"..."
At this moment, under Red's aggressive gaze and carefully persuasive words, even a tough guy like Franky had to admit—
His heart wavered.
Long-slumbering memories suddenly stirred.
But even so, there was no way he could abandon his family without reason and join an unknown pirate crew.
Even if that crew looked so mysterious.
In the end, the conversation could only come to a hasty close under Luffy's disappointed expression.
Even Robin, who had specifically come to translate the Pluton blueprints, never caught even a glimpse of a single line from them.
But that didn't matter.
The severed head of a Celestial Dragon was proof enough of the Straw Hat Pirates' stance.
And Robin, the archaeologist hunted by the World Government, was also enough to show them another possibility.
As for the rest, it would be up to Franky and Iceburg to investigate together and determine the truth.
Red believed that in the end, they would make the right decision.
Thus, without a sound, the Straw Hat crew took up residence in the headquarters of the Galley-La Company in Water 7.
...
...
Night fell.
Soft waves gently caressed the shore, each surge carrying peace and tranquility, as if time itself had stopped.
After a long, busy day, Water 7 finally fell completely silent.
Yet beneath this tranquil night, several figures suddenly leapt across the rooftops of Water 7 under the moonlight and stars, only to vanish into the darkness in an instant.
Knock knock knock~
A man wearing a strange cloak knocked rhythmically on the tavern door.
Moments later, the wooden door opened. A burly man with a bull-like hairstyle glanced left and right before immediately stepping aside to let the two people outside enter.
In the next instant, a bizarre spatial door suddenly appeared. The bull-headed man pushed open the door of air itself and led the two strangely dressed figures inside.
The spatial door slowly closed.
The two cloaked men immediately removed their hoods and masks.
They were none other than the CP9 agents planted by the World Government in Water 7—Rob Lucci and Kaku.
As for the bull-headed man, he was naturally the other agent dispatched here besides Kalifa—the user of the Door-Door Fruit, Blueno!
The place they were in now was an alternate space created by the Door-Door Fruit's ability.
Within this space, their conversation was guaranteed to be free from any eavesdropping.
"What happened?!"
As soon as the door closed, Blueno, who was responsible for communications, immediately showed a puzzled expression and questioned his two colleagues.
As the strongest member of this five-year infiltration mission, Rob Lucci's eyes suddenly flashed with ferocity.
He raised his head and said to Blueno word by word:
"There's an emergency!"
"Today… at the Galley-La Company headquarters, we saw Nico Robin—who is wanted by the World Government!"
"Nico Robin!? The Devil Child!?"
Blueno's expression changed.
The next second, realization struck him. "Wait!"
"If I remember correctly, Nico Robin should be the last survivor of Ohara…"
"Intelligence says she's an extremely dangerous existence capable of reading the ancient text!"
"Doesn't that mean…"
"That's right! It's that Nico Robin!"
"With her ability, she can perfectly help us decipher the contents of the Pluton blueprints!"
"Right now, the location of the Pluton blueprints has been confirmed—they're in Franky's possession."
Kaku, standing to the side, nodded solemnly.
"This morning, Paulie suddenly reassigned us to handle other work, delaying us quite a bit."
"Now we urgently need to contact headquarters and confirm our next course of action!"
"I understand."
Blueno immediately nodded and took out a miniature Den Den Mushi from his body.
But before he could press the speed-dial button—
A large hand suddenly appeared from behind him, and under Lucci and Kaku's shocked gazes, it clamped tightly around Blueno's neck.
"As expected of CP9 agents!"
"To think you'd find a place this well hidden…"
"But now—it's mine!!!"
Bang!!!
Red unleashed a direct mental impact, instantly stunning Blueno's relatively average mind. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.
This also meant that the only way to leave this alternate space had been completely cut off.
Stepping out of a Hyperspace Hole, Red wore a friendly smile, yet his gaze swept over Lucci and Kaku as if appraising merchandise.
From the moment he discovered them at the docks during the day, he had already left mental marks on both of them.
