The cannonball curved underwater and, to Van der Decken's disbelief, turned toward Zhang Da Ye's ship—more precisely, toward Tom.
Tom's head followed the cannonball's curving path. When he realized the target was him, he jumped in fright.
He darted a few steps left, then a few steps right, before ending up back in the same spot. Finally, he dropped flat on the deck, covered his head with both hands, squeezed his eyes shut, and resigned himself to fate.
Normally, this would end with Tom being smashed through the deck into the lower level, the only difference being the shape of the hole left behind.
But Artoria wasn't about to let that happen. She leapt up and sliced the cannonball in half mid-air.
It was a solid cannonball—no explosion.
Artoria patted Tom's head. "It's alright now."
Shaking with fear, Tom opened his eyes, looked around nervously, then looked up. Once he was sure it was safe, he hugged Artoria's leg tightly, nearly moved to tears—she seemed a lot more reliable than his master.
Artoria scooped Tom up. She really liked him—not just because he cooked well.
While things were fine on their side, Van der Decken was the one in trouble.
"Why did the cannonball I threw go after a cat? Could it be… Princess Shirahoshi has turned into a cat?"
"No, no, impossible." He quickly denied his own ridiculous thought—he remembered seeing Tom before. "That's the pet on her shoulder back then!"
But that realization was even worse. His proud ability, his carefully calculated actions… had he marked the wrong target?
Could it be that what he touched wasn't Shirahoshi's hair, but this cat's fur?
"This can't be!" Van der Decken decided to test it again. He pulled out a gold coin, flicked it lightly with his right hand—
—and saw the last thing he wanted to see. The coin curved through the water and shot straight toward the cat again.
Since it wasn't dangerous, Artoria didn't intercept it. Tom happily caught the coin, bit it with his teeth, and left a row of neat little marks.
Van der Decken's eyes nearly burst from his skull. Not because of the coin, but because of his pride.
All those letters, the photos, the carefully chosen gifts… had they all been flying to this cat instead?!
His heart shattered. "Bahuhuhuhu… my love was over before it even began—all because of that damn cat!"
His henchmen being smacked around by the eel went unnoticed. Shark Chili's water tornado also went unnoticed. Van der Decken was drowning in his grief and fury.
"Caaaaptaaaain…" The anglerfish crewman had already slipped away, leaving only the childlike Wadatsumi behind. Wadatsumi always obeyed the captain's orders, and now, without instructions, he stood confused.
"Hm?" Van der Decken snapped out of it and saw the giant shark-man closing in. He shouted, "Wadatsumi! Take me and run!"
"Yes, Captain!" Obedient as ever, Wadatsumi scooped him up and swam forward, careful not to irritate the wound on his palm.
Wadatsumi, also known as the bald sea monster, was actually a red-finned blowfish fishman. At eighty meters tall, his swimming speed was anything but slow.
Of course, Zhang Da Ye's crew wouldn't just let the culprit go. Shark Chili, piloting the Shark Giant, charged ahead in pursuit, with Artoria riding the eel right behind.
"You're not escaping!" Shark Chili, aware his super transformation was about to end, raised the Shark Giant's left hand. "Shark Cannon!"
Biu—
A yellow laser shot out, striking Wadatsumi's left leg a hundred meters away.
"Ahh, it hurts! Captain, my leg hurts so much!" Wadatsumi burst into tears.
"Don't stop, Wadatsumi!" Van der Decken barked. "It's just a scratch. Bite down and endure it!"
Obediently, Wadatsumi clenched his teeth, but the pain in his calf was unbearable. "Captain, I already bit my teeth, but it still hurts!" he whimpered.
"Stop whining and swim!" Van der Decken snapped impatiently.
"But I can't swim anymore…" Wadatsumi pleaded tearfully, hoping the captain would come up with something.
Van der Decken's tone suddenly softened. "I see. So you can't swim anymore, Wadatsumi."
"Yes, yes!" Wadatsumi nodded eagerly.
Van der Decken drifted closer, resting his gloved right hand against Wadatsumi's face. In the calmest voice, he spoke the cruelest words: "Then you're useless. Go die—along with that damn cat."
"Captain, what are you saying?" Wadatsumi asked, baffled.
"I said you're useless now. Go die with that cat!"
Lining up the Shark Giant and Zhang Da Ye's ship on the same path, Van der Decken exerted a bit of force with his right hand. Wadatsumi's massive body was "thrown" forward.
"Ahhh! Caaaptaaaain!" Wadatsumi screamed as his giant body hurtled straight toward Tom.
Caught off guard, the Shark Giant was slammed head-on by Wadatsumi's enormous head. The exterior showed little damage, but inside the cockpit, Shark Chili was thrown around violently.
And just at that moment, his super transformation timed out. Shrinking back into his small shark form, Shark Chili's eyes spun with dizzy swirls.
"Seatbelts… I need to install seatbelts… my head…" he groaned, clutching it with his tiny fins. He'd bashed around inside the cockpit hard enough to really hurt, though luckily not on any important controls.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge!" Zhang Da Ye's voice nearly cracked from shouting.
Rui Meng Meng gaped. "What the heck? Is this some kind of suicide attack?!"
Tom trembled violently, his teeth chattering loud enough to echo.
No wonder they panicked—the sight of Wadatsumi's massive head driving the Shark Giant straight toward them was overwhelming.
It was like watching a twenty-story building pushing a three-story building down on top of you.
If the Merry were here, the sheep's head would've made a meme-worthy expression by now.
Artoria, though still calm, gave sharp orders to the eel, her voice more serious than usual. "Upward, full speed!"
It was as if she tugged on invisible reins. The eel responded instantly, pulling the ship upward, enough to dodge the collision.
The problem was, that thing could track.
As the eel swam up, Wadatsumi's giant head curved after them, accelerating with no loss of momentum.
"You can't escape!" Van der Decken laughed madly. "Die, you damn cat! Bahuhuhuhu!"
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