Under Lindbergh's arrangements, a group of Revolutionary Army members quickly boarded the cargo ship, unloading the goods one crate at a time and stacking them neatly on the shore.
Once the last crate was moved, Lindbergh stepped forward and pried open one of them.
However, the moment he opened the box, a faint sulfuric scent wafted into his nose. As a Mink, his sense of smell was far more sensitive than that of an ordinary person.
Frowning at the bundles wrapped in black paper inside the crate, Lindbergh's expression darkened. At that moment, Koala silently approached him.
Lindbergh turned to Koala and asked, "Koala, what is this?"
Koala placed one hand in her pocket while the other rested on one of the bundles, speaking softly,
"Explosives..."
"Nani?! Explosives?!"
Lindbergh was momentarily dumbfounded, but he did not immediately suspect Koala of betraying them. In fact, no one in the Revolutionary Army would have even considered such a possibility.
He simply asked in confusion, "I asked you to prepare food and water. We're not going to war with the Marines—why did you bring so many explosives?"
Koala lifted her head, revealing a pair of crimson eyes. She smiled faintly and said softly,
"Why? To blow you all to hell, of course."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she swiftly pulled her other hand from her pocket, revealing a lit kerosene lighter.
Lindbergh's pupils shrank as he roared, "Get out of here!!!"
The lighter spun through the air and landed in the crate of explosives.
The instant the flames made contact with the explosives—
BOOM!!!
A series of deafening explosions erupted. A massive mushroom cloud rose from Goat Island, painting the sky in a sea of fire.
Moments later, silence returned, and the land was engulfed in thick smoke.
"Cough... cough..."
Lindbergh coughed violently as he crawled out from a pile of rubble.
His appearance was beyond miserable—his fur was scorched black, and his left arm was completely gone, leaving behind a charred stump.
Looking around, he saw the devastated battlefield littered with the corpses of Revolutionary Army members. Severed limbs were scattered everywhere.
Among the wreckage, Lindbergh spotted Gildeo's severed head—only the head remained.
Whoosh!
A white figure suddenly leaped from the pile of bodies—it was Luffy in his Nika form. His rubberized arms stretched like ropes, tightly binding Nami, Chopper, and Brook, all of whom looked pale and shaken. Clearly, he had shielded them from the explosion.
From the other side, Emet, whose skin was peeling from the blast, staggered forward. Stray sparks of electricity flickered across his body—Luffy hadn't spared him even the slightest concern.
At that moment, the surviving members of the Revolutionary Army struggled to their feet, each of their faces still filled with shock and horror.
It had happened so suddenly—no one had expected Koala to do something like this.
Lindbergh forced himself to suppress his grief and scanned his surroundings. In a scorched crater, he found Koala's body.
Koala lay at the center of the pit, her appearance utterly horrifying. Half of her once fair face had been blown away, while the remaining half was charred beyond recognition.
Her limbs were completely gone, leaving behind nothing but a mangled torso.
Clutching his severed arm, Lindbergh staggered toward her, gritting his teeth.
"Koala... you actually...!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Koala—who should have been unquestionably dead—suddenly opened her mouth and croaked hoarsely,
"Ara? Dead cat, you survived that?"
Lindbergh's fur bristled in shock. "You're still alive?! No... You're not Koala! Who the hell are you?!"
Koala's facial muscles twitched for a moment, and then—
A chilling sight unfolded before their eyes.
From her wounds, a flood of crimson blood suddenly gushed forth. The blood molded itself, restoring her half-destroyed face and regenerating her limbs.
In a flash of red light, Koala's missing face and limbs were completely restored. Without the cover of her tattered clothing, her newly formed skin looked even paler than before.
She had been fully transformed—so long as her heart remained intact, she would never die.
Koala slowly rose to her feet and stated flatly, "I am Koala."
Lindbergh took a step back and shouted, "Don't give me that crap!"
By now, Luffy and the remaining Revolutionary Army members had surrounded her.
Koala remained expressionless. She glanced at Luffy and muttered, "Joy Boy?"
Luffy's gaze was wary as he retorted, "No! I'm Luffy!"
Koala tilted her head slightly, murmuring, "Not Joy Boy...? Whatever. My mission is complete."
Lindbergh's eyes widened as he demanded, "Mission? What mission are you talking about?!"
Sparks of silver lightning crackled around his hands, ready to strike at any moment.
But Koala ignored him. Instead, her fanatical gaze turned toward the coastline as she shouted, "For Saint Carl!!"
The moment Carl's name was mentioned, every Revolutionary soldier instinctively recoiled. Their eyes followed Koala's line of sight, but all they could see was the shadowed coastline.
Lindbergh's patience snapped. He lunged forward and pinned Koala to the ground, his voice icy.
"Saint Carl... You're a traitor!"
Pinned against the cold ground, Koala's body crackled with violent electricity, but she merely sneered.
"Fools! As a CP0 agent, how could I be a traitor?"
"Nani?!"
Before Lindbergh could process her words, someone behind him suddenly shouted,
"Look! What's that?!"
Lindbergh immediately turned his head and saw blinding spotlights illuminating the coastline. As the thick black mist dissipated, an overwhelming sight came into view.
A massive fleet of Marine battleships had silently surrounded Goat Island.
Lindbergh's face turned deathly pale, his heart filled with disbelief. He couldn't fathom how such a large fleet had approached undetected.
On the lead warship, Carl stood at the bow, arms crossed, shrouded in swirling black mist. His Marine coat billowed in the wind.
A smirk curled at the corners of his lips as he gazed down upon the trapped Revolutionary Army.
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+200 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg