The fisherman Tom called me Old Big!

  Even 40 years ago, Tom's workshop was still very famous and well-known. People followed the directions of passersby and easily arrived at their destination.

  Tom was now hard at work, intently measuring the dimensions of a rough-hewn wooden boat. As for his two future apprentices, Aku Bas and robot Frankie, neither had yet been born, so they wouldn't be appearing by his side anytime soon. Behind him, however, stood a large frog - none other than that sentimental, free-swimming frog, Koro.

  Just as Xian Bao arrived, such a scene happened.

  It was probably a rainy day and slippery, the wooden board used to fix the boat suddenly slipped down, causing Tom, who was still working on the boat, to react slowly, and the hard-won wooden boat was about to be damaged on the hard ground. In the face of danger, the frog heroically pushed up with all its might, and under the amazed gaze of everyone, it managed to hold up the weight of the entire boat.

  "Ribbit, get out of the way quickly or you'll be flattened." Tom couldn't see what was happening outside, but as Ribbit's owner, he knew all too well that his young frog wasn't strong enough to hold up the entire boat for long.

  As expected, the frog's muscles began to tremble gradually, and the amplitude became larger and larger. Although it gritted its teeth, it couldn't stop the ship from sliding down.

  "Rustle, rustle, rustle!" However, the horizontal thread was unwilling to give up. In his confusion, he knew that the boat held a heavy weight in its master's heart, and even if it meant sacrificing his life, he had to protect his master's treasure well.

  Unfortunately, with the added weight of Fishman Tom, it was not something that could be solved by willpower alone. At the critical moment, a pair of large hands with a pale blue glow stopped the sliding ship and easily pushed the entire boat back to its original position - it was Shina.

  "Yahha, you're a fine young fisherman, thanks for saving my boat and my nets!" Fishman Tom jumped down from the boat, seeing that his unexpected benefactor was also of the fishman tribe, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.

  "This lovely frog is actually called Henggou!" Little Nana's eyes sparkled, clearly having witnessed the scene just now, and she was filled with affection for this loyal and loving frog.

  "Hello, I'm Jinbao, the Tiger Shark Fishman. These are my pirate companions. We heard that there's a renowned shipbuilding master here, so we'd like to commission you to build a large ship for us."

  Building a new ship was not only the best way to get close to Tom naturally, but also an original part of the plan. The original merchant ship had become very crowded since the addition of the two giant tribe partners, so they needed a big new ship.

  "Alright, young man has spirit! Building a boat is no problem, I just so happen to have some top-quality wood from the Tree of Adam, and for your lifesaving efforts earlier, I won't charge you a penny!" Fishman Tom said with a hearty laugh.

  In the world of One Piece, there is a gigantic tree that no matter what happens, whether it's war or disaster, will never fall. As a result, people gather around this tree to form towns and countries. Such precious trees are rare in the world, with only a few existing, and the most powerful one is called Adam Tree!

  Incidentally, this hardy tree that remains unscathed even in the midst of war and is not damaged, is controlled by the government, and its value on the black market reaches 200 million Bellis.

  "How can this be?" Shino was shocked and lost his color, the wood taken from the Tree of Adam was to be used for the future pirate king Roger's ship, an essential item. Without such a sturdy pirate ship, it would be impossible for Roger to conquer the Grand Line and achieve his legendary reputation as the Pirate King. Because of this small convenience, he would risk the great changes of the era, Shino, with a clear head, would not agree.

  However, at this time, Shao Bao couldn't say it clearly. He rolled his eyes and put on a majestic expression, saying: "This won't do, the wood for the Treasure Tree is too expensive. Moreover, Uncle Tom's workshop has just started and doesn't have any start-up funds yet. What happened earlier was just a small matter, not worth mentioning. We'll pay for the boat fare ourselves."

  His words, full of grandeur and righteousness, had just left his mouth when the expressions on the faces of those around him changed instantly. The Sword Master Ryoma, the Giant Tōri, and Brook hadn't yet seen the true nature of Captain Shinsuke, but after hearing these words, they couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration and praise in their eyes. On the other hand, the little girl Kirstina and Kurokas had strange, twitching faces; the first thought that came to mind was: seeing the captain behave so abnormally, he must have some evil intentions again.

  Tom, the merman, didn't notice this strange atmosphere. He was only in his 30s, at the prime of his career, and Shino's words were always considerate of him. The more he looked at this young man from the same clan, the more pleasing he became to him. His hidden good feelings surged up rapidly, directly promoting Renbao from "same-clan friend" to "bosom buddy".

  "Hey, little brother, come sit down here. My place is really simple, I hope you don't mind!"

  "Haha, Uncle Tom, don't be polite, I was just thinking of that! Dong Li, go get the wine from my ship, tonight we won't leave until we're drunk!"

  "Hey, that's a great idea! I'll just build an open platform, so those two giant brothers can't squeeze into my little hut." Uncle Tom's warm words made Dongli and Buluoqi, the two big guys, exchange a smile.

  Most fishermen are straightforward and generous men, who are both brave and kind to their friends. At night's banquet, although there is no exquisite food, the excellent wine is enough to satisfy a group of men.

  As the wine reached its peak, Uncle Tom Fisherman brought up old matters again: "Shen Bao Lao Da, I just think you're a good person, and tomorrow I'll definitely use Paul Adam's wood to build a boat for you."

  His words were extremely inconsistent in tone, and the phrase "Shen Bao Lao Da" was because he had just lost a drinking game to this physically superior and sinister captain. The phrase "look at you with favor" clearly carried the tone of an elder addressing a younger person.

  Shen Bao was also drunk at this time and wouldn't have noticed such details, but when he heard Adam's words, he suddenly became sober. Fortunately, he didn't make a mistake due to the wine and hastily changed the subject: "Let's talk about this later, I heard on my way here that there will be a heavyweight auction in Qishui City that happens only once every 50 years. Not only will there be all sorts of treasures, but even Devil Fruits will appear. I think we should combine our strength and grab a big deal first."

  Tom was shocked and frantically waved his hand, loudly stopping him: "Absolutely not, brother! Ah... big brother, absolutely not!"