Chapter 138: Advice
"Now it's just the two of us."
Tom sat down across from Axel and looked at him directly.
"What do you want to say?"
He did not bother with polite detours. A Marine officer coming to see him privately was not something that could be treated casually, even if the officer in question looked like a child.
Axel reached into his pocket and took out the stack of blueprints and notes Theodore had entrusted to him.
He had kept them personally rather than storing them elsewhere. With his reflexive defense, anything he carried would naturally be included within his protection. For something Theodore had called his treasure, that was the safest place.
Tom's eyes shifted to the papers.
"This is…?"
"A friend asked me to give it to you," Axel said. "It contains his shipbuilding ideas, along with some blueprints related to hull structure."
Tom's expression changed.
He accepted the papers solemnly.
To a shipwright, few things were more precious than the crystallized effort of another shipwright's life. These were not simple drawings. They were years of thought, trial, failure, and obsession pressed into paper.
Almost the moment he received them, Tom began reading.
Axel did not disturb him.
He quietly sat to the side and waited.
Time passed.
Outside the room, Iceberg and the others had already been waiting for so long that their patience began to wear thin.
"What are Mr. Tom and that kid talking about?" Iceberg muttered, pacing back and forth. "Why haven't they come out yet?"
Kokoro was growing impatient too, but she still tried to comfort him.
"Don't worry. There's no sound from inside. Maybe Tom-san is thinking about something."
Iceberg knew she was only trying to ease his worry.
It did not help much.
Seeing his expression, Franky laughed openly.
"What's there to worry about? They're just talking. Besides, Mr. Tom is super strong. What could go wrong?"
Franky's careless attitude lit a fire in Iceberg's eyes.
"Franky, that's the Navy in there! At least show some concern for Mr. Tom. No matter how strong one person is, they can't fight the entire Navy!"
"What did you say?"
Franky immediately bristled.
"I'm worried about Mr. Tom too! But right now, all we can do is trust his decision, right?"
Their argument outside did nothing to affect Tom inside the room.
He kept flipping through the documents.
Because time was limited, he only skimmed through them at first. But even that brief reading was enough to make his eyes grow brighter.
Tom was known as the greatest shipwright in the world.
Even so, he had to admit that the sea was vast, and talent existed everywhere.
Some of the ideas in these notes were things even he had not considered deeply before. The structure of the hull, the way the load was distributed, the small changes in curvature designed to resist pressure and improve stability, all of it showed the mind of a craftsman who had spent his life wrestling with ships.
Tom closed the papers for a moment and let out a sincere sigh.
"Your friend is an excellent shipwright."
His voice carried open admiration.
"These insights have benefited me greatly. There are many ideas here that I never properly considered. This may be an unreasonable request, but could you leave these with me for a while longer? I want to study them carefully. During that time, I'll write down my own suggestions and thoughts. When you return, I hope you can bring them back to your friend."
Axel nodded.
"Sure."
Theodore's purpose had not simply been to show off his work.
He wanted an exchange.
A conversation between shipwrights, even if it had to be carried by someone else's hands.
He had specifically reminded Axel to bring back Tom's reply, so Axel had no reason to refuse.
Tom visibly relaxed after hearing him agree.
For a man like him, being allowed to keep those documents for a while was clearly something worth treasuring.
"There's one more thing I need to tell you," Axel said.
"Hmm?"
Tom looked up.
One more thing?
After receiving the papers, his impression of Axel had improved considerably, so he did not interrupt. He only sat there, waiting for Axel to continue.
Axel looked at him calmly.
"It's about the blueprints for Pluton in your possession."
Tom's expression changed.
Only for an instant.
Then he laughed, loud and natural, as if he had heard something completely absurd.
"I don't know anything about that. I don't have those blueprints."
Axel did not smile.
His blood-red eyes stared straight into Tom's.
There was a quiet certainty in that gaze, a kind of confidence that made Tom feel a chill slide down his back.
Even so, Tom forced his expression to remain calm.
"I know that thing is in your hands," Axel said. "Even I was able to find out. Do you really think the government doesn't know?"
Tom said nothing.
"Water 7's history is not that hard to trace. Once someone follows the line far enough, it is easy to suspect where those blueprints ended up. And if the government learns that Pluton's blueprints are with you, do you think they'll let it go?"
Axel's tone remained steady.
