True King of the Pirates

"Well it's a good thing that things didn't end the way you envisaged, otherwise a year today would've been the anniversary of the world's greatest shipwright."

Tom shook his head and said.

"Although I'm a very good shipwright and I indeed built the late Pirate King's ship; The Oro Jackson, I'm definitely not the world's best shipwright."

When he heard that, Ori was shocked. From the anime it was always said that Tom was the greatest shipwright for building Roger's ship. Tom could see the confusion in Ori's face and explained.

"Most people say that the Oro Jackson was the greatest ship created in the past few centuries, but in reality there's another ship that surpassed it; The Grace Wing! It belonged to the Joyous Pirates and the shipwright who created it was my Jr. apprentice brother, Simian O'Shay.

Myself, Simian and my little brother Den all studied under the same man, but despite being the youngest of us, his talents far outstripped ours.

That ship was a true masterpiece. It was built with ordinary materials but he somehow managed to make each material fuse perfectly together making it a true work of art rivalling ships from ancient era's.

It's too bad about what happened to the Joyous Pirates… If they overcame their obstacles back then, I believe the Joyous Sword King would've gone on to become the True King of the Pirates and my Jr. brother would've gone on to build a divine ship that matched his position!"

When Ori and Roman heard him bring up the Joyous Pirates, their eyes flashed with emotion. Even though they managed to quickly suppress their emotions Tom still noticed them.

"Something wrong?"

Ori shook his head as he replied with a smile.

"It's nothing, we just really admire the Joyous Pirates. Hearing you speak about them stirred our emotions."

Tom looked deeply at both Ori and Roman, especially Roman. In the end he didn't say anything but Roman seemed to feel as if Tom recognised him.

Changing the subject, Tom asked.

"I take it you guys are here for the auction scheduled to take place tomorrow."

Ori shook his head as he replied.

"To be honest, we're here to buy a ship. We were just planning on checking out the auction in passing."

Tom was surprised when he heard that. Big name Pirates with reputations as big as the Heavenly Demon's normally already have their ships, if they come visiting Water 7 it's normally to get their ships mended. Very rarely do they come to buy a new ship!

"Although I may not be as good a shipwright as Simian, I'm still proud of my abilities. You just need to tell me the specifics for your ship and I'll get on it straight away."

Ori looked at Bai before turning back to Tom with a smile.

"I don't have many specific requests for the ship itself, but I want Bai to be the one in charge of building it!"

Tom looked deeply at Ori as he asked.

"Many Pirates all over the world have come to me begging to build them a ship, including a Yonko! You are the 3rd person I've gone out of my way to offer my services to, are you sure you want a rookie shipwright to build your ship?!"

There was no hesitation on Ori's face as he nodded.

"I'm sure, I trust Bai!"

"Wait, what? You want me to build your ship?! I'm nowhere near Tom's level as a shipwright!"

Ori flashed a smile at Bai and merely replied with 3 words.

"I trust you!"

When he heard that, Bai was shocked. It was only 3 words, but they clearly conveyed the trust that Ori had in him. He had already told Ori that he hadn't been studying as a shipwright for very long, but it was clear that Ori still had absolute faith in his work.

He felt a warmth in his heart. This was the 2nd time they met and both times he'd made him feel like there was nothing he couldn't accomplish. He didn't say anything but in his heart he promised to make a ship that's worthy of the world renowned Heavenly Demon!

Tom didn't say anything as he just stared into the unwavering eyes of the Heavenly Demon. The silence was unbearable. Both Iceburg and Franky thought their mentor was offended by Ori's request.

"Hahahahahaha. Out of the 3 times I've offered my services to someone, you are the 2nd to reject me! But I'll say this much, for you to put your trust in Bai, your vision is admirable. Bai's the only person I've met whose talents come close to matching Simian's!"

When they heard that, other than Ori, everyone else was shocked by Tom's declaration. Seeing the lack of surprise on Ori's face Tom couldn't help but say.

"You don't seem surprised…"

Ori smiled as he replied.

"I already told you, I trust Bai!"

When he heard that, he understood the true meaning of those words.

[He wasn't merely talking about trusting Bai to create him a good ship…

He means he trusts that Bai will one day achieve his dream of becoming a Divine Craftsman!]

"Hahahaha I understand!

Bai come on, you have your first ship to build. This time it'll be me who's assisting you! Iceburg, Franky, you'll be helping too. To repay our saviours it'll be all hands on deck!"

Before he lead his team away Tom turned to Ori and said.

"There's an affordable inn at the end of the street not too far from the auction house. We should take no longer than 2 weeks, you can stay there till we're finished."

As Ori lead his crew away Tom saw Bai watching them leave. He walked over putting his hand on his shoulder and said.

"That man is far more than the papers give him credit for. If he doesn't die early, he'll turn this world on its head and usher in a new era!"

When he said that, Tom saw the surprise on Bai's face. He smiled and said.

"You don't believe me? I was a close personal friend of Gol D. Roger, most people believe that it was his strength that lead him to sit on the throne as the king of the pirates, but in reality it was his charisma, aura and most importantly his unwavering will that allowed for him to accomplish what he did.

It was those traits that inspired me to build the Oro Jackson and it was those traits that made the World Government shake in fear at the mere mention of his name…"

As he said that he paused and looked at Ori's departing figure before carrying on.

"Orion; The Heavenly Demon. He too has those same traits, but his surpass that of even Roger!"

As he said that he could see that Bai was still surprised.

"You still don't believe me? I suppose that's to be expected, but just wait you'll see the truth in the future."

Bai shook his head with a smile as he said.

"That's not why I'm surprised…

It's just that, I didn't expect you to see it too. 9 years ago when that 10 year old boy chose to buy my weapons, the same weapons which others scoffed at, I felt there was something special about him.

Then reading about his feats over the last few months, from defeating a member of CP0, to fighting an Admiral to a standstill, to defeating a Yonko executive, then hearing about what happened between him and the navy a few days ago and now seeing him today…

There's no doubt in my mind…

Orion is going to be the True King of The Pirate one day!"

Hearing that caught Tom off guard. He looked at Bai for a moment before laughing wildly.

"Hahahahaha!

Come on Mr. future Divine Craftsman, we have a ship to build for the future Pirate King!"