One Way Home, Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Woman’s Intention.

—OoOoO—

After declaring war, the pirates crossed the chasm with the help of the sea train driven by Granny Kokoro. Meanwhile, the enemy had spread out, splitting up to break up the Straw Hat’s strength. Although it wasn’t very effective because Maki had Kenbunshoku that could be used to track Robin, because they needed to find the key to remove Robin's handcuffs, there was no other choice but to follow the game's flow. Moreover, they also vowed to finish off CP9, who had insulted Robin, with an absolute victory.

“Maki, are you sure they’re coming this way?” asked a boy with a straw hat.

The group split, but Maki intended to take Robin from the start while the rest of her team searched for the key. However, she needed to drag Luffy along for extra power.

“Yes, I can feel it,” said the bespectacled girl.

“Wouldn't it be better to find a boat to cross the bridge by sea?”

Maki glanced at the boy running beside her.

“Are you crazy? Don’t you remember what Paulie explained about the whirlpools in Ennies Loby?”

“Eh? Is there something like that?” Luffy asked, tilting his head.

Maki suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her face was stunned, her mouth hanging open, and it was as if she had just been hit by a reality check. The girl seemed speechless at her captain's acute stupidity.

"What's wrong, Maki?" asked Luffy, who stopped.

“No, nothing. I suddenly remembered that Panda wasn’t that bad. I need to be more grateful after this,” the girl replied, twirling her bisento slowly.

Maki then continued down the stairs, as did Luffy, who chose not to think too much about what the girl meant by that.

“We’re almost there. There’ll be a gate made of thick steel after these steps end. If we hit it at the same time, we can destroy it without any trouble.”

“That's not necessary.”

Luffy answered curtly, causing Maki to raise an eyebrow in confusion. However, the boy stopped without further explanation, leaving the girl even more curious.

Luffy appeared to be in a wide stance. His left hand rested on his left thigh, while his right hand was clenched and touched the floor.

“I wanna try out a few things before using them in a real fight,” the boy said.

Maki actually wanted to protest. She wanted everything to be resolved as soon as possible. However, seeing the seriousness shown by her captain, the girl ultimately didn’t make any objections. Moreover, she could understand Luffy, who seemed to want to make preparations and adjustments before entering the next stage.

“Gear Second.”

Along with the muttering, Luffy's entire body turned red, with steam seeping through every pore.

Maki widened her eyes at the change. She observed every corner of the boy's body. Her mind seemed to have difficulty comprehending the data provided by her eyes. There was no match between the phenomenon she saw and the basic characteristics of the devil fruit that Luffy had eaten.

'That doesn't make sense. Even if you think you can make your heart and blood vessels more flexible so that blood can be pumped and flow much faster, the heat your body produces will cause your elasticity to decrease.'

Maki shifted her body, giving Luffy room to manoeuvre. As if understanding each other without the need for words, Luffy nodded slowly.

"Gomu Gomu no….'

Luffy muttered with a sentence hanging at the end. However, his body disappeared, moving at a high speed that was difficult for normal eyes to follow.

“Jet Pistol!”

A heavy impact at high speed hit the steel gate. The sound of the bang was unavoidable. However, more importantly, the attack created a hole large enough for the two teenagers to pass through.

“What was that? Your blood was pumping so fast, generating incredible body heat. And you turned your legs into some kind of springs to increase acceleration? In theory, your elasticity would decrease and you’d have a hard time returning to your original state. But look at you now.”

Maki bombarded Luffy with questions that confused him about which to answer. However, his nature of always keeping everything simple allowed him to get through it smoothly.

“I don't really understand, but isn't rubber meant to be elastic?”

Maki glanced at Luffy briefly before finally looking at the hole the boy had made.

“Well, I don’t think so, but maybe,” she replied hesitantly.

Maki was still unsure about how the physics of this world worked. Some things seemed to have different laws, but she also realised that some of the theories from her world also applied here, like electricity, for example. Maki successfully applied the theories from her world to counteract Enel's devil fruit ability. Even everything was according to her understanding. However, when Luffy started to fight, and she saw things that were beyond her knowledge, seeds of doubt began to grow in her mind.

