Chapter 145: When Lucci Thinks, Shane Laughs
"Small-fry, small-fry…"
Nami's voice echoed in his ears like a demon's whisper.
But as a member of CP9, used to being arrogant and proud, Blueno was powerless to refute her.
In just a few minutes, Kaku and Kalifa had been knocked unconscious, their combat abilities completely neutralized.
And in contrast, the two girls were completely unharmed.
Now, with just him alone…
I can't win. There's no way I can win!
I have to run!
He gritted his teeth against the searing pain in his chest, struggled to his feet, and used Shave.
SWISH!
In a flash, he was in front of the unconscious Kaku and Kalifa, his hands reaching for them.
But in that instant, a figure blurred in front of him. The blue-haired girl had, at some point, appeared before him with a grin.
Shave!
Blueno's face grew even grimmer. This girl is also proficient in the Six Powers?!!
"Hey," Nojiko said, her face just inches from his, a grin on her lips. "Still trying to save your comrades at a time like this? Aren't you… a little too delusional?"
BOOM!
Another punch came flying at him!
In an instant, Blueno was sent flying, his back slamming into the wall. This punch was even more devastating than the last. He collapsed to the ground, the world spinning around him, on the verge of losing consciousness.
There's no chance to save them.
If I take another punch like that, I'll be a goner.
Blueno gritted his teeth in frustration.
I'm sorry, Kaku! Kalifa!
He shakily placed his right hand on the ground and activated his Door-Door Fruit ability.
Air Door!
VWOOM!
A square door suddenly opened in the ground, revealing a greenish, otherworldly space within. Blueno's body, pulled by gravity, instantly fell through, and in the next second, he was gone without a trace.
And the door slammed shut in the next instant, the ground returning to its original state.
"Huh?!" Nami, who was sitting on the wall, her legs dangling, stared with wide eyes. "Where'd he go?"
"He's gone," Nojiko said, rushing to the spot where Blueno had disappeared. She looked left and right, her brow furrowed. "No traces at all. How did he do that? Is it a Devil Fruit ability?"
"It's the Paramecia-type Door-Door Fruit," Robin said, a slight frown on her face. "The user of this fruit can open doors anywhere, on the air, on walls, on the ground, creating a dimensional passage that allows for free entry and exit. It's impossible to guard against… a very troublesome ability."
"What?! There's a fruit that broken?" Nami said, jumping down from the wall and kicking Kaku's long nose in frustration. "Honestly, I was looking forward to trying out my own fruit's ability on him, but he's such a coward…"
"It doesn't matter. These two are enough," Nojiko said, looking at the two unconscious figures on the ground. "Let's take them and meet up with Kuina. Although these CP9 agents aren't that strong, they're still in the shadows, and we're in the open. We should still be careful. Let's regroup first. When these two wake up, we can see if we can get anything out of them, like if they have any other comrades on this island."
"Hey!"
A window on the upper floor was suddenly thrown open, and a fat woman poked her head out, shouting in annoyance, "What's all the ruckus?! Have you no decency?! You're so loud!"
She suddenly saw the cracked wall below and was stunned. "My wall…"
"Sorry about that, ma'am," Nami immediately pulled out a small stack of bills from her wallet and tossed it up. "That's two hundred thousand Berries. It should be more than enough to repair the wall. The rest is our apology."
The woman caught the money and, after a moment's hesitation, the anger on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a wide, toothy grin as she counted the bills. "Oh my, young people these days are so considerate!"
"You just keep going! Keep going! Play as much as you want! You can tear down the whole wall for all I care."
Watching the woman close the window and disappear, Robin looked at Nami and shook her head helplessly. "You gave her too much."
Even in a big city like Water 7, with its high prices, it would have only cost sixty or seventy thousand Berries at most to repair that wall.
"It's just a little bit of money, who cares!" Nami said with a grin, waving her hand dismissively. "We did cause her trouble, didn't we? So what if I gave her a little extra? Anyway, once we sell that treasure, we'll have a few hundred million more Berries."
What's my brother's is hers.
Money is no object. Who cares about a few hundred thousand Berries?
…
Meanwhile, hundreds of meters away, in a dark alley.
Thump!
