A small sailing ship was currently cruising near the 16th Branch.
On the deck...
"Tell me, Jabra, when the incident happened at Enies Lobby, you were on standby there. How on earth did you manage to escape?"
"Come to think of it, wasn't your room located exactly beneath the Director's office?"
"I heard that the attack blew your room away along with everything else!" Kalifa asked suddenly.
"What's there to ask? I just happened to be away from the Judicial Tower at the time," Jabra replied, looking irritated.
Just then, Fukuro, standing nearby, suddenly pulled open the zipper on his mouth.
"Chababa! Jabra had his eye on a restaurant waitress named Catherine recently. He happened to run off to confess his love that day, so he wasn't in the Judicial Tower!"
If Sean were here, he would have certainly quipped that the zipper on Fukuro's mouth was completely pointless.
"Catherine? The waitress at the restaurant?"
"Wait, could it be that..."
Suddenly remembering something, Kalifa's eyes widened.
After all, this Catherine was quite famous on Enies Lobby—she even had a nickname.
The Ugliest Woman on Enies Lobby?
Jabra confessed to 'her'?
In an instant, the expressions of everyone on the ship, except for Jabra and Fukuro, became incredibly strange.
Jabra's taste in women was... truly unique.
"By the way, I escaped as well because I was stalking Jabra to peep at the confession scene, chababa!"
"Fukuro, you bastard!!!"
"Chababa! My mouth slipped!!"
As he spoke, Fukuro quickly pulled the zipper on his mouth shut again.
Beside him, the others gave Jabra a series of thumbs-up.
What a brave man!
"Right, I heard Lucci is at the 16th Branch serving as a subordinate to that Sean. What do you all think?"
"What's there to think? That waste Lucci is actually serving as someone's subordinate; he's completely disgraced CP9!" Jabra replied with utter disdain.
For a long time, he had regarded Lucci as his greatest rival. To think this guy had gone to be a subordinate to a Marine Commodore?
Embarrassing. Absolutely embarrassing!
"Jabra, don't underestimate this Commodore. From what I know, in terms of strength, he is at least at the level of an elite Vice Admiral."
"Furthermore, although the Marine and Director Spandam blocked the news, I managed to find some information. Sean defeated Lucci in a direct confrontation, and more importantly, he didn't even seem to use his full strength!"
"Moreover, think about it carefully. Why did Director Spandam meet his downfall, and why did the World Government subsequently order us to take up posts at the 16th Branch?"
"I suspect that Sean's identity is just as extraordinary as his strength."
Kaku, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
Hearing his words, the rest of the group fell silent.
Indeed, the way they were being handled this time was completely illogical, no matter how you looked at it.
What kind of place was the East Blue, and what were the Marine branches there like? As intelligence agents, how could they not know?
A man like Sean Campbell, with the strength of an elite Vice Admiral, paired with Lucci, who had the strength of a Vice Admiral, and now adding the rest of them...
Such combat power was absolutely overkill for the East Blue. Forget the East Blue; even in the Grand Line, this would be more than enough high-end combat power to establish a G-series Marine base.
"Regardless, let's just wait until we arrive and hear what Lucci has to say," one of them suggested.
"Yeah, it's pointless to overthink it now."
They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
'''
Two hours later.
The six of them appeared in Sean's temporary office.
"I know you are all confused. To be honest, I'm quite confused about your arrival as well!"
"But that's not important!!"
"Since you've come here, you are no longer members of CP9. You are now Marines of my 16th Branch."
"I've already discussed this with Lucci. We will establish a new intelligence department within the 16th Branch, which Lucci will manage for the time being. The primary members will be Kalifa, Blueno, Fukuro, and Kumadori."
"As for Kaku and Jabra, you two will enter the 16th Branch's combat sequence. Each of you will be assigned a squadron of Marines and a medium-sized warship. Your sole mission is to annihilate pirates!"
"Any questions?"
Upon hearing that they would still be doing their old jobs and that their direct superior was Lucci, Kalifa and the other three breathed a slight sigh of relief.
