"That bastard actually used Wadatsumi as a weapon and threw him at us!" Zhang Da Ye instantly realized what had happened when he saw the giant head flying toward them, screaming in pain.
"Shark Chili! Are you okay?" Rui Meng Meng shouted toward the stern, where the giant shark had reverted to its true form.
At the moment, the giant shark was still being pushed forward by Wadatsumi. He looked like a shark that had lost all its dreams.
"I… I'm fine…" Shark Chili grunted. As their ship turned, Wadatsumi followed, sending Shark Chili rolling from one side of the cabin to the other. Loud bangs echoed through the loudspeaker.
With all that tossing around, Zhang Da Ye wondered if Shark Chili might actually develop motion sickness for giants.
"Boss, is there any way to fix this?" Rui Meng Meng asked urgently.
"There are at least three ways," Zhang Da Ye replied calmly.
"So many? Don't tell me it's another one of your unreliable plans?" Rui Meng Meng frowned.
Zhang Da Ye pointed at the Wadatsumi chasing them. "Completely reliable. First option: Artoria smashes Wadatsumi to pieces."
"Smash… into pieces?"
"Of course. Anything thrown by Van der Decken stops tracking once it's broken."
"Please don't use words like 'of course' here! That's way too bloody. And what about Shark Chili? He's still stuck on it, he'd get caught in the crossfire!" Rui Meng Meng protested.
"Then option two—throw Tom at him. If Tom touches Wadatsumi, even just once, it counts as hitting the target, and the ability ends."
"Meow?!" Tom shook his head so hard it left afterimages. How could his master come up with something so cruel?
Zhang Da Ye regretfully patted Tom's head. Honestly, it was the simplest and safest plan. "Fine then, the last option is to knock out Van der Decken himself."
"That one! Let's just do that one!" Rui Meng Meng shouted.
"I agree," said Artoria. With a wave of her hand, A-Man turned sharply, dragging Wadatsumi in a graceful arc across the sea, charging straight toward Van der Decken.
"Eh?! Why is that ship so fast?!" Van der Decken's eyes bulged. "Stay away from me!"
From a few hundred meters away, three cannons locked on him. Tom had pushed one to the bow—steady, precise, and perfectly aimed.
This time Tom was dead serious. His master had told him: if the cannons missed, they'd have to consider other plans.
Other plans? Like tossing an adorable little cat overboard again! That must never happen. Tom narrowed his eyes, lit the fuse, then blew furiously when it burned too slowly.
Boom! The cannon fired. Tom's whole face turned black with soot, leaving only his lips red and swollen like sausages.
He turned back, blinking innocently, on the verge of tears.
Whether it was luck or just practice, both Zhang Da Ye and Rui Meng Meng also fired accurately. Their shots lined up with Tom's, all three cannonballs flying in eerie formation, like a runaway train charging forward.
Van der Decken, desperately paddling inside his bubble to escape, turned his head at the rattling sound. "Oh no…"
The first cannonball, Tom's, slammed into his forehead, snapping his head back.
The next two followed right after, flattening his face and leaving a bright red mark.
"Ow! That hurts!" He rubbed frantically, popping his squashed nose back into place, but the red imprint remained.
Before he could recover, A-Man's massive head rammed into him head-on.
"Damn fish!" Van der Decken staggered, dizzy and dazed.
A-Man took the chance to flick him neatly onto the deck.
Before Van der Decken could even sit up, he saw a hammer marked "100kg" growing rapidly larger in his vision. "Wait, what are you—"
Smash! Crack!
His head sank into the deck, while three chibi versions of Princess Shirahoshi circled above him like stars.
Tom tossed the hammer aside and clapped his paws. That should do it—no one would dare try throwing him again, right?
Meanwhile, Wadatsumi began to slow down.
"Finally!" Shark Chili steadied himself, then used the giant shark's strength to pin Wadatsumi in place.
Zhang Da Ye quickly fetched a barrel of seawater and dunked Van der Decken in it, just to keep him from stirring up more trouble.
"So this ugly guy is the real culprit," Rui Meng Meng said, wrinkling her nose.
"Calling him ugly is being generous. He's grotesque," Zhang Da Ye muttered. "Still, Tom did well—just went a little overboard smashing the deck."
Artoria praised A-Man warmly, even bringing out stored meat from the hold to reward him.
Meanwhile, Wadatsumi sobbed in the sea, heartbroken. "The captain abandoned me!" His wails were like a child who had just been cast aside.
"What about him, Boss?" Shark Chili asked, having dismissed the giant shark and returned to the ship. "He looks so pitiful I can't bring myself to hit him."
"He really does look pitiful," Rui Meng Meng agreed.
"From what we've seen, it looks like Van der Decken was just manipulating him," Artoria added. "If we leave him alone, someone else might take advantage of him again."
"Then we'll find someone to teach him," Zhang Da Ye decided. Wadatsumi's true nature was just that of a naïve child—he simply obeyed whatever Van der Decken told him. He wasn't really bad. "We'll take him to Queen Otohime. She'll know how to guide him."
Dragon Palace Kingdom needed strength anyway, and with Wadatsumi's size, he was a natural supernova-level fighter.
And unlike Van der Decken, Neptune's family would never abandon him casually.
"Uwahhh! My legs hurt, my arms hurt!" Wadatsumi howled, thrashing in the waves.
"Wadatsumi! Do you want to come with us?" Zhang Da Ye called out, immediately realizing how much it sounded like luring a child with candy.
Wadatsumi's big watery eyes shifted toward the tiny human. Sniffling, he asked, "Why would I go with you? Aren't we enemies? Are you trying to trick me? These wounds are your fault!"
"…" Zhang Da Ye sighed. Maybe he really wasn't cut out for coaxing kids. Maybe if he sang that line—"Love you, walking alone through the dark alley"—it would work better?
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