Chapter 165: Arrival of the Judicial Ship
It was the simplest method Axel could think of.
Crude, direct, and utterly lacking in finesse.
But effective.
When it came to the Pluton blueprints, the only real targets were him and Tom. Axel himself did not need to worry too much. [Reflection] was active at all times. A sneak attack would not harm him, and more elaborate schemes would still give him enough time to think and respond.
Tom was different.
Unless he was in the sea, where the Fish-Man race could truly display its strength, he was still a large target on land. Powerful, yes, but flesh was still flesh. A bullet could still wound him.
Tom looked clumsy, but he was far from slow-witted. He understood what Axel meant almost immediately.
He did not like admitting it, but he really did need extra protection right now. And the safest place for him was beside this strange child.
After seeing Axel's strength, Tom had to admit one thing.
The world was changing too fast.
So fast that even he was beginning to feel a little left behind.
Still...
"Axel, my boy," Tom said, looking down at him with a complicated expression, "can you phrase that in a more normal way?"
Axel tilted his head. "What do you mean, normal?"
A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Then Tom's next words wiped it clean away.
"Well... a man should stand tall and follow his heart, even if that heart leans in a rather unusual direction."
Axel's face stiffened.
Was he implying what Axel thought he was implying?
Some sort of "southern wind" preference?
He absolutely did not have that kind of hobby. He had simply been teasing people for so long without suffering a proper counterattack that he had gotten careless.
He opened his mouth, intending to explain and reclaim the advantage, but Tom continued before he could speak.
"It isn't anything to be ashamed of. I think Franky and Iceburg are a bit like that too."
Axel fell silent.
That single sentence had somehow roasted three people at once.
For a moment, he genuinely did not know whether to admire Tom's aim or question his innocence.
Axel coughed lightly and changed the subject with all the dignity he could still gather.
"Is there really only one set of Pluton blueprints?"
For something that precious, and something that could be copied, any cautious person would normally keep a backup in case of accidents.
Tom glanced at him.
Axel's expression was calm. There was no greed in his eyes. No hunger. No hidden excitement. It really was just a question.
"There was only one physical set," Tom said. "But I memorized it."
No true shipwright could resist studying a vessel like that. Tom was no exception. As he explored the blueprints, the contents had naturally settled into his mind.
The reason he had never made a backup was simple.
Blueprints were dangerous because they could be copied.
Once they spread, the consequences would be impossible to control. No one knew how many Plutons might be born, or how many wars would begin because of them.
Axel nodded.
"That's good. If we told CP9 there were no more blueprints, only for them to search and find another copy, that would make things worse."
Their current answer to CP9 and the World Government was that the blueprints had been destroyed.
If another physical copy appeared, the matter would not end simply because they handed it over. On the contrary, that would prove they had lied before.
Once the World Government realized there had been one hidden backup, they would naturally wonder if there were more.
Before, they might have chosen to turn a blind eye. But once they obtained a destructive weapon like Pluton, they would never allow anyone else to hold even the possibility of possessing it.
Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty escape.
That was the logic of people who ruled through fear.
Tom did not dwell on those complicated calculations. He asked directly, "So what am I supposed to do while staying beside you? I'm not good at sitting around doing nothing."
Axel thought for a moment.
Then, with a deliberately serious face, he said, "You can brew tea and bring it to my office every morning around eight. That's when I usually wake up. After that, you can organize the documents on my desk and file them on the nearby shelves. You'll also be responsible for cleaning my office. Occasionally, you can pass messages to my subordinates too, such as, 'How in the world did you calculate this ridiculous data? Is there something wrong with your brain?'"
Axel paused, then nodded.
"That should be enough."
Tom's face slowly turned green.
None of that had anything to do with him.
Back in his old house, those sorts of tasks had always been left to Kokoro.
"Cough..." Tom tried to negotiate. "Can we discuss this? Maybe switch it to some physical work?"
"No," Axel said. "Have you ever seen a captain keep someone beside him just for manual labor? Giving you this work is proof that I value you."
Hearing the word "value" from a child who barely reached his waist made the scene strangely comical.
Tom stared at him. "Then what do you do?"
"I'm responsible for enjoying myself."
"..."
Tom had no response.
Axel was secretly pleased. At last, he felt he had regained the upper hand.
Unfortunately, peace soon returned, and Axel paid the price for his own mouth.
Whenever Tom handled chores, he struggled to restrain his brute strength. Documents were scattered. Shelves were knocked crooked. Organized files were destroyed by accident. A simple cleaning task somehow created more work than it solved.
And every time, Tom would bow his head apologetically.
That made it impossible for Axel to complain too harshly.
Even so, Axel always had the feeling that beneath Tom's apologetic expression, the old fish-man was doing it on purpose.
In the end, since Axel had been the one to assign him the tasks, he could only swallow the loss.
Eventually, Axel simply had Tom sit to the side and rest to avoid creating even more work.
Their roles had somehow reversed.
Axel handled the mess.
Tom enjoyed himself.
Then an emergency summons rang through the base.
The sharp alarm broke the calm at once.
That sound would only be used for major incidents, such as a pirate invasion or something of equal importance.
Before long, a Marine rushed into Axel's office.
"The World Government's Judicial Ship has arrived!"
Axel's eyes narrowed slightly.
A Judicial Ship?
So the direct approach failed, and now they were trying something underhanded?
He had already refused them, yet they still came in person. Shameless, but not surprising.
The Marines of the base did not know the situation. To them, Enies Lobby and the Marines were both organizations under the World Government. If a Judicial Ship arrived, they would naturally assume there was some formal business with their captain.
In other words, Axel could not simply pretend they did not exist.
"Send someone to welcome them," Axel said.
The reporting Marine hesitated.
"Captain Axel... you're not going personally?"
If Enies Lobby were treated as a Marine institution, its authority would clearly be higher than that of a captain. By normal etiquette, Axel should personally go to the harbor.
Axel glanced at him.
"No. Since they have business here, let them come to me directly. Wasn't it the same when I went to Enies Lobby last time?"
They were here to cause trouble.
Was he supposed to run out and greet them with a smile?
What was next, serving himself on a silver platter?
If they wanted to come, they could come onto his ground.
He would not weaken his own momentum before the conversation even began.
The Marine did not understand the meaning beneath Axel's words. He only assumed his young captain was being difficult again.
But in the end, Enies Lobby and the Marines were separate institutions. A little friction between them was not unheard of.
"Yes, sir. I'll relay your order immediately."
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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