Chapter 35: Response

"If we don't intervene, the Night Wolf Gang won't be able to withstand the Fang Gang's invasion. The Night Wolf Gang is already slightly weaker than the Fang Gang. The reason the Fang Gang was pushed back during their previous invasion was all thanks to the former leader, Oliver. Now, with the Capone Family's support, the Fang Gang is sure to have significant upgrades in weaponry and manpower. There's no way the Night Wolf Gang can fend them off on their own."

Robin paused briefly before continuing, "But if we intervene, it will definitely attract the attention of the Capone Family, and we might end up facing them directly."

"What if we just take out Capone Bege?" Bardock mused. In his memory, Capone Bege did unify the underworld of the West Blue. After achieving his goal, he formed the Fire Tank Pirates and headed for the New World. He was a supernova of the same generation as Straw Hat Luffy, both labeled as part of the "Worst Generation."

"Taking out Capone Bege might end the chaos, but it could also cause even bigger problems. The key issue is that our power is still too small. We wouldn't gain any benefits from killing him; instead, we'd provoke the Capone Family's mad retaliation. Plus, the other four mafia families wouldn't be grateful—they'd only become more wary of us. Even if we could assassinate him, there's no need."

Robin didn't agree with killing Capone Bege outright.

"Exactly. Killing him isn't difficult, but after he's gone, others would reap the benefits. Wouldn't I just be someone else's weapon? Killing him would be a waste."

Bardock wasn't a bloodthirsty person, and he had no interest in killing people if there was no benefit.

"There's another thing: Capone Bege is very skilled at using decapitation tactics against his enemies. He's likely to have prepared thoroughly for his own safety. Even if we wanted to kill him, it would take quite an effort."

Robin had gathered intelligence so thoroughly that she even knew Capone Bege's personal preferences.

"So, we're just going to ignore the Night Wolf Gang? Honestly, I don't care much about gangs like the Night Wolf Gang. Sooner or later, we're going to the Grand Line and the New World. If the Night Wolf Gang hadn't set their sights on us, I wouldn't have bothered taking them in. But now that they've submitted to me and worked for us for a while, I can't just leave them to their fate."

"It's not really that troublesome. We just need to squeeze the softer fruit. First, we should show the Fang Gang our strength and make them shift their expansion efforts elsewhere. Since they've just allied with the Capone Family, they probably don't want to look incompetent by failing in such a small matter. Tough fights are best left for others, or at the very least, saved for last."

Robin paused again, organizing her thoughts before continuing, "The Capone Family has big ambitions. By expanding their power and violating the unspoken rules that the five mafia families have adhered to for years, they've directly challenged the other four families by targeting the buffer zones. The other four families have people of their own. If they don't want to be slowly eaten away, they'll certainly back some forces to oppose the Capone Family. In the end, they might even engage in open warfare. When the situation reaches a stalemate, the fate of the Night Wolf Gang will be entirely up to you."

"I see what you're getting at. You're suggesting we let the tigers fight while we watch from the mountains. As long as we show enough strength to make the Fang Gang hesitate, causing them to shift their focus elsewhere, we'll buy enough time for the five mafia families to start fighting among themselves. By then, they won't even bother with a small gang like the Night Wolf Gang. The key is to control the strength we display—enough to trouble the Fang Gang but not enough to make them give up completely, which could force the Capone Family to intervene. Alright, Robin, let's just deploy Perona's Negative Ghosts this time, and you control the intensity."

"No problem. Leave it to me and Perona. I'll make sure the Fang Gang stays far away from the Night Wolf Gang but without giving up entirely."

"Even if we provoke the Capone Family early, it doesn't matter. If push comes to shove, we'll just steamroll them. Feel free to act without any hesitation."

Capone Bege wasn't someone Bardock needed to worry about. If it weren't for his enormous ambitions—so big that even one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom, couldn't fully control him despite giving him a daughter—Bardock might've considered recruiting him himself. Who could refuse a walking fortress? Bardock still hadn't figured out how to transport all the gold from the Golden City.

That night, several Fang Gang scouting squads who had infiltrated the Night Wolf Gang's territory were ambushed. With Robin around, finding people was easy. Within just fifteen minutes of her conversation with Bardock, Robin had located all the enemies. She called Perona to join her and had Andrew handle the cleanup.

"These guys are the culprits? Making me work late at night is ruining my skin!" Perona complained, touching her face as if the scouts were guilty of a heinous crime.

"Alright, hurry up and finish so we can get back to sleep. Who knows who stays up late and then can't get up in the morning."

Robin had no interest in hearing Perona's complaints, knowing full well that her own frequent late nights were what caused her breakouts.

"Enough talking. Negative Ghost!"

Perona resisted the urge to send a Negative Ghost into Robin, instead sending them toward the enemies.

Andrew's job was simple. He watched a few white ghosts pass through walls, and then Robin signaled him to go in and capture the men.

The enemies, every single one of them, were kneeling on the ground, muttering things like, "I'm so sorry for being born human," "I'm completely useless, even dogs don't care about me," "I really wanted to be a great dancer," and "Coach, I want to play soccer."

Afterward, things became simple. Robin had Andrew use the Den Den Mushi to negotiate with the Fang Gang, and they agreed to exchange money and weapons for the release of their captured scouts.

The Fang Gang's boss, Alva, was furious at first. "I sent you guys to gather intel, and not a single one of you made it back? If you're this useless, why don't you just go home and raise pigs? Times aren't like they used to be. Now, I've got a gun to my head too. If things go wrong, we're all going to end up eating lead."

However, he was also curious. The news about his rival Oliver being killed had been confirmed to be true. The Night Wolf Gang shouldn't have had anyone competent left. He'd recently allied with the Capone Family, armed his men with better weapons, and sent his elite troops. How had the weaker Night Wolf Gang displayed such strength?

When the captured men returned, Alva immediately summoned them.

"Explain to me what happened. How did none of you make it out?"

"Boss, there were ghosts!"

"Yeah, yeah, we could see them, but we couldn't touch them, and they could pass through walls!"

"Exactly, boss. They can control ghosts. Once the ghosts passed through our bodies, we lost all will to resist."

"…"

Amidst the noisy explanations, Alva understood that his enemies had a Devil Fruit user who could manipulate ghosts and cause people to lose the will to fight. The legends of the Devil Fruits had been around for a long time, but Alva hadn't believed in them until he saw Oliver transform into a cat-man.

"Shut up! Besides making you lose your will to resist, what else can these ghosts do? How many people can they affect at once? How long does it last?"

The men exchanged glances until one brave soul stepped forward. "Boss, we were ambushed in squads, so we don't know how many people they can affect at once. But the effect didn't last long. We only felt down for a short while, but that was long enough for the enemy to surround us."

"Useless! Get out of here!"

Alva sent his men away and began to think. The enemy's Devil Fruit ability wasn't particularly lethal, but combined with the Night Wolf Gang's manpower, it was tough to deal with. If his first major move after joining the Capone Family failed, his life would be at risk. Capone Bege was known for his ruthlessness, and he wouldn't hesitate to kill even his closest subordinates if they made mistakes.

"I'll have to shift my focus elsewhere for now. I'll do something impressive and then bring up these difficulties. I thought the Night Wolf Gang would be easy pickings after losing Oliver, but now they've got a Devil Fruit user. Why don't I have a Devil Fruit myself?"