They naturally had no objections to such an arrangement. After all, this was far better than staying in CP9 and being commanded by a waste like Spandam.
In truth, aside from Jabra, everyone in CP9 viewed Lucci as their leader. After all, Lucci was still young, while Jabra was already in his thirties with his strength fully matured. At this moment, the gap between Jabra and Lucci's strength wasn't actually that large, which was why he viewed him as a rival.
As for three years later in the original story... Jabra's rival would shift from Lucci to Kaku. With a difference of double the Doriki, he simply stood no chance.
However, Kaku and Jabra were somewhat surprised by their assignments.
"Wait, Commodore Sean, we are intelligence agents. Our specialty is assassination. You want us to lead troops?"
"Do you think your strength is insufficient, or your capabilities?"
"That's not the issue! It's about professionalism! This isn't our field!!!"
"Enough. Get one thing straight: you are no longer CP9; you are Marines. Even if I'm letting Lucci build an intelligence agency for the branch, we won't be doing any assassinations."
"This..."
The group was stunned.
An intelligence department that doesn't do assassinations? Could it even be called an intelligence department? After all, CP9's primary specialty was assassination; gathering intelligence was merely a side job.
"Right, I heard that you, including Lucci, were previously responsible for the mission involving the Pluton blueprints in Water 7?"
The six of them simultaneously snapped their heads to look at Lucci.
This was a top-secret mission of the World Government. How did Sean know about it? Did Lucci tell him?
Seeing this, Lucci shook his head slightly in denial.
"Stop looking at Lucci; he has nothing to do with this. I have my own sources of information."
"Kalifa, was Iceburg difficult to deal with?" Sean looked at the tall and curvaceous Kalifa and asked with a smile.
"Commodore, this is sexual harassment!"
"How is this sexual harassment...?"
Sean was momentarily stunned.
'I didn't even do anything, did I?'
"Enough, Kalifa. Answer Commodore Sean's question!" Lucci interjected from the side.
This specific way of speaking was a persona Kalifa had adopted during their mission in Water 7. Over time, it had almost become a genuine habit, and as such, it had slipped out instinctively.
Snapped back to reality by Lucci's reminder, Kalifa composed herself.
"It's true. Iceburg is difficult to handle," Kalifa said with a nod. "He is meticulous in everything he says and does; it's impossible to find a single opening."
"Lucci, since I've placed the intelligence department in your hands, I'll give you your first mission," Sean stated.
"What is the mission?"
"There is a man named Franky in Water 7. You should be familiar with him, right?"
"I am. He was one of our previous surveillance targets."
"Indeed. Franky is actually a cyborg. He has modified most of his body with machinery, and the blueprints for Pluton are hidden within a secret compartment in his abdomen!"
"What?"
Everyone present was shocked by the revelation.
"Go to Water 7 and find Franky. However, do not kill him. Retrieve the Pluton blueprints without him ever realizing they've been taken. Can you do that?"
"No problem. But what should we do with the blueprints once we have them? Should we bring them back to the 16th Branch or hand them directly to the World Government?"
"Destroy them immediately. That thing brings nothing but harm to the world!"
In truth, this was a test Sean was setting for Lucci. He wanted to see if Lucci would strictly follow his orders or if he would feel compelled to report the matter to the World Government.
Even if Lucci chose the latter, it wouldn't be a major issue for Sean. After all, Sean's objective was global stability; destroying the blueprints was for the greater good, not for personal gain.
Now, did Sean have no interest in Pluton?
Of course he did.
But...
The world was still in the era of flintlocks, smoothbore cannons, and sailing ships. Did he really think someone could actually build Pluton just because they had the blueprints?
Don't make me laugh.
Even with Vegapunk around, it was unlikely the weapon could be constructed within ten years. Therefore, Sean didn't particularly care whether the blueprints fell into the hands of the World Government.
The most important thing was that a physical Pluton already existed somewhere in the world.
So, why bother with blueprints that were essentially useless in the current age? Using the mission as a way to test Lucci's loyalty was a far better idea.