Chapter 116: Tide’s Watch
Chapter 116: Tide’s Watch
“Land, ho!”
The cry came from Usopp, of course. Luffy had known they were approaching the general area highlighted on his System Map, and had thus made sure their sharpest-eyed spotter was up in the crow’s nest. He’d found it interesting that the Map could and would point him to areas that hadn’t been uncovered yet…a little detail that had made Nami positively salivate, as it meant he could help her identify places of interest she hadn’t been able to map just yet. As it was, even with all of their crisscrossing of the Grand Line so far, they’d properly mapped less than a tenth of Paradise. Nami’s goal truly was, very arguably, the biggest of all their dreams. Even if they ultimately ended up toppling the World Government or something, it would likely take less time than Mappingthe Entire World.
Usopp’s cry had brought the activities of the rest of the crew, most of whom hadn’t known they were expected to hit land soon, to a stop. The most important individual for immediate reaction had already been lingering near Luffy intentionally, though. Turning to Vivi, Luffy ordered her into action.
“Vivi, a closer look for the rest of us, if you please?”
Nodding acceptance, already having known the order was coming, Vivi hopped up toward the Crow’s Nest with Geppo. Some use of a spy glass and directions from Usopp later, and she opened a small Air Door over the land Usopp had seen. Since first trying this sort of thing, they’d thought through several improvements on the idea, and now Vivi fed the view into a Cameko Den Den Mushi that now lived in a secure container atop the Crow’s Nest. A container that also contained a series of lens she could drop down between the Air Door and the snail, in order to ‘zoom in.’ She picked a zoom, set it, then had the snail broadcast it.
That broadcast, deliberately weak so it wouldn’t carry far, was picked up by a Proko Den Den Mushi down on the main deck. Luffy had, again making use of a more recent modification to the Discovery, raised that Mushi and a projector screen for it from a recessed and protected place under the main deck. The result of their clever modifications was a clear image of the island they were heading towards being projected for the crew as they gathered, despite the island still being several kilometers out. Another Air Door opened to give Vivi and Usopp a view of the projected image from where they were still keeping lookout in the Crow’s Nest, so the entire crew got a good look at the island for the first time.
“Huh, that’s something you don’t see every day, even on the Grand Line.”
Sanji’s comment got nods all around as the crew took in what they were seeing. Specifically, the numerous sets of large gears set into towers along a number of long-but-shallow inlets that ran from a miles-long stretch of beach to a small town a good mile and a half inland. The towers were distinctly clockwork-like in design, something hardly unknown in the world, but rare to see done at this sort of scale. For a long minute, everyone stared as they tried to work out just what the heck they were seeing.
A bit surprisingly, it was Nami who got it first, rather than one of the engineers among the crew.
“Tidal surge! Even inside weather zones, the tides don’t change. They’ve set up all that clockwork so that the tides power something! When the water from the tide shift comes either in or out, down those long inlets, it turns the clockwork!”
Luffy blinked, brain slipping gears for a moment as he realized, whoever these people were, they’d effectively created a type of Tidal Generator. He doubted they were using it for electricity, as systematic electrical use was fairly uncommon in this world, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make use of the mechanical power generated. Doubly so if they had large springs that could store some of the energy for release over time. It was clever, and he was certain he wasn’t the only one interested in seeing what they were using the collected kinetic energy for.
“Vivi can you zoom in on the town itself? Or, wait, Nami do you need anything more first?”
Nami immediately shook her head.
“No, the inlets are much too shallow for the Discovery. She might have a shallow draft for her size, but not that shallow. I don’t see any natural coves or other good places to put fully ashore on this side of the island either. We’ll have to anchor a bit out from the island and either transit the inlets on the Expedition or else just go on foot.”
Nodding, Luffy gestured toward the Air Door Vivi and Usopp were watching from, and Vivi got the hint. It took her a moment and some focus, but she used the view from her first portal to create another directly over the town, then dispersed the first. The viewer was soon showing the town from the viewpoint of the new Air Door…and there was a lot to take in.
