Wind Demon (One Piece x Male Reader)

Franky Family

“You can’t fix the Going Merry?! Why?! Aren’t you supposed to be great carpenters?!” Luffy shouted, his fists clenched, his eyes searching desperately for any sign of a different answer.

The shipwrights exchanged glances, their expressions somber.

Y/N stepped forward, his voice firm but tinged with frustration. “If money’s the issue, we’ve got plenty! Just name your price, and we’ll pay it!”

Kaku shook his head, his tone calm yet unwavering. “It’s not about money. No amount of berries can change the fact that the Going Merry is beyond repair. Frankly, I’m amazed you even made it here with her in the condition she’s in. It’s impressive, really.”

“What are you talking about?!” Nami snapped, her voice sharp. “What’s wrong with the Going Merry?”

Paulie stepped in, his gruff demeanor adding weight to his words. “Do you know what the keel is, you lewd woman?”

Nami bristled but replied through gritted teeth, “It’s on the bottom of the ship, isn’t it?”

Paulie nodded. “Right. The keel runs from stem to stern—the backbone of the ship. Every other piece of wood, from the stem post to the sternpost, the brackets, the deck beams—all of it—is built around the keel. It’s the foundation of the entire vessel. Without it, you’ve got nothing. If the keel is seriously damaged, there’s no repairing it. It’s not like patching up a deck or replacing a mast. Fixing the keel is the same as building an entirely new ship. And your ship... it’s already too far gone. It’s just a stack of wood waiting to fall apart.”

Nami’s face turned red with anger. “Hey! How can you say something like that?!”

Paulie crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “Because it’s the truth. You needed to hear it.”

Frustration boiled over in Luffy as he slammed his hands on craft table. “Then build her again! Start from scratch and make her the Going Merry! I don’t care what it takes!”

Hattori, Lucci’s pigeon, cooed softly before it spoke, it’s voice calm yet resolute. “That’s impossible.”

“Why not?!” Luffy shouted, his voice rising again.

“We could build you a similar ship,” Hattori explained, “but no one can recreate the Going Merry exactly. No two identical ships exist in this world.”

Y/N frowned, his brows furrowing as his frustration grew. “What do you mean by that?”

Hattori turned to him, it’s gaze steady. “Have you ever seen two trees grow exactly the same way? A ship is built almost entirely out of wood. Every plank, every curve—it all depends on the unique character of the wood. Even using the same blueprints, you’ll never end up with two ships that are completely identical. And even if we could replicate it, the feeling wouldn’t be the same. The crew who sailed on the original ship—you—would know it’s not her. The soul of the Going Merry would be gone.”

The weight of it’s words hit the three of them like a crashing wave. Y/N’s fists clenched at his sides, his voice low and filled with pain. “So what… you’re saying we’ll never sail the seas in the Going Merry again?”

Kaku sighed, his voice carrying a note of finality. “That’s about the size of it. You can either wait for her to sink... or dismantle her yourself.”

Luffy stood there, silent, his wide-eyed expression a mix of shock and denial.

Iceberg spoke up, his tone businesslike yet not unkind. “The ship has reached the end of her life span. This is a good opportunity to move on. You’ve got the money—use it to buy a new ship. A caravel like the Going Merry was already outdated. Continuing to sail on her would’ve only put you in more danger.”