Chapter 152: Want to Know About Pluton?
"What did you say?"
Spandam stared at Axel in disbelief.
"Let you take Tom away?"
He barely paused before refusing outright.
"Impossible. Tom is a prisoner. How could I let you take him?"
This concerned his promotion. There was no room for discussion.
"Tom is already my subordinate," Axel said. "I don't believe he is the kind of criminal who would attack a judicial ship."
Spandam froze for half a second.
Since when had Tom become a Marine?
But he quickly understood.
It did not matter whether it was true or false. Axel wanted to take Tom away, and that meant interfering with his path to promotion.
Spandam's tone immediately became overbearing.
"What, because you say he isn't guilty, he isn't guilty? I say he's the criminal who attacked the judicial ship!"
His posture was almost no different from a street thug throwing his weight around.
"Then let's talk about facts," Axel said. "You say Tom is a criminal. Do you have evidence?"
"The evidence is the warships used to attack the judicial ship. They were built by that… whatever his name was. Tom's apprentice."
Spandam spoke with great confidence.
Axel suddenly leaned closer.
Before Spandam could react, Axel reached out and tore the medicated gauze from his face.
Rip!
A sharp pain shot through Spandam's burns. The ointment had stuck to the injured flesh, and having it ripped away at once was enough to make his whole face twist.
"What are you doing?" he roared.
Axel casually tossed the gauze to the floor.
"Nothing."
His expression remained calm, as if the strip of gauze on the ground had nothing to do with him.
"You bastard! You tore it off and still call that nothing?"
Spandam's anger flared at once.
Axel had clearly done it on purpose. What made it worse was that his attitude was so indifferent it only fueled Spandam's rage further.
"I simply picked up a piece of cloth that looked dirty," Axel said. "I don't understand why you're so angry."
That was not picking it up.
That was tearing it off.
And he still had the nerve to ask why Spandam was angry.
"Do you think I'm blind?" Spandam cursed.
"If you weren't blind, how could you insist Tom is a criminal?" Axel asked. "Warships are just warships. If they fall into someone else's hands, they can be used to attack anything, can't they?"
The hint in his words was clear.
Spandam had no real talent, but he was not stupid. He immediately understood what Axel meant.
This brat probably already knew.
He knew Spandam had staged the whole incident, ordering people to pilot Franky's warships and attack the judicial ship in order to convict Tom.
But Spandam was not nervous.
Even if it was said aloud, who would believe it?
There was no evidence.
Who could touch him?
Spandam glanced toward the Chief Judge.
The old man was silently processing documents, his attention lowered as if he wanted no part in the conversation.
Just like before.
Back then, the Chief Judge had seen the truth and still convicted Tom.
This time, he still chose to stand with Spandam.
Spandam felt his confidence return.
"I won't hold what you just did against you," he said with false magnanimity. "But you cannot take Tom away."
Axel gave a cold smile.
"What if I say I must take him?"
Spandam's mouth twitched.
Must take him?
Then step over my dead body?
He would never say something that brainless.
To him, his own life was far more important than promotions or missions.
So he smiled instead.
"Tom is currently a prisoner arrested by the World Government through proper procedure. Unless you can prove his innocence, I have no way to release him."
"Hm. I understand."
Spandam blinked.
That easy?
The brat had been so forceful a moment ago. Spandam had expected him to keep making trouble, yet he had yielded after only a few words.
Spandam relaxed and said, "Since you understand, then this will be easy to—"
"I have evidence that proves Tom is not the criminal."
Spandam's expression stiffened.
Axel continued calmly, "Because I was the one who ordered those warships to attack. It just so happened that the judicial ship passed by and was damaged."
"You bastard, you're lying!" Spandam shouted.
"Then do you have evidence?"
Spandam choked.
The evidence was that he himself had arranged the entire thing, but he could hardly say that.
He immediately turned to the Chief Judge.
"He admitted to attacking the judicial ship! Chief Judge, have him arrested!"
Spandam did not understand the weight of the situation.
The Chief Judge did.
This matter could not be allowed to escalate. At least, not here.
The old judge set down the document in his hand and spoke evenly.
"Although it may have been accidental, the fact remains that a judicial ship was attacked. I will report this matter to Marineford. As for Tom, he will remain temporarily detained."
He looked at Axel.
"Those warships could not have moved on their own. Since Tom was present, it is reasonable to assume he activated them."
Old fox.
Axel understood immediately.
If things had gone according to his calculation, the matter would have escalated. In order to settle it quietly, the World Government would likely have chosen compromise. Tom might still have been placed under supervision, but at least his safety would be guaranteed.
Yet the Chief Judge had resolved the issue in a few words.
In the end, Axel still had to use the blueprints.
He had originally intended to keep them as a last resort. Even as a Marine, if he burned the Pluton blueprints in front of everyone, the World Government would not let it pass without resentment.
Axel looked at Spandam, then at the Chief Judge.
"Are you arresting Tom because of the Pluton blueprints?"
The moment the name Pluton entered the room, the atmosphere changed.
It turned sharp and cold.
Axel continued, "Then do you want to know where they are?"
Spandam's eyes widened.
"Brat, you know something about Pluton?"
His excitement burst out immediately.
He had searched for so long. This was the key to his promotion, the thing he had been waiting for.
Unable to restrain himself, Spandam reached out to grab Axel's collar. It was his usual habit, a gesture he used to intimidate others.
But before his hand could touch Axel, it was bounced away.
Axel deliberately increased the force.
Spandam's body rolled backward and hit the floor with a thud.
The Chief Judge's face remained calm.
But a sheet of paper slipped from his hand and drifted to the floor.
His mind was clearly no longer on the documents.
"Captain Axel," the Chief Judge said in a solemn voice, "do you truly know news of Pluton?"
"Answer my question first," Axel said. "Was Tom really arrested because of Pluton?"
The Chief Judge looked at him.
"If I answer your question, will you answer one of mine?"
"I will."
The Chief Judge did not hesitate.
"Yes."
Then he asked, "Do you know the whereabouts of the Pluton blueprints?"
After asking, he seemed to prepare himself for the answer. He looked at Axel quietly and waited.
Spandam, who had finally stopped rolling on the floor, jerked his head up as well.
Both men stared at Axel.
Axel did not hide it.
"Yes."
.....
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