Hearing Franky's words, Luffy no longer tried to persuade him.
He knew Franky stayed to atone for his sins.
Because he had indirectly caused the death of his master, Tom.
So he had never forgiven himself and wanted to stay on this island, silently guarding it to atone for his sins.
As Luffy was thinking these thoughts, Franky suddenly spoke.
"I heard you want to buy wood from the Adam Tree?"
Luffy withdrew his thoughts at the words, looked at Franky, nodded, and said,
"That's right! We plan to build a new ship here."
"I heard this wood is very strong and sturdy, so we thought of using it as the material for the new ship."
Franky nodded after listening.
After a brief silence, he suddenly spoke.
"Since you let me tour your ship, I'll help you with this!"
"Show me the blueprint for your new ship, and I'll calculate how much wood you'll need."
Luffy looked at Franky expressionlessly and said calmly,
"We don't have a blueprint for the new ship."
Franky's expression immediately became distorted; he looked at Luffy with a bewildered look and said,
"Huh? Are you joking with me?"
"Without a blueprint, do you know how much wood to buy?"
Luffy thought for a moment at the words, then told Franky about the Merry.
After explaining, he added,
"So we want to build a ship that can fit the modified Merry inside."
"Perhaps if you look at the size of the modified Merry designed by Iceburg, you'll know how much wood to buy."
Luffy was about to take Franky to see the Merry, but Franky stood there like a puppet.
When Luffy looked curiously, he saw Franky suddenly burst into loud sobs.
"Waaahhhhhh…"
"You guys are too good!"
"If other pirates got a new ship, they would definitely abandon the old one without hesitation."
"But you still want to keep the old ship."
"And you want to build a new ship based on the Merry."
"Damn it! You bastards!"
"I like you guys too much!"
"Waaahhhhhh…"
Franky cried loudly without restraint.
If the citizens saw this scene, it would probably shock them.
Who would have thought that big villain would have such a side?
After Franky cried for a while, he finally recovered.
At this moment, Franky suddenly asked Luffy a strange question.
"Straw Hat, do you have any pursuits?"
Luffy was startled by the words and asked confusedly,
"Pursuits?"
Franky nodded, his eyes filled with longing, and said,
"Just like I pursue building a ship of dreams that can cross all seas, do you have any pursuits?"
When Franky said this, Luffy understood his meaning, his eyes also filled with longing, and he said confidently,
"My pursuit is… Pirate King!"
Hearing Luffy's confident voice, Franky's eyes lit up.
He suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahahaha…"
"I really like you, Straw Hat!"
Although Franky's words sounded ambiguous, Luffy knew he meant admiration.
After a hearty laugh, Franky gradually calmed down and said to Luffy.
"Straw Hat, do you know?"
"Actually, I once swore I would never build ships again."
"But in the end, because of my love for it, I still designed the ship of my dreams, just as I imagined it!"
"I thought that one day I could build this ship and give it to someone I admire."
"Let him traverse the entire sea with this dream ship I built!"
As Franky said these things, his eyes were full of longing.
His master had once built the dream ship that carried Roger across the entire sea, so he also wanted to build a dream ship that could similarly traverse the entire sea.
Luffy listened quietly, while Franky continued.
"Actually, I had already drawn the blueprints for this ship a long time ago."
"I originally thought my design was the most perfect."
"Because it had all the functions a ship should have, and also functions that other ships didn't possess."
"But when I learned that there were even flying ships in this world, I suddenly realized that perhaps the ship I designed wasn't the most perfect yet."
"So no matter what, I want to see how your flying ship truly achieves flight, and then redesign my ship into a true dream ship~."
"But after seeing your ship, I realized that you achieve flight by relying on Devil Fruit abilities."
At this point, Franky suddenly paused, then inexplicably sighed.
"Perhaps this is fate!"
After his sigh, he suddenly looked at Luffy with great seriousness.
"Straw Hat!"
Luffy looked at Franky upon hearing him, then heard him say.
"I've decided!"
"I'm going to redesign my ship to be its most perfect form, and then give it to you."
"Let you ride it across the entire sea, turning it into a true dream ship!"
"Are you willing to accept it as your new companion?"
Franky spoke very earnestly, with strong expectation and longing in his eyes.
Although he had known Luffy for a short time, he could feel that they got along very well.
