"Sea Train."
The Sea Train is a train that runs over the sea—something designed by the legendary craftsman Tom.
Tom was originally sentenced to death by the World Government for building the Pirate King's ship. In the end, he proposed the grand Sea Train project. In this world, aside from Vegapunk, only Tom could have completed it.
Because of this, the World Government spared Tom and had him build four Sea Trains to atone for his crime.
However, in the end, Tom was still framed by some despicable World Government official and died.
"Right now it's the early stage of the Sea Train's construction. The Navy and the World Government are keeping Water 7 under tight watch. If we go there rashly, we might even draw an Admiral."
Moria is much more rational now—one could also say he's a lot more cautious than before. To pirates, Water 7 right now is a muddy mess that's best not to get involved in.
"Most pirates go to Water 7 for its advanced shipbuilding techniques. Our ship is already extremely advanced."
"And Water 7 isn't even a kingdom… indeed, the risk doesn't match the reward."
The most valuable thing would probably be Tom himself, but he's safe for now. Before the four Sea Trains are completed, the World Government wouldn't dare kill him.
"Then let's go around Water 7."
According to the original storyline, not long after Water 7 comes the Sabaody Archipelago.
After the Straw Hat Pirates left Water 7, the next major arc they went through was Moria's. After that came the Sabaody Archipelago. If we skip Water 7, we'll have completed at least three-quarters of the first half of the Grand Line.
"If we're not going to Water 7, then where are we going? Got any recommendations—some country where I can really let loose and plunder?"
Moria searched his memory for a moment and quickly thought of a place.
"Let's go here—the Holy Church Nation."
...
The Holy Church Nation.
Geographically, it should be on roughly the same latitude as the sunless Sea of Mist that Moria later occupied.
The environment of this country is pretty nice. Judging by the look of it, it should be an autumn island—leaves turning yellow, fruits and vegetables fragrant.
Vane and Meowth—one person and one cat—arrived in the Holy Church Nation. On the surface it looked like only the two of them, but most of the others were hidden in Meowth's belly.
"This kingdom's atmosphere looks pretty good, meow. The land is fertile, and the crops are all growing really well, meow."
"It does look nice. If that's really the case, then we won't forcefully plunder. Let's go check their royal treasury to see if there are any Devil Fruits."
Vane and Meowth entered a small town.
You could clearly see the town's defining feature: crosses.
Every building had a cross emblem, and even everyone carried a cross symbol. Some had the pattern printed on their clothes, while others wore a metal cross.
Vane rubbed his chin. "This atmosphere is obviously off."
There are plenty of church elements, sure, but it doesn't make sense for everyone to put this kind of symbol on themselves, right? Think about it—if everyone in the world became Captain America and draped the Stars and Stripes over themselves.
"Meow, there's a restaurant here, meow. Let's try the local specialties, meow."
"Let's go take a look. After all, food is one of the things that distinguishes islands from each other."
When Vane and the others went into the restaurant, they found it completely empty.
"Is it not mealtime yet? Why isn't there a single customer?"
"Boss, are you there? We want to try your specialties—two for here, sixty to go."
Thud thud thump!
A flurry of hurried footsteps. The owner poked his head out from the back kitchen, looked left and right, and finally shouted to Vane,
"Go, go, hurry and leave. We're not doing business today."
"Not doing business?"
"Boss, we want two for here and sixty to go, meow."
In a small town like this, an order like that could easily be the owner's revenue for a day or two, yet he still wasn't doing business?
Creak—
The sound of the door being pushed open came again, and the owner's face changed drastically.
Three people walked in from outside. One was dressed like a priest; the other two looked like church knights.
"Kettle, you're open for business, huh."
The owner, named Kettle, hurried over and said in a low, ingratiating voice,
"Of course not. They just came in to borrow the restroom. They're not eating."
The priest shook his head.
"Oh~ Kettle, if the restaurant's door has been pushed open, that means you're open. You've got two customers… one customer with a cat."
"So you need to pay the church the business tax, the pet tax, and the cleaning tax."
"That comes to a total of thirty thousand Belly."
Kettle looked troubled, but in the end he still had no choice but to hand over his taxes.
"Oh, right. You also need to prepare to hand in this week's holy water tax—one hundred thousand Belly."
"Didn't we agree to change it back to once a month?"
"Kettle, holy water is used to nourish the Sacred Tree. Because the Sacred Tree exists, our lives can become ever better. With the protection of the Sacred Tree, we can be spared from the ravages of disease."
Kettle stammered, "B-but, the carrot seller on the front street died of illness a few days ago. He had just paid the holy water tax at the time."
The priest shook his head. "That means his misfortune was too heavy. He needed to pay more holy water tax to ensure good health, but he didn't do that."
"But don't worry. We reclaimed his house and made up a death tax. That way, his soul can, under the guidance of the Sacred Tree, go to heaven and enjoy endless family bliss."
Listening from the side, Vane felt this operation was extremely familiar—and extremely shameless.
On the European continent in the Middle Ages, the church sold indulgences: pay money and your soul could go to heaven.
Whether heaven exists or whether souls even exist isn't certain. The church dared to do this purely to rake in money.
The shameless part is this: if you're healthy, it's the church's merit; if you're unhealthy, it's because your faith isn't sincere enough and you didn't pay enough.
Either way, they're always right.
"To set an example for all believers, we priests convert all of our pay into holy water. It's precisely because our hearts are sincere that we are priests."
After saying that, the priest turned to Vane.
"You should be an outsider, right? If you stay in this country for more than 24 hours, you'll need to pay one month's holy water tax to the church."
"The Sacred Tree will receive your goodwill and bless you with peace and safety. The more holy water you offer, the more numerous and profound the Sacred Tree's blessings will be."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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