"Heh, this should at least dent Michael's reputation a bit, right?"
"Saint Saturn, with all due respect, this sort of stunt won't cause any substantive harm to Michael or the Navy." Saint Figarland Garling, Supreme Commander of the Knights of God, sat calmly on a nearby sofa and said.
"I never intended to hurt them… I just wanted to disgust them a little." Saturn smiled, the narrow eyes showing a look of vindictive determination.
"Tsk." Garling rose and left immediately. "The Five Elders are getting senile — to be pleased with such a ridiculous, unbecoming trick. You actually feel proud of this?"
With that, he vanished from view.
The Five Elders all glanced at his retreating back with apprehensive eyes.
This man, the protector and judge over the Celestial Dragons as a whole, was someone even the Five Elders did not want to cross.
After all, he could be said to be the strongest among the Celestial Dragons today.
"Hmph, forget him for now." Saturn shook his head, then also walked off. "This time we must make sure Tom has no grave to be buried in… Possessing the Pluton blueprints and not handing them over to the World Government is a death wish."
...
Iceburg watched the CP spies spreading rumors along the street and could only stand there, helpless with worry.
He worried about Tom too, but as mayor he absolutely could not openly defy the World Government…
Although the World Government's authority had waned compared to before, it was still not something he could challenge.
Just as he felt completely at a loss, a voice sounded behind him.
"Well, if it isn't Mayor Iceburg. Standing out here on the street — conducting a public inspection?"
Iceburg turned around at once. Sure enough, it was "Ship Cutter" T Bone Rear Admiral and "Rust Tide" Shu Commodore.
It just happened to be the day the two of them made their scheduled rounds in Water Seven.
"Gentlemen! Thank goodness — you've come at the perfect time!"
Iceburg finally let out a breath and then told them everything that had happened.
"So… Vice Admiral Michael actually came to Water Seven? And he took the sea train to Judicial Island with Tom-san?" Shu couldn't help scratching his head. "Well, that actually works out well, doesn't it?"
"No matter. If Vice Admiral Michael came to deal with Tom-san's crimes, he'll have to stay on Judicial Island for a while." T Bone nodded. "Iceburg, I can assure you, those CP organization spies are twisting the facts… Vice Admiral Michael highly values Water Seven and Tom-san's sea train — that's precisely why he wants us to pay extra attention to Water Seven."
"In that case… let's clamp down on things here first." Shu rolled his neck and then ordered the Navy soldiers behind him, "Everyone, gather all the CP organization spies! If anyone resists, use non-lethal force!"
If this had been ordinary Navy troops, they might have hesitated about handling CP spies.
But T Bone and Shu's men were different — they were units permanently stationed around Judicial Island, and because of the island's special status their operational priority even trumped that of the CP organization.
So all the Navy showed eager, ready expressions.
They'd dealt with CP operatives plenty before… but it was their first time making arrests!
How thrilling!
Thus began a dramatic chase between the Navy and the CP organization on the streets of Water Seven.
Facing the Navy with firearms and a Rear Admiral and a Commodore, even the few spies who had learned parts of Rokushiki could only swallow their pride. They were bound, hands tied, and squatted on the plaza of Water Seven.
"Who gave the CP organization the authority to spread rumors freely in Water Seven?"
"Eek! Help! Zombies!"
"You Navy are shameless! If you want to arrest us, arrest us! What's with releasing 'zombies'? Are you trying to silence us!?"
The moment T Bone opened his mouth, those CP spies who'd just seen him reacted with furious glares.
"Puhahahaha! I'm telling you, accept your fate, T Bone!" Shu laughed and slapped T Bone's shoulder, looking at that defeated, zombie-like face and laughing even louder. "That face of yours will haunt people for a lifetime!"
But Shu was a reliable young man at heart. After calming his laughter, he stepped up to the CP spies.
"Don't blame us for using force — you didn't follow the rules." Shu pressed his hand and a sword at the waist of an obvious mid-level CP leader oxidized into rust. "If I remember correctly, Judicial Island's authority outranks the CP organization."
That mid-level leader — the one responsible for spreading the rumors — gritted his teeth and nodded without daring to act rashly.
First, what Shu said was true…
Second… who didn't know that a Rear Admiral and a Commodore stationed at Judicial Island were not only extremely powerful but also direct protégés of the current Chief Inspector of the Navy?
Originally, Judicial Island was to be staffed by rotating Vice Admirals from headquarters.
But now, it had become their permanent station.
And not only that — they also had responsibility for overseeing Water Seven!
This… was a huge amount of power.
These two Navy rising stars were not the kind of people the ordinary CP spies dared to provoke.
Even the Five Elders behind the spies wouldn't step in for them.
So they quickly clamped mouths shut and took the hits and insults without a word…
After everyone fell completely silent, even Shu had to relent.
After all, spreading one unproven rumor wasn't a capital crime.
"Take these CP spies with us back to Judicial Island!" T Bone ordered decisively, then looked to Iceburg. "Get people to stop those shipwrights. Tell them we'll handle this… Don't try to storm Judicial Island! If you do, your justification will quickly evaporate!"
"Right, right!" Iceburg snapped to attention and ran toward the shoreline.
Then a flying kick sent the hot-headed blue airplane-head weirdo flying.
"You bastard! Were you trying to get Tom-sensei killed!?"
Looking around, he saw everyone frozen in place. He hurried over, angry, grabbed Franky's collar and hissed softly in his ear:
"Quick! Hide the 'Pluton' design plans right now!"
"This is not something we can handle ourselves!"
Then he slammed a fist into Franky's face.
Franky, stunned, leapt up immediately.
"No! Just speak like a normal person! Why hit me?"
"Were you taking the chance to get your rocks off!?"
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