In the first half of the Grand Line, Water Seven, an isnd renowned for its shipbuilding industry, no longer carried the air of dee it once had in the early days of the Great Pirate Era.

  Thanks to the bag of Cudius, Marine's orders for warships had steadily increased year after year. A medium-sized Marine base had even been structed on the isnd to protect its shipbuilding industry. This ehat Water Seven remaiable, providing a stant supply of new warships for Marine, and as a result, the isnd had developed into a prosperous hub.

  Due to the strong military presence, Water Seven still built ships for pirates, but the pirates didn't dare act recklessly on the isnd. Of course, Marine had no iion of pletely driving the pirates away. Doing so would be an impossible task. A steady stream of pirates stopped here to repce their ships before tinuing their voyages through the first half of the Grand Line and into the New World.

  If Mario take overly aggressive a against the pirates here, it could easily escate into a prolonged war, ohat might st for years. Though Marine wasn't afraid of flid could certainly fight for years if needed, such a sario would disrupt the produ of warships in Water Seven, an outarine could not afford.

  Marine was currently in a phase of rapid development, with the demand for warships increasing every year. The losses in battles on the sea had also grown signifitly, so ensuring Water Seven could maintain normal operations had bee a top priority. Because of this, as long as the pirates didn't cause trouble, Mariurned a blio their presence.

  In addition to the shipbuilding industry, the introdu of the sea train had ected Water Seven to surrounding isnds, creating a noricted transportation link in the first half of the Grand Line.

  Normally, without a perma Log Pose, sailors departing from Reverse Mountain would choose a route and have to stick to it, uo ge course midway. The Log Pose only recorded the magic dire of the isnd on a specific route, meaning that unless one had a perma Log Pose for a different isnd, they could only follow the path they had initially chosen.

  But the sea train ged everything. Without needing a Log Pose, one could now travel between two routes. For example, the Spring Isnd and Water Seven were on two separate routes, but the sea train ected them.

  This meant that, as long as a sailor was willing to abandon their ship, they could take the sea train to Water Seven, buy a new ship, and tinue along a new route. This brought a new level of freedom to many people. It also allowed travelers from different routes to experiehe cultures of other isnds. As a result, Water Seven had bee an important transit station and a key tourist destination.

  Every year, before Water Seven's great tsunami—known as Aqua Laguna—tless tourists would arrive from other isnds to withe spectacle. What had once been a natural disaster had now bee a signature tourist attra, bringing in enormous wealth for the isnd's residents.

  As Fish-Man Isnd tio ie with the world above, the Tom Shipbuilding pany in Water Seven also began to show its urengths. Who could have predicted that a raown for swimming across the os would also excel at shipbuilding? Perhaps it was a legacy from their aors who built the fabled Noah's Ark.

  At this moment, in the meeting room of Tom Shipbuilding pany, Cudius sat at the head of the table, looking at the rge proje s at the front of the room. Tom was expining professional knowledge to him, assisted by Iceburg.

  As for Cutty Fm—better known as Franky, while his shipbuilding skills were endable, his real talent y iing bizarre ons, especially his work e robots and other advaeology.

  Franky was currently struggling with a decision about his future. Crocodile had taken notice of his talents aended an invitation for him to work in Abasta as a teical advisor, fog on artillery and heavy onry. If Crocodile could master new advas in onry, his arms business would undoubtedly reaew heights.

  However, Franky was hesitant. He had another option, Tom had secured him a spot iure Kingdom, where he could study and research cutting-edge teology. It was a difficult choice between pursuing his expertise in ons development or his passion for shipbuilding. Of course, he could always choose to remain in Water Seven and tinue building ships.

  At this moment, Tom was discussing the feasibility of extending the sea train into the Calm Belt with Cudius.

  Tom spoke at length, and while Cudius nodded from time to time, it wasn't clear if he fully uood the teical details.

  "So, you're saying that the currerain teology 't guarantee safe travel through the Calm Belt unless we make a breakthrough?" Cudius asked, toug his thoughtfully.

  "Yes, Yhness," Tom replied. "While the noise geed by the sea train deter most Sea Kings, the Calm Belt is their home. It's far more dangerous, and the current teology 't ha."

  "What's the solution?" Cudius asked.

  "If we increase the frequend decibel level of the might be enough to repel the Sea Kings in the Calm Belt. However…" Tom trailed off, looking a bit embarrassed.

  "Hahaha, treating the symptoms but not the root cause, right?" Cudius said with a smile.

  "Yes," Tom nodded.

  In the Grand Line, while Sea Kings were on, they typically wandered from pce to pce. If disturbed by hey could simply swim away.

  The Calm Belt, however, was different. It was their ing ground. Using loud here would be like bsting music outside someone's house all day, with a group of people doing dances in front of their door. Eventually, no one could tolerate it. The Sea Kings would undoubtedly bee aggressive.

  "That's the issue," Cudius said with a slight frown. "Relying on ships to import and expoods into the Calm Belt requires massive manpower and resources. If we could establish a sea train route, it would signifitly reduce costs and maximize efficy. We've already discovered iron ore isnds in the Calm Belt, and we might find more iure. Relying solely on ships is far too ineffit."

  Tom was silent for a moment before saying, "There is one possible solution."

  "What is it?" Cudius asked, his i piqued.

  "Marine's seastone-coating teology. It's already being used on warships. If it be applied to sea trains, it might solve the problem. However, the teology is highly fidential," Tom expined.

  Cudius fell silent, sidering this. After a moment, he said, "fidentiality is ohing, but it's eology, and it's tied to Marine's is. They'll definitely want to be involved in any discussions."

  Tom nodded and smiled. "I don't have the authority to iate something like this. It'll have to fall to you, Yhness."

  "You're always givirouble," Cudius joked with a smile. "I'll ha."

  "Thank you, Yhness," Tom said happily. Having a powerful backer like Cudius made many things easier, especially when it came to accessing resources like Marine's advaeology.

  "The stru of sea train routes ur isnds must tinue," Cudius said. "This is a long-term project, something that will take geions to plete. Our ultimate goal is to ect the entire sea!"

  Tom's eyes lit up at the vision of such a future. Smiling, he said, "When that day es, Tom Shipbuilding will truly bee legendary."

  "Isn't it already?" Cudius replied with a grin.