That curiosity also underlay Maki's conducting several assessments on Luffy's flexibility, which showed that some aspects of the boy didn’t match the characteristics of rubber even though he had an elastic body. It all became more apparent when Luffy showed his Gear Second for the first time.

'I'm pretty sure that the devil fruit he ate wasn't rubber, but something that could completely ignore logic.'

Maki snorted softly. Although she was very interested in Luffy's abilities, she couldn't think about those things in a situation like this. Her mind needed to focus on saving Robin as soon as possible, the only person who could lead her to find clues on the last island. Any distraction wasn’t allowed, especially when hundreds of opponents were ready to block them.

“I didn’t think there’d still be those lackeys standing in the way,” Luffy said.

"We're getting closer to the end. It’d be weird if the security wasn’t tighter,” Maki replied, looking up at the ceiling of the underwater tunnel, “And there’s still a lot more to fight up there.”

“You can tell?”

Maki nodded.

“Yeah.”

There was no other reply after that. Both of them seemed to have no intention of continuing the small talk. Their eyes were focused on the crowd presented in front of them. Like two predators about to go on a rampage, the pressure those two gave off felt so heavy.

Without any warning, Maki shot forward at a moderate speed. As if their minds could synergise, Luffy followed behind her.

The soldier standing at the front confidently tried to engage Maki directly. He swung his sword, but the bespectacled girl turned her body to the side, letting the slash hit the air. However, with a smooth movement, she swung the heavy bisento horizontally, which then smoothly slit the soldier's throat.

Maki continued to perform beautiful movements but with great precision. When someone approached from the side, she immediately shifted her stance and slashed her opponent without hesitation. When an attack came from behind, the girl rotated her upper body ninety degrees with a swung bisento, destroying her opponent instantly.

Maki occasionally stepped back, trying to break up the crowd, only to destroy them all simultaneously. There were also times when she intentionally let her guard down, inviting opponents to come closer to her, only to end up cutting off their hands and kicking them hard back into the crowd.

It all happened so fast, only a few seconds in reality. But the fear they felt made the scenes play out so slowly. Like a demon performing a dance of death, every little movement the Zen'in girl made instilled fear in her opponents.

Maki paused her slaughter momentarily and took a few steps back, allowing the soldiers to catch their breath. However, that paradise seemed like an illusion when Maki started to duck, and someone roared above her.

“Gomu Gomu no….”

Luffy's echoing scream made the people shiver.

“Gutting Gun!”

His hands, which he pulled back, were thrown in succession at the highest momentum to create a rain of powerful blows that finished off the opponents. When the disaster subsided, Maki immediately straightened her body, dashing to clean up the remaining opponents still standing.

Despite those two's efforts, more and more soldiers came to block them. However, Luffy let out a grin full of excitement.

“Maki, get out of the way! I’ve another one I wanna try!”

The bespectacled girl glanced back, watching her captain take a stance. Without asking for a more straightforward explanation, she stopped her movements, letting Luffy pass her with his mouth, biting her right thumb.

“Gear Third,” he said while blowing on his finger.

Like a balloon supplied with air, the right hand enlarged, expanding to the size of a giant.

“Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol!”

The giant fist slammed down and crushed everything in its path instantly. The underwater tunnel, which was five metres wide, was filled with the hand without leaving any gaps, ensuring that all the newly arrived soldiers were wiped out.

“Holy shit. What the fuck was that?” Maki muttered with a broken smile.

The girl was at a loss for words to explain the rubber man's abilities. All sorts of logic and theories began to form into one conclusion, but they seemed to always be bent by the new things Luffy showed. However, from the performance just now, what made her sigh was the aftereffect.

"Why did you turn into a dwarf?" Maki asked.

“I didn't know it’d be like this.”

The girl raised an eyebrow at that answer. It wasn’t like Maki had never seen anything as irrational as what she had just seen. After all, she was a girl who lived in a society where sorcery was a thing. In fact, when it came to crazy things, what her master, Gojo Satoru, could do was probably even crazier. However, witnessing such various attacks from something so simple was a first for her.

