Chapter 224: Sitting at Home, a Pot Falls from the Sky

A cool breeze blew from afar, penetrating deep into the heart and spleen.

The three stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the sky full of stars, their hearts quieting in this moment.

"So beautiful~"

Owl took a deep breath, then closed his eyes, savoring the tranquility of the present moment.

"Ah~"

Jabura responded indifferently, yet before his eyes floated scene after scene of what he had experienced within the Bastan Realm these past few days.

The grateful words of those commoners might have been fake, but their excited eyes and trembling hands could not be feigned.

Jabu slowly sat up, lowering his gaze to look at his own hands, and murmured:

"Besides killing, can't these hands of ours do something else...?"

Kumadori was startled, slowly opening his eyes to see nothing but countless morning stars, and he slowly spoke:

"It should be possible, right?!"

"After all, didn't Roubo Luqi also find the path he wanted to pursue and the man he wanted to follow?!"

"I think so too, chababa~"

Owl didn't even blink, only clutching tightly a piece of candy wrapper that had long since become deformed in his hand.

"We have always regarded the will of the World Government as the righteous cause we pursue, considering anything that goes against the World Government's will as evil..."

"But is that really so?!"

"Is what we are doing now also a form of... justice?!"

A slight smile curled at the corner of Jabura's mouth:

"Who knows?!"

"However."

"Does it really matter so much whether it is justice or not?!"

"That fellow Luqi can plunge into darkness for what he wants; why must we stubbornly cling to so-called justice?!"

As the voice landed.

All three fell silent.

Only the sound of wind by their ears gradually began to howl, growing louder and colder, so much so that Jabura subconsciously tightened his clothes.

Yet the words he had subconsciously spoken earlier lingered in his mind, refusing to dissipate.

After a long while.

Jabura raised his eyes to look at the distant town, brightly lit, with laughter drifting on the wind, making him feel a peculiar sense of peace.

"I will stay here; this place holds what I want."

The instant the voice landed, an urgent ringing sound from a Den Den Mushi erupted.

"Buru Buru—!"

"Buru Buru—!"

"Buru Buru—!"

The expression on Jabura's face instantly froze, yet he still instinctively took the Den Den Mushi from his bosom; after connecting, an arrogant voice came through the receiver.

"Jabura?!"

"How did the mission in Arabasta go?"

"Yehahahaha~"

"I'm back again!"

The familiar voice made Jabura slightly stunned:

"Spandam? Weren't you already taken into custody?!"

"That was indeed the case."

Spandam's voice grew increasingly clamorous, as if trying to spit out all the resentment accumulated in his heart over these past days in one go.

"Speaking of which, I owe this matter to you, no, to that old geezer."

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had you lie in wait in Arabasta, nor would I have uncovered the plans behind Baroque Works and the whereabouts of the Jin Shizi."

"According to our investigation results, that old bastard has already boarded the Jin Shizi's ship."

"Tch—!"

Amidst the speech.

Spandam spat a mouthful of saliva, his tone filled with undisguised contempt, before continuing:

"Gismonda, who was temporarily acting as the CP9 director, has disappeared without a trace; in other words... I have been reinstated!"

"Truly... dogshit luck beyond imagination."

Jabura muttered in complaint.

But to be honest, compared to Gismonda, who was deep-minded and had too many schemes, he was more accustomed to working under Spandam.

Although the latter had a despicable character, he was genuinely stupid.

"Hey, hey, hey~"

"Is that how you speak to your superior?!"

On the other end of the line.

Spandam reached up to hold his forehead, yet the relief and excitement in his eyes were utterly uncontrollable.

The three, including Jabura, who had been inadvertently left in Arabasta initially, were meant only to catch Spandine's leverage, yet unexpectedly they truly allowed him to find life in a desperate situation.

If not for this stroke of luck this time, he might truly have been secretly disposed of by the CP organization, leaving not a single trace in this world.

"But never mind, that doesn't matter. I have a new mission for you."

"Our mole inside the Navy sent back intelligence: Nico Robin has appeared in Alabasta and should currently be inside the capital, Alubarna."

"Her whereabouts are unknown."

Spandam's voice instantly grew cold:

"That woman is one of the few in this world capable of reading the Poneglyphs. Prioritize capturing her alive; if that fails, kill her on the spot."

"In any case, she must absolutely not fall into anyone else's hands!"

On the other end of the receiver, silence stretched for a long time before Jabra's cold voice finally spoke:

"Yes, my lord!"

"Yahahahaha—!"

"If you complete this mission, you will be my adjutant."

"Yes!"

"By the way, I heard you boarded Knight Gao Wen's ship earlier. Is that guy Roubo Luqi still there?!"

On the other end of the phone.

Jabra's pupils contracted as he spoke:

"He is still on a mission. The reason we were able to escape Gao Wen's Pirate Crew this time was thanks to his cover-up."

Halfway through speaking.

The owl beside him silently tugged at Jabra's clothes, snapping him back to his senses. He then feigned anger and said:

"You cannot let that bastard surpass me. The adjutant position is mine!"

