"Soul-Scattering... Iron Claw?"
Buggy stared with wide eyes, his jaw practically hitting the ground.
At the appearance of this technique, the reaction among the spectators was split.
Buggy looked like he had seen a ghost, his eyes popping out of his skull.
However, the other four—Ray, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji—wore confident, almost bored expressions.
The reason was simple.
Following their line of sight, Rob Lucci—the strongest assassin in CP9 history—was in a state of total ruin.
His left arm had been cleanly severed at the shoulder, sending a spray of blood into the air.
Three deep, jagged claw marks tore across his chest, shredding his suit and flesh alike.
Lucci's eyes were white.
The force of the attack had knocked him out instantly. He was forced out of his powerful leopard hybrid form, reverting to his human state as he plummeted like a broken doll from the sky.
THUD.
One claw.
One single attack had decided the outcome.
This scene nearly made two particular individuals scream with excitement—Chopper, who had just been rescued from the man-eating plant's mouth in the square below, and Usopp beside him.
"WHOA! Chouchou is so cool!" Chopper squealed, admiring the giant white dog with starry eyes.
"I really want to learn this move too! But... unfortunately, I have hooves, not claws."
Usopp was trembling with excitement, gripping his slingshot.
"That looked just like Inuyasha's skill!" Usopp yelled. "The power doesn't seem much different! Damn it, if I knew Chouchou could do that, I wouldn't have been running for my life earlier. I would have told him to tear that wolf to shreds immediately!"
...
On the hill, Buggy took a deep breath, blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"Tsk tsk," the clown clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "That claw attack just now... that would have torn a normal Marine Vice Admiral to pieces, right? Hey, Ray, did you teach that dog that move?"
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji also turned to look at Ray curiously.
Based on their experience, Ray should have been embarrassed at this moment.
However, Ray didn't give the response they expected.
He stood there, arms crossed, staring blankly at the fallen Lucci.
He muttered softly, as if talking to himself.
"Hmph. Such a crude claw attack."
Of course, internally, Ray was actually quite satisfied with Chouchou's performance.
When he saw the green energy of the Soul-Scattering Iron Claw, he felt a slight stir of amusement inside. It just didn't show on his face.
'Inuyasha's skill?' Ray thought to himself. 'It feels like the System deliberately did this. If it really wanted to tailor a skill for Chouchou, there was no need for it to specifically be that one!'
But Ray wasn't the type to obsess over every little doubt.
The cart will find its way around the hill when it gets there; everything will become clear in time.
Ignoring the noisy people around him, Ray stood out.
"Let's go," he said.
He kicked off the ground and flew toward the city government building.
The other four—Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and a grumbling Buggy—followed directly behind him.
...
The Mayor's Office
On the battlefield, silence had descended—mostly. Only one fight was still technically active.
Fukuro, the zipper-mouthed agent with the round body, was facing off against Franky.
But "fighting" was a generous word.
It was more of a beating.
Fukuro was completely at a disadvantage. Franky was now in perfect condition, his stomach fridge fully stocked with three bottles of fresh cola.
He had zero energy consumption and was running at maximum power.
"TEKKAI!" Fukuro shouted, hardening his round body into a ball of steel.
"Useless!" Franky roared.
At full combat power, Franky's heavy metal fists smashed through the defense.
He beat Fukuro until the agent spat blood.
Finally, Franky took a deep breath, his chest expanding.
"COUP DE VENT!"
A massive blast of compressed air exploded from Franky's hands.
It hit Fukuro point-blank, blasting him through three walls. The agent rolled across the floor, eyes spinning, and fell unconscious on the spot.
"SUUUUUUUUUUUUPER!" Franky posed, striking his signature star shape.
This battle, which could only be considered a warm-up for the Straw Hats, thus came to an end.
Everyone looked up as Ray flew toward them.
Nami and Robin straightened up, ready to greet him.
They had defeated CP9 agents solo; surely, they deserved some praise.
But to their shock, Ray didn't stop.
He flew right over their heads, ignoring them completely, and sped off into the distance toward the other side of the island.
Nami froze, her hand half-raised in a wave. Her eyebrow twitched.
"What is Ray doing?!" Nami stomped her foot, pouting indignantly. "He actually ignored me! I just fried a CP9 agent! I wanted a compliment!"
Robin also pursed her lips slightly, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Ray's retreating back.
She had stood up straight, brushed the dust off her clothes, and waited for a "well done." greeting.
But he just flew right over her head? Without even a single word of acknowledgment?
Both women snorted in displeasure, crossing their arms. But they didn't say anything more.
They knew Ray.
Including the others, everyone believed that when Ray took the initiative to do something suddenly, he must have discovered something important.
"Tie them up," Robin ordered, switching back to business mode.
Thus, they gathered the defeated CP9 members who were no longer in life-threatening condition—Kaku, Kumadori, Blueno, Kalifa, and Fukuro.
They bound them with heavy chains and dragged them to the middle of the square like sacks of potatoes.
As for Rob Lucci, he was on the verge of death.
His arm was gone, and his chest was a mess.
Chopper had to hurriedly administer a shot of adrenaline and perform emergency first aid just to keep him alive for questioning.