“Is this your first time trying this technique? Since when did you start doing it?” the girl continued to ask.

Little Luffy seemed to lift his head, trying to dig out information from his tangled thoughts.

“My Gear Second was inspired by a man I once met, but I forgot his name and face,” Luffy replied with a tortured expression.

“Well, I didn't expect you to remember,” the girl commented.

“Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking about my third gear for a long time when I met the two giants in Little Garden.”

Maki only nodded slightly at the explanation, but her gaze immediately shifted when she felt several people approaching again. Without asking permission, she immediately picked up Luffy, assuming that the boy couldn’t fight well in his current condition. As for Luffy himself, he didn’t fuss at all, even though Maki treated him like a teddy bear.

The bespectacled girl swung her bisento brutally, slaughtering everyone who tried to stop her. The blood that splashed onto her clothes and beautiful face didn’t seem to faze the girl. In fact, her cold expression looked even more terrifying with the red liquid that decorated her face.

“Wow, you can wield the spear so well even with just one hand,” little Luffy, still in Maki’s grasp, commented in amazement.

“First of all, this isn’t spear, but a bisento.”

Maki replied while ducking, avoiding the attack that came from the side. Without waiting for a second to change, she immediately slashed her opponent's leg, immobilising him forever.

“Secondly, I’m a master of close-quarter combat and am well trained in using a variety of weapons in a variety of situations.”

With her head still lowered, the bespectacled girl prepared to take a running start as if she were about to do a short-distance sprint. With her gathered momentum, Maki shot forward, breaking through the crowd with her weapon swinging rapidly and fiercely.

“Hey, it just crossed my mind,” Maki said, still in the middle of her action, “You don’t mind if I kill this many, right?”

“What? Why should I?” Luffy asked in confusion.

Yuuji's face immediately came to the girl's mind when the question was thrown.

“Well, you remind me of my junior. He’s a nice guy, who’d probably never kill a human under any circumstances.”

Luffy also seemed to be thinking hard in Maki's grip. However, he gave up immediately with an indifferent expression.

“I don’t understand why you ask that. Killing or not, I don’t really care. We’re at war, after all.”

Maki's stoic face didn't seem to show any change. She continued to do her job of eliminating enemies while continuing to charge forward.

“I see.”

“Yeah. And I’m sure Zoro has killed more of them. So, there’s no need to worry,” the guy replied.

Maki wouldn't be surprised if the green-haired man did that. The murderous aura he exuded was thick. In fact, it surprised her a little to see such a stiff figure blending in so well with the cheerful group.

Meanwhile, Luffy seemed like the polar opposite of Zoro. He was cheerful, energetic, and friendly. His appearance, which showed that he had no burdens in life, made him seem like the type of person who was reluctant to kill. Moreover, his understanding of pirates, which differed from the consensus understanding, made him look like a naive young man.

However, Maki was relieved to realise that Luffy was a man with a focus in mind. Even though many things could distract him, his focus remained on one thing.

—OoOoO—

“There’s someone strong waiting for us around the last corner, at the end of this tunnel.”

Maki warned the free passenger, who was still in her grasp.

"Who?"

“Michel Jack—I mean, the guy with the long hair,” Maki replied.

Luffy raised his eyebrows in confusion when he heard the name from the girl's mouth. However, once her clarification came out, the veins around his temples seemed to thicken, indicating that there was unfinished business between the two of them.

“Put me down, Maki. I’m going to punch his face,” Luffy ordered.

“No.”

The short answer from his friend surprised the straw hat boy. He didn't expect to get a direct rejection. However, when he wanted to protest, Maki continued her words with an excuse.

“I’ve got a plan. A surprise attack. Well, it might not be enough to take him down, but it’d be fun to play a prank on him.”

Luffy listened to the brief explanation attentively. His eyes sparkled with every word spoken. His face bore a distinctive grin. Not only a sign of interest but also a burning passion.

