Under Yoriichi's orders, Issho immediately made his move. In a flash, he used his Devil Fruit ability to subdue the entire CP9 unit inside the shipyard, and without hesitation, killed their leader on the spot.
Despite being a Marine, Issho didn't waver in the slightest when attacking intelligence agents of the World Government.
"Director Foul?!"
"You damn Marines, who do you think you are?! You dare lay hands on CP9?!"
"Do you even realize what you've done?!"
"Attacking us, are you declaring war on the World Government?!"
All the CP9 members were pinned helplessly to the ground under Issho's gravity. One of them, still conscious and stronger than the others, turned his head toward his leader's corpse and couldn't help but gasp. Then, glaring furiously at Yoriichi and the others standing at the entrance, he roared.
Hearing the outcry, the shipwrights' expressions shifted with fear. Even Tom turned around to look toward the group of Marines standing at the entrance of the dock.
Among them, Tom quickly spotted a familiar face.
That bright red hair, the fiery mark across the forehead, Yoriichi Tsugikuni. The image was etched deep in Tom's memory. Even after half a month without contact, he recognized him immediately.
"You attacked CP9? So you're with them."
"And here I thought some vicious pirates had shown up."
"I think you've misunderstood something. We simply dealt with a murderer."
"That killer… was one of yours, wasn't he?"
Yoriichi sneered, then stepped into the shipyard. He walked up to the CP9 agent who had just spoken, lowered his head slightly to look down at him, and asked calmly:
"You."
"We were on official duty!"
"Some of these shipwrights were colluding with pirates!"
"The one we just killed was one of their accomplices!"
Even at this point, the CP9 agent insisted on lying, slandering the slain shipwright.
Hearing that, a flicker of doubt passed across Issho's face. He started to wonder if he'd acted too hastily. At the very least, he thought, they should've asked for details first.
Though Issho had long grown tired of the world's corruption, he still harbored a subconscious trust toward CP9 as agents directly under the World Government. After all, in such a chaotic world, "government official" still sounded more trustworthy than "pirate."
"Lies! He's lying!!"
Behind Tom, Iceburg, still just a boy, rushed forward, pointing at the CP9 agent on the ground and shouting.
His voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
Yoriichi turned and saw a blue-haired teenager, about the same age as himself, shouting indignantly with righteous fury.
Ah, hot-blooded youth.
Seeing him, Yoriichi smiled faintly and asked, "Young man, what exactly was the lie?"
"Could you explain it to me?"
No sooner had Yoriichi spoken than Iceburg rushed up and began exposing CP9's crimes.
He explained how CP9 stormed in without explanation and tried to arrest all the shipwrights. When one of them resisted, Director Foul immediately struck him down, framing the victim afterward as a rebel.
As Iceburg spoke tearfully, the truth became painfully clear: a group of government agents abusing power, oppressing civilians, and murdering the innocent.
Yoriichi already believed him halfway through. Whether Iceburg was lying or not, the expressions on the CP9 agents' faces made it obvious.
No angry denials. No rebuttals.
Most of them remained silent, some glared hatefully at Iceburg and the shipwrights, and a few wore smug, fearless expressions, completely unrepentant.
Clearly, CP9 were an arrogant bunch.
Even after Foul was killed by Issho, most of them still didn't believe Yoriichi would dare go any further.
And truthfully, he wouldn't.
Strictly speaking, Issho had already dealt with the perpetrator, and the matter could've ended there.
Massacring the entire CP9 squad might've been within their ability, but what would make them any different from those CP9 agents?
Yoriichi mulled it over and decided not to escalate. He waved his hand at Issho and said:
"Issho, let them up for now."
Hearing that, the CP9 agents all wore expressions that practically said, "I knew it." Some even smiled.
But Yoriichi's next words froze those smiles in place.
"Arrest them."
"Didn't they say they were investigating pirate collaborators? Then as Marines, it's our duty to help."
"Tell them to hand over all their evidence and documentation. We'll take over from here."
"And if they can't produce any…"
"Wait for Vice Admiral Garp to return. Let him deal with them."
Waving it off as if it were no big deal, Yoriichi suppressed the killing intent in his heart and gave a more restrained response to the situation.
He wasn't trying to be soft, he just didn't want the matter to spiral further.
Because if the charge was "colluding with pirates," wouldn't that implicate Tom?
After all, Tom had once built the Oro Jackson for the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Technically speaking, that could be seen as aiding a pirate.
So maybe, just maybe, these CP9 agents really had been carrying out an official mission.
Still, one thing Yoriichi was absolutely certain of: the one killed by Issho had deserved it.
This matter was best left at that. Even if CP9 had a legitimate mission, Marine Headquarters wouldn't fault him for how things played out.
By now, Yoriichi had a decent sense of how the higher-ups thought. As long as his actions were justifiable, his current status in the Marines gave him more freedom than most.
"Hmph." Issho nodded, slowly sheathing his blade. As his sword slid into the scabbard, the oppressive gravity holding down the CP9 agents suddenly vanished.
Freed, none dared to resist. Kyros stepped forward and tied them all up with rope.
Since Yoriichi's group had a temporary station in Water 7, Kyros brought the bound CP9 agents there for detention. Foul's body was also taken along.
Once that was done, Yoriichi glanced at the corpse of the young shipwright on the ground and turned to Tom.
"Mr. Tom, I'll take my leave for now. Once we've sorted this out, I'll come visit again."
With that, Yoriichi left the shipyard with his men. After what had just happened, Tom likely wasn't in the mood to discuss warship blueprints.
And Yoriichi needed time to reflect too, on how to settle this matter cleanly.
Even if he knew he'd be fine, Yoriichi didn't want to cause trouble for Zephyr.
The World Government's patience had its limits. No matter how special Yoriichi was, he couldn't keep pushing them. It wasn't time to tear off the mask just yet.
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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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