As time rewound slightly, Rob Lucci stayed behind to block the approaching Luffy, while under Rengoku's escort Spandam carried Nico Robin toward the Gates of Justice.
Spandam led the way, Robin walked in the middle, and Rengoku followed close behind her.
"Tch… and these so-called CP9 elites—while pirates have already invaded, what in the hell are they even doing?"
Grumbling about the "incompetence" of his subordinates and already imagining Luffy closing in, Spandam reached into his coat to pull out a transponder snail.
The golden transponder snail.
!!!
"Stop!"
The moment Rengoku saw it, he immediately drew his blade to cut down Spandam's hand before he could press it.
But with Robin standing between them, even Rengoku's flash-draw could not beat the twitching motion of Spandam's finger.
The golden transponder snail—the order for a Buster Call—was sent.
And so was Spandam's hand.
The flaming demon blade, Enrin Kitetsu, was in Rengoku's grasp. The instant Spandam pressed the golden snail, Rengoku's strike severed his hand clean off.
"Gyaaaahhh!! What are you doing, Vice Admiral Rengoku!!"
Unaware of what he had just triggered, blinded instead by the shock of his severed wrist cauterized by fire, Spandam screamed accusations at Rengoku.
"Shut your mouth!!"
Rengoku was furious.
"Do you even realize what you've just done?! You've called down a Buster Call! You've unleashed it upon Enies Lobby itself!"
He no longer cared to exchange words with Spandam.
The Buster Call—an indiscriminate bombardment that annihilates everything, civilian or otherwise, with no distinction of friend or foe.
It was the Navy's most ruthless tactic: stripping away any consideration for collateral damage, erasing entire nations in a storm of cannonfire.
Currently on Enies Lobby were over 10,100 souls—Marines, government agents, and pirates alike. In just thirty minutes, all of them would be wiped out under absolute firepower.
And if they died so meaninglessly, at least 30,000 grieving families would fall into despair and chaos. As a Vice Admiral of the Navy, Rengoku now bore the absolute duty to save every life he could.
He hauled Spandam upright, snatched a small transponder snail from his coat—one that broadcast across all of Enies Lobby—and opened a line.
"This is Vice Admiral Rengoku! To all personnel on Enies Lobby—cease all combat immediately and evacuate at once! The Buster Call has been activated!"
"I repeat! All hands on Enies Lobby are to end hostilities immediately and evacuate at once!"
"From this moment forward, Marine battleships will open indiscriminate bombardment upon Enies Lobby. These strikes will not distinguish between friend and foe! All living personnel must abandon Enies Lobby at once! Marines, pirates, government agents—all of you, evacuate immediately!"
"The responsibility for any escaped pirates will be mine alone, Vice Admiral Rengoku of Marine Headquarters! Survive first! This is a direct order from a Vice Admiral! Evacuate now! Move!!"
After several stern warnings and repeated orders for evacuation, Rengoku cut the transmission and looked back at Spandam.
That idiot… how had such a man ever become Director? It didn't matter anymore. What mattered was how to deal with the catastrophe of the Buster Call.
"Director Spandam, can you contact Headquarters right now and cancel the Buster Call?"
Unable to face his own mistake, Spandam instead babbled words laced with madness.
"What's the problem? The order's already sent! So what if it's a Buster Call? Isn't it perfect? To deliver Nico Robin safely to the World Government, I invoked it! Whatever happens, the pirates will all be annihilated! And since Robin must be captured alive, you, me, and she won't even be targeted by the bombardment! Why should we cancel it?"
"You've gone mad. Absolutely mad! To exterminate sixty pirates who invaded here, you're willing to bury ten thousand Marines stationed on Enies Lobby along with them?!"
"If it's for the sake of Justice, then it's a worthy price to pay!"
Spandam hadn't even realized the transponder snail was still active, broadcasting his psychotic ravings.
"Silence! That's not Justice! That's nothing more than a massacre for the sake of your own career!"
