37 Water Seven

After drifting around for a bit, Akane and her crew could see their destination in the distance. It looked like a giant city, the buildings seemingly built close to each other. In between it were canals as water flowed down from the top towards the sea on which they were currently sailing.

The island was surrounded by giant walls, numbers written on the sides. These numbers were written on different gates leading further into the island and city.

Entering the city through one of its main canals, they quickly arrived at the dock where they could moor their ship. As Akane's crew didn't have a jolly roger or crew name yet, no one recognised the ship was theirs.

It had been difficult, as one of the inhabitants of the city had notified them they couldn't dock where they had planned to. Luckily the kind man had shown them a place they could which was still inside the city. It would be a bummer if they needed to dock it somewhere remote and walk way.

Securing their ship and paying a small fee to have it protected, Akane and Ban began to walk around the streets, while Laffitte went wherever he wanted to go. As for as Akane knew, he would always come back with some kind of interesting news, so she didn't mind if he wanted some time to himself. Shinobu had decided to remain on the ship, as she was trying out some of the poisons she had gotten her hands on during her stay in the Kamabakka kingdom.

Touring through the small canals, Akane was mostly interested in the food and the strange creatures everyone was moving around with. The food, being a special kind of meat called water meat. After buying it, she just couldn't get enough of it as it had a certain taste quite unlike yet like meat, while it alsmost seemed to melt on her tongue when she took a bit from it.

Whenever she finished a skewer, another would appear from just beyond her sight, handed to her by Ban who seemed to enjoy himself.

***

To take a peak in Ban's mind.

'I wonder if this is what it feels like to own a pet?' Ban thought as he directed another skewer to her mouth.

If Akane could read his mind, she would surely give him a round house kick.

Well, back towards what Akane was doing.

***

After having pieces of water meat handed to her, Akane continued to eat while also hanging around a certain rental shop.

"Want to rent a Yagara Bull little missy?"

The man behind the counter said, eyeing Ban more than Akane.

Akane nodded as she looked at the many differently colored bulls floating in their stalls.

"Can I pick it out myself?" Akane said as she eyes a confident looking dark blue bull, who kept staring back at her in arrogance.

"Sure. They're all easy to handle."

The man said as he walked with her into the stables.

"I want that one."

Akane said, pointing at the bull she had her eye on.

"Sure. He is a bit temperamental, so try to keep a firm hand on the reins. He's prone to wandering about if you don't pay attention to where you're going."

The man said as he received the money.

"Yeah yeah."

Akane said absentmindedly as she and Ban climbed onto the small boat tied to the bulls back. Taking the reins from Akane, Ban smiled at her as he wasn't sure she should even have a shot at it. She was the worst at steering and he wouldn't trust her with a Yagara bull.

Pouting, Akane unwillingly handed he reins to Ban as she cast her gaze towards the happenings around her. The shops around them had increased with the now accesible markets.

"Try to keep your pick pocketing unnoticed."

Akane mentioned, as she could already see the playful glimmer in Ban's eyes.

"Sure, why not little fox~"

Ban said as his hands were already becoming filled with money pouch after money pouch. Seeing the small pile starting to grow, Akane sighed as she helped as well, emptying the pouches in a big one of their own, throwing the useless empty pouched overboard when she was finished with them.

Like that, their money reserves had increased with a few hundred million beri. More than enough to arrange for a custom build ship. The ship they were on now had too little space and was hampering their own interests. Ban wanted a bigger kitchen to work in, along with a bigger cellar as he really enjoyed a drink or ten.

Laffitte wanted a bigger room for mapping and storage for his books, along with a decent wardrobe for his clothes and a nice bed. The beds they were used to in their own ship were way too small for the tall Ban and Laffitte.

Akane herself didn't have a problem with the beds, but ah well, she was small after all and it didn't seem like that would change for a while. She too had a few whished though, as she wanted a relaxing spot on deck to doze off, with a few plants growing on it as well if possible. The few creatures she had taken a liking to needed a place as well, but she wasn't planning on taking any more than she had now.

The blue egg she had found was starting to shake every now and then so it shouldn't take any longer now, while the couple of Jade rabbits had been reduced to two, as Ban had eaten the third after drinking too much.

Luckily it was the one with the nastiest personality, or else Akane would have kicked him into the sea for a few times to fent of her anger.

Shinobu had also mentioned getting a lab and medical room for her use. It would be hard to take care of patients if she didn't have the right equipment and environment. It was hard to reject, not that they would reject it, when Shinobu had her usual unsettling smile on her face.

Having their own ideas, the four had made their interests known and had planned out what the ship needed and what was important. Such as high speed and defenses. They were pretty high spec with attacks and had an incling to destroying their surroundings while fighting, so the ship had to be durable enough. Well, they would avoid fighting on their own ship for the most part.

It had to be fast as well, fast enough to outrun the chasing marines, as it would be too bothersome to deal with them every time they showed up.

Lastly, it would be great if it could move on its own when there wasn't any wind or currents, while also being able to amplify Akane's illusion ability, making them disappear from sight if they ever needed to.

Humming in satisfaction on what their plans for the ship were, Akane cast her mind from the ship towards the many small shops selling their wares, especially the ones with booze as she had a nose for picking out the best ones, even if she would be smashed after only one glass.