Blueno fell from the air, crashing to the ground. A searing pain shot through his body, and he couldn't help but let out a grunt.
"Dammit…"
He gritted his teeth and clutched his wound, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He looked around and, after confirming that no one had seen him, he quickly assessed his situation.
He couldn't go back to his tavern.
Although he had been wearing a mask, his voice and his build had probably already given him away.
So, he could only go to that place.
"I have to inform Lucci immediately!"
Blueno staggered to his feet, clutching his chest, and limped into the depths of the alley.
"Nico Robin… and her comrades… who in the world are these people?!"
…
Galley-La Company.
Across from the entrance to Dock One, in a small, dusty room that hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
This was the secret meeting place that the CP9 agents who were undercover in Water 7 had originally purchased.
But after Blueno had opened his tavern, their meeting place had naturally moved there, and this place had been gradually abandoned.
At this moment, Blueno, wearing a mask, was sitting anxiously behind a table. He had finally arrived.
—Lucci pushed open the door and entered, the white pigeon that had been with him for nearly twenty years perched on his shoulder.
He looked no different than usual, still wearing his shipwright's uniform, but his eyes were cold, and he exuded a dangerous aura.
"Hey, Blueno," it wasn't Lucci who spoke, but the pigeon on his shoulder, which had its wings on its hips. "You look… terrible."
Blueno gave a bitter smile and took off his mask, revealing his pale, pained face. "I'm sorry, Lucci… the mission failed."
"Where are Kaku and Kalifa?" the pigeon asked, its brow furrowed as it looked at the wound on his chest.
"They've been captured," Blueno said, gritting his teeth. "Those two girls… they're strong. Much stronger than we expected. I only managed to escape because of my Devil Fruit ability."
Lucci was silent for a moment. He walked to the window and looked down at the bustling shipyard.
The pigeon, on the other hand, stroked its chin with its wing and looked at Blueno. "Tell me everything."
Blueno nodded and, taking a deep breath, he recounted the entire incident.
From Robin's unusual reaction to Nojiko shattering his Iron Body with a single punch, and the strange injuries on Kaku and Kalifa…
"Logia users?!"
Lucci finally spoke, turning around, a look of surprise in his eyes. "And two of them at once?"
"That's what they claimed. And that's the only way to explain why Kaku and Kalifa's physical arts couldn't even scratch them," Blueno said with a bitter smile. "And they're also very familiar with the Six Powers, even more proficient than we are…"
Lucci's fingers tapped on the windowsill as he fell into thought.
"Nico Robin…" he murmured. "When did she get comrades like this?"
"Lucci," Blueno said, hesitating for a moment. "What do we do now? I think… we might have messed with the wrong people."
"Oh?"
Lucci glanced at him. "You're scared?"
"Not of them!"
Blueno shook his head. "But if their ordinary crew members are that strong, what kind of person is their captain? When you think about it, it's very unsettling. There's probably some powerhouse behind them that we can't possibly fight."
"Is that so? Interesting… you're right about that,"
Lucci said, his expression still calm. He took out a large stack of wanted posters from his coat and tossed them over.
"This is all the wanted posters from this year. The ones at the bottom seem to match the two you're talking about. Take a look for yourself."
Blueno was taken aback and quickly began to flip through them.
In a short while, he found the two girls who had left such a deep impression on him.
WINTER'S FIST, NOJIKO. BOUNTY: 130 MILLION BERRIES.
ORANGE-HAIR, NAMI. BOUNTY: 80,000 BERRIES.
"So they're not nobodies after all…"
Blueno's face was grim. "130 million Berries… that's the bounty of a Supernova captain. And the other one's bounty is a full 80,000… wait, 80,000 Berries??"
He stared at it again, and he hadn't miscounted. There were only four zeros.
A powerhouse who could easily defeat Kalifa has a bounty of only 80,000?
Blueno was stunned.
"This pirate crew also has a pet, a user of the Flame-Flame Fruit, with a bounty of 100 million,"
Lucci said, shaking his head slightly. "It seems those idiots in the Marine intelligence department got their information wrong and made a huge mistake."
How absurd.
Before Blueno could recover, he heard Lucci's calm voice again. "But more importantly, you should take a look at who the captain of this crew is…"
He reached out two fingers, pulled a wanted poster from the back of the stack, and placed it on top.
