Chapter 257: Controlling Blueno

After leaving a "gift" for the three members of the Straw Hat Pirates on a whim, Uchiha Feiyu left the Going Merry and arrived at a tavern in Water 7.

It was not yet the peak hour for the tavern, so there were not many people inside; only a tall bartender was sitting there, wiping a glass.

The bartender was sturdy and had two bull horns on his head—it was unclear if they were decorations or part of a special race. His expression seemed dull, but when he saw Uchiha Feiyu push the door open and enter, a flash of surprise appeared on his face, which he immediately concealed.

However, Uchiha Feiyu had started out as a ninja, and his Observation Haki was incredibly sharp; how could he fail to notice the change in the bull-horned bartender's expression?

He was also very clear that the identity of the bartender before him was none other than Blueno of the CP9 organization; furthermore, there was another identity that Uchiha Feiyu cared about very much—a Door-Door Fruit user!

The Door-Door Fruit was a Devil Fruit revered as a god-tier fruit in the early stages of the Pirate King era. The abilities of this Paramecia Devil Fruit already touched upon space and concepts, and if developed well, it could indeed unleash astonishing functionality.

Of course, this Devil Fruit also had its own shortcomings: while its utility and defensive capabilities were excellent, it did not contribute much to increasing raw power, especially after the Haki system was introduced.

To put it bluntly, this Devil Fruit was top-tier for support, but unless the person who ate it possessed top-tier talent, it was difficult for a Devil Fruit user to truly reach the pinnacle; at most, they could ensure their own safety.

However, even so, this Devil Fruit was definitely one of the more top-tier Devil Fruits among the Paramecia type; for it to be eaten by a common Agent of CP9 like Blueno was simply a waste of a heavenly treasure.

Seeing Uchiha Feiyu's gaze, which carried a hint of curiosity, Blueno spoke unhurriedly: "Customer, what would you like to drink? Would you like a glass of whiskey?"

Uchiha Feiyu scanned the bar. At this moment, there were only a few ordinary customers in the bar. After Uchiha Feiyu's gaze swept over them, these people shivered and walked out of the bar one by one.

With peak-level Observation Haki combined with his unique Vampire Hypnosis, for ordinary tavern patrons, a single glance was enough to manipulate them into doing many things.

Blueno was also an Agent. Although the professional standards of Agents in the Pirate King world were hard to describe and included quite a few comedic types, Blueno was at least much sharper than the average person, so he naturally realized that the departure of these patrons had everything to do with Uchiha Feiyu.

"What are you doing, customer!"

Putting down the glass and white cloth in his hands, Blueno stared coldly at Uchiha Feiyu, yet his back was already drenched in sweat.

No matter how comedic the World Government's Agents were, they were at least capable when it came to intelligence. As a member of CP9, Blueno had recognized his identity long before Uchiha Feiyu entered the door.

The "Prince Consort" of Alabasta, a future heir who might inherit the throne of that great desert kingdom, and also the Blood Demon wandering the first half of the Grand Line who had killed Krokfar—a terrifying figure labeled as a special-grade combatant in the World Government's intelligence.

The opponent's strength was at least greater than that of an average Marine Vice Admiral; this was not someone a common Agent of the CP organization could deal with. Now, he only hoped the other party was just here for a drink; otherwise...

"Agent of the CP9 organization, Door-Door Fruit user Blueno, I shouldn't be wrong, right!"

"Who are you!!"

Blueno pulled two pistols from the counter and aimed them at Uchiha Feiyu with a serious face, yet Uchiha Feiyu only curled his lip:

"Who am I? Didn't you recognize me the moment I walked in? Why bother playing dumb here? I don't believe that with the CP organization's intelligence network, they wouldn't even recognize me."

"If that were really the case, then either the CP organization or you must be freeloaders."

The expression on Blueno's face froze slightly, and then he revealed a cold look:

"Blood Demon, why exactly have you come to Water 7?"

"Blood Demon? Is that the title your CP organization gave me? It's indeed a bit better than that 'Vampire Demon'; I'm not some Digimon, and those uncultured Pirates just love giving out such meaningless nicknames."

