with collecting Ship Spirits.
He could bestow various abilities upon ships, yet he had no regard for them, frequently causing damage on board. As a result, none of the ships he owned ever gave birth to a Ship Spirit.
After some time, he would destroy and abandon these ships, seeking new ones to nurture Ship Spirits.
The protagonist was a naval shipwright who repaired these broken vessels. Moved by his efforts, the damaged ships gave rise to Ship Spirits.
In the end, the naval shipwright, armed with love and justice, assembled a fleet from the abandoned ships, defeated Dier—who treated ships as mere tools—and rescued the Ship Spirits he had imprisoned.
Besides, with this Submarine, Dier no longer needed to hide his identity in the North Sea.