Luffy grinned widely, showing his white teeth as if imagining his opponent's funny expression. Something was gleaming behind his gaze, like a small fire ready to flare into a full-blown blaze. With his arms crossed over his chest and his body still swaying in Maki's grip, he seemed to enjoy the idea, eager to jump in and put it into practice.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you,” the boy muttered enthusiastically.

Maki nodded, returning it with an equally broad grin.

“By the way, when will your body return to normal?”

“I'm not sure, but I can feel it coming soon,” Luffy replied.

Maki immediately spurred her feet, increasing her running speed, but still at a moderate level. No other enemies were blocking her path, especially after she felt that the end of the hallway was guarded by the man. It seemed that there would be no more small clashes that only ended in one-sided massacres.

'The real fight only starts now, huh?'

After running for a relatively short time, those two finally arrived at the hall's end. What greeted them was a vast and empty room, only containing a few wooden container boxes. However, a man they had anticipated was waiting about twenty meters from where they were. Seeing him, Maki immediately threw Luffy hard, resulting in the cracking of the sound barrier in the air.

Meanwhile, Rob Lucci, the man waiting for the two rioters, was wide-eyed when he saw the small object the woman threw.

'A doll? No, it's not. A child?'

Lucci didn't think it would be a fatal attack or deal significant damage. Moreover, such a small object could be avoided quickly enough. However, his naive thinking changed when the object grew larger and revealed its proper form as a boy with a straw hat. The long-haired man crossed his arms, preparing for a collision. However, it was too late as Luffy had already extended his leg forward and slammed into Lucci hard, sending the man into the concrete wall with great force.

Luckily, his strong stance prevented him from going any harder and maintaining his dignity, so the wall behind him didn't break.

“I'll call it Gomu Gomu no Launcher!”

The guy smiled widely, satisfied with the little prank they pulled.

“And you better eat that, you Michel Jackson wannabe,” Maki said.

Just like Luffy, the girl was also in a good mood. Her cocky grin seemed to grow wider. Her left hand was on her hip, and she rested her bisento on her right shoulder, occasionally gently tapping it.

The two people of different genders appear to be standing proudly.

“Oh, it’s the name you were about to mention earlier, right? Is he your friend?” Luffy asked, looking straight at Maki.

“No, he was a famous singer in the past, and I quite like his songs. But it irritates my eyes every time I see that guy trying to imitate his style.”

It was a petty reason to hate someone. In fact, it might sound very childish. But, of course, many things made Maki dislike the man. And the most important one was definitely the one who always messed up Robin's life, the woman who helped her gain enlightenment.

“You bastards. I’ll make you understand what manners mean after this.”

The angry growl distracted the two young men who were joking around. As expected, Lucci wasn't seriously injured. Nothing was surprising about it. The perpetrators didn’t expect anything from the surprise attack just now.

“Well, well, you big cat. Do you realise that humans have always found a way to domesticate cats? This time it’s going to be the same,” Maki replied with a bit of trash talk.

“What does that mean?” Luffy asked with a serious face.

“What? Which one?”

“Domestication.”

Maki glanced at the boy standing next to her.

“You know, taming wild animals.”

The guy with the straw hat on his back turned his head to the side, staring at the girl with glasses and a sharp gaze.

“But I don’t wanna tame him. I wanna beat him up and knock him off.”

“I mean, you know. It was a trash talk, a taunt, provocative.”

Hearing this simple explanation, Luffy widened his eyes, indicating he had an idea.

“Oh, I know that. Something Zoro and Sanji do a lot, right?”

Without waiting for Maki's reply, Luffy immediately turned his gaze forward, looking at Lucci standing a few meters before them.

Meanwhile, Maki was slightly down when her name had to be put alongside the two men. It wasn't like she was looking down on them. Zoro and Sanji were two great figures, elite fighters who’d continue to grow. They were sharp and strong. However, those two were idiots in some ways. And in her opinion, even Luffy was more reasonable than them.

“Hey, your hat is so ugly!” Luffy suddenly shouted.

Maki was taken aback when she heard the boy suddenly exclaim. She immediately turned to him with wide eyes.

“Don’t tell me that was trash talk?”