"As for why I came here... it's very simple! I am very interested in your Devil Fruit!"

Interested in my Devil Fruit?

Not knowing that Devil Fruit abilities could also be stripped, Blueno did not understand the meaning behind Uchiha Feiyu's words, but he could vaguely sense the killing intent hidden within Uchiha Feiyu's language.

"Sorry, I have no intention of performing monkey tricks in front of others, and... are you trying to oppose the World Government?"

Looking at the stern but inwardly weak Blueno, Uchiha Feiyu sneered:

"I'm not just here to look at your Devil Fruit ability... Besides, can a mere CP9 Agent represent the World Government? Do you think you are a Celestial Dragon or one of the Five Elders?"

"Also, stop pressing that Den Den Mushi under your table; the life force of that bug was sucked dry by me long ago!"

Blueno's expression changed drastically. He looked under the table and sure enough, he found that the Den Den Mushi, which had been full of spirit, was now lying limply on the ground, having turned into a puddle of dead flesh.

A Den Den Mushi also belongs to life. With Uchiha Feiyu's current level of development of the Vampire Fruit, it was simply too easy to drain the life force of this small creature.

Seeing that the Den Den Mushi was already dead, Blueno didn't say a word; holding a pistol in one hand, he fired several shots at Uchiha Feiyu—bang, bang, bang!

However, the bullets passed through Uchiha Feiyu's body without causing any damage. A moment later, the figure dissipated; it was nothing more than a phantom.

"So fast! This speed is much faster than Soru..."

Blueno turned his head in terror to look around. At this moment, a hand reached out from behind him, rested on Blueno's shoulder, and snapped his arm with a 'Crack!':

"Want to open a door and escape? Sorry, I know all about your intelligence. Although the Door-Door Fruit doesn't help much in direct combat, it is indeed a god-tier fruit for escaping and support, so I won't give you the chance!"

While speaking, Uchiha Feiyu had already activated his Devil Fruit ability. Blueno opened his mouth, and his blood and life force drained away instantly, turning him into a dried-up husk with only one breath left.

Feeling that Blueno had fallen into a near-death coma, Uchiha Feiyu grabbed his head, pried open his eyelids, and directly hypnotized him.

As an Agent with decent strength, it was difficult for Uchiha Feiyu's Vampire Hypnosis to have a long-lasting effect on Blueno. Modifying his memories was feasible, but making Blueno obedient to his every word was very troublesome.

However, when a person is near death, their will naturally becomes scattered, so the effect of using hypnosis is naturally much better.

This was precisely the reason why Uchiha Feiyu beat Blueno until he had only one breath left. Just a moment later, Uchiha Feiyu completed the hypnosis.

"The effect of the hypnosis should last for a few months! After all, I'm making him completely transfer his loyalty from the World Government to me, rather than just modifying his memories."

Human memory is actually something very easy to modify because humans themselves possess the ability to fill in the blanks. As long as the modified memory is relatively logical, after a period of time, it will naturally be taken as a true experience.

But wanting to make a person mindlessly loyal to oneself is equivalent to directly modifying a person's personality, which is naturally much more troublesome. Plus, Blueno's strength was not weak, making it even more difficult for Uchiha Feiyu to modify him.

Fortunately, there were no accidents in the end. After the hypnosis was modified, Uchiha Feiyu directly replenished the blood and life force Blueno had lost and even treated his injuries along the way. Soon, Blueno recovered.

Having recovered from the brink of death, Blueno immediately knelt on one knee before Uchiha Feiyu and said:

"Master, what are your orders?"

Uchiha Feiyu circled around Blueno. Seeing him still kneeling on the ground without any doubt, he nodded:

"You continue working in the bar for now! Then find a way to guide the Straw Hat Pirates into a conflict with CP9..."

When he said this, Uchiha Feiyu seemed to have thought of something and asked:

"Hmm, by the way, do you know Franky?"

"The Franky Family is the largest underworld organization in Water 7, and their members often drink in my bar."

Hearing Blueno's answer, Uchiha Feiyu nodded with satisfaction:

"Very good. Find a way to let the Franky Family get to know the Straw Hat boy, whether it's a good encounter or a bad one, it doesn't matter. Then reveal a piece of information to the Straw Hat boy: that Franky is the best shipwright in all of Water 7."

