What Do You Want to Do to a Good Shipwright?

Click.

An Air Door silently opened above everyone's heads.

Ron stepped through the doorway, carrying the doll he had bought for Hibari in his left hand and a round Visual Den Den Mushi in his right.

He glanced first at Spandam's bloodied face, then at Tom, bound in chains, and Franky, bruised and battered. The faint smile on his face vanished.

"You."

He stood in midair, his voice quiet yet carrying over all the noise on the dock.

"What do you want to do to a good shipwright?"

"R-Rear Admiral Ron?!"

Spandam instinctively took half a step back, then abruptly straightened his back.

What was he afraid of? He represented the World Government!

"Tom's Workers attacked a judicial ship, and we have witnesses and physical evidence!"

He pointed at the battle ship docked in the port, his voice growing louder. "This is official business for Cipher Pol No. 5 and Enies Lobby! The Marines have no authority to interfere with the investigation!"

"Oh?"

Ron leaped down and landed, setting the bag containing the rabbit doll on a clean stone step.

The Air Door opened again behind him, and several Marines followed him out.

Ron brushed the dust from his hands.

"An attack on a judicial ship? That is pretty serious."

Spandam's eyes lit up.

Just as he thought! No matter how arrogant this brat was, he still had to show the World Government respect!

"I'm glad you understand, Rear Admiral. Men, take the criminals—"

"Wait."

Ron cut him off and walked over to Franky.

"Did you build the ship?"

Franky gritted his teeth, his cheeks puffing out. "Yes!"

"Were you aboard when the cannons were fired last night?"

"No! I don't even know when the ship was stolen!"

Ron nodded and turned to Spandam. "Then who fired them?"

"Obviously, it was someone from their workshop!"

"Name?"

"..."

"Which worker? What time did he board the ship? Who gave the order to fire?"

Beads of sweat slowly appeared on Spandam's forehead. "Th-those details are still under investigation!"

"No problem."

Ron waved the Visual Den Den Mushi in his hand.

"I'll help you remember."

The Den Den Mushi's compound eyes lit up, projecting a screen of light onto the damaged side of the judicial ship.

In the anchorage at night, three men in civilian clothes secretly boarded the battle ship.

One of them looked back, showing his entire face.

"This man..."

The judicial officer's expression changed.

He recognized him as a Cipher Pol No. 5 agent Spandam had brought with him.

The footage switched, and Spandam appeared on the screen.

"Don't change the number, and don't take down the flag."

He lowered his voice.

"Make sure everyone can see clearly that Franky's Battle Ship did it!"

The next second, fire flashed from the cannon muzzles!

The judicial ship was hit, its crew falling to the deck with screams as flames lit up half the sea.

In the lower right corner of the footage, the time, the ship's position, and its number were all clearly marked.

The dock fell silent in an instant.

Franky's mouth hung open for a long while.

Iceburg slowly unclenched his fist.

Tom froze for a moment, then his shoulders relaxed and he smiled.

The color, however, slowly drained from Spandam's face.

"Impossible..."

"Why would it be impossible?"

Ron tilted his head.

"When I first saw you yesterday, I thought you didn't look like a good person."

"What?!"

"So I went ahead and set up a few Visual Den Den Mushi."

Spandam nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Just because I don't look like a good person?!

"Six camera positions, three backups."

Ron waved the Visual Den Den Mushi in his hand.

"I have one, the person in charge of the judicial ship has one, and there's another at Marine Headquarters."

"As for the original, Vergo has already sealed it away."

He took a copy of the record from his coat and handed it to the judicial officer beside him.

"If you don't believe me, check it yourself."

The judicial officer took the copy, his face livid.

"Spandam, explain yourself."

"You fabricated the evidence! This footage must be fake!"

"Fake?"

Ron pointed at the Cipher Pol No. 5 agent in the footage.

"He's standing right behind you. Want to call him over and see if he recognizes himself?"

Spandam whipped his head around.

The Cipher Pol No. 5 agent Ron had pointed out went pale and instinctively lowered his head.

"Y-you have no idea how big this matter is!"

"Oh?"

"I was ordered to investigate an Ancient Weapon! This is top secret!"

The area fell silent in an instant.

Ron raised an eyebrow.

"What Ancient Weapon?"

Spandam snapped his mouth shut.

Tom remained where he was, saying nothing.

Ron took in their expressions and had an idea of what was going on.

"The judicial ship was attacked, and the footage shows that Cipher Pol No. 5 did it."

He turned to the Marines who had come with him. "By the rules they just mentioned, disarm them."

Two Cipher Pol No. 5 agents instinctively gripped their sword hilts. "You dare?!"

Ron raised a finger.