Enraged beyond restraint, Rengoku severed Spandam's remaining limbs on the spot.
"Gyaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"
"The only reason you still draw breath is because your father, the former Cipher Pol Director Spandine, still holds high office in the World Government. But maimed as you are, whether you even survive the Buster Call you've unleashed is another matter entirely!"
In truth, Rengoku wanted nothing more than to kill him. But the Gorosei's seal had tied him to "assist CP9's Director," and Spandine's influence still protected his useless son. So Rengoku left him crippled instead.
Now, with nothing but his torso twitching weakly on the ground, Spandam took one more blow—Rengoku's fist to the face—knocking him unconscious.
Then, pulling out his personal transponder snail, Rengoku opened a direct line to Marine Headquarters.
"This is Rengoku. Headquarters, do you read me?"
"Yes, this is HQ, we read you clearly! Please proceed!"
With the Buster Call already triggered, even Marine Headquarters went into full battle readiness, and all communications became instantaneous and frantic.
"Can the Buster Call just issued be canceled either by me or by the appointed Director?"
"I'm sorry, sir. The Buster Call can only be canceled by the Admiral who authorized it. It must be rescinded by the Admiral himself."
"Kuzan… Admiral Aokiji, is it?"
"Yes, that's correct!"
Rengoku could not understand what Admiral Kuzan—Aokiji—had been thinking when he entrusted Spandam with Buster Call authority. But now was no time to dwell on it.
"What is the status of the Vice Admirals and warships being prepared?"
"Ten battleships are ready! Five Vice Admirals are also scheduled to deploy from Headquarters immediately!"
"I am already present here at Enies Lobby. Exclude one Vice Admiral and two warships from that deployment!"
"Sir? Th-that's…"
When the operator hesitated, Rengoku raised his voice, letting his fury cut across the line.
"I said, of the five Vice Admirals, one post is already filled by me, stationed here at Enies Lobby! Exclude one Vice Admiral and two battleships accordingly! How many times must I repeat myself before you understand?!"
The communications officer could feel Rengoku's anger even through the transponder snail and hastily complied, sending the report upward. Soon after, official authorization returned.
"Authorization confirmed! Effective immediately, eight battleships and four Vice Admirals will be dispatched to Enies Lobby!"
"See that they arrive as slowly as possible."
Cutting the line, Rengoku stood in silence for a moment, torn between two paths: Should he escort Robin straight to the Gates of Justice? Or should he abandon Robin and focus entirely on evacuating the soldiers outside?
The answer came quickly. He seized Robin by the arm and pressed onward toward the Gates of Justice.
But he did not abandon the men outside. With the transponder snail he had seized from Spandam, Rengoku once again broadcast across all of Enies Lobby.
"The Buster Call has been activated! Everyone on Enies Lobby—immediately cease what you are doing and evacuate at once! I repeat: by the order of Director Spandam, the Buster Call has been activated! Everyone here must drop everything and evacuate immediately!"
"All responsibility for this mission will be borne entirely by me, Vice Admiral Rengoku of Marine Headquarters. Do not hesitate—just leave this place at once!"
The special currents linking Marine Headquarters and Enies Lobby meant the dispatched warships would arrive quickly. That gave Rengoku little time. He had to get every living soul out before the bombardment began.
"In the course of your evacuation, if you encounter pirate forces, do not engage unless they attack first! Your lives are what matter now! Anyone who selfishly pursues personal glory or obstructs others from escaping will be executed by my own blade, or else thrown into Impel Down! Move swiftly!"
"And to the pirates who hear me: if you think this is your chance to attack Marines or government agents—if you so much as lift a hand—then I swear I will personally lead a fleet to annihilate your forces down to the last man! Do not make that mistake! That is all!"
Rengoku had done all he could to ensure everyone in Enies Lobby had a chance to flee.
How many would escape, and how many would die, remained uncertain. But he had given every order possible to maximize survival.
With his commands delivered, Rengoku tightened his grip on Nico Robin and quickened his pace toward the Gates of Justice.
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