It wasn’t a huge settlement, a town of perhaps 10,000 people at most, but it wasn’t the people who immediately drew the eye. Instead, it was the animals. The clockwork animals. Just at a glance, Luffy saw a Clockwork Bear standing on two legs and seeming to act as a guard, Clockwork Oxen that were pulling carts, and even a Clockwork Fox carrying a messenger tube and darting along the street. There were dozens of the clockwork animals, with the people of the town moving around them without any sign they were out of place.
“How fascinating. There are stations where they can stop at to be rewound, it seems.”
Luffy blinked at Pagaya’s comment, eyes darting to find what the engineer had noticed. Sure enough, as soon as he looked for them, there were alcoves and larger stations both, where more of the clockwork automatons were being wound. Each of those were, as he traced the buildings, connected to a series of overhead shafts. Presumably, those went back to the tidal generators either directly or indirectly, allowing the clockwork of the town to be ‘recharged’ as needed.
Now that he knew what to look for, he quickly found other buildings that connected to the thickest of those overhead shafts. A set of flourmills on the edge of town, a large blacksmith’s forge at the town center, and a series of watchtowers that were suspiciously shaped. If he were a betting man, and to be honest he was in this case, he’d place a fairly high wager that the towers had some sort of defense mechanism for the town. There was no way a place like this had avoided inquisitive people trying to steal their things, even if they were lucky and weren’t on a ‘main’ route for the Log Pose.
“It might be for the best that we are anchoring the ship. Hopefully it will let us approach without the town immediate screaming ‘pirates’ and loosing all the Clockwork Creatures and the mystery contents of those towers on us.”
That got nods from most of the crew and indifferent shrugs from the rest. Despite embracing the flag by this point, the truth was that their merry band of adventurers didn’t really do normal ‘pirate things’ like raid towns. But the locals might not know that, even if their mark and ship were now fairly thoroughly famous. It wasn’t like the World Government was about to admit ‘Well, these pirates aren’t so bad, and haven’t done any raping or pillaging, but please report them if you see them.’
“Right. I think we’ll take the Expedition, I can see some smaller docks inside the city by the central inlet. Hopefully, even if they spot the Discovery, us coming in the open with a smaller crew will keep them from shooting first. I very much want to see this town up close, as well as find out what we can about the ruins and treasure that we’re looking for. Nami, bring us in to drop anchor wherever you feel is best. Nojiko, get to work on filling the Expedition’s frame for travel!”
Both sisters gave sharp ‘Aye, Ayes’ and moved to their tasks, grabbing whoever they needed along the way…
… … …
Thankfully, while they did receive a welcoming committee in the form of a tough-looking man in a uniform and a dozen Clockwork Bears equipped with oversized spears, no one shot at the Expedition as it came into dock half an hour later. Luffy, in a bid to seem as harmless as possible, had brought only half the crew. Nami and Nojiko were, of course, along to guide the ship. Aside from them and himself, he’d brought Pagaya, Vivi, Yamato, Chopper, and Robin. Exactly half the crew and mostly the less threatening looking members.
Yamato’s sheer size was, thankfully, easily offset by her personality, which had her staring around at the town in almost as much wide-eyed interest as Chopper. Robin was always a bit of a wild card, of course, as her nearly life-long bounty meant she was more likely to be recognized as dangerous by those who had heard the lies the WG spread about her. Of course, if this island got any news at all, there were high odds their crew as a whole would be recognized. But they’d already discovered there was both good and bad regarding that, due to Big News Morgan publishing the Alabasitan side of their story in defiance of the World Government.
The moment the big man leading the Clockwork Bears spoke, they knew any effort to seem harmless had failed. Thankfully, it wasn’t all bad.
“So tell me, do I have the pleasure of greeting the Alabastian Alliance Mapping Expedition…or the Strawhat Pirates?”
Despite the rough-voiced man seeming calm, Luffy could feel he was nervous asking that question, but Luffy smiled broadly at it. The question was honestly quite clever, in a way. Since it gave the crew a way to declare their intentions. Meanwhile the town itself could legitimately claim they’d only hosted a ‘peaceful mapping expedition’ if Luffy answered the way the man clearly hoped. Deciding to push the narrative as much as possible, Luffy swept his hat off his head and bowed slightly, before introducing himself…and then Vivi.
