Chapter 154: The Whereabouts of the Pluton Blueprints [Part 2]
Because the call had come from the Chief Judge's office, the doctor assumed something had happened to the old man himself.
He rushed over without delay.
A short while later, he arrived at the office. After confirming that the Chief Judge was unharmed, his gaze quickly shifted to the floor.
There was someone lying there.
Without question, that was his patient.
The doctor immediately stepped forward, set his medical bag down carefully, and began examining Tom's condition.
He did not know what had happened, but the patient's body was covered in old and new injuries. Some were even gunshot wounds. The more he checked, the deeper his frown became.
The situation was not good.
He could not guarantee the treatment would succeed. All he could do was his best and leave the rest to fate.
A while later, the doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
The treatment had gone more smoothly than expected.
It was almost strange.
The patient's body seemed to be cooperating with him, adapting to the treatment as it progressed. The doctor found it incredible, but he had no way of knowing that Axel had been helping from the side the entire time.
In the end, he could only attribute it to the difference between fish-men and humans.
No wonder the Fish-Man Race had such powerful physiques.
With a body like this, it was almost understandable.
After the emergency treatment was finished, the doctor bowed slightly to the Chief Judge, made a small gesture, then quietly left and closed the door behind him.
"This time, you should finally tell us where the blueprints are."
Spandam's patience had already worn thin.
The treatment had not taken terribly long, but to him, every moment felt unbearable. He was not a patient person to begin with, and the longer this dragged on, the more anxious and irritable he became.
"I'll tell you in a bit," Axel replied.
His attention remained on Tom.
Although Tom's wounds had received emergency treatment, they still needed to be stabilized. Axel had to keep controlling the internal flow and pressure with care. That kind of fine manipulation required focus, so for the moment, he had no energy to deal with Spandam.
Spandam's expression stiffened.
He did not know what Axel was still doing there. The treatment was already over, wasn't it?
More importantly, he was supposed to be the center of this matter. Why did this Marine brat dare treat him with such an attitude?
He turned toward the Chief Judge, hoping for some kind of support, only to find that the old man also seemed absent-minded. He clearly had no intention of paying attention to Spandam.
Spandam could only comfort himself.
Don't argue with a child.
Children were ignorant and fearless.
That excuse did nothing except make him feel slightly less embarrassed.
With no other choice, Spandam paced back and forth in the office, barely suppressing his impatience.
Before long, Axel finally stood.
Spandam, who had been watching his every move, immediately stepped in front of him.
"Now you should tell me where the Pluton blueprints are, right?"
Axel nodded.
Spandam let out a breath.
Finally.
No more delays.
"The Pluton blueprints are…"
Axel gave the answer directly.
"On me."
"On you?"
Spandam stared at him.
"What did you say? On… on you?"
He was so shocked that he started stuttering.
The Chief Judge's hands continued moving over his documents, but his eyes shifted toward Axel. He was clearly not as indifferent as he appeared.
Tom also opened his eyes.
He had been resting with them closed, but his mind had remained fixed on Axel's answer. When he heard that the blueprints were in Axel's hands, shock passed through him first.
Then silence.
If Axel was telling the truth, then Iceburg and the others must have given the blueprints to him.
Tom was not angry.
Instead, doubt rose in his heart.
Had his entrustment been wrong from the very beginning?
If he had never handed over the blueprints, perhaps these imagined consequences would never have come. Perhaps their peaceful life would not have been broken.
But he knew Iceburg and the others.
They would never have handed the blueprints over because they were forced.
If they gave them to Axel, then they must have made their own decision.
Tom respected that.
A man should face his own choices with his head held high.
The focus of the room remained on Axel.
He slowly pulled the blueprints from inside his clothes and waved them lightly from side to side.
It looked almost like he was showing them off, though there was something unreadable in the gesture.
Spandam, already overwhelmed by excitement, paid no attention to anything strange.
He snatched the blueprints over and immediately began checking them.
Even with only a few quick glances, he could tell the ship's structure and weapon designs were extraordinary. The destructive power implied by the drawings was staggering.
Even a layman like him could see that they were not ordinary blueprints.
There was no doubt.
They were real.
Axel interrupted just as Spandam was about to keep reading.
"How are they?"
Spandam's mood had improved drastically now that the real blueprints were in his hands.
"They're real."
He nodded, barely containing his excitement.
"You can take that fish-man away now."
Axel did not leave.
Instead, he said, "Do you know about white phosphorus? Its ignition point is only around forty degrees. It catches fire easily."
Spandam did not immediately understand.
His attention was still on the blueprints.
Only when he saw tiny powder-like particles scattered across the paper did his face change.
"You mean these powder particles are… white phosphorus?"
Axel lightly snapped his fingers.
The heat in the surrounding air began to gather toward the blueprints.
The next moment, the paper burst into flame.
Spandam yelped in fright and instinctively threw the blueprints to the floor.
Only after throwing them away did he realize what he had just dropped.
The Pluton blueprints.
He immediately rushed forward, trying to put out the fire.
Axel reminded him, "White phosphorus is highly toxic. Be careful."
Spandam stopped at once.
For him, the mission was important.
But his life was more important.
He retreated several steps, moving away from the blueprints he had been treating like a treasure just moments ago, and shouted at his subordinates.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and put it out!"
At his command, several intelligence agents snapped out of their daze and rushed forward.
But before they could do anything, the blueprints had already burned to ash.
Because of Axel's warning about the toxic substance, Spandam still did not dare approach.
He stood at a distance and wailed, "You bastard! What stupid thing have you done? That was the Ancient Weapon Pluton! Pluton!"
The Ancient Weapon Pluton.
A battleship everyone wanted to obtain.
A weapon said to be capable of destroying an island with a single shot.
And now, such a thing had been burned right in front of him.
More importantly, it was not only the blueprints that had burned.
His promotion had burned with them.
Spandam's face twisted.
"Didn't you promise to give me the blueprints?"
Axel looked at him calmly.
"I only said I would tell you where the blueprints were. I told you. Then I personally handed them to you."
"But you burned them!"
"Don't blame others," Axel said. "The blueprints burned on their own. Maybe they felt hot and decided to catch fire."
No one over the age of three would believe that.
Spandam roared, "Then how do you explain the white phosphorus on them? You said yourself that it ignites at around forty degrees!"
"I thought the color looked too plain, so I sprinkled some on. Is that not allowed?"
Axel's tone remained flat.
"I was the one who obtained the blueprints. Where I put them is my business. Besides, the surrounding temperature isn't low, but it definitely isn't forty degrees. How can you say I did it?"
He paused, then added, "Maybe you burned them yourself."
Spandam almost choked.
This brat had burned the blueprints, and now he wanted to push the blame onto him?
His face flushed with fury.
"No matter what you say, this matter isn't over!"
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]