OPTC Chapter 222 BATTLE-FRANKY
"You want to visit Tom?" The old judge showed no disapproval. After all, he never held any grudge against Tom, and soon Tom's crimes would be pardoned.
"Yes. This ship of mine was built by his younger brother. Besides, a shipwright friend of mine asked me to make sure I met Master Tom if I ever had the chance." Zhang Da Ye didn't bother hiding it. Better to say it now than risk trouble later if it was discovered.
"Since your destination is also Water 7, why don't we travel together?" the old judge suggested.
"Wouldn't that trouble you?"
"Not at all. Traveling together means we can look out for one another."
The judge spoke modestly, though he knew full well that Zhang Da Ye and his companions could easily wipe out an ordinary pirate crew. Still, with his massive judicial ship and hundreds of marines aboard, he felt confident. In truth, his meaning was: "I like you people, and I'll look after you along the way."
"Then I'll count on your care." Zhang Da Ye accepted the judge's offer of "escort," though in truth even the marine captain aboard the judicial ship probably wasn't his match.
After finishing his tea and listening to one last piano piece, the judge returned to the judicial ship with his men. Soon, three ships raised anchor and sailed forward together.
Watching the guest depart, Zhang Da Ye joked, "Our sea tavern's very first customer turned into us footing the bill. A loss, a loss."
Rui Meng Meng cleared the dishes. "Boss, didn't you enjoy chatting with him?"
"He was a decent man," Zhang Da Ye agreed. He couldn't understand why the judges on Enies Lobby were nothing but figureheads who only declared guilty verdicts as part of a rigid process.
"I heard from the marines that Enies Lobby is an island that never sleeps. I wonder if that's some artificial spectacle or a natural phenomenon," Shark Chili added. Clearly, he had gathered plenty of tidbits from chatting with the marines.
"I don't think I'd like it there," Ye Yan muttered. In his original world, the day belonged to humans and the night to monsters. They hated nothing more than an inverted cycle, day and night reversed. Yet society and technology had forced them to adapt.
"Let's hope we never need to visit Enies Lobby," Zhang Da Ye said. "It's not a tourist spot. If you go there, you're either working or a prisoner—and I'm not interested in either."
The group exchanged scraps of information. Artoria listened in, but found nothing useful. These people never thought to ask about the local specialties or food. Next time, she'd ask herself. Surely it couldn't be too hard?
The voyage continued smoothly after that, simply following behind the judicial ship. Everyone returned to their duties.
Zhang Da Ye went to Perona, who was playing chess with Tom. "Perona, it's time for your test. Today's the weekly exam."
"Ugh… wait a minute, I'm about to win!" She tossed the dice and rolled a one—though she was only two steps from victory.
Tom rolled a six, placing his piece squarely at the finish.
"Yahoo!" Tom leaped from the sofa, did more than a dozen backflips, then danced and tossed imaginary flowers in celebration like he'd won the lottery.
Perona's face collapsed in despair, like someone who had just lost thirty million betting on Germany to win.
"It's only one game. Is it really that bad?" Zhang Da Ye asked, puzzled.
"It's because the bet was snacks. I lost today's stash to Tom…" Perona said mournfully.
"Oh… that's why. See? Gambling ruins people. Don't ever touch it again." Zhang Da Ye scolded lightly, then added, "Don't be too sad. If you fail today's exam, you'll lose tomorrow's snacks too."
Perona almost burst into tears. Sometimes, it was better not to try to comfort someone at all.
Nearby, Artoria's ears perked up. Snacks could be won like that? No ulterior motives—she simply wanted to play a few rounds of chess with Tom.
…
By afternoon, the crew could see the outline of Water 7 in the distance. Nearing the island, they and the judicial ship adjusted their sails to slow down for docking.
That was when disaster struck. More than thirty medium and small-sized warships of every shape and design suddenly surged out from the side of the island and, without a word, opened fire on the judicial ship.
Cannons roared, giant harpoons flew, and even the Amber was caught in the barrage.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The sudden assault threw the marines into chaos. Their duty was to guard the judicial ship, but no one had ever dared attack one before.
The marine captain, however, reacted swiftly. He ordered Foxy's pirate ship dragged to the judicial ship's flank as a shield, then rallied the marines to return fire.
He even tried shouting: "This is a judicial ship under the authority of the World Government! Attacking it is the same as declaring war on the World Government. Lay down your arms and surrender immediately!"
But no one listened. In fact, it was precisely because it was a judicial ship that these attackers had come.
On the Amber, the reaction was much faster.
Rui Meng Meng and Brook drew their swords, cutting incoming projectiles. Shark Chili, grimacing, used his giant toothbrush to bat away a few cannonballs—he hadn't had time to grab a proper weapon when the attack began.
Artoria, about to win Tom's last bag of dried fish, dropped her dice and pieces mid-game and charged out of the cabin.
Tom glanced at the spinning dice. It landed on six. Reluctantly, he picked up the fish and prepared to admit defeat. But when he saw no one was paying attention, he secretly flipped the dice to another number, kissed the bag of dried fish, and hid it again before heading out, satisfied.
What Tom didn't know was that once he left, a near-miss shell rocked the ship, the dice fell from the table, and—once again—landed on six.
Meanwhile, Zhang Da Ye abandoned proctoring the exam, told Perona to hide carefully, and rushed to the deck.
"What's happening?" He looked ahead. In the distance, thirty-some warships lined up in formation, each loaded with bizarre, oversized weapons.
Across their hulls and sails, the same words were painted: "BATTLE-FRANKY," with numbers ranging from single digits up to 35.
"Prepare to counterattack!" Zhang Da Ye immediately guessed what was going on. "Shark Chili, go under the water—don't let the helmsmen escape!"
"Got it!" Shark Chili dove into the sea at once.
Ye Yan, woken from his nap by the explosions, ran out barefoot. "What's going on?"
"Perfect timing. Have your flag spirits help Shark Chili catch the crews."
Ye Yan didn't hesitate. With a wave of his hand, the flag spirits turned into plumes of smoke and drifted swiftly toward the enemy fleet.
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