"No!"
The moment Kaku sensed something was terribly wrong, the pair of soft, boneless hands on his shoulders suddenly turned as hard as steel, tightening viciously around his neck.
"Bastard, get off!"
Kaku forced himself upright, holding his breath as he grabbed the attacker's hands with both of his own, attempting to throw her over his shoulder.
But her body felt weightless, fluttering like paper as he swung her around.
Even when he slammed her directly into the wall, the impact did nothing.
She wasn't normal.
She was a master of the Six Styles as well.
Kaku's heart sank.
And at that same moment, the sultry moans from the surrounding rooms transformed into sickening sounds—flesh being pierced, necks twisting, death carried out in every direction.
"This is bad… I'm going to suffocate…"
His face reddened and swelled as the steel-like grip tightened further.
Crack.
Kaku collapsed.
His head hung loosely as he stared, dead-eyed, at the cold, emotionless blonde beauty with a deceptively innocent face.
CP9 operative Kalifa.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, bowing politely to his corpse, "but if you don't die, then I will."
With that, she opened the door and disappeared into the corridor.
…
"Ah!!!"
Soaking wet, Kaku stood in the endless corridor again, frozen in shock.
Everything that had just happened felt like an illusion twisted into reality.
"What… what is going on?!"
His eyes darted across the countless doors, identical and stretching endlessly.
"Let me out! Let me out!"
He turned around—
Only to see the same corridor again.
Long, narrow, dim. Unchanging. Eternal.
…
"Oni Giri, Nine-Sword Style, Ashura, Dying World!"
In the real world, Zoro's three blades had only just grazed Kaku.
But Kaku's mind was already trapped deep inside a hell of endless death illusions. His Armament Haki had shattered, his Iron Body weakened.
Pfft!
Zoro's strike carved through him mercilessly.
Yet even the agony of a fatal wound could not pull Kaku from the nightmare.
Blood spilled onto the floor.
Kaku did not wake.
Zoro sheathed his sword, standing calmly.
Kaku did not wake.
Only after Zoro removed his bandana, turning slightly to face the defeated agent, did he speak:
"The foreman of Water Seven told me to tell you this—
you're all really fired this time."
The words struck deeper than any blade.
Kaku's eyes snapped open as he violently tore free from the illusion.
"Cough! Cough…"
He had no idea how many times he had died inside that hell.
Only that he had died too many times to count.
"I'm… back…"
His body reverted from his giraffe hybrid form as he collapsed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Has Barry made it to this island too…? Cough… What a shame…"
No one knew what he pitied.
His friendship with Barry?
Being fired?
Barry charging into Enies Lobby and possibly being erased by the World Government?
Or…
The fact that he hadn't died for real.
Maybe for weapons shaped since childhood by the World Government—
death was a kinder ending.
"Pity?"
Zoro looked down at the broken CP9 assassin and spoke coldly:
"You animals who don't act like humans… what's there to pity?"
"You sure have a sharp tongue…"
Kaku forced a weak smile and tossed a key stained with blood.
"You win… Take it. The feeling of dying… it's not so bad…"
Zoro picked up the key, face stern.
"You want to die? Then die. No one's stopping you."
"I can't…"
Kaku closed his eyes, voice trembling.
"Our lives… were never ours. They belong to the World Government. Even death is a luxury…"
"Then why don't you resist? You deserve whatever you get."
Zoro didn't comfort him. He simply turned and left the room.
"Resist…"
Kaku whispered the word repeatedly.
Everything he'd been taught since childhood—the World Government as justice, order, protection—spun chaotically in his mind.
Eventually, he fell unconscious.
…
Zoro continued searching until he sensed Usopp's presence and slid open a door.
"Usopp! You're alive—"
He stopped.
Even for someone with his mental fortitude, the scene was… stunning.
"Bastard! You ambushed me! You tricked me! You almost bit me to death!"
"Ow!! You long-nosed freak! I'm going to bite you! I'll bite you to death!!!"
Inside the room—
Jabra hung upside down, swinging helplessly as Usopp beat him repeatedly with a long braid.
A braid cut directly from Jabra's own head.
"Ow! Ow! Damn it! If you have guts—kill me! Agh!!"
He couldn't even resist.
A chunk of Sea Stone was chained around his ankle, draining all his strength and forcing him into complete helplessness. His Wolf Form from the Dog-Dog Fruit was sealed away instantly.
"Kill you? Dream on!"
Usopp whipped him harder, gritting his teeth.
The bastard had almost eaten him alive.
If he hadn't shot the Sea Stone chain at the perfect moment…
he would've become wolf food.
…
"This idiot actually won…"
Zoro exhaled in relief.
The moment he relaxed, his vision blurred and he nearly passed out.
…
"I win again."
Shirogai Yamikuro smiled calmly at the silent Aokiji, teasing:
"Admiral, you can't win even once? If this keeps going, I'll get numb from winning."
---
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