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Chapter 70 is out!!!! +40 advanced chapters monthly
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"Yes, your proposal is excellent!" Fleet Admiral Sengoku clapped a hand onto the Major's shoulder, his face full of genuine appreciation.
"Thank you for the praise, sir!" The Major instantly felt a warm glow spread through his body, as if a boundless surge of energy had just awakened within him.
"A Certificate of Honor... why didn't I think of that? Heh, it seems I really am getting old!" Sengoku chuckled as he sat back down at his desk. At that moment, he didn't look anything like the stern, imposing Supreme Commander of the Marines.
"Bwahahaha! Sengoku, did you hear? That brat Hakusui did a beautiful job!"
Just then, the office doors burst open. Vice Admiral Garp swaggered in, casually clutching a large bag of rice crackers. He plopped himself down on the sofa across from Sengoku, a grin stretching from ear to ear. "How about it? I didn't lie to you, did I? I told you that kid was a monster, but you didn't believe me back then. I bet you believe me now!"
"Hmph. Garp, you've finally managed to do something semi-normal for once. What, done visiting your grandson?" Sengoku replied without even looking up, his pen flying rapidly as he signed document after document.
"So, how do you plan on rewarding Hakusui and T-Bone?" Garp asked, his expression turning slightly more serious as he loudly crunched on a cracker. "I'm really curious to see what you'll offer Hakusui. That kid is the pragmatic type—he won't lift a finger unless there's a solid reward on the table. Satisfying his appetite won't be easy!"
(It seemed Luffy's habit of talking while chewing his food was strictly genetic.)
"I've already figured it out. Take a look and tell me if this will keep him satisfied," Sengoku said, sliding the newly drafted proposal over to his old friend.
"Oho! As expected of you, Sengoku, you've thought of everything. Yeah, with this, that brat won't have a single thing to complain about!" Garp's eyebrows shot up in pleasant surprise, nodding in approval.
"Good. If even you think it's fine, then my mind is at ease," Sengoku said, taking the folder back and diving straight into his mountain of paperwork.
Meanwhile, out on the open sea.
Hakusui and his Marine escort had run into an obstacle. Someone was blocking their path, forcing their ship to drop anchor.
"Who are you?! Why are you blocking our ship? If you don't give us a reasonable explanation right now, don't blame us for showing no mercy!" T-Bone stood at the bow of the ship, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword. Killing intent radiated from him; he was ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"You are no match for me. I'm here for him."
The intruder completely ignored the furious Marine Captain. Instead, his cold eyes were locked dead onto Hakusui, who was standing just behind T-Bone. His arrogant demeanor was practically begging for a beating.
"Why, you arrogant bastard...!" T-Bone roared. Just as he was about to lunge forward and teach this insolent man a lesson, a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He looked back to see Hakusui holding him back.
"Hakusui? What are you doing?" T-Bone asked, utterly confused as to why he was being stopped.
"T-Bone, he's with the World Government. You can't attack him," Hakusui explained calmly.
"What?! He's a World Government agent?!" T-Bone gasped in shock.
Hakusui chuckled and stepped up to the bow. He looked at the man and began his introduction. "His name is Rob Lucci. He belongs to CP9, a secret intelligence agency under the World Government. He's their captain, widely known as the strongest agent in CP9's eight-hundred-year history."
Hakusui continued, his voice echoing across the water. "He's a fanatic of 'Dark Justice' and a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user who ate the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard. In Enies Lobby, he's known as the ultimate, cold-blooded killing machine!"
"Who the hell are you, and how do you know so much about me?!"
Hearing Hakusui lay out his entire profile, Lucci's pupils contracted to pinpricks. His muscles tensed like coiled springs, and his tone instantly turned violently hostile.
---
Hakusui couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What, is the great Rob Lucci the only one allowed to investigate people? Is the rest of the world supposed to turn a blind eye to you?"
"Besides, do you really think it's that hard to dig up info on you? I certainly didn't find it difficult! As for who I am, don't worry your head about it. I'm not a threat to your precious World Government," Hakusui waved his hand dismissively, looking thoroughly annoyed, as if swatting away a persistent fly. "If you don't have any actual business with us, step aside. We have important places to be, and you're holding us up!"
"Fine. Since you know exactly who I am, you should also know why I'm here," Lucci replied. Surprisingly, he didn't press the issue of the information leak, instead pivoting straight to his objective. "I heard you captured that man. I want you to fight me. I want to see exactly how vast the gap is between him and myself!"
"I'm genuinely curious," Hakusui raised an eyebrow. "What does my capturing Torsen the Sabertooth Tiger have to do with you wanting to fight me?"
What connection could Lucci possibly have with Torsen?
"He was the former CP9 Captain Candidate," Lucci stated coldly. "As the current CP9 Captain, I need to know exactly how I measure up to my predecessors."
"Fair enough. Your logic checks out. Pick the spot," Hakusui agreed with a smile, instantly understanding the assassin's competitive drive.
Truthfully, Hakusui wanted to fight, too. He was eager to test exactly how strong Rob Lucci—the man who would eventually push Luffy to his absolute limits—was right now. In the original timeline, Luffy's bounty skyrocketed to 300 million Berries after defeating him. That meant Lucci's combat prowess was easily worth a 250 million bounty. Even though the canon storyline was still five years away, Lucci had to be worth at least 100 million right now.
"I've already secured a location. Follow me," Lucci said, turning away as if he had known all along that Hakusui wouldn't refuse.
"Looks like you had me figured out from the start," Hakusui sighed with a wry smile. Being read like an open book wasn't a great feeling.
Gana Island.
