The Grand Line, Water 7.
Once renowned for its shipbuilding expertise, this city now appeared increasingly dilapidated and unworthy of its former reputation.
The advent of the Great Pirate Era might have been a golden age for ambitious dreamers, but for those seeking a stable and peaceful life, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
This city, built upon the water, faced an annual onslaught of tsunamis. Without natural resources like steel and timber to support its shipbuilding industry, all materials had to be imported.
However, with the rise of piracy in the Great Pirate Era and the unpredictable, ferocious weather of the Grand Line, trade with the outside world became increasingly difficult.
The soaring cost of materials reduced the shipyards' profits. Coupled with the overall economic downturn, business dwindled, and shipyards began to fight fiercely over orders.
This, in turn, led to rising unemployment, worsening public security, and a deteriorating reputation for the city. Few people were willing to visit, unemployment rates climbed further, and residents drowned their sorrows in alcohol, neglecting their families and children. The government agencies were ineffectual, leaving the city lifeless and stagnant.
Many locals, born and raised in this city, pessimistically believed that it was only a matter of time before the city became an abandoned, waterlogged ghost town.
Those with the means had long sought ways to escape this hopeless place.
Yet, in the end, this city was saved and transformed—not by a wealthy aristocrat or a powerful organization, but by a fish-man. A man of great talent, unjustly treated. A man who had every reason to despise this city.
That man was Tom, the world's greatest shipwright.
Tom, who once built a ship for the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, was ostracized by the residents of Water 7 and sentenced to death by the World Government fourteen years ago.
However, during his trial, Tom presented his idea for a Sea Train, a revolutionary design that captured the imagination of the judges and the public. His proposal earned him a ten-year reprieve to construct the Sea Train.
True to his word, Tom completed the design and construction of the first Sea Train within ten years. Over the next four years, he opened three additional routes, fulfilling his promise and, most importantly, giving the city hope.
The Sea Train not only provided Water 7 with a new mode of transportation but also restored some confidence among the locals. The project, initially dismissed by most shipwrights as unrealistic, had become a reality—a miracle that rekindled a glimmer of optimism.
However, they soon realized that one or two miracles weren't enough to reverse their fortunes.
The Sea Train made trade and communication with the outside world more convenient, but it couldn't change the broader circumstances. Pirates still roamed the seas, Water 7 still lacked its own shipbuilding materials, and the global economy remained in a prolonged slump.
Timber from Saint Baobab and steel from Saint Prout, seeing Water 7's plight, were sold at exorbitant prices. In the end, the city's shipyards still operated at a loss.
Shipyards continued to fight over orders and meager profits. The Sea Train became a symbol of hope—but only hope.
Nevertheless, compared to the lifeless despair of the past, the city had changed significantly. The people spoke highly of the fish-man Tom, who had brought about this transformation. Many believed that Tom, who had contributed so much to the city, would somehow escape the clutches of the World Government. Even the members of Tom's Workshop shared this belief.
But as the saying goes, "A man's wealth is his ruin."
Water 7, in addition to its reputation as the City of Shipwrights, was also the birthplace of the ancient weapon Pluton, a legendary battleship.
Over a decade into the Great Pirate Era, the power and numbers of pirates had grown exponentially. Even the World Government found itself increasingly overwhelmed.
Faced with this situation, some high-ranking officials within the World Government advocated for a change in strategy. Instead of preventing the revival of ancient weapons, they proposed acquiring them to end the chaos of the Great Pirate Era.
One such official was Spandam, the head of CP5, a covert World Government agency. Spandam successfully persuaded the Government's highest authority, the Five Elders, to allow him to search for the blueprints of Pluton in Water 7.
However, despite turning the city upside down, Spandam found no trace of the blueprints.
Frustrated and nearly despairing, Spandam retreated to a tavern to drown his sorrows. There, he overheard talk of a remarkable shipwright who had been living under a bridge amidst garbage and debris—someone who had escaped his notice thus far.
Clinging to this last shred of hope, Spandam sought out Tom, only to be met with indifference. Tom dismissed him outright and literally threw him out of his workshop.
Outside Tom's Workshop, Spandam, sprawled on the ground in humiliation, struggled to his knees. As he looked up, he saw a pair of brown leather shoes standing before him.
Raising his gaze, he found himself facing a Marine officer dressed in a pristine white uniform.
The officer was a Lieutenant Commander, his dark skin and prominent eye bags giving him a sickly appearance. Despite this, Spandam's eyes lit up as if he had found his savior.
"You must be from Marine Headquarters!" Spandam scrambled to his feet and pointed at the rundown workshop behind him. "There's a criminal inside refusing to be arrested. Go in and apprehend him!"
The Lieutenant Commander didn't move. He merely glanced at the workshop door, which was slightly ajar, and asked lazily, "Who are you to give me orders?"
Spandam froze, then snapped irritably, "I'm Spandam, head of CP5! Do you even know what CP5 is? And do you know who my father is? Let me tell you—"
"Forget it," the Lieutenant Commander interrupted, waving dismissively with a look of disdain. "Looking at how incompetent you are, I can guess your father must be some high-ranking official. No need to explain."
Annoyed by the insult, Spandam was about to retort when the officer added, "And the 'criminal' you mentioned—are you talking about Mr. Tom? For someone in your position, you sure don't do your homework. Tom has an agreement with the World Government's judiciary. As long as he completed the Sea Train, his involvement in building a ship for the Pirate King was to be pardoned."
Spandam's face turned red with anger and disbelief. "That's nonsense! Someone associated with Roger could be pardoned?!"
"Believe it or not," the Lieutenant Commander replied indifferently.
After Spandam left with his men to verify the information, the door to Tom's Workshop creaked open again.
Tom's two apprentices, Iceburg and Cutty Flam, stepped out.
"Gin, you're here again?" Cutty Flam, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs, walked up to Gin and scratched himself nonchalantly. "It's no use. Master Tom will never go to the East Blue. The trial is coming up, and he'll be acquitted. He'll become the hero of this city and won't leave."
"And what about you two?" Gin, now a Lieutenant Commander, asked.
The two young men, who regarded Tom as both a mentor and a father, shook their heads in unison.
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