"Who the hell are these people?"
Lucci couldn't understand why this mission had suddenly been plagued by so many unexpected turns. Jabra's miserable death had not escaped his eyes. Even in the midst of a high-speed, intense battle, this man, hailed as a once-in-a-millennium genius of CP9, still maintained control over the battlefield. Lucci even kept his nerves taut, secretly on guard against the two strange women at the rear.
Regardless, his keen battlefield instincts alone were enough to qualify him as a combat genius.
Effortlessly dodging the black rhinoceros's charge, Lucci's sharp claws clashed violently with Drake's draconic ones. Countless sparks flew, and two pairs of bloodthirsty eyes collided fiercely in mid-air.
Such strength!
Such power!
The moment they clashed, both men were simultaneously struck with astonishment. Although neither knew the other's identity, after that one exchange, they both realized with a start that if they didn't give this fight their all, they would surely be the one to lose.
Perhaps the biggest difference between them was that Drake had Bellamy standing behind him; he had absolute confidence that victory would surely be his. Lucci, on the other hand, was different. Although he had many comrades by his side, their combat abilities were, to put it mildly, pathetic. Besides Kaku and the already dead Jabra, the fighting abilities of the others were very weak. They had been trained specifically as intelligence agents; combat was not their forte.
Infiltration and assassination—those were the things CP9 excelled at. The existence of Rob Lucci was an anomaly. A man like him was destined for CP0 sooner or later.
Of course, that was all contingent on him surviving this encounter with the Bellamy Pirates.
Finger Pistol: Spotted!
Finger Pistol: Tyrant Claw!
One was a peerless master from CP9, the other an elite from the Marines' secret unit. There was a certain gap in their mastery of the Six Powers. When Lucci unleashed his Finger Pistol, it was like a torrential downpour, as if he were trying to pierce the very air before him. Drake's Finger Pistol clearly couldn't keep up with Lucci's speed, but as an Ancient Zoan Allosaurus, his strength and constitution were significantly greater than that of a Cat-Cat Fruit user.
"When it comes to a head-on clash, I've never been afraid of anyone." Drake completely abandoned his upper-body defense and began to trade blows directly with Lucci. This reckless fighting style, however, perfectly complemented the natural advantages of a Zoan-type user. In a battle between equals, the key to victory was to attack the enemy's weaknesses with one's own strengths.
The moment Drake dropped his guard, Lucci's Finger Pistol instantly poked several bloody holes in his body. But as if he felt no pain at all, Drake gritted his teeth and continued his frenzied assault on Lucci. This vicious fighting style caught Lucci somewhat off guard. They had no grudge between them; Lucci couldn't understand why his opponent was fighting with such desperation.
In such an intense, close-quarters brawl, a single misjudgment was a fatal error.
Drake had withstood his furious assault and was now forcibly pressing forward. His opponent's strength was clearly far greater than his own; if he were hit, he would be seriously injured. Lucci immediately sensed the danger and used Shave, intending to dodge.
"Shave!"
Just then, an invisible wave quietly passed through Lucci's body. Before he even realized what had happened, he saw his opponent suddenly blur into an afterimage. The next thing he knew, a sharp pain shot through his body. He was sent flying, crashing hard into the side of the car and blasting a large hole in the exterior of the Sea Train.
"Good job."
Drake retracted his dragon tail and nodded to Muret behind him. Just as Lucci had used Shave to dodge, his movements had suddenly become sluggish. Drake immediately recognized the familiar sensation. How could he let such a perfect opportunity pass him by? He had immediately followed up with a dragon claw and a tail whip.
The two blows landed solidly; Lucci didn't even have time to use Iron Body. The Cat-Cat Fruit user, not known for his physical resilience, was nearly knocked unconscious on the spot.
"Brilliant." Bellamy stood to the side, applauding his crewmate. That exchange had been truly brilliant, especially when Drake had pushed through Lucci's furious assault to press the attack. He was starting to get a bit of that "mad dog" flavor.
Bellamy watched from the side, his blood boiling and his bones itching, wishing he could take Drake's place and trade a few blows with Rob Lucci.
As for the remaining small fry, they were being chased around like stray dogs by Ross. Only the two-sword style swordsman, Kaku, still posed a bit of a threat. From the very beginning of the fight, the swordsman had been weaving around, trying to find an opportunity to rush to the rear and attack Muret and Mia. But Ross, in his black rhinoceros form, was simply too massive. He rampaged back and forth in the middle of the car, and Kaku, not being as agile as Lucci, failed to get past him despite several attempts.
With Lucci sent flying, a chill went down the spines of the other CP9 members. The man who had killed Jabra and Blueno hadn't even made a move yet. Were they all going to die here today?
Kaku leaped back, dodging Ross's charge. "No, if this keeps up, we're all going to die." He glanced in Lucci's direction and saw that he had collapsed and seemed to have passed out. If only Blueno were here now.
At that thought, Kaku was struck by a shocking realization. These sudden enemies seemed to know them very well, even knowing about Blueno's Devil Fruit ability. Otherwise, why would that ordinary-looking young man have killed Blueno on sight?
"Could there be a traitor among us!"
The situation was already critical. If there was a traitor in their midst, then they were truly doomed today. Kaku's suspicion was not without reason. CP9's intelligence was top secret. Even within the World Government, only a very small number of people knew their detailed information.
Bellamy saw Kaku standing there, looking like he wanted to run, and couldn't help but offer a reminder. "Don't even think about running. If you run, I'll kill you immediately." Although their fate was death even if they didn't run, at least they could live a little longer this way.
In his current form, when Bellamy said such things, he didn't seem very intimidating at all. If not for the two bodies lying on the floor, Kaku would have surely dismissed his words as nonsense. But now, as the young man just squinted at him, a cold sweat immediately broke out on Kaku's back.
The feeling... it was as if he were being stared at by an ancient, ferocious beast.
"So terrifying... who is he!"