Chapter 114: Water 7 – Franky vs. Sol & Nami, Galley-La Tour Begins
"Your bounty—and that suitcase full of Berries behind you—this big bro's taking them! Strong Right Fist!" Franky shouted loudly, swinging his steel-forged fist straight toward Sol.
Bang!
"His arm… flew off?! Is he a Devil Fruit user?" Nami couldn't help exclaiming.
Franky's right fist was connected to his arm by a thick chain at the rear; it shot forward like a cannonball and slammed heavily into Sol's already-raised palm.
"This big bro's a cyborg—not some Devil Fruit user!" Franky had just finished answering Nami when he suddenly felt his body lighten—he was being pulled forward uncontrollably!
Sol gripped Franky's right fist with one hand, spun him around several times with a howling wind, then hurled him away with tremendous force.
Whoosh—
Franky flew face-first toward the ground, crashing hard and skidding across the dirt for a long distance before finally stopping.
"Ow ow ow…" He quickly climbed back up, rubbing his reddened face and muttering.
"If that move doesn't work, then take this—Weapons Left Fist!"
Franky's left arm suddenly shot straight forward, palm facing outward. The entire arm spun inward at high speed, revealing hidden gun barrels that fired a rapid barrage of cannonballs toward Sol!
Yet Sol only walked forward leisurely, casually swatting each incoming shell aside. Fortunately, Sol had deliberately lured Franky to this empty lot—if they fought in the crowded streets, the consequences would have been disastrous.
"Bean Left Fist!"
When the cannonballs ran out, Franky immediately switched to machine-gun fire; bullets rained down like a storm. But under Sol's Armament Haki defense, none of the attacks left even a scratch.
Looking at the completely unharmed Sol, Franky couldn't help shouting: "How the hell is this guy only worth 100 million Berries?! What are the Navy doing?!" He had fought 100-million-level opponents before, but never one with this kind of overwhelming pressure.
"Fresh Fire!"
Franky opened his mouth wide; searing flames roared out straight at Sol.
"Fire Dragon's Roar."
Sol answered with his own roar—a far more massive torrent of flames surged forward. Faced with this overwhelming blaze, Franky immediately inflated both arms and blew with all his might, barely managing to push the flames back into the air.
"Damn it! This guy's a Devil Fruit user?! He can breathe fire too!" Franky could clearly see—Sol's entire body was pure flesh and blood, definitely not a cyborg like himself.
"If that's the case, then it's time for my ultimate move!" Franky slammed both arms together, connecting them through a T-shaped pipe aimed directly at Sol. He took a deep breath; his abnormally thick arms suddenly swelled as he sucked in massive amounts of air—
"70mm caliber, 1.5 MAX Cola Energy—Wind! Come! Cannon!"
A highly compressed shockwave of air blasted out, tearing through the atmosphere straight toward its target. "Take this, kid! This is the Wind Cannon that can blow down entire buildings!"
But what happened next completely shattered Franky's understanding. Sol didn't dodge or block—he simply opened his mouth wide and swallowed the entire shockwave like it was nothing!
"E-Eat it?! What the hell?!" Franky's jaw nearly hit the ground; his eyes bulged in disbelief.
He watched in horror as Sol casually closed his mouth and strolled toward him nonchalantly. In that moment, Franky unconsciously began backing away.
"Be a good boy and show me what else you've got!" Sol grinned wickedly like a certain older brother, slowly closing in on the trembling Franky who had backed himself into a corner.
"Nooooo!" Franky pressed his back against the wall, staring in terror at this demon in front of him. Today was truly cursed—he had run into someone a hundred times more perverted than he claimed to be.
Every single one of his attacks had failed to even scratch the guy; even his trump card Wind Cannon had been eaten. Now his last reserves of cola were nearly depleted.
"Damn it—this big bro isn't going down without a fight! You're a hundred years too early to catch me!" Franky's buttocks suddenly inflated. "0.1 Cola Cannon – Wind Jet! Didn't expect that, did you kid? This is my carefully planned escape route!"
Franky was certain Sol was a Devil Fruit user and decisively used his final cola reserves to launch Wind Jet. He calculated that once he hit the water, he could escape along the canals and plan his revenge later.
Just as he was about to splash into the sea, he caught Sol's face wearing a creepy "you really want to do this" expression.
Floating on the water's surface, Franky noticed the orange-haired girl on shore reaching her hand into the sea. He felt puzzled—"What's she doing? Testing the water temperature before jumping in?"
"One Million Volts – Discharge!"
Nami unleashed a move she had secretly learned from Enel. Powerful electricity instantly surged through the canal. Franky had barely submerged when his entire body convulsed violently; even his skeleton was visible in the electric light. With a series of crackling sounds, he floated back to the surface along with various stunned fish.