"With the Straw Hat boy's personality, he will definitely be able to turn enemies into friends with Franky, and might even want to pull Franky onto his ship. At that time, you reveal the news to the CP9 organization, saying that the blueprints for Pluton are with Franky, and guide both sides to start a war."

"After the CP9 organization is defeated by the Straw Hat boy, you use the Door-Door Fruit to bring them all over! By then, the CP9 organization should still be of some use."

Blueno nodded, not asking how Uchiha Feiyu knew so much information, nor how he could be so certain that things would develop as he said; he positioned himself correctly, merely as a pawn executing orders.

Taking Blueno away directly now and extracting the fruit was not impossible, but if he did so, Uchiha Feiyu would certainly end up on the CP organization's blacklist.

Although no one saw the battle between Uchiha Feiyu and Blueno, and the people in the bar just now had all had their memories blurred by Uchiha Feiyu, these intelligence organizations did not care about evidence.

Blueno's Devil Fruit Ability was extremely adept at self-preservation; there was simply no one in Water 7 capable of taking him down without a sound. If you, the Blood Demon, had just gone on a killing spree in Water 7 and wiped out a pile of Pirates, and then Blueno went missing, these two points alone would be enough for the intelligence organizations to fix their gaze on Uchiha Feiyu.

Although a single Blueno did not count for much to these intelligence organizations, if one included the Door-Door Fruit user, it would be different; to put it bluntly, this Devil Fruit was worth nearly as much as an entire CP9 Agent squad!

Although Uchiha Feiyu was not afraid of the World Government now, it was not yet time to fall out with them. He was still planning to take advantage of the two major events, the Summit War and the Impel Down breakout, to get a massive boost in one go; if he really fell out with them, many things would become difficult to manage.

As for why he wanted to capture the entire CP9 Agent squad, it was actually all for the sake of the connections these Agents had with the World Government.

It was a very simple matter; don't look at how this Agent squad was easily turned into stray dogs by Spandam's distortion of the truth, but in reality, these Agents also had their own connections within the World Government!

Kalifa was explicitly stated in the databook to have a father who was an Agent, and Kumadori also had a mother who worked as an assassin for the World Government. Furthermore, although the other Agents did not have clearly defined backgrounds, how could someone like Fukuro, who was not strong and had a loose mouth, have joined CP9 if he had no background?

Later, when these Agents were exonerated and promoted directly to CP0, besides their own impressive strength and the loyalty they showed to the World Government during their predicament, there must have been the influence of the forces behind them. Otherwise, how could there be such a good thing as failing a mission, taking the blame, and then rising straight to the top?

After giving instructions to Blueno, Uchiha Feiyu did not stay long in Water 7. The Pluton blueprints might be very important things to Pirates and the World Government.

But for Uchiha Feiyu, rather than having the spare time to build some strongest warship, it was better to spend that time on improving himself and meeting up with his main body. Once the main body was brought over, wouldn't that be much stronger than any strongest warship?

Besides, buried beneath Wano Country was the original Pluton! That was much better than any blueprints.

Leaving Water 7, Uchiha Feiyu began his journey of slaughter in the first half of the Grand Line again, with even higher efficiency than before.

Having achieved Awakening of the Blood Release Technique, Uchiha Feiyu's speed was incredibly fast. Almost single-handedly, he could blockade seven shipping routes, easily jumping between routes and islands to conduct a battle royale with the Pirates, which also caused his cultivation speed to rise rapidly.

At the same time, the terrifying name of the Blood Demon resounded throughout the seven shipping routes, and Uchiha Feiyu also deliberately left behind a large number of Dried Corpse of Pirates.

The scene of empty pirate ships drifting on the sea, with only Dried Corpse remaining, not only made the Pirates of the Grand Line terrified, but also made ordinary civilians panic whenever the Blood Demon was mentioned.

However, during this period, the news of the Blood Demon could not yet rank on the world stage; the most explosive news today was none other than the major event of Enies Lobby suffering the Buster Call.

(End of this chapter)