Chapter 192: Letter of Commendation

Gao Wen's lips curled into a faint smile:

"Ah."

"I accept your allegiance."

"There is only one iron rule on my ship."

"Anyone who harms a comrade without cause—even if they flee to Impel Down, to Marineford, or even to Mary Geoise—I will find them and chop them into pieces to feed the dogs."

"I hope you remember my words."

Luqi looked up and met Gao Wen's gaze:

"If that day ever comes, I will bring my own head to you."

"Good."

Gao Wen nodded, then turned to look toward Jisimunda in the distance; the suppressed killing intent around him erupted violently.

He vaguely remembered what Jisimunda had said to Luqi moments ago, and with a faint smile on his lips, he spoke:

"Will you kill yourself, or shall I give you a quick death?!"

Jisimunda froze in horror:

"Do you know what you're doing?!"

"Attacking me here means opposing the World Government—even if you're a Warlord—!"

Ssshh!

A streak of silver flashed through the air; Jisimunda's head instantly flew upward, and his fading vision caught the scene around him.

Gao Wen and Xiang Keluo had already vanished; only streaks of silver light flickered through the air, slaughtering every agent present.

How dare he?

He…

Why wouldn't he dare?

What weighs more: a man powerful enough to obliterate a city in an instant, or a mid-level officer of CP?

Will the World Government and CP really risk turning this powerful man into an enemy for my sake?

Jisimunda had no answer; at last, he understood just a fraction of Luqi and Miss Kalifa's plight—but it was too late for regret.

Gao Wen and Xiang Keluo worked together; within a few breaths, every CP member present was slain.

Corpses piled into a mountain; blood flowed into a pool.

Boom!

As a searing dragon's breath erupted from Gao Wen's mouth, the corpses of the CP agents, along with nearby rocks and dust, melted into flowing lava.

Once the lava hardened, everything that happened here tonight would cease to exist.

Gao Wen stared at the still-burning scene and ordered:

"Xiang Keluo, Fan Aka, take your teams and eliminate every living CP member."

"If word of this leaks, it will bring us serious trouble."

"Yes!"

Both understood the gravity of the situation; they turned swiftly and vanished into the night within a few breaths.

Gao Wen lifted the gravely wounded Miss Kalifa; seeing she still breathed, he lowered his heart slightly, then turned to Luqi, who was struggling to stand, and asked:

"Can you still move?!"

Luqi shook his foggy head, gritted his teeth, and said:

"Yes."

"Good. Then return on your own—I'm taking Kalifa for emergency treatment."

"Huh?"

Luqi froze in place; only when he came to his senses did he realize Gao Wen had already flown far away with Miss Kalifa, disappearing into the horizon.

He rubbed his forehead, unable to stop his lips from twitching:

"I'm injured too—this is blatantly double-standard."

"Still, if Kalifa were awake right now, she'd probably be laughing out loud."

Luqi's lips couldn't help but curl into a faint smile.

Though severely wounded and bound by seastone, he now felt utterly light, as if his strength were recovering faster than before.

"An illusion?!"

"But now, I won't need to pretend anymore—I won't have to tiptoe around like I did inside CP, always under suspicion from my own comrades."

Luqi took a deep breath; sensing his strength returning, he realized the feeling wasn't an illusion.

He then used the ability of Life Return to manipulate his muscles, attempting to squeeze out the seastone bullets.

With the seastone's restriction, his movements were far slower than before.

With ordinary bullets, Luqi could expel them from his body in a few breaths; this time, it took over ten minutes.

Tap!

Tap!

Tap!

Several shattered bullet fragments were forced out of Luqi's wounds; instantly, he felt the chains lifted, fully restored.

The Animal-Type's powerful healing, combined with Life Return, stopped the bleeding and sealed the wounds shut.

"Huh~"

Luqi exhaled slowly, then shifted into his cheetah form—but instead of heading straight for Gao Wen's ship, he used his knowledge of CP to assist Xiang Keluo in the manhunt.

The killing continued through the night until the final CP member fell to Luqi's hands; only then did the three finally breathe easier.

"It's done."

Fan Fan Aoka wiped his beloved gun, Qian Lu, and lowered his eyelids to look at Roubo Luqi:

"Confirm their intel hasn't been transmitted yet?"

Roubo Luqi nodded:

"From my experience, it hasn't."