"Yahahaha—!"

"Once you deal with Nico Robin on your end, you can escape. As for Roubo Luqi, the higher-ups only placed that pawn there; they won't know when to launch actual operations."

"That position can only be yours."

"That's more like it."

He hung up the phone.

Jabra's expression instantly turned cold. The owl and Kumadori beside him also looked toward the bustling town in the distance with complex expressions.

For a moment, the three were speechless. Only the wind blowing past them grew colder, even stinging their faces.

After a long while.

Jabra sighed:

"Let's go."

"This place is not our home. This CP9 skin can only be shed on the day we die."

"Time to execute... Justice!"

On the other end.

Enies Lobby.

Spandam put down the Den Den Mushi, and the smile on his face instantly vanished.

He couldn't help but raise a hand to rub his brow. His sleeve slid down, revealing an arm covered in scars.

The mask on Spandam's face had long been removed. What was now exposed to the air was a face twisted like a vengeful ghost.

During the time he was detained by the CP organization.

He had endured torture day and night without rest; there was not a single patch of unbroken skin left on his entire body.

Logically, after such torment, a normal person's mind would have already collapsed from the unbearable strain.

Yet, in Spandam's eyes, there was instead an unusually sinister and calm demeanor. It was because, amidst the near-endless darkness, he understood one truth:

One must rely on oneself!

The more he looked back on his past experiences, the more Spandam understood how utterly foolish his former self had been.

"From subordinates to superiors, I doubt a single person ever truly looked me in the eye."

"Heh~"

After a self-mocking laugh, Spandam refocused his attention on the problem before him.

"Jabra's reaction is fine."

Regarding the charge of Roubo Luqi betraying the CP organization and leaking the Six Powers, Spandam had never believed it from start to finish.

After years of association, Roubo Luqi had long been in his mind a perfect tool who only knew how to execute justice, asking neither right nor wrong, nor the reasons behind it.

When hundreds of captives were placed before Roubo Luqi back then, he acted without the slightest hesitation. The reason for his actions still sent shivers down Spandam's spine even now:

Justice is absolute; if all the hostages are killed, no one can be threatened.

How could such a person be swayed by a mere pirate?

But this only made the whole matter more complicated.

"Given Roubo Luqi's combat strength, facing the CP0 elites led by Gismonda, there should be no possibility of survival. That means a third party was involved in this matter."

Spandam casually picked up a fountain pen and wrote three names on a draft paper:

Knight Gao Wen, Crocodile, and Jin Shizi Shi Ji.

"The only powerful figures who have recently appeared there and possess the ability to prevent Gismonda from even sending a distress signal are these three."

Spandam's gaze fell upon Gao Wen.

For a moment, he fell into deep thought.

"Knight Gao Wen does have a motive, and it is extremely sufficient."

"After all, Roubo Luqi originally infiltrated Gao Wen's Pirate Crew under the identity of a CP9 traitor. Facing CP0's pursuit of Roubo Luqi, protecting his own ship was only natural."

"But if that were the case, the intelligence regarding Gismonda's death in battle should have been relayed back to the CP organization through Roubo Luqi long ago."

"If he had Betrayed the World Government, there would be absolutely no possibility for Jabra and the others to have escaped alive. In that case, there is only one reasonable explanation..."

"Gismonda was already dead before he went to execute Roubo Luqi."

Spandam raised his hand and crossed out Gao Wen's name.

After hesitating for a moment, he crossed out the name of Xiang Keluo as well:

"Xiang Keluo was already entrenched within Alabasta, even secretly preparing to usurp the throne. Making a move against the CP organization would only increase the likelihood of his exposure; the possibility of him taking the initiative is low."

"Then it can only be you..."

"Jin Shizi Shi Ji!"

The more Spandam thought about it, the more he felt his judgment was incredibly precise. After all, having eliminated two wrong answers, the remaining one, no matter how absurd, could only be the correct solution.

"The old man escaped and immediately boarded the Jin Shizi's ship. How could such a coincidence happen?!"

"I suspect he was already secretly cooperating with the Jin Shizi before his presence was exposed. Otherwise, given the CP organization's intelligence capabilities spanning the entire world, the Jin Shizi could not have hidden for so long."

"Moreover, how many moles have the CP organization uncovered within its own ranks during this period? More than just one or two?"

Mentioning recent events within the CP organization, Spandam could not help but reveal a hint of mockery:

"The World Government's ace special agent organization, whose rank is even equal to the Navy, has actually been infiltrated into a sieve?!"

"Among them is even the former head of CP9, the current second-in-command of CP0, a figure of real power who single-handedly formulated the infiltration plan for Water Seven?"

"Truly laughable."

After muttering a few complaints, Spandam turned his attention to the matter at hand:

"The most urgent matter is to establish contact with Roubo Luqi over there. That, however, is a troublesome affair."

"Previously, he maintained one-way contact with me. After Gismonda's death, that encrypted Den Den Mushi vanished without a trace."

"Tsk!"

(End of Chapter)