Blueno instinctively looked down, and his pupils constricted—
TACHI SWORDSMAN, SHANE. BOUNTY: 1 BILLION BERRIES…
It's him!
Blueno's throat tightened, his voice becoming raspy. He stared at the photo of the black-haired young man on the wanted poster, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Nico Robin's new captain… is this man?!!"
"Now you understand why the Devil Child is so fearless,"
Lucci's gaze was distant. "With a big shot like that backing her, forget us, CP9, even that mysterious and powerful organization, CP0, wouldn't dare to provoke her…"
"Then what do we do?"
Blueno was panicked. "It's basically impossible to snatch Nico Robin from a monster like that. But Kaku and Kalifa are still in their hands. We can't just abandon them…"
"The lives of those two are of no consequence,"
Lucci said, his face cold, but a savage grin spread across his lips. "But on the other hand, Blueno, don't you think…"
"...a pirate with a billion-Berry bounty is worth killing!"
A cold, murderous intent filled the air, and the temperature in the secret room seemed to drop.
"Huh?"
Blueno's mouth hung open. He looked up, completely taken aback by what Lucci had just said. "The two of us… go… go and kill that Shane?"
"That's right."
Lucci's gaze was as sharp as a blade. He slowly stood up, and the white pigeon on his shoulder also put on a pair of sunglasses, striking a dignified pose.
"Don't forget, CP9's mission has never been just to capture Nico Robin or to obtain those blueprints."
His voice was low, filled with an undeniable pressure. "Any threat to the World Government, anyone who dares to challenge justice, is our target."
That may be true, but isn't this target a little too ambitious…
Blueno swallowed hard. "Lucci, that's a monster with a bounty of a billion! Even the Warlords couldn't do anything to him! How can we possibly—"
"You fool,"
Lucci cut him off coldly, a look of contempt in his eyes.
"Are we the same as those pirates who only know how to use brute force?"
He raised a hand and gently tapped his head. "Don't forget, we are the secret agents of CP9. We don't always have to rely on a head-on clash."
Blueno was taken aback. "What do you mean…"
"As long as you can find a weakness, even the strongest prey will fall to the hunter's gun,"
Lucci's gaze was icy. "This man named Shane is a world-renowned master swordsman. To every swordsman, their sword is as important as their own life. But… what if he loses his sword?"
Blueno's gaze instinctively shifted to the wanted poster.
"You see that? The tachi that's always with him,"
Lucci said, staring at Blueno, his voice low and deliberate. "Remember, your target is that sword."
"When we find that man, if he's alone, I'll go up and distract him. Then, you will use your Door-Door Fruit ability to snatch the sword from him from behind and take it to the other side of the door."
"And after that, it will be my turn to shine."
Lucci glanced at the seemingly not-so-strong young man on the wanted poster. He rolled his neck slightly, and a series of pops echoed in the air. "A swordsman without a sword is like a tiger with its teeth pulled. Even with all his skills, he won't be able to use them."
"And I will use my peak-level physical arts to show this guy just how big the gap is between him and me in a pure physical confrontation!"
Blueno was still hesitant.
Lucci was right. A swordsman without his sword would be greatly weakened.
But… he was a monster with a bounty of a billion!
"But… what if we fail?" Blueno couldn't help but ask. "Just the two of us is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Maybe we should ask Spandam for supp—"
"There is no 'what if',"
Lucci cut him off coldly, a look of disgust on his face at the mention of that name. "Who do you think I am? Am I as incompetent as you?"
A bounty of a billion Berries is indeed impressive.
But he was no pushover either.
He was Rob Lucci!
The most cold-blooded killing machine in the history of CP9, the strongest in Enies Lobby in 800 years!!!
If he could eliminate such a major threat to the World Government…
His prestige in Enies Lobby would undoubtedly rise to a new level.
He might even be recalled and no longer have to be in charge of this boring and tedious mission to find Pluton.
Instead, he might even be promoted to the legendary and powerful CP0!
At this thought, Lucci's gaze grew even more resolute.
Now that the plan had been made, with his personality, he would not turn back!
For the sake of protecting justice.
Even if there were some risks, they could be completely ignored!
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