Chapter 115: Water 7 – Merry's Voice, Franky's Tears & Adam Wood
"Hm? Usopp?" Sanji had just finished shopping with Chopper and was leaning against a street wall lighting a cigarette when he caught sight of Kaku leaping across the rooftops overhead. He muttered to himself.
"Sanji! I bought so many medical books and rare herbs! Now it's my turn to accompany you to the market!" Chopper came trotting over happily, arms full of bags.
"Oh, sure—let's go." Sanji exhaled a ring of smoke and casually ruffled Chopper's hat.
Meanwhile, Kaku had already reached the repair docks and located the docked Merry. He murmured "Excuse me," then lightly leaped onto the deck and began carefully inspecting the ship's condition.
Not long after, Sol and Nami returned to the Merry with Franky in tow. Zoro was half-asleep against the railing and lazily greeted them: "You're back… That long-nose kid Usopp ran into the cabin earlier looking all mysterious."
At that moment, Kaku emerged from the cabin after finishing his inspection. Zoro narrowed his eyes, finally realizing the person wasn't Usopp, and immediately gripped his sword hilt warily: "Hey, who the hell are you?!"
"Me?" Kaku pointed at himself and answered calmly, "I'm a shipwright sent by Galley-La Company to inspect this vessel."
Nami quickly pieced it together—Zoro must have been half-asleep and mistaken the boarding shipwright for Usopp. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and punched Zoro on the head: "You damn moss-head! You just let some random guy on board without even checking who he was—and now you've got the nerve to talk?!"
"Hiss—ow!" A huge lump instantly swelled on Zoro's head; he winced in pain.
"Well… after a thorough inspection of the ship's condition, my personal recommendation would be to replace her with a new one," Kaku reported in a calm tone. "To be honest, I don't think repairs are worthwhile anymore. Aside from the keel, almost the entire hull needs replacement. The cost simply isn't justified. You may want to consider my suggestion." With that, he politely excused himself and left.
After Kaku departed, Sol glanced at Franky beside him and motioned for him to take a look at the Merry as well. Franky shrugged helplessly and complied—after all, part of their earlier deal was that he would notify his crew to bring ransom money and, while waiting, help assess the ship's condition.
Zoro—still sporting a steaming lump on his head—frowned and asked: "Who's that pervert? Some shipwright you found?"
Sol waved it off and briefly explained what had happened earlier.
Soon after, Franky emerged from the galley having helped himself to several bottles of cola to recharge, drinking as he spoke: "That long-nose Kaku was right—your ship's reached its limit. If you keep sailing her like this, she might fall apart in the middle of the ocean one day."
After finishing his inspection, Franky casually sat on the deck sipping cola, waiting for his crew to bring the ransom.
"Tch, this is tricky," Sol murmured. "Looks like we need to prepare." Having heard the consistent evaluation from both shipwrights, he understood the Merry truly could no longer continue sailing—and a full replacement was essentially the same as getting an entirely new ship.
After a while, the shopping crew gradually returned to the Merry. Luffy and Usopp also came back looking deeply worried.
Luffy relayed Kaku and Iceburg's advice word-for-word to everyone, then declared solemnly: "I've decided—we're getting a new ship right here."
"I disagree!" Usopp protested passionately. "Even if we get a new ship, we can just tow the Merry behind us! She's our nakama—how can we just abandon her like that!" The atmosphere on deck instantly grew heavy.
Seeing this, Sol spoke up: "In that case, why don't we ask the Merry herself what she wants?"
Franky—who had been sitting unnoticed in the corner—couldn't help interjecting: "What are you talking about? How can a ship talk?"
At that moment, a gentle, ethereal voice softly echoed across the Merry: "Usopp… I want to keep sailing… Even if it's on a new ship, I want to continue carrying everyone forward."
"The—the ship spoke?!" Franky was so shocked he spilled cola all over the deck without noticing.
"Sol, please," the Merry's voice was soft yet resolute. "Transfer my soul to the new ship. Before long… we'll meet again." With those words, the mysterious voice quietly faded away.
Usopp rushed to Sol in a panic: "What did Merry just mean?!"
Sol explained to everyone that he had already discussed this plan with the Merry long ago. She knew she could no longer continue sailing and had proactively asked Sol to transplant her ship spirit into a new vessel. To accomplish this, Sol had spent a long time experimenting and finally developed a brand-new magic based on the energy circulation principles of "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Galaxy," capable of transferring a ship's spirit.
Since even Merry herself agreed to the replacement, Usopp pondered deeply for a long time before finally nodding heavily yet firmly. Seeing him relent, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief—after all, no one cherished the Merry more than Usopp.
"Wait! Wait! Sol bro!" Franky suddenly leaped up in excitement, tears welling in his eyes as he asked incredulously: "That voice just now… it came from this ship? Your ship… gave birth to a legendary ship spirit?!"
"Yeah! He looks super interesting!" Luffy stared at the teary-eyed, emotional Franky and grinned.
"Owww— I never thought… I never thought ship spirits were real! I always thought they were just legends!" Franky listened as Usopp passionately recounted all the adventures the Merry had led them through, tears streaming down his face.
"Sol bro!" Franky suddenly turned around and earnestly pleaded: "I heard just now—you're going to build a new ship for this ship spirit. Please—please let me be the one to build it for you!"
After Nami briefly explained Franky's background, Luffy looked at him with a grin and answered without hesitation: "Sure! My gut tells me you're trustworthy!"
"Really?! Then hurry up and give me 200 million Berries!" Franky was straightforward and immediately got to the point.
"You bastard! What ship costs 200 million Berries?!" Nami instantly exploded and beat Franky senseless on the spot.
The now black-and-blue Franky hurriedly explained: "It's not what you think! The money is to buy 'Adam Wood' on the black market! I won't charge a single Berry for the shipbuilding labor!"
"Is 200 million enough, Franky?" Sol asked seriously, confirming.
"Absolutely enough! This big bro already checked it out long ago—leave it to me!" Franky thumped his chest confidently.
"In that case, I'll give you another 100 million Berries. Purchasing the Adam Wood is all yours," Sol said earnestly.
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