Sol fished the now white-eyed Franky out of the water and planted a foot on his swollen belly. With a comical rainbow spray, Franky finally woke from unconsciousness.
Realizing he had truly been caught, Franky resigned himself. He couldn't win the fight, couldn't escape, and his last cola was gone. After a moment's thought, he looked up at the two: "Didn't expect both of you to be Devil Fruit users. I admit defeat today. Kill me or do whatever you want."
After the electric light faded, Franky had been thoroughly beaten black and blue by Sol and Nami's "tag-team special." Nami stood with hands on hips, looking down at him menacingly: "Talk! How did you know there were Berries in that suitcase? What exactly were you planning to do with it? Spill everything!"
Franky had no choice but to confess honestly. He had been secretly tailing them for a while and only decided to act when he overheard "500 million Berries."
He stammered out the explanation: soon the black market would auction off the legendary "Adam Wood"—the toughest tree in the world, the ultimate shipbuilding material every shipwright dreamed of.
"Wait—you can build ships? Weren't you a dismantler and bounty hunter?" Nami eyed him suspiciously—she clearly remembered how he had introduced himself earlier.
"What's with that look! This big bro's shipbuilding skills are second to none in the world—even that Iceburg guy can't compare to me!" Franky shouted passionately—then suddenly realized he had said too much and immediately shut his mouth.
"Iceburg? You mean the mayor of Water 7? You know him?" Nami sharply pressed.
"N-No! You heard wrong!" Franky frantically denied it, eyes darting.
"Now what, Sol?" Nami turned to her partner.
"Let's take him back to the Merry first," Sol suggested. "He claims to be one of the best shipwrights, right? Perfect chance to let him take a look at the Merry's condition."
"Good idea. On the way we can also make him send someone to bring money to ransom himself," Nami thought it over and decided it was a win-win plan.
So the three headed toward the repair port where the Merry was docked.
Creak.
An invisible door silently opened in midair. Blueno stepped out carrying a bag of freshly purchased ingredients. "As expected—Franky really does have a connection with Iceburg," he muttered to himself.
He had only come out to buy groceries but happened to witness Franky being completely overpowered by an unknown pirate. Blueno had quietly found a secluded corner and used his Door-Door Fruit to open a door and observe the entire fight.
"After tailing them this long, finally something useful." He shifted the grocery bag to his other hand, his face returning to its usual silent tavern-owner expression. "Time to report back to Lucci and the others."
His footsteps faded away; the last faint ripple in the air returned to stillness, as if nothing had ever happened.
Meanwhile, Luffy and Usopp successfully found the president of Galley-La Company—Iceburg—and handed over Granny Kokoro's recommendation letter.
"Someone recommended by Granny Kokoro—now that's rare," Iceburg said with mild surprise as he accepted the letter from Usopp. "She hasn't sent anyone in a long time. You two are…?"
"I'm Usopp!" Usopp immediately introduced himself. Just as he was about to point at Luffy, a calm female voice came from the side:
"President, they are the Straw Hat Pirates from the East Blue. This somewhat foolish-looking one is the captain—'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy, with a 100 million Berry bounty." Kalifa pushed up her glasses and added in her usual flat tone.
"Ahahaha! So I'm already that famous!" Luffy laughed proudly, hands on hips, showing zero humility.
Iceburg looked speechlessly at Luffy. "A 100-million-Berry pirate… does look kind of dumb."
He paused, then got back to business: "I understand why you're here. Are you looking to order a new ship, or repair an old one?"
Usopp hurriedly answered: "We're here to ask you to help repair the Merry! Of course, we'd also like to recruit a shipwright to join us."
"For repairs, I can send a shipwright to inspect your ship's condition first. As for recruitment…" Iceburg gave a small smile. "That depends on whether anyone is willing to go with you."
With that, he called toward the side: "Kaku!"
A long-nosed young man responded and walked over. The moment Luffy saw him, he pointed excitedly: "Usopp! How did you come out from over there?!"
"Idiot! I've been standing here the whole time!" Usopp smacked Luffy on the back of the head in frustration.
After listening to Iceburg's instructions, Kaku politely excused himself, leaped onto a rooftop with a single bound, and disappeared after a few quick jumps.
"Alright—Kaku's already gone to check your ship. If you don't mind, would you like to take a tour of the new ships we're building? We have all kinds—maybe you'll find something you like." Iceburg warmly extended the invitation.
"Awesome! Usopp, let's go look around—maybe we'll find a super strong shipwright!" Luffy agreed enthusiastically without hesitation.
Usopp thought about it—there wasn't anything else to do—so he followed Luffy and Iceburg on the tour.
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