The next day, Akainu departed.
However, before leaving, he inquired about the ironclad warships.
Sean could only express his helplessness, telling Akainu that even Gion's ship had originally belonged to him; he truly had none left to give. He suggested that Akainu could place a custom order with the Galley-La Company, though he would certainly have to wait in line. As for the three ships Sean already had in production, he offered to give one to him once they were finished.
Sean wasn't worried at all about whether Akainu would go to Water 7 to find Iceburg. He had long since coordinated with Iceburg—if the Marines wanted to place an order, Iceburg would take the contract, but the actual production would be handled by Sean.
Additionally, they would only accept a maximum of three orders per month. After all, Sean still had a massive deficit in his own fleet. His current 500 Marines required at least two, preferably three, warships. Furthermore, since Akainu had mentioned helping him secure a first-class branch, Sean would need to procure at least six warships for that purpose.
Not to mention, he needed a significant number of small and medium-sized high-speed vessels for daily patrols. It would be wasteful and impractical to use a massive ironclad just for coastal surveillance.
Moreover, in a little over a year, if he truly went to the New World to establish a series of G-branches, his manpower would no longer be limited to 500 or 1,000 men. Even in the Grand Line, the smallest G-branches typically had over 3,000 personnel. The G1 Branch, serving as the Marines' front line, deployed as many as 30,000 Marines.
Therefore, even by the most optimistic calculations, Sean needed to build at least thirty warships of various types within the next year to meet his requirements. This was no light task. There was simply no surplus production capacity to focus too heavily on "export" warships.
Crucially, even if Sean dedicated all his production to Headquarters, Sengoku couldn't afford them. These weren't wooden sailing ships; a single ironclad likely cost around one billion berries. In this world, aside from the World Government, Sean was likely the only person capable of equipping a fleet with such vessels on a large scale. As for Marine Headquarters, buying a few for show was feasible, but a full-scale refit was completely unrealistic.
After seeing Akainu off, Sean contacted Barry to check on the progress of the fleet's production. He was informed that the second ship—the custom version for his own use—would be ready for launch within a week.
While Iceburg and Franky could build a ship for Luffy from scratch in three days, including all the interior decorating, those were wooden ships. What Barry and his team were building were ironclads equipped with numerous complex systems. Thus, the current speed of production was already impressive.
Following this, Sean issued the construction plan for the next batch: they would simultaneously build two large ironclads—one custom version and one export version. He also ordered the design of small and medium-sized high-speed warships, requiring a cruising speed of around 35 knots.
Interestingly, Sean suddenly remembered that in the original story, Franky had developed the exaggerated Gaon Cannon. Even by the standards of Sean's previous life, such a weapon was pure "black tech." It would be a waste not to research it.
Consequently, Sean told Barry to pass a message to Franky... to get to work and start researching it immediately!
'''
That night, in the Branch Commander's office.
Sean looked up at the man standing before him, who seemed to be struggling to find the right words.
"Since when did you become so fidgety?" Sean asked. "If you've got something to say, just spit it out and go back to bed. Don't you know it's already past lights-out?"
The person standing at Sean's desk was Ace. He had come to see Sean in the middle of the night, only to stand there hesitating for a long time. It almost made Sean wonder if the guy had a crush on some girl in the branch and was acting this way because of it.
"This... I have something to confess!"
"Just say it. Who is it? As long as you aren't trying to steal my girl, we're fine!"
"Uh... it's not about that."
"If it's not about that, then why are you acting so weird? Just say it!"
"Fine. Actually, I lied to you before. I didn't find the Flame-Flame Fruit by accident."
Gritting his teeth, Ace finally spoke.
Sean, however, didn't look surprised. When he first heard that Ace had found the Flame-Flame Fruit on a deserted island, he had assumed it was luck. But upon reflection, it felt too coincidental. Ace had reportedly found the fruit shortly after arriving on the island. If it were truly that easy to find, why hadn't Sean ever discovered it during the three years he spent scouring every corner of that island?
The more likely explanation was that Ace had known exactly where the Flame-Flame Fruit was.
"You're not surprised?"
"Why should I be? Tell me, how did you know where the Flame-Flame Fruit was?"
"Alright. You know who my irresponsible father is. After the old man brought me back to Foosha Village, he left me a letter."
"A letter of apology?" Sean raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, I might actually forgive him."
Ace gave a bitter smile. "When I opened that letter, there was only a single piece of paper inside. It wasn't a message or an apology; it was a treasure map. Do you find that funny?"
"Since he knew he was going to die, why did he have to mess with my mother? And the moment he knew she was pregnant, he turned himself in immediately, using that opportunity to spark the Great Pirate Era."
"Then what was my mother to him? Just a tool to leave behind his bloodline?"
"And what am I? The most ridiculous part is that I thought he'd at least leave a letter expressing some remorse, but all I got was a treasure map. Was he already scheming against me before I was even born?"
As he spoke, Ace's emotions began to spiral.
Sean didn't interrupt, nor did he offer empty comfort. He waited in silence for several minutes until Ace regained his composure before speaking.
"So, the location on that map was where the Flame-Flame Fruit was hidden?"
"Yes. When I went to that deserted island for combat training with Old Man Sanders, I realized it was the island marked on the map. Following the coordinates in my memory, I quickly dug up the chest containing the Flame-Flame Fruit."
After a moment of silence, Sean suddenly asked, "Ace, don't you find it strange?"
"What's strange?"
"According to the records, while the Flame-Flame Fruit is a Logia, it isn't considered a particularly powerful one. Your father was Roger, the Pirate King. If he had wanted to, he could have easily acquired a far superior Logia, or even a powerful and rare Mythical Zoan. So why on earth did he leave you a mediocre Logia like the Flame-Flame Fruit?"
"That..."
Ace, who had never given this much thought, suddenly realized something was off after Sean's prompt.
'Could it be that the Flame-Flame Fruit is actually special?'
"According to the records on Devil Fruits, the Flame-Flame Fruit can reach a maximum temperature of 1,000 degrees."
"That's not right! I can already reach nearly 3,000 degrees!"
"And what if you didn't have me or Retes to teach you the fundamentals?"
"I think I see what you mean. You're saying the Flame-Flame Fruit isn't actually weak—it's just that no one has ever discovered the correct way to use it?"
"Exactly. Regardless of why Roger left this fruit for you, I am certain he knew its true nature."
"Damn it... what exactly was he planning?" Ace cursed under his breath.
After speaking with Sean, Ace felt more and more certain that his father must have left some kind of contingency before he died. The reason he had been left the Flame-Flame Fruit was likely...
He was merely a piece in his father's plan.
That man...
What exactly was he trying to achieve?
Even after death, was he still trying to toy with his life?
'No, I won't let you have your way!'
'Just watch. The Great Pirate Era you unleashed will be ended by my own hand!'