Guided by those marks, he successfully used Hyperspace Hole to find this place.
"You're… Nico Robin's companion!?"
Upon seeing Red, Lucci and Kaku's expressions instantly changed, shock filling their faces.
The next second, murderous intent flashed simultaneously in their eyes.
Lucci and Kaku exchanged a glance.
As professional agents, their coordination was flawless.
Without a single word of unnecessary chatter, their figures instantly turned into two streaks of black light. Using the Six Powers · Shave at full speed, they lunged toward the mysterious Red.
No matter how Red had managed to find this alternate space that only Blueno could open…
From the moment he stepped in here, it meant one thing—
He was an enemy of the World Government!
And when dealing with heretics who could interfere with the plan, there was only one choice—
Erase them completely!!!
However, faced with the sudden assault from Lucci and Kaku, Red merely smiled calmly.
"Yare yare, attacking me the moment we meet—guess you really live up to being a violent organization under the World Government?!"
"Completely unreasonable, aren't you~"
With the Deep Crimson Badge empowering him and his strength already further increased, a sharp glint flashed in Red's eyes.
Before the two could even get close, a dark-purple chain of poisonous liquid suddenly shot out from his palm and whipped violently toward them!
Hiss—
A piercing sound tore through the air.
Lucci's eyes widened. Sensing danger, he stepped repeatedly in midair and rose high above, narrowly avoiding the Venomous Chains.
"Watch out, Kaku!"
Even while evading, Lucci didn't forget to warn his teammate behind him.
But behind him, the slightly weaker Kaku heard the warning and realized the danger too late.
With no other choice, Kaku froze midair and shouted helplessly:
"Tekkai!!!"
Bang!
A dull impact rang out as the toxin-condensed chain, as if alive, instantly coiled around Kaku's body.
In the blink of an eye, he was completely bound by the Venomous Chains.
Seeing this, Red couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Tsk tsk tsk~"
"So this is the Pirate World's strongest 'illusion' after all!"
"Daring to tank a Poison-type move head-on—are you tired of living~"
As if responding to Red's words, Kaku's skin instantly turned a deep purple, showing clear signs of poisoning.
In just a few seconds, his vitality rapidly drained away. He collapsed to the ground, his face twisted in agony as he struggled violently.
Meanwhile, Lucci, who had flown into the air using Moonwalk, was instantly filled with shock.
"Poison…!?"
"But how could it be this fast!?"
He stared at Kaku on the ground in disbelief.
But at that very moment, a voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"Where are you looking, Lucci!?"
"What!?" Lucci's eyes widened in alarm.
The next second—
Brilliant lightning suddenly exploded behind him, rapidly forming into a sharp spear of lightning.
Pierce!!!
Without giving Lucci any chance to dodge, Red instantly teleported in and drove the lightning spear straight through Lucci's body!
Terrifying lightning power surged violently within him, rampaging through his insides!
"AAAH!!!"
Engulfed in lightning, Lucci let out a miserable scream.
And just as the pain caused his consciousness to scatter, a pair of eerie eyes suddenly appeared before him.
"Swear loyalty to me, Rob Lucci."
Like a devil's whisper, the voice echoed within Lucci's mind, turning into countless insects gnawing at his brain.
Realizing something in an instant, Lucci's eyes bulged. His body twisted violently as he tried to resist the power invading his mind.
But no matter how he struggled, under absolute suppression of strength, his resistance was ultimately meaningless as his consciousness was steadily devoured.
...
...
[Pokémon: Rob Lucci][Level: 49][Gender: ♂][Nature: Arrogant (+Sp. Def −Speed)][Type: Dark / Normal][Ability: Own Tempo (Mind and actions are perfectly unified; cannot become confused)][Moves: None][EXP: 0 / 7437][Total Stats: 793]
Several minutes later.
Within the alternate space, Red closed Lucci's status screen and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Who would have thought that CP9—who once drove the Straw Hat crew into despair in the original timeline—would feel so weak now?