“Yeah. Pretty cool, right?”

'Not at all,' Maki replied in her mind.

Of course, what Luffy said wasn’t entirely wrong. Trash talk was still trash talk, no matter what. However, instead of giving the impression of mental welfare, what Luffy said seemed like a child's taunt. The girl eventually ignored her captain's innocence and glared at the figure blocking her path.

“Have fun while you can because this will be your last,” said the long-haired man.

However, neither Maki nor Luffy responded to his boast.

“Luffy, I’ve a plan. If we work together well, we can beat him quickly and efficiently,” said the bespectacled girl.

“No, you go first.”

“What?”

Maki's body instantly stiffened as if the words had stung her to her spine. She turned to Luffy with wide eyes, ensuring that what she had just heard wasn’t a misunderstanding. Her initially calm face was now filled with disbelief, shock, and confusion.

“Hey, this isn’t the time to be stubborn,” the girl said again.

However, instead of responding to Maki's disagreement, the boy asked a question.

“Robin is behind that door, isn't she?”

Maki was about to answer, but Luffy preceded her.

“If you said we could defeat him quickly if we worked together, it’d work. You’re strong and smart, after all.”

Maki stared at Luffy, who looked completely different from his usual self. The determination that shone in his eyes showed no sign that he was playing around or underestimating his opponent.

“However, how fast can we beat him together? Ten minutes? Five minutes? Or one minute?” the boy continued, “While we’re fighting against that man, even if only one second is wasted, we don’t know what Robin is going through there.”

Maki was frozen in place, stunned by Luffy's deep and thoughtful words. The simple words from Luffy's mouth seemed to teach her a valuable lesson, illustrating how much he cared about his friend, who was now in danger. His sharp gaze radiated with worry and determination to take great risks, making her realise there was a difference in mentality between her and the boy.

Of course, those two, and everyone else, stormed Enies Lobby with the worst possible outcome in mind. They were ready to risk everything to save their precious people.

However, Maki acted with the consideration of fighting efficiently, minimising the losses as much as possible so that they could fight with high resistance against a large number of enemies, which could still increase at any time. After all, the objectives that must be achieved were two, getting Robin back and escaping safely. It’d be a waste if they could capture Robin but didn’t have the remaining strength to flee because their combat power had been exhausted from fighting all out.

However, Luffy's idea wasn't entirely wrong. Imagining Robin, who was desperate all by herself, made her want to rush into everything without ulterior motives. However, rationality was what held her back. Moreover, seeing Luffy's mentality made Maki remember a white-haired creature.

'Satoru is like that too. He’s never afraid to break through anything that comes his way without hesitation. A mentality that separates the real monster from the others.'

Maki might have grown stronger since she was thrown into another world because she left all the tiny traces of her cursed energy in her home world. However, even though she had become stronger, her mentality couldn't be changed in the blink of an eye.

'I need to have more confidence in myself if I wanna be on Satoru's level and surpass him. Moreover, I don't have any bad feelings, and my guts aren't telling me to run away from this island. So, there shouldn't be any problem in being more aggressive.'

“Do you think you can defeat me alone? You haven’t forgotten that I once eliminated you in one hit, have you?” Lucci shouted, who had been silently analysing his opponents.

Luffy gave his best smile when he heard his opponent belittle him.

“I’ve felt your punch. It was strong, but barely hurt me. I don’t see anything in you that can defeat me,” the boy replied.

Lucci seemed to frown upon hearing the boy belittle his abilities so much. Meanwhile, Maki suddenly patted Luffy's shoulder after those words were finished, making him turn to the girl.

"Now, you did some good trash talking there."

“Oh, really?” chirped Luffy.

“Yes, it was.”

The relaxed tension between the two pirates irritated Lucci. His expression darkened as the wrinkles on his forehead grew. His fists were clenched, showing how big the lump of emotion was about to explode from within him.

Stussy, Maki, and now Luffy. He had enough of people belittling his abilities and skills. The insults he had received made him sick and want to vomit.