Located roughly thirty-two miles from Marine Headquarters, it was a tiny impact island barely two kilometers wide. A particularly aggressive high tide could probably swallow it whole.
Upon stepping ashore, Hakusui realized it wasn't just Lucci who had come. The entire CP9 roster was present. Standing off to the side was a World Government official in a crisp black suit with a pale, emotionless face, clearly acting as the referee.
"Begin!" the official barked. His voice was so unnervingly cold it could make a man shiver.
"Soru!" (Shave)
The instant the match started, Lucci transformed into his Leopard-Human hybrid form and vanished from his spot with a sharp whoosh.
"Shigan!" (Finger Pistol)
Lucci materialized directly behind Hakusui, spinning with lethal grace. His finger, radiating an aura as sharp as a finely honed blade, thrust violently toward Hakusui's back.
Clang!
His finger was abruptly halted by a faint, translucent barrier.
"Light Particle Volley!"
Hakusui raised his left hand like a pistol, firing a blinding barrage of glowing energy spheres. Lucci's expression twitched, and he hastily lunged to the side to evade the blast.
"Light Particle Cannon!"
Seeing Lucci dodge, Hakusui dropped his left hand and raised his right, unleashing a massive, roaring beam of compressed light that ripped through the air, chasing Lucci's retreating form.
"He's fast!" Kaku, the long-nosed agent, muttered, his eyes narrowing sharply.
"No wonder Lucci wanted to challenge him," Kalifa noted, pushing up her glasses. She finally understood why their Captain had gone out of his way to fight a boy nearly ten years his junior.
Hakusui had the raw power to make it worth his while.
---
The speed of the Light Particle Cannon was simply too fast. Unable to completely dodge the blast, Lucci was forced to brace himself.
"Tekkai!" (Iron Body)
He hardened his muscles to their absolute limit, taking the brunt of the explosive energy head-on.
"Gah!"
The moment the attack connected, Lucci's face contorted in agony, and he hacked up a mouthful of blood.
"Lucci, I'm sure your instructors taught you never to lose focus in the middle of a battle, right?"
Hakusui's voice drifted into Lucci's ear. He had appeared right behind the assassin, his left hand shaped like a gun, aiming point-blank at the back of Lucci's head. He pulled the invisible trigger.
"Kami-e!" (Paper Art)
In the split second Hakusui fired, Lucci moved. His massive frame suddenly became completely weightless, fluttering wildly like a leaf caught in a chaotic wind. Moving with unpredictable, erratic fluidity, he managed to weave through Hakusui's barrage entirely unscathed.
But was Hakusui the kind of opponent who gave up after one missed shot?
Absolutely not!
"Light Particle Kick!"
Hakusui's right leg suddenly erupted in blinding light as he delivered a devastating roundhouse kick square into Lucci's side.
CRACK! The sickening sound of shattering bone echoed across the island. Lucci was launched backward like a cannonball, smashing violently into a distant cliff face.
BOOM!
The impact generated a massive shockwave. The observing CP9 agents threw their arms up to shield their faces from the blinding dust and violent gales, but they couldn't hide the absolute shock in their eyes.
Lucci—the undisputed strongest among them—had been forced onto the defensive almost immediately.
"Light Particle Cannon!"
Hakusui's voice rang out again. A searing beam of pure energy pierced through the dust cloud, shooting toward the cratered cliff at lightning speed.
"Rokushiki Secret Technique: Rokuogan!" (Six King Gun)
Faced with the incoming beam, Lucci gritted his fangs. He brought both fists together, clenching every muscle and bone in his body, before releasing a terrifying, invisible shockwave from his knuckles that collided head-on with the light cannon.
BOOM!!
For a fraction of a second, the world went completely white. Everyone present was momentarily blinded, but their bodies screamed with a primal sense of danger. Even Hakusui wasn't immune to the sheer force of the collision.
The entire island shuddered violently, throwing everyone off balance.
Then came the deafening CRACK of the earth splitting apart. Massive fissures, thick as a man's arm, tore across the ground. The shockwave ripped outward, violently pushing the ocean waters away and kicking up a towering tsunami in the distance.
"Cough... cough!"
When the dust began to settle, Hakusui emerged, looking a bit disheveled and covered in dirt, but completely uninjured.
"Cough! Cough!"
From the other side of the crater, another string of coughs echoed. However, unlike Hakusui, Lucci's coughs sounded distinctly ragged and weak.
"Rankyaku: Gaicho!" (Tempest Kick: Victorious Bird)
But if anyone thought Rob Lucci was down for the count, they were dead wrong.
A massive, azure-blue shockwave shaped like a bird of prey tore through the settling dust, screeching toward Hakusui with enough lethal force to make his heart skip a beat.
"Light Particle Volley!"
Hakusui raised his left hand, rapid-firing a swarm of light projectiles to offset the massive air blade through sheer volume.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A series of deafening explosions rocked the small island. The winds howled wildly, but the chaotic weather did nothing to dampen the sheer, boiling excitement radiating from the two combatants.
"Soru!"
Lucci vanished into a blur, instantly reappearing right in front of Hakusui. His index fingers were extended and slightly bent. His arms became a storm of afterimages as he unleashed a frantic, high-speed barrage. The sheer density of the attack triggered Hakusui's danger instincts.
"Light Particle Barrier!"
Hakusui threw up a translucent shield of hard light just in time. Lucci's furious storm of finger strikes rained down upon the barrier like a torrential downpour.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!
The rapid impacts created a sound so harsh and ear-piercing that it physically hurt. Kaku, Jabra, and the zipper-mouthed Fukuro all winced in pain, clapping their hands over their ears. As trained assassins, their senses were highly attuned, making the high-frequency screech absolute torture to listen to.
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