【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 297: Merry's Judgment

Noticing Kaku's silence, Luffy asked in confusion, "Will it take a long time?"

"No, it's not. Your ship suffered a lot of damage in the battle." Kaku looked up at Luffy with a serious expression. "Excuse me, even we can't do anything!"

"what?"

"Even if it is barely repaired... the possibility of it being able to sail to the next island... is zero!"

Hearing this diagnosis, Luffy couldn't believe it at all, and loudly retorted, "How is it possible? We have been sailing well so far!!"

Hearing this result, Barry instantly understood what Kaku meant, "Is the keel broken too?"

"Yes, the damage is serious!" Kaku nodded.

"Aren't you guys great ship repairmen? Why do you say Merry can't be repaired!?" Luffy said dissatisfiedly "If it's money, we have plenty here!"

"It's not about money. No matter how much you spend, this ship can't be fixed!"

"What's wrong with Merry?" Nami calmed down and tried to understand why they said Merry could not be repaired.

"Do you know what a dragon bone is?"

"That's the bottom of the boat..."

"That's right. It runs from the bow to the stern and is the most important part of the entire ship!" Barry took a puff of cigarette and said, "The keel is the foundation of the ship frame and the lifeblood of the ship. Once the keel is severely damaged, it is impossible to replace it!"

"Because replacing the keel is equivalent to building a new ship! Therefore, no one can do anything about it. Your ship has become a pile of wood waiting to fall apart!"

“Hey!!” Hearing someone talking about Merry like that, Nami could no longer hold back her anger and shouted, “There’s no need to say such harsh things!!”

"In that case, let's build another Merry!" Luffy said anxiously. He couldn't accept that Merry, who had always been with them, could no longer sail.

"That's impossible. No one can build an identical ship. Strictly speaking, there are no identical ships in the world! Even if we build a similar ship, you will be the ones who can feel the difference the most! Cooco!"

"The life of that ship has come to an end. Either wait for it to sink to the bottom of the sea, or dismantle it!"

Luffy listened to what the pigeon said in silence, and the scene when they first started driving Merry out to sea kept appearing in his mind.

"Isn't this a good opportunity? Why not give it up and buy a new boat? You should be able to buy a very good boat with your money."

"Come to think of it, your old sailing ship, even if it's not broken, will be hard to handle for the future voyage! The second half of the Grand Line is not something a simple ship can handle!"

"No! I don't want to change!" Luffy was very excited. He couldn't accept this fact at all. Merry was a partner to him. How could he abandon it? "Our ship is the Merry!! As long as it is repaired, it can definitely sail again, absolutely!"

"Luffy..." Nami felt a little sad looking at Luffy like this.

"It was sailing well today!! But you suddenly said it couldn't sail anymore!" Luffy refused to believe this sudden verdict and shouted sadly, "How can I believe this? You don't know how strong the ship is to say such things!!"

"...Will you be satisfied only if it sails and sinks to the bottom of the sea?" Iceberg's tone was calm, but it directly pierced Luffy's heart and made him face the unchangeable facts. "If that's the case, then it's really speechless... But can you be considered the captain of a ship?"

Luffy looked at him silently, even though he didn't want to accept it, he couldn't refute it, he was the captain and he was responsible for all the crew members.

"I have said all that needs to be said. You should think about it carefully! If you want to buy a ship, come to me and I will help you. If you use all the 300 million berries you have to build a ship, we can build you a newest ship!" Espagu turned to look at Kalifa, "Kalifa!"

"Yes!" Kalifa took out a manual. "This is a list of ship prices from new ships to second-hand ships. Please refer to it!"

Nami took the manual from Kalifa's hand. At this moment, a sound came from the factory door. It seemed that people from the World Government came. They were asked to hide. Nami and Luffy carried the box of money and followed their advice to hide behind the wood.

"Nami, these two boxes are so light." Luffy asked in confusion, looking at the boxes in his hands.

"Light?" Nami looked at the box in Luffy's hand in confusion, and said with a smile, "How is it possible? There are 200 million Baileys in it. How could so much money..." Nami looked at the empty box that Luffy opened, and she couldn't say the rest of the words for a moment. Her whole body was completely stiff.

"what!!!"

"Two hundred million Beli... are gone!!" Nami and Luffy looked at the two empty boxes in horror, unable to believe their eyes.

"What happened? What happened?" The boatmen who heard the screams gathered over.

"Look carefully, neither of these two boxes is ours!!" Nami turned her head stiffly and looked at Barry who was walking over.

"Hey! Why are you looking at me? I didn't take it!" Noticing Nami's look, Barry immediately jumped up and argued loudly.

"It's so noisy!" Pipli stood up dissatisfiedly and turned to look at Kaku who was sitting on the side. "Kaku, were you with Franky's family just now?"

"What?" Kaku, who was sitting on the wood, said in confusion, "I haven't seen Franky's family today!"

"Franky Family!?" Nami immediately rushed to Pipli and asked anxiously, "What did you just say? Did you see a person with a long nose!?"

"Yes, I did see a long-nosed man being carried away by them!"

"Isn't that kidnapping?!" Nami shouted angrily at Pipli, then turned to Luffy and shouted, "Luffy! Go find him!"

"Yes!!" Luffy said and disappeared in a flash.

"Hey!! Where are you going to look for him!" Nami shouted anxiously at Luffy who was running away in an instant. That guy didn't know the direction at all. There was no way. There was no time to look for Luffy now. She immediately turned her head and looked at Barry, "Where is the Franky family's nest!?"

"Their shipbreaking factory is on the northeastern coast of Rocky Bay. It's called Frankie's House!"

"Really? How dare they steal pirates' things? How despicable!" Nami quickly boarded Blue's ship and controlled Blue to sail towards the back street. She wanted to send the 100 million berries back to the ship first. It was stupid to carry 100 million berries to find 200 million berries. I hope Usopp can escape successfully...

Nami rode Blue as fast as she could on the waterway, and when she passed the backstreet commercial street, she noticed that there were a lot of people gathered on the pedestrian street, and even though she was blocked by people, Nami immediately recognized Usopp's head, and hurriedly turned Blue around and swam towards the direction where the crowd was gathering.

"Usopp!!" Nami squeezed through the crowd and found that the person surrounded by the crowd was actually Usopp. She ran over and looked at the injuries on Usopp's body in disbelief. "What happened? Usopp, are you okay?"

Nami hugged the bloody Usopp and shouted worriedly, "Usopp, how are you? Cheer up, are you okay? Hey! Did the Franky family do this? "

"Yes... it's all my fault for being so useless... Phew... the money was all stolen!! Nami! I really... don't have the face to see you all!!"