With total combat power not even reaching 800, forget Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji…
Even facing Usopp and Chopper, he probably wouldn't perform particularly well!
If even CP9's strongest, Rob Lucci, was like this, there was no need to mention the rest of CP9.
Countless thoughts flashed through Red's mind.
He raised his head again, his gaze sweeping across the row of Akatsuki members before him, all dressed in black robes with red clouds and wearing spiral masks.
Red grinned.
"Good thing the Volcano Badge boosted my energy recovery rate. Otherwise, dealing with the World Government's elites would've been quite troublesome."
With a sharp glint in his eyes, Red slowly took out a list from his chest and said seriously to the group of elites cultivated by the World Government:
"Next, your task is to operate under the name of the Akatsuki, drawing the attention of the World Government and the Marines…"
"At the same time, gather these materials—or any related intelligence—for me as quickly as possible!"
As he spoke, Red handed the materials list compiled by Franky and Iceburg to the Akatsuki members.
That's right.
Although Franky hadn't agreed to join the Straw Hat crew, he was deeply moved by Red's proposal to use a ship he built himself to bombard Enies Lobby.
After repeated research and confirmation of the Straw Hats' identity together with Iceburg, Franky finally agreed to participate in the modification of the Going Merry.
And on the paper Red handed to the Akatsuki was a detailed list of world-famous rare metals and woods.
Many of them were precious materials that even Iceburg, the president of the Galley-La Company, found extremely difficult to obtain.
Even the trunk of the Treasure Tree Adam only counted as mid-to-high tier on this list.
That alone showed just how difficult this collection task would be!
But Red believed that for these world-class agents of the Akatsuki, it would be no problem at all.
Of course—
These materials were merely the basic resources needed to upgrade the Going Merry!
Since this was a rare opportunity to upgrade the Merry, everyone in the Straw Hat crew hoped to use the strongest materials in the world on her.
At the very least, she needed defensive power capable of withstanding an Admiral's attack!
Therefore, after collecting these precious materials, they would also need Wapol to fuse and upgrade them.
Even though this would consume a tremendous amount of time and effort, everything was—
For the Merry!!!
...
...
Time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, a week went by.
And during that week, several major events shook the world.
The most eye-catching of them—
Was the resignation of Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku!
With tacit cooperation between the World Government and the Marines, all the blame was pushed onto Sengoku.
They portrayed his "incompetence" as the root cause of everything and staged a public farce of scapegoating, forcing Sengoku to "voluntarily" resign.
Before a new Fleet Admiral was chosen, Vice Admiral Tsuru of the Marine think tank would temporarily take charge of all Marine affairs.
And with Sengoku's resignation, the public execution incident of the Celestial Dragons seemed to draw its curtain, coming to a complete end.
Of course, all of this was merely an explanation put on display for the world by the World Government and the Marines.
...
...
Inside the temporary marshal's office in the Marineford that had been split in two.
Acting Fleet Admiral Tsuru sat in the main chair, while on the sofa beside her sat the newest member of the think tank—
Sengoku.
Tsuru pushed the documents in her hands forward, deep light flashing in her eyes.
"So… in the end, we really have no choice but to agree to Whitebeard's trade request, right?"
Sluurp~
Sengoku lifted his hot tea, their roles seemingly reversed.
"Since it's already confirmed that the Whitebeard Pirates have returned to the New World, continuing to detain those pirates serves little purpose."
"If we can exchange them for Marines like Momonga, it would be an enormous help to the current Marines."
"But…"
"Are you really sure about handing Blackbeard over to Whitebeard!?"
"No matter what, his current identity is that of a Commodore who has rendered repeated meritorious service to our Marines…"
"..."
As Sengoku's words fell, the temporary office fell into complete silence.
Only after a long while did Tsuru rub her deeply wrinkled brow and sigh helplessly.
"So this is the pressure you've been carrying every day, Sengoku…?"
"No wonder you always said you envied that idiot Garp…"
(End of Chapter)