It would take another ten days before the three pirate ships were fully completed.
Teach and the others had no intention of idling around during that time.
News of the Nightfall Pirates' arrival spread quickly throughout Water 7.
"Hey, hey! Iceburg, Uncle Tom, the Nightfall Pirates are here!" Flam shouted from the shipyard on the outskirts of the city. He wore an open floral shirt and swimming trunks, his voice echoing loudly across the dock.
At this time, Flam had not yet renamed himself Franky.
"Huh? The Nightfall Pirates? What are they doing here?" Iceburg stepped out of the house, confusion written across his young face.
Water 7 rarely saw visitors these days. Even pirates only stopped by occasionally for supplies.
"I don't know. But I heard Galley-La Shipbuilding started building a ship for them a year ago," Flam said, shaking his head. That level of operation was beyond him. Galley-La was one of the top shipyards in Water 7, not somewhere he could simply stroll into.
Although he was Tom's apprentice, he was still ostracized by many residents and regarded as little more than a delinquent.
With the Nightfall Pirates' arrival, word had begun to leak from Galley-La. Many shipwrights working there were native to Water 7, and rumors traveled fast.
"I see." Iceburg nodded slowly. "I know a little about that. Over a year ago, Galley-La accepted a massive order to build three giant ships over a hundred meters long. They used nearly all the remaining Adam Wood branches and other precious timber stored in Water 7."
Unlike Flam, Iceburg worked at City Hall. Though his position was minor, it gave him access to more information. As a native of Water 7, he understood the city's worsening financial crisis.
"It's an order worth ten billion Berries," Iceburg continued quietly. "City Hall treated it as top secret. Only the mayor and Galley-La's upper management knew the details. I didn't expect it to be the Nightfall Pirates."
His surprise quickly turned into relief.
That kind of capital could keep Water 7 afloat for years if managed carefully.
Flam stood frozen, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
"Ten… billion?"
Iceburg snapped out of his thoughts. "I should head over. The president is probably there."
Besides working at City Hall, Iceburg was also a shipwright at Galley-La.
The mayor of Water 7 was simultaneously the president of Galley-La Shipbuilding. In the future, Iceburg would inherit Tom's Sea Train shares and use that foundation to consolidate other shipyards into the Galley-La Company. Control of the Sea Train meant control over Water 7's material lifeline.
For now, though, he was simply a promising apprentice under Tom.
The Sea Train blueprint Tom was designing carried all their hopes.
Iceburg grabbed a small bag and headed for the door. "Uncle Tom, I'm heading to work!"
Inside, Fish-Man Tom sat at a table covered in blueprints.
After Gol D. Roger's execution, Tom had been convicted for building the Pirate King's ship. At the trial, he proposed the Sea Train concept to the presiding judge and secured a temporary reprieve to complete it.
Now, the Sea Train was still in its early stages of design.
"Flam, I'm going," Iceburg called before rushing off.
Tom continued drawing, massive hands steady despite his size.
On the other side of the city, Redyat stared at Teach in disbelief.
"Teach… are you certain Fish-Man Tom has the construction blueprints for the Ancient Weapon Pluton?"
Hearing that name was shocking.
Even if it was only the blueprints, not the weapon itself, it was still one of the Ancient Weapons.
Teach's expression remained calm. "Pluton was built in Water 7 eight hundred years ago. If the blueprints weren't destroyed, where else would they be?"
Redyat's pupils contracted slightly.
Tom was recognized as the greatest shipwright in the world. If anyone could safeguard such plans, it would be him.
"So we take them?" Redyat asked with a faint smile. It was phrased as a question, but he already understood Teach's thinking.
"Of course we take them," Teach replied. "But only a copy. The World Government is watching those plans. If they vanish, suspicion will fall immediately."
Redyat frowned. Retrieving them silently was easy. Making a copy without being discovered was harder.
Teach chuckled. "We photograph them. If we're noticed, Tom has no proof. At most, suspicion."
With the Nightfall Pirates' current strength, they did not need to fear minor suspicions.
"Bring Lafitte," Teach added. "We minimize risk. The key is Tom."
"Understood. Where are they?"
"Behind a blueprint hanging on the right wall of his house. There's a hidden compartment."
That was all Redyat needed.
That night, Tom was away at the shipyard.
Shadows spread silently across the ground and climbed the walls of his home.
Redyat and Lafitte emerged from within the darkness itself.
The hidden compartment was locked, but not airtight. That was enough.
Shadow power seeped through the cracks. Moments later, the blueprints were swallowed into the darkness and reappeared in Lafitte's gloved hands.
"So these are the blueprints of Pluton," Lafitte said softly, examining them with interest.
Redyat leaned closer.
The front schematics depicted a massive warship with a monstrous cannon dominating its bow. The design radiated brutality and overwhelming firepower.
But beyond the general structure, the technical details were incomprehensible to them.
They exchanged helpless looks.
"This is beyond us," Redyat muttered.
"These are plans from eight hundred years ago," Lafitte replied. "Not something amateurs can decipher."
Redyat pulled out a camera. "Then we leave it to professionals later."
They photographed each page carefully, preserving order and alignment to avoid disturbance.
The entire process took only minutes.
Originally, they had considered hypnotizing Tom through Lafitte. But long-term hypnosis was unreliable and too risky. Any inconsistency might eventually surface.
Instead, they opted for misdirection.
Tom's house stood near the edge of a cliff above the shipyard. Every year, Aqua Laguna damaged the area, requiring repairs.
Redyat extended his shadow into the rock face above the house. Corrosive shadow energy quietly eroded the internal structure.
Cracks formed.
Sand trickled down.
Then—
Crack.
Rumble.
A massive rock broke loose and plummeted downward.
With subtle manipulation, Redyat guided its fall.
The rock smashed into the side of Tom's house, striking near the wall where the hidden compartment was concealed. It did not hit directly, but the impact shattered part of the wall.
The crash echoed across the yard.
Tom and Flam rushed out immediately.
"What happened?"
They stared at the damage.
"A rock fell? That's just bad luck," Flam muttered.
Inside, debris was scattered, and the wall was heavily damaged.
Tom glanced toward the blueprint area and saw nothing obviously amiss. Relief crossed his face.
"Haha! It's just a rock," Tom boomed with hearty laughter. "Quit staring and help clean up. If it rains, we'll have bigger problems."
Flam grumbled but obeyed.
Later, Teach examined the developed photographs.
He could not fully interpret them either.
Redyat swirled wine in his glass. "Even if we wanted to build it, the resources alone would be staggering."
Pluton required unimaginable materials and capital.
In this world, the only entity truly capable of constructing it was the World Government.
Teach folded the photos calmly.
"For now, it stays as insurance."
He glanced at Redyat.
"Next stop. Impel Down."
Redyat's expression remained steady.
Strangely, now that the moment had arrived, he did not feel the excitement he once expected.