After hearing Shirakawa's words, the man became much more docile. Falling from this height—even if you hit the sea—meant certain death.
His mission was to protect the Ancestral Tree, true, but what he feared far more was dying.
"Right, what's your name?" Shirakawa asked him.
"Hmph." The man gave a cold snort and said nothing.
"Not talking? If you won't talk, don't blame me for kicking you off this thing."
At those words, he blurted out hurriedly, "William. My name is William." Why was he so spineless about this? Because he'd already seen Shirakawa lift his foot.
And what could someone possibly do with an outstretched foot in the sky? Aside from booting him off, William couldn't think of a single other reason Shirakawa would be raising his leg.
"William, huh? The name's not bad. It's got a certain domineering ring to it."
"Domineering? I don't hear it." The village had been calling him by that name for over twenty years. He'd never once caught a domineering note in it.
"I say it does, so it does. What, you've got a problem with that?"
Shirakawa glared at William.
"No, no problem. Definitely domineering." When you're under someone else's roof, you bow your head.
After roughly half a day's travel, Shirakawa finally arrived back at Water 7. He dumped Adam straight into Tom's shipbuilding yard, scaring the daylights out of Tom and his two apprentices.
"Holy crap, did a tree just fall out of the sky?!"
Franky let a curse fly straight out of his mouth. Iceburg stood there gaping, jaw hanging loose. Only Tom, after the initial shock passed, quickly grasped what was going on.
"There's someone on it too," Iceburg said, spotting the figure sprawled across the tree. He hurried over to pull him down and found the man already unconscious.
"Teacher, what's going on?" Iceburg asked Tom.
"Seems that guy's back." Sure enough, the moment the words left Tom's mouth, Shirakawa appeared before the three of them.
"Big Bro Shirakawa! So it was you."
Franky, still a little shaken, stepped forward and clapped Shirakawa on the back. "I thought we were under attack again."
"With me around, what blind fool would come picking a fight with you?"
After saying that to Franky, Shirakawa turned his attention to Tom.
"Mr. Tom, what do you think of this Adam tree I've brought you?"
"Good. Very good." The moment Tom laid eyes on that Adam, his pupils practically lit up with gold.
"This is the biggest Adam I've ever seen—even larger than the one Roger brought back. More than enough to build two ships."
Tom was practically quivering with excitement.
"Ah, two won't be necessary. Just build the best you can, Mr. Tom. If there's any Adam left over, it's yours."
"Oh, that's good. That's really good."
Hearing this, the first to light up with joy were Franky and Iceburg. Their teacher had said that after finishing this ship, he didn't plan to build any more. So whatever Adam remained... well, wouldn't that be quite the windfall for them?
"Relax, I know exactly what you two are thinking. I'll leave you some."
"Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, Teacher!" Iceburg and Franky shouted with glee.
"By the way, Shirakawa—what's the deal with this fellow?"
Tom pointed at William, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.
"Oh, him. I found you a bodyguard."
After half a day of conversation, William had somehow ended up asking to join their pirate crew. And the position he'd ended up with on the ship was... ship protector. Something like a bodyguard for the vessel, you could say.
As for why William came up with this idea—well, his life's mission was to guard the Ancestral Tree. Now that the Ancestral Tree was being turned into a ship, didn't that mean his mission had simply transformed into protecting the ship?
Shirakawa had agreed to William's request to come aboard. After all, someone who could wield Armament Haki on their own was a promising seedling. With a bit of training, five years from now he'd be a solid fighting asset.
Shirakawa also explained the tree's origins and William's identity to Tom.
"Now that's where you're in the wrong. How could you destroy an entire people's faith like that?"
After hearing the full story, Tom scolded Shirakawa.
"Ah, well, there was another pirate trying to snatch the Adam at the same time as me. So technically I didn't take it from their hands—I took it from another pirate's hands."
"And I cut off a branch and planted it back in the original spot. Given an Adam tree's vitality, I believe it should be able to survive."
"Oh. Well, if that's the case, no harm done then."
Hearing this, Tom nodded in approval. Shirakawa hadn't gone all the way, after all. He'd left them something.
"Where... is this?"
William, still on the ground, had woken up. He blinked groggily, still dazed from that earlier impact.
"Awake now, boy?"
Tom bent over and addressed him.
"HOLY—MONSTER!!"
One look at Tom's face and William snapped wide awake in an instant. He shot to his feet and bolted a good dozen meters back in the blink of an eye.
"Monster?! You're the monster! Your whole family's monsters!!"
Tom was clearly not pleased with being called a monster. He wasn't human, sure, but that didn't mean you lumped him in with monsters.
It was only then that William registered the two kids standing beside the so-called monster—and Shirakawa.
Spotting Shirakawa, he finally relaxed. He'd seen Shirakawa's strength firsthand.
"Don't worry, no need to be afraid. Mr. Tom is a fishman."
"Fishman? A... fishman, huh." William had never seen a fishman before, but he'd certainly heard what they were supposed to look like.
On closer inspection, Tom's appearance matched every description of a fishman he'd ever heard.
Fish-like features, but undeniably a human body.
"Starting today, you're going to stay here with Mr. Tom for the next five years."
"Why?!"
The moment those words left Shirakawa's mouth, William burst out in protest. He was supposed to live with this fishman for five whole years?
"Because Mr. Tom is our shipwright. Adam is in Mr. Tom's care. So if you don't stay here, where exactly are you planning to go? You want to tag along with me instead?"
"...Fine."
"Relax. Mr. Tom is a very gentle person."
Hearing this, Tom turned to William and offered what he believed to be his warmest, friendliest smile.
"You have one more job here—protecting Mr. Tom's safety. If you run into an opponent you can't handle, I'll come and help."
"How do I contact you?"
"Don't worry. Mr. Tom has a way to reach me."
With that said, Shirakawa walked back over to Tom and addressed him directly. "Mr. Tom, I'll take my leave now. The ship is in your hands."
"No problem. Leave it to me." Tom grinned heartily.
With someone around to look after both his safety and his apprentices', he had nothing left to worry about.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)