Summary:
Construction of the Straw Pirates’ new ship continues as the sun sets. Although with the help of Yokozuna, Paulie, Lulu and Tilestone, Iceburg and Franky do most of the work: surprising everyone else with their seemingly limitless energy. Even late into the night, the shipmen of Dock 1 are amazed by the “thickness” displayed by their boss and his “brother”, realizing that Tom’s workers still live in these two incredible shipbuilders. As they continue to work, Iceburg laughs. When Franky approaches him, he replies that he never realized Franky hid so much talent. Reminiscent of Battle Frankies. While they may have made them disagreeable, and while they were used to Tom, he now feels that they were just warm-up pieces to this masterpiece: the work of sheer shipboard genius. He can’t help but praise Franky in all honesty. Kokoro reminisces about their youth. Tom said that they would both become great boatmen in the future, and here Kokoro realizes that his words are true. Then Franky points out one crucial similarity. The crime that ultimately sealed Tom’s fate was the construction of Oro Jackson’s Gold Roger. And now Iceburg stands in the process of building a ship for a pirate crew that will no doubt become no less infamous. Iceburg replies that he will deal with it if it ever comes. Tom himself said that a ship is a ship. What happens to him is up to his crew. So, like Tom, Iceburg builds this ship the same way he builds every ship in the Galley-La Company: with the belief that he’s just building another ship. And in this case, it also helps make a dream come true.
Meanwhile, Franky flashes back to when he decided to stop Puffing Tom from taking Tom to his death. He vowed never to build another ship, fearing it might turn against the people he cared about again. A train runs him over and he is left broken and barely alive. Just then, an abandoned iron ship sails by. With his remaining strength, he climbs aboard and makes himself at home: a broken, battered body alone on a battered, battered ship. He decides to rebuild himself first. He then remembered his conversation with Iceburg when he returned to Water 7: how finally Iceburg was happy to see him alive again. Franky wonders who is more stubborn: him for defying the World Government even now, or Iceburg for daring to take them on by helping him now.
Meanwhile, Usopp continues to develop ways to apologize to the Straw Hats. He then sneaks into their suite to find out where the crew stands with him. He noticed Zoro standing defiantly on one side of the room and the rest of the crew on the other. Usopp thinks the crew is getting nervous and decides to use the script, but then Nami ruins it by drawing the curtains so no one can see him. And so he leaves knowing that time is now against him. If this goes on, they really will leave without him.
Back at the construction site, the Franky Family offers everyone a meal break from work. As a courtesy, Iceburg and Franky get first dibs. While they are eating, Iceburg asks Franky what he will do when the ship is finished. Franky can’t answer that. Iceburg suggests he go with straw hats. After all, they need a boatman. But Franky stands firm. He will stay here with his family. However, Zambai wonders if he is not entirely truthful. Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone are once again impressed by Iceburg and Franky’s will to continue working when they are too tired to eat a snack. But the conversation sparks Franky’s thoughts. The Straw Hats were something else and allying with them in the Enies Lobby had proven to be quite a pain, so this ship of his dreams would be entrusted to them. Their work continues until sunrise, though everyone else collapses from exhaustion except Kokoro. Franky and Iceburg somehow manage to push each other harder and harder.
As dawn breaks, Nami wakes up to encouraging news: a week has passed and her Log Pose is finally set. Once their ship is done, they can set sail and continue their journey. Kokoro then shows something to Nami: the needle points slightly downwards. This is because the next leg of their journey will take them half way down the Grand Line. Their next stop will be Fish-Man Island, which is at the bottom of the ocean. The mention of Fish-Man evokes mixed feelings. While Sanji is excited at the prospect of a place that is sure to be full of mermaids (until he remembers that Kokoro is also a mermaid), the word brings back unpleasant memories for many others: especially Nami, who can’t forget the time when Arlong and his the fishmen held her home in the village of Cocoyasi hostage, though Zoro reminds her that they were ruthless because they were also pirates. Then Kokoro points out that getting there will be the hardest part: not only because they need to find a way to the sea floor, but also because the route marked by Log Pose goes through some very dangerous waters: the infamous place known as the Florian Triangle. where ships of all types disappeared without a trace or returned without a crew. Nami is initially afraid to go until Robin points out that ghost ships are often treasure ships as well. Luffy is already eager to go, hoping to run into zombies and skeletons, and talk of treasure ships makes Zoro wonder if he can find a new sword among such loot.
Just then, Chimney, Gonbe, Mozu and Kiwi arrive with great news. The new ship is ready, ahead of time. Moments later, however, Zambai and the Franky Family also arrive, and their news is not so great. The World Government has released new wanted posters, and for the first time the entire Straw Hat crew is wanted: Luffy’s reward is tripled from Beli100,000,000 to Beli300,000,000. Luffy rejoices in his increased notoriety. “Pirate Hunter” Zoro reward doubled from Beli60,000,000 to Beli120,000,000. Like Luffy, Zoro reacts positively because more shame means more challengers. To her shock, Nami is given the nickname “Cat Thief” and a bounty of 16,000,000 to Beli. Her photo is provocative as the photographer pretends to be from a magazine. Chopper is dismayed that he only has a Beli50 reward because he was mistaken for the crew’s pet. His nickname is “Cotton Candy Lover”. “Devil Child” Robin gets a slight raise from Beli79,000,000 to Beli80,000,000, mostly to justify updating her photo to show her as an adult. Robin is mildly amused. Sanji’s excitement at finally being wanted (earning him the nickname “Blackfoot” and a reward of 77,000,000 Beli) fades when he discovers that the picture he’s looking for is not a photograph, but rather a very inaccurate drawing. Although not present, Usopp (as Sogeking) also has a reward: this one worth 30,000,000 Beli. Zambai then reveals that he has one more wanted poster to show them “Cyborg” Franky with a reward of 44,000,000 Beli.
As Iceburg predicted, Franky is now a wanted man. This means that it is no longer safe for Franky to stay in Water 7. So he begs the Straw Hats to take him with them.