Chapter 158: The Assault on the Judicial Ship (Part 3)
"Big Sis Da Vinci, this is from the boss." Deidara tossed the video Den Den Mushi to Da Vinci.
"Thanks, Deidara -kun~"
The marines surrounding Da Vinci growled again, "So you're accomplices, huh? Nobody move!" They surrounded Deidara as well.
"Huh?" Deidara shot a fierce glare at the marines.
"Eek!"
One of them panicked and accidentally pulled the trigger. The others flinched and fired in response.
Bang!
A rain of lead bullets flew toward the two, creating a thick cloud of white smoke.
'Huh? Do lead bullets create this much smoke?' The thought flashed through the marines' minds.
As the smoke cleared, they saw the ground covered in white clay, with countless round black bullets embedded in it.
"Devil Fruit users!" Spandam shrieked. "They helped Tom attack the judicial ship! Arrest them now!"
"Hey, Your Honor!" Da Vinci shouted. "We have the real attackers and hard evidence of their crimes—eyewitness and material proof!"
"What?!" Spandam's face turned pale. He grew visibly anxious. 'So that's where the agents went! None of them responded—turns out they've been captured?!'
"Execute them immediately!" Now desperate, Spandam tried to erase the threat. If these two testified, he'd be finished.
'If the higher-ups find out I sent CP5 agents to attack a judicial ship, I'll lose my position—or worse, be jailed!'
"Wait." The elderly judge finally stopped the marines. "Neither of them attacked you. Don't harm innocent civilians."
"They're not innocent! They're defending the criminal Tom and spreading lies in court!"
"Even in court, people have a right to defense. I want to see this so-called evidence before making any decision."
Though old, the judge wasn't completely corrupt. In the original story, he chose not to arrest Iceburg and Franky as Spandam wished, and instead released them.
Da Vinci nodded to Deidara , who signaled back and summoned a giant white clay bird. It swooped in, grabbing two agents with its claws and carrying them back to the port.
"Look at that huge bird!"
"There are two people in its claws!"
The crowd turned to see the bird drop off two men in dark blue full-body suits, their faces the only parts exposed, bound tightly with thick white rope.
As soon as the two agents saw Spandam, they yelled out, "Sir!"
Spandam's face contorted with panic.
'No! Shut up! Don't call me sir! Don't say anything else!'
He only screamed these things internally. If he were publicly recognized as their commanding officer, there'd be no way to deny involvement.
"Sir Spandam! After we sank the judicial ship, we returned to Ship Graveyard Island—"
Spandam's jaw dropped. Clear snot dripped from his nose into his open mouth.
'It's over. I'm finished!'
"No need for interrogation—they're giving up everything on their own." Da Vinci let out a sigh of relief.
"What?! CP5 attacked the judicial ship? Why?!"
"I didn't mishear that, right?"
"They tried to pin the blame on Tom? That's outrageous!"
The crowd erupted in disbelief, unable to process what they'd just heard.
"Eh?" The agent finally realized they were surrounded by civilians—and had just confessed to everything in front of them.
Well… that was pretty pirate-like behavior.
After all, CP9 had an agent named Hoot-Hoot Owl, who claimed to be tight-lipped but constantly leaked secret missions.
And Sentomaru, the "self-proclaimed strongest defense," once got tricked into giving out classified info just by talking.
Now, in front of the old judge sat the panicking Spandam, jaw hanging open, and his agent, who just outed them all.
"No, no! That was all a joke! Hahaha…" the agent laughed weakly, clearly not believing his own excuse.
But unexpectedly…
"Oh, it was a joke? Phew."
"Yeah, no way CP5 would attack a judicial ship."
'They actually believed that?!' Spandam and the agent thought in unison.
Deidara muttered bluntly, "How the hell have these idiots survived this long?"
Somehow, the civilians around them had super-hearing and picked up on it.
Their anger erupted.
"You're the idiot! Your whole family is!"
"Exposed for who you really are, and now you start insulting us?!"
"Grab them! They must be accomplices in the attack!"
"…" Da Vinci and Deidara were speechless.
"Deidara ," Eric's voice came through the communicator. "Can you make tiny, flea-sized explosive clay bombs with high power?"
"Of course. Hm. What's the command?"
"Make a bunch of explosive clay fleas and attach them to everyone cursing at you. Don't detonate them yet. Wait until the legal authorities leave—then blow them all to pieces."
Deidara grinned wickedly. "I love it. Boss, you're an artistic genius."
"And don't forget the marines who fired on you."
"OK."
Deidara quietly began creating explosive clay fleas, tiny white bugs that bounced from his hands and onto the crowd shouting insults.
None of the blind civilians or clueless marines noticed a thing.
"Silence!" The judge banged his gavel. Unlike the rest, he wasn't so easily fooled. He turned to Da Vinci. "You said you have material evidence. Let's see it."
"Certainly. Please listen."
Da Vinci pressed a button on the video Den Den Mushi. Even though it was daylight and the video wasn't visible, the audio played loud and clear. It was unmistakably the voice of the captured agent.
"The assault on the judicial ship was a success."
"!!" Spandam clutched his chest in horror, realizing he had been recorded.
Then came his own voice:
"Is that so? Proceed to the next phase. This is a necessary sacrifice for justice."
"Wha—!" Spandam blurted out.
At last, the judge slammed his gavel. "Arrest CP5 Officer Spandam and the two intelligence agents. Tom and his two disciples are hereby declared innocent and released!"
(END CHAPTER)
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