Chapter 128: Lucci thinks, Xia Nuo laughs

"Small fry, small fry..."

Nami's voice was like a devil's whisper, constantly circling in his ears.

But Blueno, who had been proud and arrogant as a member of CP9, was powerless to refute.

Only a few minutes!

Kaku and Kalifa were already unconscious and in shock, losing their combat ability.

Looking at these two girls, they were completely unharmed.

Now, relying on himself alone...

Can't beat them, absolutely impossible to beat them!

Must run!

He endured the sharp pain in his chest, struggled to crawl up, and activated "Shave."

*Swish!*

With one flash, he came to the side of Kaku and Kalifa on the ground, stretching out his arms to grab them.

However, at this very moment.

A figure flashed before him, and the blue-haired girl actually appeared in front of him with a smile.

It's Shave!

Blueno's expression was even uglier; this girl actually also mastered the Six Powers??!!

"Hey."

Nojiko was close at hand, curling her mouth. "At a time like this, wanting to save your companions, aren't you... a bit too whimsical?"

*Boom!*

Another punch came!

In just an instant, Blueno was sent flying, his back hitting the wall heavily. This punch caused even more severe injuries, and he lay on the ground, the world spinning before his eyes, nearly losing consciousness directly.

No chance to save them at all.

If he took another punch, he would be finished here.

Blueno gritted his teeth in unwillingness.

Sorry, Kaku! Kalifa!

He trembled and opened his right hand, pressing it on the ground, activating his Door-Door Fruit ability.

Air Door!

*Hum!*

The ground was suddenly pushed open into a square door, revealing a greenish alien space inside. Blueno's body fell into it due to gravity, and the next second he disappeared without a trace.

And the door closed directly the next second, and the ground returned to its original appearance.

"Eh?!" Nami, who was sitting on the wall with her legs crossed, widened her eyes. "Where's the person?"

"Gone."

Nojiko chased to where Blueno had disappeared, looked left and right, and couldn't help but frown. "No trace at all. How did he do that? Devil Fruit ability?"

"It's the Paramecia Door-Door Fruit."

Robin frowned slightly. "A user who eats this fruit can open doors at will on air, walls, ground, etc., creating alien space passages that people can enter and exit freely... It's a very troublesome ability."

"What's the deal, there's such a shameless fruit?"

Nami jumped off the wall and kicked Kaku's long nose in annoyance. "Really, I wanted to let him taste my fruit ability too, but his guts were actually so small..."

"Doesn't matter, these two are enough."

Nojiko looked at the ground. "Take them away, find Kuina to meet up. Although these CP9 agents don't have much strength, they are in the dark, and we are in the light, so we still have to be careful. Let's meet up first. After these two wake up, let's see if we can pry out of their mouths whether there are any other accomplices on this island."

"Hey!"

A window upstairs was suddenly pushed open, and a fat middle-aged woman poked her head out, shouting in dissatisfaction, "What are you doing? Is there any public morality? You're making so much noise!"

She suddenly saw the cracked wall below and was stunned: "My wall..."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Nami immediately pulled a small stack of banknotes from her wallet and threw them up. "This is 200,000 Berries; it should be more than enough to repair this wall. Keep the rest as our apology."

The woman caught the money, froze for a second, then her anger instantly vanished, and she smiled while counting the money: "Oh my, young people today are really sensible!"

"You guys continue, continue, play however you want, tearing down the whole wall is fine."

Watching the woman close the window and disappear.

Robin looked at Nami and shook her head helplessly: "You gave too much."

Even if the cost of living in a big metropolis like Water 7 was higher, repairing this wall would only cost at most 60,000 or 70,000 Berries.

"That little money, doesn't matter!"

Nami said with a grin, waving her hand indifferently. "We did cause trouble for others, didn't we? Giving more is fine. Anyway, once those treasures are sold, we'll have hundreds of millions of Berries again."

Big Brother's is hers.

Money is something that can be had as much as one wants; who would care about a mere few hundred thousand Berries?

Meanwhile.

In a dark alley several hundred meters away.

*Plop!*

Blueno fell from mid-air in a sorry state, hitting the ground heavily. The sharp pain from his wounds made him groan.

"Damn it..."

He gritted his teeth, clutching his wounds, looked around to confirm no one noticed him, and began to analyze his situation quickly.