Click.

The swords at their waists, scabbards and all, suddenly sank and dropped straight into a door in space that had opened beneath their feet.

The next second, they slid out of a door in front of the judicial officer and clattered to the ground.

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Ron smiled. "Wasn't it you who said attacking a judicial ship was a serious crime?"

The judicial officer gritted his teeth and waved a hand.

"Detain them all!"

The Marines and judicial guards surged forward.

Spandam still wanted to shout, but Ron merely gave him a cool glance, and he fell silent at once, as though someone had seized him by the throat.

Tom looked down at the chains around his wrists.

"Ron, lad."

"Yeah?"

"There's one more thing I want to ask."

"Go ahead."

Tom tipped his chin toward Spandam, who had been taken into custody.

"Will those two boys still be held accountable?"

Ron looked at the judicial officer.

"Everyone who fired the cannons last night has been found. Are you still planning to arrest Tom's apprentices?"

The judicial officer's expression soured.

"Now that they've been cleared of suspicion, of course not."

"That's good, then."

Tom let out a long breath.

"Ron, lad, thank you for this."

The matter was not settled immediately. The upper ranks of the World Government soon intervened.

Cipher Pol No. 5's attack on the judicial ship was ultimately classified as an "unauthorized special operation."

The agents involved were disciplined internally, and Spandam was temporarily removed from his post pending investigation.

Because it concerned so-called "top secrets," there was no public trial.

Ron clicked his tongue as he read the reply from Headquarters.

"This guy has some pretty powerful backing."

Still, with the evidence laid out, it would not be so easy for Spandam to smear Tom again.

Tom's pardon officially took effect, and Iceburg and Franky were released without charges.

The cheers at the port that day were even louder than they had been on the Sea Train's maiden voyage.

Evening.

Franky sat at the edge of the dock, his face swollen like a pig's head and his voice still muffled.

"Hey, Marine."

"Yeah?"

"Did you know they were going to steal my ship?"

"No."

"Then why did you set up so many Den Den Mushi?"

"Professional habit."

Franky was silent for a long while. Staring at the sea, he said quietly, "Mr. Tom said you can't deny the ships you build."

"He's right."

"Then what if I build a really amazing ship someday, and bad guys steal it again?"

Ron glanced at him. "Can't you take it back?"

"Huh?"

"You built the ship. Why should anyone else get to decide where it goes?"

Franky stared blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly slapped his thigh with a smack. He grimaced in pain but grinned broadly.

"All right! Someday I'm definitely going to build a ship nobody can steal!"

"Then start training. You can't even lift my sword."

"You bastard!"

On the day Ron left, Tom personally saw him off at the dock.

"Ron! If you ever want a ship built, come find me!"

Ron looked at his warship in the distance and smiled. "You never know."

Just before stepping through the door, he looked back. "Tom, if you want to protect what you cherish, you'd better stop being so softhearted all the time."

"Spandam's stupid, but his father isn't. Things might not stay peaceful for you."

Looking at the old Fish-Man with his remarkable physique, he added, "Don't waste your abilities."

Tom was silent for a moment.

"I'm not afraid of them."

He glanced back at the workshop.

"But Iceburg and Franky are different. They're still young. I can't have the government watching them for the rest of their lives because of me."

Ron glanced at him.

"So if something happens again, you're going to shoulder it alone?"

"What else can I do?"

Ron smiled.

"They aren't little kids who only know how to hide behind you."

Tom was stunned.

Ron stepped through the Air Door and waved.

"Oh, right. I hear Fisher Tiger's been putting together something called the Sun Pirates lately."

"If you don't think you can stay in Water 7, it's not like you'd have nowhere else to go."

The door closed.

Tom stared blankly at the sea for a while, then looked back at his two apprentices, who were in the middle of a noisy argument.

After a long while, he slowly clenched his fists.

Marineford.

"Daddy, when's big brother coming back?"

Three-year-old Hibari clung to the edge of the desk and tilted her little face up at Sakazuki.

"Soon."

"Big brother said he'd bring me a present."

Sakazuki's pen stopped for two seconds. "If he forgets, I'll deal with him."

Click.

An Air Door suddenly opened beside them, and Ron poked his head out, his hands full of bags.

"Who's going to deal with me?"

"Big brother—!"

Hibari's eyes lit up like little stars, and she came running toward him on her short little legs.

Ron quickly put the bags back through the door, bent down, and scooped up his sister, lifting her high.

"Well, well, look whose little princess has grown taller again!"

"Big brother's!"

"That's right!"

Ron pinched her soft little cheek and once again made up his mind.

If any little punk dares get close to her someday...

I'll dice him up like a mango.