'I’m Rob Lucci. The strongest human and the killing machine that the World Government needs. I lack nothing that’s needed. I have mastered Rokushiki far better than my peers.'

Stussy's arrogant face and the words that insulted him kept ringing in Lucci's head.

'I have no differences from them. The only gulf that separates us is their mastery of Haki. And Stussy dare to look down on me by telling us to avoid one-on-one contact with the Straw Hats' heavy hitters?'

Of course, the warning was intended for him and all members of CP9. However, like him, Lucci was sure his friends would disagree with the proposal. Moreover, Stussy was just an outsider who barely knew anything about them.

'I was only overwhelmed by that girl in the last fight because I underestimated her after defeating Straw Hat and Pirate Hunter. Otherwise, I would have defeated her for sure.'

“Fine, I’ll serve you. I’ll beat you up, show you the difference between us, and make you stop joking around, you snot-nosed brat.”

—OoOoO—

Stussy, a charming woman who has bewitched many men in the world to submit to her. Her name was so famous among criminals with her disguise as one of the leading players in the underground that she was nicknamed the Empress of the Redlight District.

Her unique way of gathering information made it easier for Stussy to blend in and transact with the world's criminals, making her the most talented CP0 agent ever produced by the World Government. Her perfect mission success rate confirmed her status as an elite among elites. Because of her achievements, she was mandated with a critical mission to monitor Nico Robin and execute her on the spot as soon as she escaped Crocodile's protection.

Or at least, that's what Stussy was supposed to do before the details of her mission were changed after a particular CP9 leader proposed utilising Robin’s knowledge to rebuild the ancient weapon, the Pluton.

“The girl named Maki is coming to us. She’ll be here soon,” the woman said.

“What?! Did you mean Lucci has been defeated?!” a masked man asked in surprise.

Along with Lucci was a purple-haired man named Spandam. They were fellow professionals in the same agency but in different divisions. In addition to the man, Robin was the root of the conflict in this dispute. She was also with the two people. With herself still sealed using handcuffs made of seastone, she was forced to follow them up the stairs, which would take her to the last building that led to the Gate of Justice.

“No. Apparently, he let Maki pass after they exchanged a few words,” Stussy said.

The blonde woman took a deep breath, ready to complain.

“That Lucci. I was just asking to buy some time by any means while I made sure Nico Robin got on the ship, but he let Maki pass through.”

“You were the one who said to avoid one-on-one contact with them, but you insisted on leaving Lucci to hold those two? Don’t joke around with me,” Spandam retorted.

Stussy stopped walking and stared at the man sharply. Meanwhile, feeling that he no longer heard footsteps behind him, Spandam stopped and looked down on Stussy, who was three steps below him.

“What?” asked the man.

Stussy sighed again when she heard the question.

“You know our plan fell apart because you couldn't keep Cutty Flam properly, right?”

“How dare you—.”

“We would have won in numbers including me if you hadn’t let the chains that bound Cutty Flam fall off,” Stussy quickly cut the man off.

The blonde woman seemed unwilling to let the man come up with another stupid argument. She wanted to show him clearly his blunder that had led them to this disadvantageous situation.

“Including me as the main force, it was seven against six before Cutty Flam escaped. We just need to outwit them and play our cards right, then slowly eat away at them by taking out the weakest three one by one in groups.”

Stussy explained their initial plan, which was expected to cripple their opponents' attacks. If everything went smoothly, the only concern would be Maki, who had Kenbunshoku Haki, which could be used to avoid being ganged up. However, she hoped to separate Maki from her group by taking Robin away as soon as possible with the escort of the two strongest people, Stussy herself and Rob Lucci.

It was a doable plan and could significantly increase the mission's success rate. However, with Franky's escape, the enemy's strength increased by one person and became seven against seven, making her side lose the advantage in numbers.

“I’ll hold Maki off, you go ahead. However, be careful because Cutty Falm seems to be almost done with the fight. He’ll be coming after us soon," said Stussy, who scanned the entire area using Kenbunshoku.

“And what’s your plan? Are you going to fight in this staircase?” Spandam asked.