Especially when he learned that Luffy's pursuit was the pinnacle of pirates, he made up his mind to entrust his dream ship to Luffy.
Luffy stared blankly at Franky; he himself hadn't expected Franky to decide so quickly to hand over the thousand sunny he designed to him.
Even Zoro, who was training nearby, and Karu, who had been by his side, were moved by Franky's serious demeanor.
They quietly watched Luffy, awaiting his response.
Luffy stared at Franky, stunned for a good while, before he nodded and said.
"Of course, I'm willing!"
Hearing Luffy agree, Zoro and Karu both smiled.
The ship Franky spoke of sounded very good, which made them all very excited.
And Franky, hearing Luffy's words, grinned, seemingly much more relaxed.
Having resolved a matter on his mind made him very happy.
"Now, take me to see the merry go!"
"I'll see how big I need to make the ship I designed, and also calculate how much wood will be needed!"
Luffy nodded and led Franky to where the merry go was being modified.
Because he was afraid the Straw Hat would be dissatisfied, Iceburg specifically entrusted the modification of the merry go to several foremen to be solely responsible.
After seeing Iceburg and the foremen's designs for modifying the merry go, Franky found Luffy and said to him.
"I've seen their designs, and they are indeed perfect."
"You can rest assured about that."
"As for the wood needed to build the new ship, I estimate it will cost about 400 million Berries."
Upon hearing this figure, Luffy did not hesitate and handed 400 million Berries to Franky.
And Franky, after taking the money, left in a hurry.
He said he wanted to buy the wood as soon as possible, then go back and revise the blueprints so he could start building once the lumber arrived.
Luffy, in turn, thanked Franky, then finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With the new ship settled, he could finally relax and explore this water city properly.
...
On the streets of Water 7.
Luffy rented a Bull, taking Karu with him to wander around.
Suddenly noticing a stall with a lot of meat hanging, looking like balloons filled with water, Luffy was immediately drawn to it.
The stall owner, seeing a customer approach, immediately introduced enthusiastically.
"This customer must be new to our Water 7, right?"
"This meat is called Water Water Meat, it's a specialty of our Water 7, and it tastes very good."
"Want to try some?"
Luffy nodded without hesitation, then picked one up and started eating.
"Mmm!! So tender! So smooth! So delicious!"
After taking a bite, Luffy couldn't help but exclaim in delight three times.
Then, under the astonished gaze of the stall owner, he pulled out a thick wad of Berries and said.
"I'll take all the meat you have here."
With that, he handed a wad of money to the stall owner, and he himself took all nearly a hundred pieces of meat from the stall and left.
Leaving the stall owner standing alone in the wind, staring blankly at Luffy's retreating figure.
After a long while, he turned to look at the thick wad of money in his hand and sighed.
"I've met a god of wealth!"
After leaving that stall, Luffy and Karu, one person and one duck, each holding a large pile of meat, ate happily and contentedly.
Sometimes looking for something delicious, sometimes looking at new things.
They wandered aimlessly through the streets of Water 7.
Because they were always focused on eating and playing, they completely ignored their route.
Unbeknownst to them, Bull led them to a street with very few people.
"Quack!"
Luffy was eating happily when Karu suddenly cried out.
"Did you finish eating so quickly? Here, have another one!"
Luffy split off one of the three remaining pieces of meat in his hand and handed it behind him without looking back.
But to his surprise, Karu didn't take his meat, but cried out again.
"Quack!"
Puzzled, Luffy turned to look at Karu strangely.
He saw that it was looking in a certain direction.
Following its gaze, Luffy was instantly stunned.
He saw Robin in an unmanned alley on the opposite side of the canal, following a person wearing a mask.
The moment he saw this scene, Luffy frowned, vaguely thinking of something.
He stuffed all the remaining meat into his mouth at once, swallowing it in one gulp.
Then, with a leap, he arrived on the street on the opposite side of the canal.
"Robin!"
Luffy shouted at Robin's back.
Hearing the voice, Robin's body visibly trembled.
And the masked person suddenly stopped and looked back.
When he saw that the person who had come was Luffy, the masked person immediately reached for his side.
A transparent door appeared out of thin air.
Just as he was about to take Robin inside, Luffy instantly activated Gear 2, his figure flashing like a teleportation, and in a blink of an eye, he arrived in front of that person.
Bang!
A loud bang.