"We moved too fast. Captain Gao Wen struck instantly, beheading Gismonda outright—they had no time to react."

"Hmph."

Xiang Keluo raised a hand to adjust his glasses, slowly sheathing his knife into the waist sheath, his gaze fixed on Roubo Luqi, a faint smile curling at his lips:

"If Gao Wen accepts your words, then from now on, you're one of us."

"Ah."

Roubo Luqi kept his hands in his pockets, a faint smile on his lips.

The three stood shoulder to shoulder behind Whiskey Shanfeng, letting the sea wind carry away the stench of blood.

Xiang Keluo couldn't help asking:

"What are your plans going forward?"

"First, take the No. 1 seat."

"Hoh~"

"Arrogant new recruit."

Fan Fan Aoka watched the two, his eyes holding an indescribable expression:

"Is this fate?"

"When was it decided?"

"Perhaps… it was already destined… the moment they chose to go undercover?"

"After all, that man was destined to bring change to this world."

"I have this feeling!"

"He will surpass fate!"

…

…

…

When Miss Kalifa awoke, it was the next morning; warm sunlight streamed through the dock's porthole, bringing gentle warmth.

"Mmm~"

She groaned, opened her eyes, and realized she had somehow been brought back aboard the ship.

Her wounds had been bandaged, carrying a faint herbal scent, and even the pain had eased considerably.

"Did Roubo Luqi bring me back?!"

"No."

Chopper, who had kept watch all night, finally exhaled in relief and explained:

"It was Captain Gao Wen."

"You were too badly injured—you need rest for a while."

"Captain Gao…?"

Chopper froze, then noticed Miss Kalifa's face was flushed crimson, her posture suddenly shy and flustered.

"C-C-Captain Gao Wen personally brought me back?"

Chopper nodded vigorously:

"Yes—he carried you back last night."

"Eeeeyaaah~~~~"

Miss Kalifa clutched her face in her hands, wearing a dazed, infatuated expression, then suddenly felt regretful:

"Damn it, why did I pass out? I forgot completely what Captain's embrace felt like."

The constant changes left Chopper stunned.

Nami saw this, reached out, and patted Chopper's head with the air of someone who'd been there:

"This is what they call love~"

"Never mind."

"You're still too young, Chopper."

Chopper blinked, raised his two hooves, did some calculations, then held them up in protest:

"By human reckoning, I'm already twelve years old!"

"Humans don't become adults until eighteen, and love is a forbidden realm only adults may touch—once you fall in, you're lost, like Miss Kalifa and Gasha, utterly helpless."

Chopper swallowed hard, his face filled with terror:

"Is it really that terrifying?!"

"Absolutely!"

Nami warned:

"It's an absolute forbidden realm—but if you want to understand it, I have a movie I can recommend."

"What movie?"

"The Faithful Knight Falls for the Seductive Wang Fei!"

Chopper's ears twitched slightly, his gaze turning Solemn.

"I've heard of it!"

"One of the three unspeakable taboos of the Gao Wen Pirates, recording the captain's unknown past!"

Nami froze:

"Three taboos of the Gao Wen Pirates?"

Chopper nodded heavily:

"The captain's past, the socks Xiang Keluo washed, and Nami's treasury!!!"

"What a mess~"

Nami's eyelid twitched; she immediately tossed the question aside and continued to persuade Chopper:

"So, will you watch?"

Chopper hesitated for a moment, finally mustering his courage and gritting his teeth:

"Watch!"

He comforted himself:

"I'm doing this to understand the captain's mental state; it doesn't count as breaking a taboo... it doesn't!"

Nami could see right through Chopper's thoughts; she smiled cunningly:

"A doctor understanding a patient's mental state certainly doesn't count!"

"Hehehe~"

"Hehehe~"

While the two were sneering, Miss Kalifa also stuck her head over and laughed:

"I want to watch too!"

Seeing this, Nami simply found a Den Den Mushi projector and started playing a movie directly in the ward.

Two hours later.

The faint sound of three people sobbing drifted from the ward, causing Gao Wen, who was passing by, to tighten his heart; he pushed the door open only to find the three of them digging up his dark history again.

Although this dark history wasn't even his own, strictly speaking, there was no difference.

Gao Wen simply, with a dark face, confiscated Nami's tool of the crime.

But he hadn't even left when Nami dug out a backup from her own room and started playing it again.