Stussy was a little bit furious at the stupid question. For a division leader, she expected the man not to have to ask and to immediately understand the simple situation.

“Of course not, you idiot. Although the clash on the stairs was unavoidable, the plan was to lead Maki back to Lucci’s place, then collaborate here and there with him to defeat those two.”

Stussy gave the most logical reason possible, ensuring the man had no room to object. And to emphasise that she didn’t expect an objection, Stussy repeated her order.

“Now, go or I'll throw you to Maki and take Nico Robin by myself.”

Spandam clicked his tongue with a fierce glare directed at the blonde woman. He couldn’t see himself being ordered around by a woman like other lowly officers. However, the man couldn’t argue when one of the biggest threats approached him. With a heavy heart and curses that he couldn’t express, Spandam turned around and grabbed Robin's hair, venting his frustration on the poor woman.

However, just as he took the first step up the stairs, something ripped him from behind and pierced his chest. Spandam widened his eyes as blood poured out of his mouth. He lowered his gaze, only to find a hand that had pierced his body. Fresh blood was seen flowing out profusely. And what was worse, he found a heart in that hand.

Spandam felt an excruciating pain. Not only in his chest, but his entire body felt like it was being electrocuted with high voltage, and at the same time, it felt like he was being skinned alive. Although his blood pressure dropped drastically, all his blood vessels felt tense to bursting. He lost the colour in his face, quickly turning pale in seconds.

Let alone looking back to see who the perpetrator was, even maintaining his consciousness was very difficult for Spandam. However, the last words that caught his ears were enough to answer his question.

“I know this is just business, but who would have thought that finishing you off would feel quite relieving.”

Spandam recognised the feminine voice well but never imagined receiving such a betrayal.

“S-Stussy…”

A name uttered weakly became the last word from the man. Only powered with determination wouldn’t be enough to support the body that had lost its heart. However, his eyes that glared with hatred seemed to show that Spandam would continue to curse the blonde woman even in his death.

The tragic end of a tyrant with little power. That's what happened to the leader of CP9. Something that no one could have ever imagined. Even Nico Robin, who was used to seeing the world's ugliness, could only be made that sight.

“Don’t worry, Spandam. I’ll manipulate your corpse so that it doesn’t look like you were stabbed in the back without any resistance. That way, at least you can still maintain your little honour,” Stussy said.

The blonde sharpened her senses, using Kenbunshoku to ensure her target was dead. No falsehood, no trickery. When everything was confirmed, she squeezed the heart until it was crushed.

“You, what are you doing?” Robin asked with a horrified look.

“Kill this man, of course.”

Robin closed her eyes, trying to regain her senses. When she opened them again, a look of calm shone clearly in them.

“You know that's not what I meant.”

Stussy smiled lightly at the words spoken flatly. However, her relaxed expression changed drastically as the woman took a deep breath.

With eyes no less sharp than Robin's, Stussy stared straight at the woman as if she wanted to dismantle all the falsehood that had always surrounded her.

“What I told Spandam wasn’t entirely true. Zen’in Maki and Monkey D. Luffy haven’t met Lucci yet. But it’s only a matter of time before one of them chooses to face him while the other goes straight to you.”

Robin narrowed her eyes at the statement. She didn't want to take the information just like that. After all, the woman was someone who didn't hesitate to stab her partner in the back. And more than that, she was an elite agent whose life was filled with mystery. In fact, it wasn’t impossible that her secret also had another secret.

Moreover, Robin understood Maki's nature, which preferred to fight efficiently as long as she had many options at her disposal. Considering that, it seemed impossible for the girl to part ways with her partner, especially if she could use her numerical superiority to beat her opponent quickly and maintain her power to fight the other opponents waiting.

'But then again, the woman said that Maki was with Luffy. If what she said was true, it makes sense that Luffy would insist on fighting Rob Lucci alone after he was defeated. Or maybe, Luffy himself is chasing us while Maki is fighting Lucci.'