“I am Captain Luffy, of the Alabastian Grand Mapping Expedition. I give you our Patron, Princess Vivi Nefertari, Ambassador at Large.”
The man relaxed as Vivi smiled hugely, stepping out onto the dock first, with Luffy gallantly providing a hand she didn’t really need. From the emotions the man was feeling, he wasn’t going to entirely take their word for it, but he seemed to be largely reassured. He bowed, much lower than Luffy had, to Vivi.
“Princess. I am Cog Captain Aldrich, of the Town’s Cog-Guard. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the town of Tide’s Watch…”
… … …
‘Cog Captain’ Aldrich had been, once introductions were done, happy enough to tell them more about the town. A fascinating tale that gave them some significant hints about both the Challenge and Knowledge markers that had led them to the island. Apparently, Tide’s Watch, which rested on an island called simply Highwater, had been founded by the combination of a Baker and Blacksmith, husband and wife duo. In fact, he’d proudly explained that metal and baked goods were the two crafts the town still prided itself on, well over a century and a half later. That said proclamation had been come while getting them each a fresh and savory baked tart from a vendor, which proved to be delicious, made the story quite a bit more believable.
As the story went, the husband and wife duo that founded Tide’s Watch had been survivors of another island’s fall to some sort of war with a neighbor island, and had stumbled upon Tide’s Watch by chance. The island was not on any of the major Log Pose routes, though did pass close enough to one that it was semi-regularly stumbled upon. The pair of founders, the husband the baker and the wife a blacksmith, had been the leaders of a small group of refugees at the time…and decided setting up on an island no one seemed to know about was a safer bet than continuing on.
Oddly enough, it was the baker who had gotten the idea of the ‘Tidal Towers,’ setting up the first one to turn a flourmill with his wife’s help. His wife, seeing the possibilities, had extended the same idea to help in her own work. She’d set additional towers to power both the billows of her forge and, to Luffy’s delight when they’d been shown a peek into that same forge still used today, an entire row of power hammers for pounding out metal. An innovation that explained how they managed to turn out so many parts to build up the town’s clockwork everything.
As for the story of how that same clockwork had become a staple of the town, Aldrich had gone on to explain how more and more people had been inspired, figuring out uses for the power provided by the Tidal Towers. Until, after a century and a half of invention and innovation, the entire town ran on complex clockwork creations. The man, whose title of ‘Cog Captain’ apparently meant he actually understood a lot of the Clockwork running the town, had even left Luffy look at the ‘brains’ of some of the automatons.
Luffy had been shocked, so much so he’d barely hidden it, when he’d discovered they were running on something very like old-school ‘punch card’ programming from his original world. The clockwork brains were, for all intents and purposes, complex mechanical computers, using dozens of tin ‘discs’ with programmed instructions on them. He knew that this reality was fundamentally a bit Schizo Tech, but this was a pure case of innovation rather than a Devil Fruit or ancient doodad being involved…
At least, so he’d thought initially.
It had only been when Robin started carefully probing around the edges of the story, expertly guiding the conversation, that the hints started dropping. An admittance that, deeper within the island, were ruins of an ancient civilization. That, while most of the clockwork around town were original creations, the ‘brains’ for the clockwork animals were not. Apparently, a woman named Dorinda Harkness had reverse engineered the method of making ‘brains’ for the animals from items found in those ruins. She was a descendant of the original two founders of the town, and the last to risk going there. People that explored the ruins had a habit of disappearing with no one the wiser as to what had happened to them.
With some leads at hand and an interesting town to explore, Luffy had decided to bring in the rest of the crew and split up to see what they could find. A bit more information about the ruins before they tried exploring them would be nice, and he had a suspicion that several members of the crew could find things of interest in the town itself. Pagaya and Sanji in particular, as well as possibly Luffy himself if the locals had any interesting insights into metal or proper documentation on how those ‘brains’ were made and programmed…
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A/N 1: Since I didn't use Clockwork Island, I figured I could get away with making another clockwork-themed settlement. No, nothing from Clockwork Island will show up here. Hopefully it proves interesting :-).