The stop at Punk Hazard was only supposed to take a few days to a week at most. But with Nicholas there and Vegapunk taking time to create a new type of electrical system specifically for Marcus's sword to power. It was little wonder that they ended up staying almost a month. That time wasn't spent being idle though as all of them trained and practiced music together each day.
Vegapunk, Sentomaru and Nicholas would join them most days after dinner when they played. Even Kizaru showed up half the time to listen as they worked on their music. While the band still needed work, especially Yamato who had the least experience. They were still able to play a good selection of songs and Yamato would just keep a basic tempo for everyone else.
During their stay, Marcus sparred with Nicholas, Yamato and Sentomaru at least twice a week. As for Kizaru, he only offered to spar if Marcus paid double what he offered last time. While Marcus had the money to do it, he wasn't going to waste it on a pointless spar with someone who loved to hit and run. Maybe when Marcus was older and faster he would consider it, but for now it would just be a waste of time and money.
Marcus made sure to 'acquire' a decent amount of technical documents and blueprints while they were on the island. A lot of them weren't that important, but it didn't matter to Marcus. He just wanted as many advanced information designs and technological blueprints as he could get. His plan was to hand them over to Frank if they crossed paths to give the guy a power boost which included the basic concepts for Kizaru's beam attack. While Vegapunk was still studying Kizaru's devil fruit power, he already made a large amount of progress on it and Marcus borrowed a copy.
It was just over three weeks later when they were ready to leave the island. Besides building the power generator, they also had to modify the ship a little to carry it. It was too big to use on the current ship and its weight would slow them down. But it was designed to fit perfectly in the next ship which Vegapunk designed. While Marcus was sure Iceberg would optimize or even redesign the ship from the new blueprints, the overall internal design for the generator, electrical and water system wouldn't change.
Besides the generator, Vegapunk even created all of the infrastructure for it and that was loaded on the ship. The last thing that Vegapunk created for the new ship was the propulsion system and the tips of the hydro foils. All of it was created in some type of alloy that resisted heat extremely well and would be cooled by sea water. The tips of the hydro foils were actually inverted cones that would pull in sea water as it gained speed.
Normally that type of design would hinder the ship's speed during sailing. But when Marcus used his sword to power the ship and the hydro foils fully engaged it would actually increase the overall top speed. The drag from the funneled water would actually turn into a pulling motion once the system started to cycle from the thermodynamics of the water super heating and turning into steam. That steam would be released from the back of the hydro foils along with the flames from Marcus's sword to create even more speed.
It was tested on the small boat first and it increased its overall speed by almost thirty percent compared to the old design. There was also an added benefit from having Vegapunk build the hydro foils. After studying the small boat, Vegapunk realized that the original failed from the heat and parts of the system deformed and even melted in some spots. Marcus never noticed the issue because it was all hidden away and only found after Vegapunk disassembled the boat and the man was surprised it hadn't failed completely.
That was also the main reason he redesigned the intake on each of the hydro foil tips. But that wasn't the only improvement he added to the system. Instead of the same metal as last time, Vegapunk used a new alloy that withstood testing from Marcus's sword at max power. It still melted, but it took over twice as long compared to the original formula. Vegapunk also redesigned the power delivery system so that it was just for power and no longer controlled anything else.
That change allowed for the power system to be more robust with even less chance of failure. The new alloy, along with the cooling system, easily prevented over heating in the new power relay design. As for what the new alloy was made from, it seemed to be tiny bits of sea stone and three other types of metal. How it worked, Marcus had no idea, but Marcus planned to use it to help cross the Calm Belt. He already knew from experience that his grandpa could sail across it in a normal ship without issue, so he planned to do the same to explore the world. If that didn't work then he would just create a seaplane and completely get rid of his ship.
It was early morning when a group of people stepped onto the dock and approached one of the two ships anchored there. When they arrived the person at the front turned around to the other people and said, "You really didn't have to see us off."
Vegapunk waved off that statement as he said, "Nonsense, it's always proper for a host to see off their guests."
Sentomaru nodded in agreement as he added, "We are just being good hosts."
Marcus smiled slightly as he glanced at the last person of the group and asked, "Are you sure about this? Won't you get into trouble?"
Nicholas tossed a duffel bag onto the ship and grabbed one of the tie down lines as he said, "I'll be fine, I took off all my vacation days I've saved up over the years. I have three months before I need to report back in."
"Damn, guess I can't raise a pirate flag for at least three months."
Nicholas threw the line in his hands towards Marcus's face as he said, "You better not become a pirate!"
Marcus caught the line with a smile as he said, "It was a joke… I don't plan on becoming a pirate, but the choice might be out of my hands one day."
Nicholas paused and a frown slowly formed on his face as he asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what you think it means… This world isn't as black and white as you might think it is. Not all pirates are bad and not all marines are good."
Sentomaru's frown matched the one Nicholas wore as he asked, "If pirates aren't bad, then why do they all have bounties on their heads?"
Marcus opened his mouth to reply when Vegapunk cut him off and quickly said, "You two should hurry up if you want to leave with the tide."