Everything that seemed unreasonable and reckless felt possible if you put Luffy in the conversation. However, even though her mind could accept the logic behind Stussy's words, Robin couldn't get rid of the feeling of anxiety that had constantly been ringing since there were only the two of them on the narrow stairs. Indeed, she had never seen the woman fight. However, Robin knew she was far more dangerous than all the CP9 agents combined.

“Nico Robin, I don’t want to waste your time,” Stussy said flatly, “So, listen carefully to what I have to say."

—OoOoO—

Maki pushed her legs hard, running up the stairs as fast as she could. However, because of its twisting design, her manoeuvrability was limited. Nevertheless, the girl was still agile enough to continue at high speed and arrived in no time.

The scene on the stairs was very different from what she had imagined. A corpse with a hole in its chest and blood continuously flowing from it. Maki recognised his face. It was the man who led the opposing forces, who threatened by summoning Buster Call. In addition to the corpse, her eyes also caught the hand of a woman covered in blood. Without looking for an explanation, Maki could conclude who the perpetrator was even though she didn’t understand the background.

'Not like I care, tho.'

Maki ended her brief observation without thinking much about what had happened. She charged straight towards Stussy and swung her bisento down hard. But the blonde didn’t just stand there. With a wide, energetic smile, she blocked the attack with her crossed arms.

“Tekkai.”

Maki's slash was halted, unable to cut through the woman's rigid arm. The girl immediately withdrew her attack, trying to conserve energy by avoiding a pointless clash. Considering several things, the girl took two steps back to keep pace.

“So, what happened? Friendly fire, huh?” Maki asked with a hint of mockery.

“Well, not really. You know this guy is so stupid, right? I just can’t stand his rambling.”

Maki's eyes flashed sharply, exuding an unwavering determination as she stared straight at the woman before her. Every now and then, her gaze would glance at the handcuffed hostage behind her, making sure that every inch of her body was intact. Tension hung in the air as if every breath could trigger an unexpected explosion of emotion. It was hard to take any chances against someone stronger than anyone she had encountered on this island.

“Fighting in a cramped place like this isn’t enjoyable for you, is it? Because I think so too,” Stussy asked with a suspicious smile.

Maki narrowed her eyes at the question.

“Don’t beat around the bush. What do you wanna say?”

Stussy smiled with a sigh. Her eyes closed briefly, her shoulders raised as if she thought Maki's reaction was cute.

“There is a very large room up there. If we fight there, we can go all out. Sounds good, right?”

Maki raised her eyebrow, not understanding the offer. Her tone sounded as friendly as usual, but it gave off a strong sense of awkwardness. However, Robin, standing behind the blonde woman, nodded as if sending a silent signal to agree to the proposal.

“Fine, let’s solve this problem the classic way.”

Maki twirled her bisento around quickly, giving a brief acrobatic performance. With a mighty thrust, she plunged the blade into the stairs and stepped forward, abandoning her weapon.

“Oh, you won’t bring it, my dear Maki?”

The girl's eyebrows twitched when she heard how the woman addressed her.

However, in response to that question, Maki had a technical reason for not bringing the bisento. It was pretty simple. The weapon was too mediocre for a high-level fight. Moreover, her opponent's ability to harden her body made the blade not sharp enough to cut her. Even if Maki put more power into it, it didn't mean the weapon would be stronger. In fact, the blade would break from being forced to work beyond its capacity.

“Nah, I myself am the strongest weapon ever,” Maki replied with a cocky smile.

—To Be Continued—

Author Note: Hello, how are you all? There are a few things I want to highlight in this chapter, especially some minor changes.

First, of course, how do they break the steel gate. In the manga, it was shown that Luffy destroyed it using Gear Third. While I changed it to Gear Second. Actually, I was a little doubtful whether it was enough. However, after I reviewed it again, Gear Second should be enough. It doesn't have as much damage as Gear Third, but the combination of speed and power can pierce the way.

The second is Maki's fight. I won't spend many chapters on that fight because I don't like long-winded things. Maybe a chapter and a half at most. So, the next chapter will probably be the climax of Stussy vs Maki. Also, Stussy shows her true intentions to Robin by killing Spandam.

And well, that’s all from me. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. See you…