No. 136, Central Street, Water Seven.
Four people stood outside a three - story garden villa.
Safiros was carrying big and small bags in his hands. Looking at the closed iron gate, he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
The keys and such had long been sunk into the sea...
Thinking of this, the young man placed the groceries he was holding on the ground neatly. Then he rolled up his sleeves and climbed onto the iron gate.
"Safiros, is this really your home?" the green - haired girl, Boa Sandersonia, asked with a suspicious look on her face.
"Uh!? I lost my keys when I encountered a shipwreck.
Don't worry, I still have a spare key..."
As he spoke, the silver - haired young man had already climbed over the five - meter - high iron gate and landed in the front yard of the villa.
He quickened his steps and approached the mahogany door of the villa. He stopped beside the areca palm potted on the right side of the door. He squatted down, lifted one corner of the potted plant with his right hand, and felt around the bottom of the potted plant with his left hand, then took out a bunch of keys.
The previous owner actually secretly hid a spare key here. Wasn't he worried about burglars breaking in? ... Safiros muttered to himself while turning around and walking towards the iron gate to let the three girls in.
In the front yard of the villa, besides the vegetation and flowers planted along the wall, there was also a swimming pool filled with sea water from outside. It measured 25 meters in length, 11 meters in width, and 1.5 meters in depth.
The previous Safiros really liked swimming and was a good swimmer. As for him now...?
The silver - haired young man eyed the glistening swimming pool. As a Devil Fruit user, he figured that if he got into that 1.5 - meter - deep seawater, he'd probably drown...
Safiros used the key to open the villa door. A spacious living room came into the view of the four of them.
The interior of the villa was decorated in a somewhat European style. The design was very meticulous. The hollow patterns on the walls, the placement of the fireplace, and the layout of the furniture all aimed for visual elegance.
The silver - haired young man casually felt around on the long sofa and the table. He found that after being away for nearly half a month, there wasn't much dust on the furniture. It was still acceptable, and there was no need to call a housekeeper to clean it.
Boa Hancock scanned the living room and then tentatively said:
"Safiros, do you have a Den Den Mushi at home?"
"Yes, it's in the study on the second floor."
The silver - haired young man nodded and led Boa Hancock to the study on the second floor.
In the spacious room, apart from a desk and two bookshelves, there was also a glass cabinet stocked with various ship models.
Safiros' father, though he was the procurement manager of a shipbuilding company, was actually a skilled shipwright. He had an inexplicable love for ships.
However, the former Safiros wasn't interested in ships. He thought that the shipbuilding industry on this island was almost at its end...
It was only natural for the young man at that time to have such thoughts.
After all, with the advent of the era of the Great Pirates, it had become increasingly difficult to do shipbuilding business in Water 7.
But...
Now, Sephiroth knew that once the Sea Train was successfully built, this island would regain hope, and the shipbuilding industry would be revived!
At this thought, a sudden inspiration flashed in the silver - haired boy's mind...
In the original story, the Smoker Tom used a steam engine, so the energy movement efficiency was not high.
What if it were replaced with an internal combustion engine?
In terms of energy utilization, the internal combustion engine completely outperformed the steam engine...
You know, there was oil in this world, and even diesel had been refined!
However, for the time being, no one had thought of using them as mechanical power fuels.
So, would replacing the power system accelerate the completion of the Sea Train?
After all, this place was considered his hometown. He definitely wouldn't refuse to help...
The Den Den Mushi was placed in a glass box on the office desk. Boa Hancock stretched out her little hand and gently tapped on the shell of the ball - sized Den Den Mushi, waking it up from its slumber.
After waiting for the Den Den Mushi to fully open its eyes, the long black - haired girl used her slender fingers to press the number keys one by one on the right side of the shell and dialed a number.
Buru buru!
A moment later, the call on the Den Den Mushi was connected, and a young woman's voice came out of the Den Den Mushi's mouth.
"Hello! Who are you?"
"Is this Belladonna? It's Hancock!"
"Eek...! Hancock, where on earth have you three sisters been these days?
We've been looking for you three for a long time and couldn't find you. Do you know how worried we've been?"
"Sorry! Here's what happened..."
The long black - haired girl quickly explained how they three were captured by the slave - hunting team and fled to Water 7.
Since the location of the Kuja Pirates was quite far from Water 7 at the moment, those on the other end of the Den Den Mushi decided to let the three girls wait on the island for a few days before they could come to pick them up and take them back to Amazon Lily.
There were many vacant rooms in the villa, so Sephiroth allocated a separate room for each of the three girls.
At noon.
After the three girls finished enjoying the sumptuous lunch made by Sephiroth, they changed into the cool swimsuits they had bought at the clothing store. Boa Sandersonia bought a green bikini swimsuit, while Boa Marigold bought a pink bikini.
Due to the enthusiastic invitations of the three swimsuit beauties, Sephiroth had to postpone drawing the blueprints of the internal combustion engine until night.
He put on a swimming ring, immersed his lower body in the seawater, and accompanied the three beauties to play a water volleyball game in the swimming pool.
It had to be said that the suppressing effect of seawater on Devil Fruit users was quite remarkable. The silver - haired boy just had his lower body soaking in the swimming pool, and he already felt a sense of weakness in his body. His strength and speed were considerably diminished, and his physical stamina was also severely exhausted.
However, Sephiroth was surprised to find that even though he was soaking in the seawater, if he wished, he could still quickly recover his physical strength by consuming his lifespan. However, the efficiency was much lower than in a normal state.
Seawater only renders Devil Fruit users powerless and causes them to sink into the sea, but it does not suppress the abilities themselves. Just like when Aokiji freezes the sea. The opponent fears seawater but can still freeze it...
Does that mean that if he adapts to the weakening effect of seawater in the future, he can convert his lifespan into physical strength to barely swim in the sea and avoid drowning?