He didn't dare return to his tavern.

Although he wore a mask, his voice and physique had likely already betrayed his identity.

So, he could only go to that place.

"Must notify Lucci as soon as possible!"

Blueno staggered to his feet, clutching his chest, and limped toward the depths of the alley.

"Nico Robin... and her partners... these people, where on earth did they come from?!"

Galley-La Company.

In a dusty, long-uncleaned shack opposite the gate of Dock 1.

This was the secret meeting base purchased in advance by the CP9 agents lurking in Water 7 when they first arrived.

But later, after Blueno started running the tavern, the meeting place naturally shifted to the tavern, and this place was gradually left idle.

At this moment.

Blueno, wearing a mask and sitting anxiously behind the table, finally waited for that man.

—Lucci pushed the door and entered, the white pigeon that had accompanied him for nearly twenty years standing on his shoulder.

He seemed no different from usual, still wearing that shipwright uniform, but at this moment his eyes were indifferent, and his body radiated a dangerous aura.

"Hey, Blueno."

Lucci didn't speak, but the white pigeon on his shoulder shouted with its hands on its hips, "You look like you're in a terrible state."

Blueno gave a bitter smile, took off his mask, and revealed his pale, painful face: "Sorry, Lucci... the mission failed."

"What about Kaku and Kalifa?" The pigeon's gaze swept over the wounds on his chest and abdomen, and its brow furrowed.

"Both were captured."

Blueno gritted his teeth. "Those two girls... are very strong, much stronger than we expected. I only managed to escape by relying on my fruit ability."

Lucci was silent for a moment, walked to the window, and looked down at the busy dock below.

The white pigeon pinched its chin with its wings, looking at Blueno with a frown:

"Tell me in detail."

Blueno nodded, took a deep breath, and recounted the whole process.

From Robin's abnormal reaction to Nojiko punching through his Iron Body, to the strange injuries on Kaku and Kalifa...

"Logia users?!"

Lucci finally didn't use ventriloquism; he turned around, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. "And two appeared all at once?"

"They claimed so themselves, and only that can explain why Kaku and Kalifa couldn't hurt them at all with their martial arts."

Blueno gave a bitter smile. "And they are also very familiar with the Six Powers, even more proficient than us..."

Lucci tapped his fingers on the windowsill, lost in thought.

"Nico Robin..." he murmured in a low voice. "Since when did she have such partners?"

"Lucci."

Blueno hesitated, but still spoke: "What now? I think... we might have provoked someone we shouldn't have."

"Oh?"

Lucci glanced at him. "Are you afraid?"

"Not afraid of them!"

Blueno shook his head. "But if ordinary crew members have this kind of strength, what kind of person would the Captain be? Thinking deeply, it's very unsettling. Behind them, there might be some existence we can't contend with."

"Is that so? Interesting... you're indeed right about that point."

Lucci remained calm, took out a large stack of wanted posters from his bosom, and tossed them over.

"These are all the wanted posters collected this year. The ones at the bottom seem to match the two you mentioned perfectly. Take a look for yourself."

Blueno was startled, then hurriedly flipped through them.

Before long, he found the two girls who had left a deep impression on him.

"Winter Fist Nojiko, bounty 130 million Berries."

"Orange-haired Nami, bounty 80,000 Berries."

"Sure enough, they aren't nobodies..."

Blueno's expression was solemn. "130 million Berries, this kind of bounty is already at the level of a Supernova captain. The other one's bounty is only 80,000... wait, 80,000 Berries??"

He widened his eyes and looked carefully again; he really hadn't miscounted, it only had four zeros.

A powerhouse who could easily defeat Kalifa only had a bounty of 80,000?

Blueno was stunned.

"This pirate crew also has a pet, said to be a Flame-Flame Fruit user, with a bounty of 100 million Berries."

Lucci shook his head slightly. "Now it seems that the bunch of idiots in the Marines who eat and do nothing got the intelligence completely wrong, causing a farce."

So absurd?

Blueno hadn't recovered yet when he heard Lucci speak calmly again:

"Compared to these, you should look at who the captain of this group is..."

He stretched out two fingers, pulled one out from the wanted posters behind, and placed it on top.

Blueno looked down subconsciously, and his pupils shrank—

"Longsword Swordsman Xia Nuo, bounty 1 billion Berries..."

