"Yes, yes… with CP9's strongest warrior breaking 4000 Doriki, and a future admiral striking 9000… truly, I can rest easy."
Spandam spoke with immense satisfaction.
"To think—five long years of infiltration in Water Seven, all for this moment. Truly, well done."
From beneath his desk, Spandam pulled out the same kind of treasure chest from which he had once offered Rengoku a Devil Fruit, continuing with a grin.
"With the capture of Nico Robin and Cutty Flam revealed to the world, praise will rain down upon you all—and, of course, my own promotion will come with it. That's why I have a gift for you."
Everyone suspected there was a Devil Fruit inside. Yet Spandam, savoring the moment, declared he wanted to first gaze upon the prisoners' faces.
"Bring in the criminals!"
"Yes, sir!"
Dragged in by government agents, Robin and Franky stood before him.
"Ha ha ha ha! What a delightful sight!"
Seeing their faces made Spandam erupt into laughter.
"The world may take time to recognize the full glory of this deed. But what I can say now is this: the old men of the World Government have grown senile. One cannot achieve results without sacrifice."
"We—we—are the ones burning our bodies for the sake of world peace! Yet fools like you, Cutty Flam, dare to stand in our way. You're begging for death—just like that fish-man back then."
"Don't you dare insult Tom, you bastard!! Tom gave his life to protect the blueprints—and it was because of scum like you!"
Fury overcame Franky. Even bound in chains, he lunged and sank his mechanized jaw into Spandam's head, shaking it violently. Such strength was impossible without extensive cybernetic modification.
"GYAAHHHH!! S-Somebody help me!!"
He screamed to his subordinates—but none moved. If anything, they seemed to relish the sight of his suffering.
Unable to watch further, Rengoku intervened, prying Spandam free from Franky's jaws.
"Aaaahhh!! My hair! My hair!!"
Whether by Franky's bite or Rengoku's force, a handful of Spandam's hair had been torn out from the root.
"Truly, CP9 is a cold-hearted organization," Rengoku muttered.
Neither Marines, nor aligned in justice—if not for their shared banner under the World Government, Rengoku might have struck both sides down.
And no matter what he said, CP9 no longer cared.
Their relationship with him had already soured.
In truth, it had never been genuine; he had been forced into this assignment by the Elders' decree.
"Compared to disobedient subordinates, the Marines make far better allies… damn it, my hair…"
In front of his men, Spandam openly belittled them, all while mourning his lost locks.
The coarse, raw sensation on his scalp—it wasn't hair broken at the shaft, but ripped out from the root.
"Cutty Flam, you son of a bitch!!"
Driven by rage, Spandam lashed out with a flying kick at Franky.
Franky could have fought back. But too many eyes were upon him. With Vice Admiral Rengoku present, he dared not resist.
This was the man who had crushed his reinforced steel arm—the same alloy used in icebreaker hulls—with nothing more than a palm strike. Franky had barely managed to repair it after the Sea Train incident. If he provoked Rengoku again, none of his modified body parts would survive intact.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Spandam's kicks did not hurt Franky physically, but as a human being, it was deeply humiliating.
"Tch. If I had known earlier that you still lived and held the blueprints, we would not have needed such a convoluted plan. We could have simply dredged up your old crimes and hauled you in then and there."
Wham! Wham!
As if still unsatisfied, Spandam stomped him a few more times before continuing.
"Your friend, Iceburg, was far more troublesome. To unify Water Seven's shipwrights under Galley-La and then approach the Government first, securing his status as their contractor… the old geezers may not have understood what it meant, but I did."
Finally, out of breath, Spandam shifted topics.
"Still… in the end, Lady Fortune smiled on me. From Admiral Aokiji himself, I learned Nico Robin had boarded a pirate ship bound for Water Seven. With that, I incorporated even the authority of a Buster Call into this operation. And the result—"
He thrust a hand toward Robin and Franky.
"Two triggers for the resurrection of the Ancient Weapons, both within my grasp! Now… now the victory is ours! Ha ha ha ha!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
His laughter rang with madness.
"Aokiji… why would he grant you the authority of a Buster Call…?"
"Don't you dare talk back to me, criminal!"
Irritated by Robin's questioning, Spandam suddenly lashed out with his fist.
Thud!
Rengoku did not stop him.
To him, the so-called Great Pirate Era unleashed by the Pirate King and the forbidden research carried out by Ohara's scholars—both were crimes of the same weight.
The Celestial Dragons were unnecessary parasites, yes. But the World Government itself… it was necessary. And the crimes it had outlawed as the highest offenses all shared one thing in common: they threatened the stability of the world.
To recklessly pursue such knowledge—even in the name of scholarship—at a time when the Great Pirate Era had just begun and piracy was at its height, was too suspicious to be dismissed.
Had Ohara been left unchecked, the world might well have been plunged into chaos, with countless lives lost.
Rengoku knew of the Ohara Incident.
It was tragedy. A massacre, including civilians, that could never be excused.
But as for the judgment of that atrocity—that belonged to Admiral Sakazuki. Even so, it did not erase Robin's crimes.
Especially what she had done in Alabasta.
"By the way," Spandam sneered, "I hear your comrades tried to storm in earlier, all to save the likes of you."
He laughed with a wild grin.
"Hah! As if they could possibly overcome the ten thousand men stationed here, or the giant gatekeepers! Every last one of them will be captured and executed! Hahaha!"
"W-What?!" Robin's eyes widened. "Wait! That wasn't the agreement! I surrendered myself to you on the condition that my comrades would be spared!"
Her desperate protest only made Rengoku shake his head.
Even if such a promise had been made, it would never be kept.
"How foolish," Spandam barked. "The condition was that the Straw Hats would leave Water Seven safely. And they did—every one of them. They sailed out alive, didn't they? But now, by invading Enies Lobby, they've committed yet another crime. Their capture and execution is inevitable!"
Yes. Robin's condition had only been that they would be released at Water Seven.
Not forever.
"To even think an agreement with a criminal would be binding is nonsense," Spandam continued. "We've already honored our part of the deal—they all left Water Seven unscathed. The pact is finished. All that remains is for you to be taken into custody!"
He stomped on Robin and Franky without restraint, venting his anger through his boots, before pausing to catch his breath. Then he turned to Rengoku.
"Let's ask the Marine here. Tell me, Vice Admiral Rengoku—does the Navy need honor when hunting pirates?"
"Pirates are evil," Rengoku answered flatly. "And in capturing them, there is no honor that must be kept."
Spandam's face lit up with glee. He grew even more frenzied.
"You see?! Even a Vice Admiral says so! The Navy itself conducts spycraft and infiltration to exterminate pirates! Compared to that, what we've done is too generous! Ha ha ha ha ha!!"
And in a twisted way, he was right.
From Franky's or the Straw Hats' perspective, it was betrayal.
But in truth, there was no honor owed to pirates.
Outlaws who forsake the law cannot cling to it when convenient. To expect such a right was delusion.
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