"How did it go?" asked Rans as Bill stepped onto the deck.
Shaking his head, Bill smiled slightly and replied, "Well... everything's fine. Captain Smoker is a bit strict, but professional enough. I talked to him about Gin and Pearl, but"—he shrugged—"he wasn't too thrilled about the idea."
Nodding to show he understood, Rans asked, "I understand about Pearl, but I was sure you were going to recruit Gin; you talked with him all week."
Bill: "What would you have thought about that?"
Without needing to choose his words when they were alone, Rans simply said, "Dangerous."
Bill: "Yeah, exactly. Maybe if Yoko wasn't here, we could take the risk... but right now we just can't."
Rans agreed, and the friends continued talking while they waited for the others to return.
As part of Ricky's duties, Bill gave him access to one of the safes in his office. This safe held about 5 million Beli, set aside as "liquid funds."
These funds were intended for purchasing supplies and other necessities. The rest of the money was distributed among several other safes, as Bill didn't want to keep all his savings in one place—something his parents taught him back on Earth.
A few hours later, everyone returned to the ship, and Ricky surprised Bill by showing him a large middle-aged transponder snail.
"Great find! How much did it cost us?" Bill asked.
Ricky, smugly adjusting the spiral glasses he wore today, replied, "Originally, it was 5 million Beli, but I got it down to 2.5."
Hearing this, Bill patted Ricky on the shoulder, praised him for a job well done, and took the snail to his office.
Transponder snails functioned like telephones, but they needed food, could die, and sometimes experienced stress. That's why most Marines only kept them in headquarters.
A stressed transponder snail became one of the loudest creatures on the planet, emitting a piercing siren sound until calmed down, which could often take quite some time.
Sitting at his desk, Bill felt the ship leaving the port. He had given Rans the Eternal Log Pose, and now the ship was headed toward Clock Island.
He was excited about finally reaching the island and rehearsed his presentation over and over. If he managed to collaborate with the engineers, the "Diamond Clock" would be his first major commission.
But right now, Bill was thinking about something else. He wanted to learn more about the Sea Lords system, and there was only one person he could ask all his questions.
Dialing the number on the snail, it emitted sounds: beep-boop beep-boop beep.
Then the snail took on a familiar tone and expression.
"This is Commodore Aramake from the archipelago of Vallipo. Identify yourself."
Yoko: "Wow! Look, Bill, look!"
Bill: "Ha-ha, yes, it's something incredible, isn't it?"
Yoko: "How does it stay up and not fall?"
Bill: "I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves, won't we?"
For Yoko, who had spent her entire life on Little East Blue, the sight of Clock Island was astonishing.
The island looked like a giant beanstalk reaching into the clouds, inspiring even those crew members who had seen places like Water 7 and Enies Lobby.
For the past few hours, the ship had been avoiding one whirlpool after another, and the crew had been navigating purely on faith that the Eternal Log Pose was leading them on the right course.
Bill was amazed at the amount of iron used in the construction of this place. Looking closely, he saw that the main island was actually a gigantic gear that served as some sort of lever.
"Why have we never heard of this place?" asked Ricky, who was as struck as Yoko.
"I think the sea is too vast and unpredictable..."— replied Bill, even though he knew that this island was known to the World Government. After all, he had obtained the Eternal Log Pose from the local Marine Base.
As the ship approached the island, the crew started to notice various details. One of the main features was that there appeared to be only a single natural harbor at the island's base.
Without any place to dock, they had to lower a lifeboat into the water to reach the island's base, but Bill couldn't see an obvious way to get to the top.
"Are we really going to have to jump on these gears?" he wondered, deciding not to think about it for now.
The crew drew lots to determine who would go to the island and who would stay on the ship.
"Excellent!" shouted Miyagi, finally free from watching over the ship.
"Hooray!" yelled Ricky.
"Just what I wanted!" exclaimed Rans.
"Hm..." Sasha murmured thoughtfully.
"... Next time, I won't be the one guarding the ship," said Fia, rolling her eyes, as she had been unlucky enough to stay on board several times in a row.
Bill nodded, saying it was fine, and no one objected.
The ship "Border Breaker" smoothly glided over the water and entered the natural harbor. This place was very different from Little East Blue Island, but the water here was quite calm.
"What are these ships?" Ricky asked, examining the fleet docked here.