"Pluton, one of the Ancient Weapons. A super battleship built by Water 7, said to be capable of destroying an island with a single shot. Once the government confirms its existence, they will come for you."
There was no doubt about that.
In this world, Pluton held the same weight as a nuclear weapon in Axel's previous life.
If the World Government obtained it, they would gain overwhelming leverage in nearly any conflict. Whether against the Revolutionary Army, the pirates, or any force that dared oppose them, they would never allow such a weapon to remain outside their hands.
Axel looked at Tom and said, "I advise you to burn the blueprints as soon as possible."
Tom's face was calm, but his heart was not.
Those blueprints were not ordinary property.
They were the inheritance of Water 7's shipwrights. They were the accumulated wisdom, labor, and pride of countless craftsmen across generations.
How could he personally destroy something like that?
So he chose denial.
"I really don't have what you're talking about," Tom said. "How could I possibly possess blueprints for an ancient weapon from eight hundred years ago?"
Axel did not press him.
He had already given the warning.
Whether Tom accepted it or not was his choice.
After a short silence, Axel said, "By the way, there's one more thing."
Tom's body stiffened.
Another one?
The previous matter alone had nearly crushed the air in the room. If there was something else of the same level, he was not sure his heart could take it.
"Do you still have invoices or ledgers from previous shipbuilding material transactions with the three surrounding islands?"
Tom blinked.
This question was so ordinary that it caught him off guard.
"Yes," he said after a moment. "The old company records are still here. If you need them, I can bring them over."
Axel nodded.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Not long after, Tom returned with a stack of ledgers so large that when he placed them on the table, a cloud of dust rose from the covers.
As the world's greatest shipwright, Tom had once purchased more shipbuilding material than almost anyone in Water 7. Naturally, he had accumulated a vast number of account books over the years.
But after building the Pirate King's ship and being exiled to Scrap Island, those ledgers had lost their use. They had been left in a corner to gather dust.
Axel did not mind.
He picked up the first ledger, dusted it off, and began flipping through it.
Tom watched from the side.
Axel's movements were fast.
Far too fast.
Page after page turned in his hands without pause. It did not look like reading. It looked more like searching, or perhaps confirming whether the pages existed at all.
Tom did not ask.
The unease from earlier had not completely faded.
He still could not understand how a child so young knew such things, nor how he could speak with such certainty while pressing on matters that even adults would not dare touch.
Time passed quietly.
At last, Axel closed the final ledger.
He had already formed a rough understanding of shipbuilding material prices.
Although the ledgers were old, they were still useful. Combined with changes in the market value of Berries over the years, he could calculate a reasonable range for current prices and fluctuations.
"Finished?" Tom asked.
He had only seen Axel flipping through the ledgers nonstop. It was hard to believe the boy had actually read anything properly.
"Yes," Axel said. "I've memorized what I need. Thank you for your help. I'll take my leave now."
Even Tom, who was not a man who fussed over minor details, was stunned.
Those were account books accumulated over decades.
And the boy had memorized them just by flipping through them?
Tom did not think Axel was lying.
There was no reason to lie about something like that.
Besides, after their conversation, Tom had already understood one thing clearly.
This was not an ordinary child.
He did not stop him.
"I'll write down my suggestions for your friend, along with my own insights, within a month," Tom said. "After that, come here to find me."
Axel nodded and opened the door.
The people waiting outside immediately breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Tom safe and sound.
Franky opened his mouth, clearly about to say something, but Iceberg reacted quickly and clamped a hand over it.
Axel walked slowly out of Tom's house.
When he was about to leave, he stopped and looked back.
"Franky."
Franky blinked.
"Let me give you a piece of advice."
Axel's gaze moved toward the so-called precious battleship outside.
"You'd better destroy that warship of yours. It may bring you trouble."
He had given the warning.
Whether they listened was up to them.
If Tom burned the Pluton blueprints, then when Spandam came to investigate on behalf of the government, Tom could simply allow him to search openly and tell him the blueprints had already been destroyed. That alone would remove the core of the problem.
As for Franky's battleships, Axel remembered clearly what happened in the original story.
Spandam had used Franky's warship to attack the judicial ship, creating a crime that made the people of Water 7 suspicious of Tom.
Without those warships, it would not be so easy for Spandam to frame him.
Even if the government insisted on fabricating charges, Tom's reputation in the city would make that method far less effective.
It could not guarantee their safety.
But at the very least, it might stabilize the situation for now.
.....
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