Chapter 147: I Want to Burn It
Tom's arrest did not change daily life in Water 7.
People still went to work as usual. The streets remained lively, the canals carried their endless traffic, and the residents were as warm and enthusiastic as ever.
If anything, most people felt Tom had brought it upon himself.
He had already earned a chance to avoid punishment, yet he had attacked a judicial ship from Enies Lobby. In their eyes, it was foolish. Ungrateful, even. They pitied his stupidity, but few cared why he had done it.
No one seemed to wonder whether he was innocent.
That was what Axel found after investigating the city.
People were grateful for Tom's contributions, but gratitude was not the same as repayment. In the end, Tom had been taken to Enies Lobby on the very Sea Train he had built, almost as if he had constructed the path to his own execution.
For some reason, that thought left Axel feeling heavy.
Iceberg, meanwhile, had not been rejected because of Tom's actions.
Quite the opposite.
Because he had helped build the Sea Train, because his craftsmanship was excellent, and because he was careful and reliable by nature, the people of Water 7 still respected him. Some admired him even more than before.
Finding where he lived was not difficult.
Axel asked around briefly, reached Iceberg's residence, then used his ability to pick the lock. The door opened with a soft click.
He walked in as if he owned the place, found a seat, and waited.
Dusk slowly fell.
When Iceberg returned home, the first thing he noticed was the door.
The lock had been opened.
His expression changed at once.
Someone had been inside.
He did not consider the possibility that he had simply forgotten to lock it. Ever since Mr. Tom had entrusted him with that item, Iceberg had checked the door several times before leaving each day, making sure everything was secure.
So who had entered?
Government agents?
A thief?
Or was the intruder still inside?
He stepped quietly to the door, placed his hand on the knob, and tried to push it open without making a sound. His eyes peered through the crack.
"Come in."
A calm voice came from inside.
Iceberg stiffened.
It took him a moment to steady himself. Then he replayed that voice in his mind and felt a strange sense of dissonance.
No matter who it was, the other party had not left.
Then there was no point in panicking.
Iceberg pushed the door open and walked inside.
A small figure sat on his sofa.
Short limbs. Small frame. A child.
But Iceberg recognized him.
The Marine Captain who had spoken privately with Tom before.
Why had he come here?
Had the blueprints been exposed?
Had the Navy come to investigate?
The thought flashed through Iceberg's mind, then disappeared just as quickly.
No.
If the blueprints had truly been exposed, the Navy would not have sent only one person. After seeing them himself, Iceberg understood what those blueprints meant to the World Government.
If the government knew, this house would already be surrounded.
That meant he had not been exposed yet.
Iceberg forced himself to remain calm.
"May I ask what Captain Axel wants from me?"
Axel looked at him.
"I warned you, didn't I?"
Iceberg's face darkened.
He did not feel grateful.
Instead, he immediately remembered Axel's warning to Franky.
Destroy those battleships, or they would bring trouble.
The judicial ship had been attacked by those very battleships.
Iceberg did not believe in coincidences that neat. Maybe Axel had known the future. Maybe the Navy had arranged it. In the end, the World Government and the Navy were always connected.
Seeing his expression, Axel could roughly guess what he was thinking.
He had not come to make things worse, so he explained directly.
"The Navy was not involved. The one who attacked using Franky's battleship was exactly who you're thinking of."
Iceberg's eyes sharpened.
"Spandam."
Axel nodded.
Iceberg's expression did not soften.
He frowned and asked, "Then what do you want from me?"
"The Ancient Weapon, Pluton."
Axel spoke the words calmly.
But the moment they left his mouth, Iceberg felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Those words seemed to strike straight into his heart.
He kept his face steady, trying to hide the shock inside him with as little change as possible.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Axel was not surprised.
If their positions were reversed, he probably would have said the same thing.
"You don't know," Axel said. "Then what if I said I can save Mr. Tom?"
"What?"
Iceberg's composure cracked for the first time.
He realized his reaction was too obvious and quickly tried to recover.
"If you can save Mr. Tom, I'll do anything you ask. But I really don't have the thing you mentioned."
He spoke firmly enough that an ordinary person might have believed him.
Axel did not.
He knew Tom had entrusted the Pluton blueprints to his apprentice. Most likely, Tom had worried that Franky might try to build them if he held onto them, so he gave them to Iceberg instead.
Later, after Franky returned, Iceberg would worry that the blueprints might be lost if kept with him and hand them over to Franky.
But right now, the blueprints were still with Iceberg.
"You don't need to explain," Axel said. "I know the blueprints are with you."
Iceberg's expression hardened.
His nerves tightened further.
But his resolve did not waver.
Even if he died, he would never reveal that thing.
Mr. Tom was gone.
Franky was gone.
If those two were both dead, what meaning did his own survival have?
Axel watched him for a moment, then said, "What if I trade Mr. Tom's life for Franky's whereabouts?"
Iceberg's eyes widened.
"Franky?"
His voice trembled despite himself.
"He's not—"
"Dead?" Axel interrupted. "He blocked the Sea Train with his own body that day, but he did not die."
"Where is he?"
Iceberg roared the question.
On the surface, he and Franky had always argued. They were at odds more often than not. But the bond between them was no weaker than anyone else's.
Axel did not answer immediately.
"Decide first," he said. "Are you willing to use that cold, lifeless thing to exchange for those two people?"
Iceberg's expression changed again and again.
When he finally spoke, his voice was slow and rough.
"What do you plan to use the blueprints for?"
He stared at Axel.
"To destroy pirates? To uphold justice?"
As soon as he asked, Iceberg knew it was almost the same as admitting the blueprints were with him.
But he could not avoid the question.
There was a line in his heart that he could not cross blindly.
"Do you want to know?" Axel asked.
The question was almost meaningless, and it tested Iceberg's patience.
Iceberg answered solemnly, "Yes."
His voice was firm.
"Once that thing is released, it will bring destruction to the world. Even if it is used to eliminate pirates."
Pluton was an Ancient Weapon.
A battleship said to be capable of destroying an island with a single shot.
But what did that mean in the New World?
Many islands had already been occupied by pirates. People still lived there. If the Navy used Pluton to wipe out those pirates, would they destroy the islanders as well?
And pirates would not simply stay on an island and wait to die.
Once Pluton appeared, a bloodbath would follow. Pirates, the Navy, the World Government—every major force on the sea would be dragged into a war over that ship.
The destruction it would bring was beyond what Iceberg could fully imagine.
That was why he had to know Axel's purpose.
Otherwise, he would rather let the blueprints sleep forever.
Or destroy them himself.
That had been Mr. Tom's instruction as well.
Axel looked at him and answered calmly.
"I want to burn them."
.....
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