As for Jabra... his body was already growing cold in the swamp trap, so they left him on the ground to bask in the sun for the time being.
He wasn't going anywhere.
Two minutes later, Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Buggy arrived at the scene.
"Yo! Nice work, guys!" Luffy laughed.
Just as everyone was asking Luffy how he planned to deal with these prisoners, they heard Chouchou bark loudly.
"Master is back!"
That's right—Ray had returned.
Tied to the end of his glowing Light Whip was a pathetic figure.
It was a bloody, masked, sleazy man in a leather headpiece, being dragged across the concrete.
Additionally, Ray was carrying a heavy suitcase in his left hand, though no one knew what was inside.
...
Some time later, as the sky gradually darkened into twilight, the group moved to a secluded beach behind the Water 7 slum district.
Luffy and the others had made their decision regarding the prisoners.
All the CP9 agents still alive would be restrained with Seastone cuffs.
Nami volunteered to be responsible for tortu-.... administering real-time electric shocks every few minutes to prevent them from recovering their strength or waking up fully.
The purpose was simple: they were bargaining chips.
If the Marines tried anything funny tomorrow, the Straw Hats had hostages.
Whether it would be useful against a Buster Call was uncertain, but having more leverage couldn't hurt.
Ray didn't intervene in that decision.
Enemies of CP9's level no longer stirred any emotional response in him.
However, there was one exception.
Ray looked down at the masked sleazy man he had brought back: Spandam.
This man was filth.
His father, Spandine, had been the one who pushed the button for the Buster Call that annihilated Ohara twenty years ago.
Spandam himself was the mastermind behind the trap that led to the death of Franky's mentor, the legendary shipwright Tom.
Moreover, this weakling possessed the Golden Den Den Mushi—the trigger for the Buster Call tomorrow.
Ray's stance on Spandam was firm: he must be killed.
Of course, Ray still explained his thoughts to Luffy.
"He is too dangerous to keep alive," Ray said simply. "And he deserves it."
Naturally, Luffy didn't object.
"But first," Ray said, looking at the archaeologist and the shipwright. "Let Robin and Franky have a turn."
...
The waves lapped gently against the shore, contrasting with the grim atmosphere.
Robin and Franky stood side by side on the sand.
Ten meters ahead of them lay the sleazy man named Spandam, bound and gagged, trembling in terror.
As for the others, they were all by the seaside—sitting on rocks, leaning against cliffs, or lying on the grass.
Their gazes were fixed on the three people on the beach.
Everyone understood what was happening. The man named Spandam had reached the end of his life.
Yet, not a single person's eyes held any trace of sympathy.
After learning what this man had done—framing Tom, hunting Robin since she was a child, every one of them wished they could kill him themselves.
Especially Buggy.
The clown was shaking with rage.
When he found out this guy was responsible for Tom's death, he nearly dismembered him right there in the plaza.
Fortunately, Luffy had held him back.
Ray had only said one thing at the time: "Letting him die too quickly would be letting him off too easily. Let him feel fear first."
Buggy saw the logic in that.
So now, he stood beside Ray, his arms crossed, silently watching the brutal execution about to unfold.
Of course, Buggy was the type who couldn't keep his mouth shut when he was emotional.
"Hey, Ray," Buggy growled, his voice thick with anger. "I just had my crew buy dozens of piranhas. They're keeping them in the large aquarium on my ship. Let's throw this guy in there in a moment, then pull him out while he's still breathing. Rinse and repeat."
Ray glanced at him but didn't speak.
Buggy continued, his voice trembling. "Tom-san... he was the one who designed the Oro Jackson for Captain Roger. I remember him. He was a good man. He was proud of his work."
"He was arrested just because he built the Pirate King's ship!" Buggy shouted, kicking the sand. "But from start to finish, he never regretted it! He faced the court with his head held high!"
"Even though he made great contributions by creating the Sea Train! He could have used that to 'atone for his crimes' and walk free! But this bastard..." Buggy pointed a trembling finger at Spandam.
"This piece of trash framed him and caused his death!"
Buggy grew angrier as he spoke. He suddenly jumped up again, detaching his hand and summoning a knife, ready to dismember the terrified Spandam who had already wet himself in fear.
WHACK!
Naturally, he was promptly whipped to the ground by Ray.
"Calm down for a bit will ya!" Ray scolded him.
Ray glared at Buggy, telling him to control himself. "For now. This is Franky and Robin's moment, not yours."
"Let them vent first," Ray said coldly. "After they're done... whether you want to feed what's left of him to the fish or slice him to pieces is up to you."
Buggy rubbed his head, grumbling at Ray. "Fine, fine! You're always so bossy."
Buggy plopped down on the beach sand, looking sulky.
Suddenly, he smelled something good.
He detached his right hand, floating it sneakily over to Luffy.
YOINK!
He snatched a massive piece of meat from Luffy's grasp and started eating it aggressively, preparing to watch the show.
"HEY!" Luffy yelled, his eyes turning into fire. "THAT'S MY MEAT!"
Two seconds later, the solemn atmosphere was broken by the sounds of a rubber man and a clown fighting over a piece of meat in the background.
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