Tom stroked his beard. Ships were always built from wood, which made repairs easier. The idea of building a ship from iron had existed long before he was born, but it simply wasn’t feasible.
Aside from the difficulty of repairs, the more crucial point was that sails couldn’t move them; they were too heavy.
All ships in this world relied on sails as their primary propulsion. Even the future Thousand Sunny’s so-called propulsion system was only for emergencies; the main power for regular sailing still came from sails.
Iron was too heavy for sails to move, and this was the main reason why no one, including the World Government, used iron ships.
"Hmm... young man, do you know why no iron ships have ever sailed the seas, from ancient times until now?" Tom seriously doubted if this kid understood anything about ships, asking him to build one that couldn’t even move.
Alucard smiled faintly.
Of course, he knew this world lacked the propulsion mechanisms for iron ships.
While he didn’t have one himself, Alucard possessed a unique way of propelling a ship: Hidden Shadow could act as an engine, steering the vessel forward.
Therefore, Tom only needed to construct the main body of the warship, no engine required; Alucard could make it move with his own abilities.
The reason he was able to sail a dilapidated ship all the way here was precisely by using the power of Hidden Shadow.
After explaining his idea to Tom, Tom frowned slightly in surprise. To propel a ship with an ability... did that mean this guy was a Devil Fruit user? But even an iron ship would require immense power to be driven by an ability.
This young man before him was clearly not simple. Since business had been slow recently, and he himself was curious about what ability could propel a sailless iron ship, he took the job.
"What’s your name, young man...?"
Tom nodded. "Understood, Alucard. According to your idea, an iron ship can be built. Since steel will be used, the time and cost cannot be calculated at market price."
"Two hundred million Berries, a fair price," Tom added the last three words specifically so Alucard wouldn’t think it was excessive.
In truth, he wasn’t lying. With large quantities of high-quality steel plates replacing wood, plus labor, 200 million was truly a fair price.
Primarily, he was also very interested and wanted to know how a sailless iron ship would sail.
"Only 200 million?" Alucard was quite surprised. He remembered how much Luffy’s ship cost; it wasn’t inferior to 200 million. He didn’t expect his unique custom-built ship to cost no more than theirs.
’Only 200 million...’ Tom and the few shipwrights behind him were stunned. Was this kid a super-rich noble? Did 200 million mean nothing to him?
Suddenly, Tom and the others saw something float up from the shadow beneath Alucard’s feet—a leather briefcase.
Alucard handed the briefcase to Tom. "See how much is in there."
Tom opened the briefcase and quickly counted. "There’s about 40 million Berries here. It’s barely enough for a deposit, but..."
Given Alucard’s hedonistic nature, he usually spent money lavishly, not treating it like actual currency. The fact that he still had 40 million on him was nothing short of a small miracle.
"Don’t worry, I’ll pay the remaining amount soon," Alucard said with a confident smile.
"But... even if you say that, there’s still a full 160 million remaining..."
"Are there any pirates on this island with bounties exceeding 160 million Berries?" Alucard suddenly asked.
"You, you don’t mean to..."
Everyone was startled, understanding what method Alucard intended to use to get the money.
"We’re shipwrights; we don’t know much about pirates," Tom blinked his small eyes, which seemed entirely mismatched for his large frame, and advised, "Don’t be reckless. 160 million Berries is an extremely high bounty. Building a ship will take at least a month. Even if you plan to earn money as a bounty hunter, you can slowly accumulate it by killing weaker pirates."
Although Alucard had killed many powerful pirates, his reputation hadn’t fully reached the ears of people like Tom, who didn’t keep up with pirate news.
"Oh! Is this Tom’s Workers? We need a ship built, boss!"
Before Alucard could reply, a man’s shout suddenly echoed from a distance.
Everyone turned to see a dozen or so men walking towards them. The one shouting loudly was a young man with a straw hat and red hair. The others all exuded an extraordinary aura, especially the man in the center with a curved black mustache and a wide, bright grin. He even made Alucard think, "This one isn’t simple."
"Quiet down, Shanks."
Rayleigh, still with golden hair and quite young, stepped forward and said, "Apologies. We’d like to commission a ship to continue our journey. We need a large vessel capable of holding around a hundred people."
As the future Pirate King’s first mate, Rayleigh typically handled such matters.
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