It's him!

Blueno's throat tightened, his voice becoming hoarse. He stared fixedly at the photo of the black-haired youth on the wanted poster, cold sweat seeping from his forehead:

"Nico Robin's new captain is actually this man?!!"

"Now you can understand why that Child of the Devil is so fearless."

Lucci's eyes were deep. "With such a formidable big shot backing her, let alone our CP9, even that mysterious and powerful organization called CP0 wouldn't dare to provoke them easily..."

"Then what do we do?"

Blueno was a bit panicked. "It's basically impossible to kidnap Nico Robin from the hands of such a monster. But Kaku and Kalifa are still in their hands; we can't just give up on them..."

"The life or death of those two doesn't matter."

Lucci's expression was cold, yet a ferocious curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. "By comparison, Blueno, don't you think..."

"A big pirate with a bounty of 1 billion Berries is worth killing!"

Cold murderous intent spread, making the temperature in the entire secret room seem to drop.

"Huh?"

Blueno opened his mouth wide, looking up blankly, not expecting Lucci to say that at all.

"We... go and kill that Xia Nuo?"

"Correct."

Lucci's gaze was as sharp as a blade. He stood up slowly, and the white pigeon on his shoulder also put on sunglasses, striking a pose full of poise.

"Don't forget, the mission of CP9 has never been just to capture Nico Robin or seek that blueprint."

His voice was low, carrying an unquestionable sense of oppression. "Any existence that threatens the World Government, any guy who dares to provoke justice, is our target."

That was true.

But, wasn't this target a bit too ambitious...

Blueno swallowed his saliva: "Lucci, that's a monster with a bounty of 1 billion! Even the Warlords of the Sea couldn't do anything to him, how could we—"

"Idiot."

Lucci interrupted him coldly, a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes.

"Are we the same as those pirates who only know brute force?"

He raised his hand and tapped his head lightly. "Don't forget, we are secret agents of CP9, never relying solely on head-on confrontation."

Blueno was startled: "You mean..."

"As long as you find the weakness, no matter how strong the prey is, it will fall under the hunter's gun."

Lucci's gaze was cold. "This man named Xia Nuo is a world-renowned great swordsman. For every swordsman, the sword is as important as life, but... what if he loses his sword?"

Blueno's gaze subconsciously moved to the wanted poster.

"See it, that longsword that never leaves his side."

Lucci stared into Blueno's eyes, saying word by word:

"Remember, your target is it."

"After finding that man, if the other party is alone, I will go up to attract his attention. At that time, you use the Door-Door Fruit ability to unexpectedly snatch this sword from behind him and take it directly to the other side of the door."

"After that, it will be time for me to exert my full strength."

Lucci also glanced at the youth on the wanted poster who didn't look strong. He twisted his neck slightly, and it immediately made a crisp sound like popping beans:

"A swordsman without a sword is like a tiger with its teeth pulled. Even if he has all kinds of skills, he won't be able to exert them."

"And I will use my peak martial arts to let this guy feel how big the gap is between him and me in a pure physical duel... exactly how big!"

Blueno was still hesitant.

Lucci was right; a swordsman losing his sword would inevitably see his strength greatly reduced.

But... that was a monster with a bounty of 1 billion!

"But... what if we fail?" Blueno couldn't help asking. "Relying only on the two of us is still a bit too much. Should we ask Spandam for suppo—"

"There is no 'what if'."

Hearing this name, Lucci showed a look of disgust, and he interrupted coldly, "Who do you think I am? Will I be as incompetent as you guys?"

A bounty of 1 billion Berries indeed had a lot of gold content.

But he wasn't a vegetarian either.

He was Rob Lucci!!!

The most ruthless killing machine in CP9's history, the strongest in Enies Lobby in 800 years!!!

If he could eliminate such a thorn in the side for the World Government...

His prestige in Enies Lobby would undoubtedly rise to another level.

He might even be recalled, no longer responsible for the boring task of finding Pluton.

But directly promoted, becoming a member of the legendary, mysterious, and powerful CP0!

With this thought in mind, Lucci’s gaze became increasingly firm and resolute.

Since the plan had already been drawn up, given his temperament, he would not turn back!

For the sake of protecting justice.

Even if there were some risks, they could be completely ignored!

(End of chapter)