"Idiot. Look at the mess you caused with those words. You ruined Captain's plan, so you go take the lead."
"Hey, hey, hey! This isn't the time for jokes! Aren't we comrades? No matter how you look at it, this is something we should face together, right?"
Seeing that the other CP9 members really looked like they were about to retreat, the CP9 agent who had just thought he'd had a flash of inspiration instantly panicked.
He knew very well that in a 1v1, let alone himself, even their Captain wouldn't be a match for this Lunarian.
The innate talents of this race could only be described as monstrous: absurd defensive power, mastery over flames, and the ability to switch between speed and defense; each of them rivaling a Devil Fruit user.
According to the intelligence, this Lunarian had previously been surrounded and hunted by CP0 as well, but she broke out while sustaining injuries. It was only because those CP0 agents lacked a Devil Fruit ability suited for tracking, unlike their Captain, that the Lunarian managed to escape.
At first, CP9 had also tried to forcefully surround her, but the target still broke through the encirclement. During that process, however, the Mark-Mark Fruit had managed to place a mark on her, which was how this plan to wear down her stamina and capture her alive came into being.
Although objectively speaking, the opponent was already at her limit, a cornered beast will still fight.
She was clearly ready to drag someone down with them. If he went in first, he probably wouldn't even leave ashes behind.
"Captain, it's me. The situation's changed. That big-mouthed Barlow spilled your Devil Fruit ability, and now that woman is getting ready to fight to the death… All right, I understand."
The CP9 member beside him didn't pay him any mind, instead turning to call the CP9 captain to report the current situation. In the end, he received instructions to wait for reinforcements and to move up the capture plan.
As for the punishment for that big-mouthed Barlow, that could wait until they got back.
For the sake of loyalty, these CP9 agents had all been raised by the World Government from a young age. They had trained since childhood on an island called Guanhao.
Generally speaking, a formal CP9 team was made up of agents from roughly the same training cohorts. They had some personal ties with one another; even if they didn't always get along in daily life, they wouldn't stab each other in the back during missions.
"Reinforcements are on the way. Until they get here, we'll have to rely on ourselves."
On the World Government ship in the distance, aside from the essential crew needed to keep the ship moving, all agents who had mastered Geppo and possessed some combat ability had already been thrown out by the CP9 captain using his Devil Fruit ability.
With just a bit more flight time, they would reach this area.
"But this won't just blow over so easily. You just wait to be punished!"
"Sure, sure… Tekkai! Hey! Why are you attacking me first?! Since I was the one who told you that information, no matter how you look at it, you should be attacking them first!"
Before Barlow could finish speaking, the Lunarian who had been preparing something just moments ago had already rushed over. The flames on her back had long since gone out, and her speed had reached its absolute limit.
The blade in her hand came down straight at Barlow's head. Even with Tekkai for defense, it still left a wound so deep on Barlow's arm that bone was visible.
"Damn it, she's already in this state, but she's still so powerful…"
At this moment, Barlow felt genuine fear from the bottom of his heart. If the opponent were in even slightly better condition, or if he'd activated Tekkai a moment later, he might have been cut clean in half.
They say Tekkai comes with a kind of self-hypnosis, making the user fall under the illusion of "I can block this," only to end up as nothing more than background scenery.
But if he didn't use Tekkai, he might not even leave behind an intact corpse.
[Blazing Phoenix • Chaotic Feathers!]
Several slashes carrying searing flames followed immediately, cutting toward Barlow.
At this moment, Barlow was utterly confused. He couldn't understand why, with so many people chasing the target together, he was the one being singled out.
Was it really just because he'd said a couple of extra words?
"Don't just stand there staring. Help me!"
The wound on his arm was still there. Even though he had used the Seimei Kikan technique to control his muscles and blood vessels to stop the bleeding, he no longer dared to directly take the opponent's attacks head-on.
This was a special body technique that allowed extremely fine control over every part of the body, enabling all sorts of feats.
For example, extending one's hair to use it as a weapon, shifting internal organs to avoid attacks, rapidly digesting food to recover stamina, and so on.
Emergency hemostasis was one of the most commonly used techniques.
Although Geppo allowed humans to fight in midair, compared to true wings capable of flight, it still fell far short. Seeing this, Barlow immediately fled in a sorry state, calling out to the others for help.
But the opponent seemed completely unhinged. Even when forcibly taking attacks from the others, she relied solely on her racial talents to endure them, then continued her assault on Barlow.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several sharp sounds tore through the air. From the distant horizon, two shuriken came flying at high speed.
They were weapons thrown by the CP9 captain using his Devil Fruit ability. Though they were also thrown via the Mark-Mark Fruit's power, their flight speed still followed certain physical laws.
These shuriken were clearly much faster than a person. During the earlier pursuit, weapons like these would occasionally come flying out of nowhere, leaving her with no chance to rest properly.
"Hahaha! It's Captain's ability. Backup will be here soon. Let's see what trouble you can stir up then!"
If the thrown weapons had already arrived, the other CP9 members wouldn't be far behind.
This made Barlow breathe a sigh of relief, but the Lunarian's actions were far beyond anything he expected.
This Lunarian did not ignite the flames on her back. Instead, she extinguished the last trace of flame, letting the two shuriken slam into her shoulders.
In that instant, her speed, which had just slowed, spiked once more.
"Tek—"
"Shhk!"
Before he could use Tekkai to defend himself, the flame-wreathed blade had already pierced straight through Barlow's heart. He never imagined that she would rather get injured just to kill him.
"You're insane… you didn't even defend against that attack. What are you going to do after this?"
"I never planned on leaving alive anyway. What does getting hurt matter? All I want now is to drag a few more people down with me. That's all."
As she spoke, she kicked Barlow away, letting his body fall into the sea. She pulled the two shuriken from her shoulders, then used the flames extending from her blade to stop the bleeding.
"So… who's next?"
The death of their comrade made the CP9 agents grieve, but the utterly crazed look in the Lunarian's eyes forced them to step backward involuntarily.
Reinforcements were about to arrive, and no one wanted to be targeted by this madwoman now and end up like Barlow.
"That big-mouthed Barlow… he really got what he deserved…"
At this moment, a sense of resentment also spread among the CP9 agents. If it weren't for Barlow's big mouth, the opponent might still have been desperately trying to escape, instead of entering this all-out, suicidal state.
Meanwhile, as the Lunarian selected her next target, entirely different thoughts ran through her mind.
[I'm sorry, Dad, Mom. I might have to break my promise. Living on… I probably can't do that anymore. In the end, I was just… not strong enough…]
Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 20 chapters on my pa*reon.