Chapter 442: A Super Plan and a Ship’s Transformation

“Now that’s one super plan.”

The moment Franky got his hands on the blueprints, he plunged straight into work—inspecting every inch of the ship, inside and out.

While examining it, something felt odd. The ship’s keel was way sturdier than usual, almost unnaturally so, and it was even bigger than the ship itself.

He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

But there was a bright side—it meant they didn’t need to buy Adam Wood. By simply tearing down and rebuilding the existing ship, they could construct something even larger than what they had now.

This was actually a sign the Merry’s development had gone a bit off track.

When Merry learned about Luffy and the others’ plan to rebuild and expand the ship, she funneled all the Wood Element, plus the extra materials from Ye Fan and Usopp, into the keel’s growth.

So now the keel was nearly twice the size of the ship, which led to the whole structure going haywire. Other parts were developing cracks of all shapes and sizes because they were no longer fitting snugly with the oversized keel.

“So, what do you think? Is the refit doable?”

Usopp watched as Franky rapidly sketched out several blueprints on the deck. Sitting right in front of him, Usopp held one up and pressed for an answer.

Luffy and Nami also turned, watching Franky expectantly.

“Of course it’s possible! The keel’s intact, plus it’s tougher than anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Three days!”

Franky held up three fingers.

“With enough hands and plenty of materials, I only need three days to rebuild the ship.”

“What? Just three days? But Galley-La Company takes fifteen!” Nami looked thrilled. Would this mean the costs would drop too?

“That’s crazy fast!”

Usopp and Luffy doubted Franky could really refit the Merry so quickly. Three days just sounded way too short.

Franky stood and began introducing his plans with the blueprints to everyone.

“The keel’s basically fine. Some sections just need to be extended and widened, so we don’t have to overhaul the whole ship.”

“To lengthen the entire thing, we’ll just wrap another layer around the outside and reinforce it. That’ll protect the original, plus give us room for new features.”

“Galley-La Company needs fifteen days because they don’t have enough shipwrights. They’re building multiple ships each day! But I’m not like them—I’ll devote myself to just this one. As long as we’ve got the people and supplies, efficiency won’t be a problem.”

After Franky’s answer, Luffy and Usopp relaxed. He had a point—there’s no way a big company like Galley-La would put all their workers on just one refit.

“Let’s get started then!”

Usopp was almost bouncing with impatience. Now that the plan was set, he was itching to jump in.

“Three days from now, we’ll have a brand-new ship! Merry, you excited?”

Luffy was already in a celebratory mood, pulling Merry into a dance on the deck.

“Not so fast.”

“I still need enough people and materials—there’s nothing here yet.” Franky shrugged, flashing a wry grin.

Even if he wanted to get started, with no crew and no supplies, he couldn’t do anything. It’s like trying to cook a great meal with no ingredients.

“Materials, huh?”

“Great Tree World—descend!”

When it came to materials, this was Ye Fan’s specialty. He raised both arms, and in an instant, ten giant trees of varying sizes sprang up around the harbor.

Each tree was thick enough that it would take ten people holding hands to encircle it—more than enough for the Merry’s rebuild.

“And as for hands to help out, take a look!”

Everyone spun around. At some point, twenty wooden figures, each over two meters tall, had appeared on deck.

“Alright, that’ll do, right?” Usopp clapped his hands and rolled up his sleeves, too eager to wait.

“Kakui!”

“So cool!”

With plenty of materials and helpers, Franky didn’t waste a word. He started directing the wood golems, dismantling the Merry.

Meanwhile, he grabbed his massive tools and ran to those towering trees, slicing them down to size.

Elsewhere, Lucci and the rest had retreated to a safe house, gathering all the CP9 members.

“The Straw Hat Pirates are far stronger than we imagined. We can’t stay on this island. Buy tickets immediately—we’re heading to Enies Lobby.” Seeing Barry’s missing leg, Lucci felt the true weight of the situation.

He hadn’t even fought the Straw Hats’ core members. Just two trainee crew had him feeling this much pressure.

One thing was clear—the Navy’s bounty on the Straw Hats was way too low.

Thinking it over, it kind of made sense. The Navy set bounties based on how dangerous pirates were.

And since the Straw Hats never attacked the Navy or the World Government directly, and hadn’t gone on any killing sprees, their bounties were basically symbolic. No wonder their true strength was never revealed.

He also had no idea Luffy was Vice Admiral Garp’s grandson, so the low bounties made sense.

“Leave this to me.” Kalifa, Iceburg’s secretary, was a pro at handling this kind of paperwork.

But when she called the Transponder Snail, she found out that with the Gods of the Sea expected soon, there were no seats left on the Sea Train. The earliest available was in three days.

“Three days then. Until then, everyone stays hidden here. Don’t let the Straw Hats spot us.”

Lucci laid out the simple plan, then headed deeper into the hideout, to the room where Robin was being held.

Robin was sticking with Kalifa only because Kalifa had given her a reason she couldn’t turn down—Buster Call.

Robin hadn’t expected that Lucci and his people would be carrying a golden Den Den Mushi, the key to triggering a Buster Call.

“Robin, for the next three days, I need you to stay quiet.”

“Otherwise, who knows how ugly things could get.”

Lucci walked in, pulling the dreaded golden Transponder Snail from his pocket—the very sight made Robin shudder.

CP9 had the golden Den Den Mushi because the World Government had given them that authority.

Their whole mission was to find the Pluton blueprints. If they found Iceburg or Franky carrying them but couldn’t snag them right away, they’d destroy all of Water 7 to keep the ancient weapon buried.