Marcus nodded in understanding as he moved towards another rope and said, "You're right, we're already running a little behind because everyone else slept in."
Within minutes both of them were standing on the rear deck as Marcus waved at Vegapunk and Sentomaru as he said, "Thanks for all the help, I'll visit next time I'm in the area."
The two of them waved at the ship as Nicholas started to pedal the bike and it pulled away from the dock. Marcus took the helm and navigated them away from the island as he raised the main sail and the ship picked up more speed. With the sail and Nicholas on the bike, the ship slowly lifted from the water as the hydro foils engaged. The speed was faster than most ships, but with its new load it was now slower than the marine ship they raced when they first arrived.
About half an hour later the door leading to the crew section opened up and Yamato stepped out in pajamas and a terrible case of bed head still half asleep. She glanced over Nicholas and Marcus for a moment before she shuffled past them as she mumbled, "Morning."
Yamato disappeared into the galley a few seconds later before another person appeared from the crew section. Baby Five stepped out already dressed with her hair done and a smile on her face. She moved towards Marcus and gave him a quick hug as she said, "Good morning dear, I'll go prepare breakfast for you now."
"I already ate breakfast with Nicholas while everyone was sleeping in."
Baby Five pouted slightly but a smile quickly covered her face as she asked, "Then I'll go start preparing for lunch, what would you like to eat?"
"I'll eat whatever you make."
Baby Five swooned and her eyes lit up as she hugged Marcus again before she skipped towards the galley. Nicholas rolled his eyes at the interaction and kept peddling as he asked, "Are you sure you two aren't dating?"
"We're just friends, same with Uta… They just have mental problems and believe otherwise."
"Well if you find more girls like that, send them my way." Nicholas said in a semi joking tone before Marcus said, "You don't want to date crazy girls, they'll just cause endless trouble in your life. Find a normal sane girl and you'll be more than happy."
"Says the guy sailing around with four girls, two of which seem to be head of heels for you. It won't be long before all four of them are like that."
Marcus glanced over his shoulder at Nicholas with a raised eyebrow as he asked, "What kinda smut stories have you been reading to even come up with an idea like that?"
"Exactly, who would want to be in a harem with a bunch of other women and vying for a single man's affection?"
Both of them turned towards the voice to find Jasmine fully dressed for the day with her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. When Nicholas failed to respond in time she asked, "Spit it out, who exactly is supposed to fall head over heels for Marcus?"
"No. N-no one." Nicholas quickly stuttered before he focused back on pedaling as he turned away from Jasmine's cold stare.
Marcus let out a chuckle and turned back towards the helm as Jasmine let out a huff before she walked past them both towards the galley. A minute after she disappeared Nicholas glanced towards both doors for a moment before he cautiously said, "Man, that was scary… Women are troublesome."
"Says the guy who just wanted me to send some crazy girls his way." Marcus said with a chuckle as he steered the ship around the island.
"Well maybe I changed my mind…"
"Until you read another weird book about a harem." Marcus said in a joking tone before Nicholas quickly said, "I only read the one and it wasn't mine! I just borrowed it by accident…"
Marcus turned back to look at Nicholas as he asked, "Wait, people seriously write smut like that? I was just joking around…. Wait, who did you borrow the book from?"
Nicholas turned away and refused to look at Marcus as he mumbled, "I promised not to tell when I returned the book…"
"Was it your dad?"
"No!"
Marcus rubbed his chin as he asked, "My grandpa… No, I was surprised he knows how to write, much less read… Was it Drake?"
"No! And stop asking, I won't tell you."
"Maybe Sengoku? A guy like that would probably enjoy raunchy stories."
Nicholas's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head as he said, "The fleet admiral isn't like that."
"If it wasn't any of them, then who else could it…" Marcus's eyes lit up as thought of someone else, he was about to dismiss them because they were a woman. But after thinking it over he remembered women had some very weird reading tastes in this world and the last. Especially after he found Makino's book collection years ago that was full of romance slop.
Marcus slowly turned to look at Nicholas and studied him carefully as he asked, "It was Captain Hina, right?"
As soon as Nicholas's eyes widened, Marcus let out a loud laugh before he asked, "No way! So likes to read trashy harem romance novels?"
Nicholas shook his head furiously as he said in a panicked tone, "No! I never said it was her!"
"The more you deny it that hard, the more likely it is to be true."
Nicholas instantly shut up and looked away from Marcus as he continued to pedal trying to ignore his presence. Marcus smirked slightly and turned back towards the helm as he started to whistle. The two fell into silence for a while until Uta entered the bridge still half asleep in her pajamas and hugged Marcus as she grumbled, "Why is it so late? Did you turn off my alarm?"
"I let everyone sleep in, you're the last to get up."
Uta slowly blinked her eyes as she slowly woke up and said, "I'll go start lunch."
"Baby Five already started on it."
Uta's eyes snapped open and she was fully awake as she rushed towards the galley as she said in a huff, "That girl thinks she can get ahead of me just because she woke up early…"
"Are you sure you're not dating her too?"
"Absolutely not."