Seeing this, Chopper sucked in a cold breath:

"Nami, you still have a backup?!"

"Of course."

"What if the captain confiscates this one too?"

Nami smiled mysteriously, her gaze revealing boundless confidence:

"Then just take out another one!"

The three chatted for a while longer, then turned their attention to the video screen before them.

Little did they know their conversation had already been heard crystal clear by Gao Wen, who was lying outside the door.

"So you just can't let go of this bit of dark history, huh?"

Gao Wen let out a bitter smile; recalling the question Miss Kalifa had asked him last night, he ultimately didn't have the heart to confiscate their little entertainment again.

He gave up:

"Watch if you want."

"Anyway, everyone on the ship knows about this broken matter."

"By the way, what's the deal with that Princess Gwen?"

Under the morning sun.

Roubo Luqi, Xiang Keluo, and others stood side by side; he couldn't help but voice the doubt that had long been in his heart.

He had only glanced briefly at the files and knew nothing at all about the details within.

Now completely relaxed and integrated into the Gao Wen Pirates, he had the leisure and mood to ask about such gossip.

"You with the thick eyebrows and big eyes, didn't expect you to like this kind of thing?!"

Xiang Keluo smiled slyly, placing one hand on Roubo Luqi's shoulder and saying:

"No one knows this matter better than me."

"Speaking of back then, before Gao Wen set sail..."

Xiang Keluo embellished Gao Wen's experiences before setting sail and poured them into Roubo Luqi, even recounting his encounter with Gao Wen in the East Blue.

For a moment, he couldn't help but sigh:

"So I truly envy you guys; that bastard once held a knife to my neck, telling me to submit or die..."

"Double standards, crystal clear."

"Hahahaha~"

The crowd burst into laughter.

Roubo Luqi was also infected by this atmosphere; a rare smile appeared on his face, and he felt an indescribable lightness throughout his entire body.

Like a beast long confined in a cage, once shedding its shackles and transcending its original limitations, it could truly feel the beauty of this world.

At this moment.

Roubo Luqi also thought of Kaku and Blueno, still in Water 7, and Jabra and others, who, though having some discord with him, could still be called comrades.

For a moment.

Roubo Luqi fell silent.

The three quickly returned to the dock; after Roubo Luqi found Chopper to stitch his wounds, he walked onto the slowly rising deck and knocked on the captain's cabin door.

"Enter."

Gao Wen's voice came from inside; Roubo Luqi pushed the door open, saw Gao Wen looking at him, wasted no words, and stated his purpose directly:

"Captain, I still have a few fellows in CP9 who can be called comrades; if possible, I want them to board the ship."

Gao Wen naturally knew who Roubo Luqi was talking about.

Of the CP9 members who appeared in Water Seven back then, besides Roubo Luqi and Miss Kalifa, there were five others.

Namely the Jabra trio, plus Kaku and Blueno.

The second-in-command, Kaku, could later even trade blows with Zoro two years down the line; his future combat power, while perhaps not reaching Golden, was not far off.

All of them were still quite decent immediate combat strength.

"Agreed, but on the condition that they are trustworthy."

"Hmm."

Roubo Luqi nodded, saying nothing more, yet the gratitude in his eyes could not be faked.

He shifted the topic and spoke of Water Seven:

"Kaku and Blueno are still lying low in Water Seven, secretly investigating the blueprints for Pluton."

"Since we plan to build a ship, why not build one capable of shaking the world?"

"For example... Pluton!"

Gao Wen turned his head to look at Roubo Luqi.

If he had believed Roubo Luqi's joining his ranks by seventy percent last night,

then with these words spoken, Roubo Luqi's trustworthiness in his heart became ninety percent, or even a hundred.

As long as he passed the System's test, Gao Wen would consider this powerful combat strength as his own.

But upon mentioning the blueprints for Pluton, Gao Wen instinctively shook his head and said:

"With the technological level of this era, even if we obtained the Pluton blueprints, we could not truly realize them."

These words were not spoken by Gao Wen, but were stated personally by Vegapunk.

If a man with that wisdom and ability believed Pluton could not be built, then it was basically a fact.

Yet at that moment, a face suddenly flashed through Gao Wen's mind:

"Wait!"

"If it cannot be realized through technology, what about through a Devil Fruit?!"

(End of this chapter)