The person's head was pressed into the ground by Luffy, creating a deep pit.
Without bothering with the person he was holding down, Luffy opened his mouth and asked Robin.
"Robin! What's going on? Weren't you going shopping with Nami and the others?"
"Why are you with this strange person?"
Robin had been facing away from Luffy, and at this moment, she still didn't turn her head to look.
She was silent for a long time, as if making a decision.
Just as Luffy was about to speak again, Robin's voice rang out.
"Luffy!"
Her voice sounded somewhat low.
Luffy quietly listened as Robin continued.
"I've decided... to leave your crew."
Luffy's expression immediately turned cold upon hearing this, and his voice was equally low as he said.
"~I told you the first time you got on my ship, didn't I!"
"Once you're on my ship, you can't leave without my permission."
Robin fell silent upon hearing this.
After a long while, she spoke again.
"Luffy! Let's say goodbye in this city!"
"I have darkness you don't know about, and that darkness will one day... destroy you all!"
Luffy sighed in his heart.
From the moment he saw the masked person open a door out of thin air, he knew that CP9 had found Robin.
He also knew that Robin was worried that she herself would endanger the Straw Hat's safety.
Luffy tried to persuade Robin.
"Robin! Tell me if anything is wrong."
"I am your Captain, and I will definitely help you solve it."
Hearing Luffy say this, Robin's body trembled even more, and tears welled up in her eyes.
But the more Luffy cared for her, the less she wanted to see herself drag Luffy and the others into trouble.
After calming and adjusting her emotions slightly, Robin spoke again.
"Luffy!"
"Even though we haven't been together long, you've always been so kind to me!"
"Thank you!"
Robin paused here, remaining silent for a moment before speaking in a heavy tone.
"From now on… we won't see each other again!"
With that, Robin ignored Luffy, lowered her head, and walked with heavy steps towards the alley ahead.
Luffy watched Robin's back until she turned the corner at the end of the alley and disappeared.
Bang!
Luffy's hand on the masked man's head suddenly tightened, and the mask on his face shattered.
Revealing a face Luffy recognized.
Blueno!
At this moment, Blueno's expression was pained, with blood at the corner of his mouth.
Under Luffy's grip, he had no strength to struggle.
He even tried to use his Devil Fruit ability to escape, but Luffy held his head so tightly that he couldn't break free.
"Straw… Straw Hat! Let go of me!"
"Nico Robin won't come back to you guys!"
"Give up!"
Blueno struggled painfully.
Luffy merely looked at him coldly, his eyes filled with rage and killing intent.
Suddenly, he thought of something, and his Observation Haki sensed something on Blueno. He quickly pulled a den den mushi from Blueno's embrace.
Handing the den den mushi to Blueno, Luffy said coldly.
"Call your superior!"
Blueno looked at the den den mushi, making no move.
Seeing this, Luffy said nothing, but his expression hardened, and the hand gripping Blueno's head tightened.
Blueno's expression grew more and more painful, until he finally couldn't bear it and dialed the den den mushi.
Soon, a very frivolous voice came from the other end.
"Is that Blueno!"
"How is it? Did you catch Nico Robin?!"
"I told you, just scare her with a Buster Call, and she'll definitely come with us on her own."
"That stupid woman!"
"Hahahahaha…"
On the other end of the phone, Spandam was in an office on Enies Lobby, laughing heartily while picking up a cup of coffee his subordinate had brewed for him and bringing it to his lips.
Just then, an extremely deep voice came from the den den mushi.
"I am Monkey D. Luffy!"
Thump!
Spandam's body trembled violently, and the coffee he had brought to his lips spilled all over his face.
Spandam immediately jumped and wailed in pain.
"Ah ah ah ah…"
"So hot! So hot!"
"Hot hot hot hot…"
As the pain gradually subsided, Spandam immediately said with a horrified expression.
"What… what do you want to do?"
"Where's Blueno? What did you do to him?"
Luffy squeezed Blueno's head forcefully, and the latter immediately let out a miserable scream.
"Ah ah ah ah…"
This tragic wail made Spandam tremble with fear, his eyes filled with terror.
At this moment, Luffy's deep voice rang out again.
"Robin going with you is her own choice."
"But… I will definitely bring her back!"
"During the time she is with you."
"If I find even a single hair on her head is harmed…"
"I will make all of you… die!!!"