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Ikki was not surprised that the Straw Hat Pirates were able to defeat CP9.
Zoro had already become a master swordsman when he was in Loguetown. Under his influence, high-end combatants like Luffy and Sanji would inevitably become stronger than in the original timeline.
The original Straw Hat Pirates, with Luffy and others, were able to challenge the high-end combat power of CP9 alone. Of course the current Straw Hat Pirates could do it too.
However, Ikki did not expect that even without Nico Robin, the Straw Hat Pirates would still face off against CP9.
'I don't know if there was a Buster Call this time. Have the Straw Hat Pirates gone after Spandam?'
When thinking of Spandam, Ikki couldn't help but think of Robin. Spandam's father once launched a Buster Call against Robin's hometown. Naturally, Ikki didn't have any good feelings toward Spandam.
"Help me!"
At this time, a weak voice sounded. At the same time, a slender hand grabbed Ikki's pant leg.
He looked down and saw that the person speaking was Kalifa, who was lying on the sea train track, barely breathing.
Ikki rubbed his chin and glanced below the sea level. The next moment, two men in black suits who were also seriously injured jumped up from the water and rushed toward Kalifa.
After seeing Ikki next to Kalifa, the two of them were obviously stunned for a moment. But soon one person stabbed at Ikki with his finger, while the other stabbed at Kalifa's head with his finger.
Seeing this, Kalifa's eyes widened instantly.
Ikki frowned, pulled out Zangetsu from his waist and swung two quick slashes, passing through the necks of the two attackers.
The next moment, Kalifa saw the heads of the two attackers flying into the sky, with large amounts of blood spurting from their necks.
"What... what quick slashes!" Kalifa looked at Ikki blankly, and soon her eyes widened even more.
"You... you are the Ikki who defeated Golden Lion Shiki?!"
Ikki looked down at Kalifa, not surprised that she recognized him. After all, the photo of him killing Golden Lion had been spread all over the world.
"So, who are you, miss?" Ikki knelt down and looked at Kalifa with interest.
"I... I'm just an ordinary person." Kalifa tried her best to smile and said to Ikki.
"Ordinary people? So what happened to those two guys just now? If my guess is correct, those two people should be agents of the World Government. Right, CP9's special agent, Miss Kalifa?"
Ikki laughed. Based on the attackers' attire and Kalifa's identity, if Ikki couldn't guess that they were agents, then he would have watched thousands of episodes of One Piece in vain.
"You... you know me?" Kalifa's eyes widened, and she suddenly had a very bad feeling in her heart.
"Since you knew they were agents of the World Government, why did you kill them? Aren't you worried that you'll be wanted by the World Government?"
Kalifa swallowed and asked with difficulty. If Ikki dared to kill World Government agents, he would naturally dare to kill her too. Moreover, if Ikki killed the World Government agents, there would definitely be no witnesses left alive.
Kalifa, who just thought she was saved, fell into panic again.
"They were the first to attack me. I consider this self-defense. Besides, no one knows that I killed them, right?" Ikki shrugged and said nonchalantly.
Kalifa was even more confused when she saw Ikki's indifferent expression. At this moment, she had determined that Ikki would not leave her alive.
"Tell me why you're here. Don't lie - depending on the situation, I can take you to my ship." Ikki knelt down and stared intently into Kalifa's eyes.
"Okay... okay, I'll tell you everything." With her throat twitching, Kalifa took a deep breath and began to tell her story quickly.
It turned out that the Straw Hat Pirates caused a lot of trouble after arriving at Water 7. These CP9 agents happened to learn that Pluton's blueprints were in Franky's possession through the chaos caused by the Straw Hat Pirates and Franky.
Afterwards, they took Franky to Enies Lobby, and were eventually defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates. Because she was separated from the other members of CP9, the World Government agents arranged by Spandam's father Spandine chased her all the way here, and she collapsed from exhaustion.
"The... the two people you just killed were the last two agents who were chasing me after I knocked them into the water. That's... that's everything..."
After saying that, Kalifa took a deep breath and looked at Ikki with fear and hope in her eyes.
Although Ikki was dangerous, in her current state, Kalifa could predict her own future if he didn't help her. Perhaps she would die from lack of food, perhaps be eaten by a passing Sea King, or perhaps be crushed to death by a sea train.
Just as Kalifa was thinking this, the whistle of a sea train suddenly came from the distance.
"Sea... Sea train?!" Kalifa's eyes widened in horror.
Although she was a well-trained CP9 agent, this didn't mean she wasn't afraid of death. Listening to the approaching whistle, Kalifa looked at Ikki pleadingly.
'I see, without Robin and Nami, the story has changed a bit after all. Facing the stronger Straw Hat Pirates, Blueno was seriously injured and unable to use the power of the Door-Door Fruit to take away his friends, so Kalifa ended up here.'
Ikki nodded slightly and looked down at Kalifa. After seeing her horrified expression, Ikki raised his hand to hold Kalifa in his arms, and rushed toward the Explorer using Geppo.
At this time, the sea train happened to pass by where Ikki and Kalifa had been, stirring up waves and strong winds.
"That... that was very dangerous." Kalifa breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ikki's face with some gratitude.
"Hey, Kalifa." Ikki looked down at her and gave a big smile.
"What... what's wrong, Mr. Ikki?"
"I just listened to your story, and it seems that you have nowhere to go now. What are your plans next? Do you want to be my partner and join my team of famous sword hunters?"
Ikki laughed. Although Kalifa was an agent wanted by the World Government, it stood to reason that Ikki shouldn't take her in. But since Nico Robin, who was also a wanted criminal, was already on the ship, Ikki didn't mind taking Kalifa in.
In the original work, Kalifa's ability to become an agent of CP9 was enough to show her talent. Moreover, before Ikki had arrived in this world, he had learned that Kalifa would appear in later One Piece stories. Being able to appear in future storylines meant Kalifa would definitely become stronger.
Ikki naturally wanted to keep such a woman with potential and the charm of a female secretary. In this way, the Zanpakutō Katen Kyōkotsu would also have a user to maintain it.
"Join... join your team?" A trace of doubt flashed in Kalifa's heart.
She was a little confused as to whether Ikki simply wanted her to join him, or whether he wanted to prevent her from revealing that Ikki had killed World Government agents.
But listening to the whistle that sounded like a death knell, Kalifa didn't have time to analyze too much, and immediately nodded and said:
"I would like to be your partner, Mr. Ikki!"