chapter 71

Third person's point of view:

Kano country, inside the cp9 Hideout, the three cp9 agents were standing together, Kumadori and Fukurou staring at Jabra with a frowning expression as he yelled into a transponder snail.

"What the hell do you mean we are to be relocated?" he exclaimed with a loud voice as he brought the snail close to his mouth, spraying its face with his saliva.

"You heard me, agent," replied an icy crisp voice from the other end of the call. "Not only did you act on your own against a person of interest, but you also alerted him to your presence and the growing interest in him," the voice added in a tone that didn't accept any arguments.

"The only thing you've accomplished is alerting the target to our interest, compromising yourselves, and making future attempts that much more difficult," the voice explained with a patient tone. The words he spoke, however, seemed to be anything but that.

"The only reason we aren't sending other agents to erase the shame you've caused on the cp9 is that you still haven't completed your mission, and we are currently short-staffed with the others assigned their own missions," the voice added, his tone growing colder and colder as he spoke.

"So you better complete your mission with flying colors and hope that the people up top are impressed enough to spare your miserable lives," the voice concluded, hanging up the call and leaving the trio looking at each other with concerned frowns.

"How the hell did news of this get out so fast," Jabra asked with a scowl. "I know none of us told anybody, so how the hell did the higher-ups know about it so fast?" he added with an expression that was a mixture of anger and concern.

"It can't have been you flapping that big mouth of yours again, Fukurou, can it?" Jabra asked while looking at the green-haired humanoid ball, which was Fukurou.

"That's impossible. You had my zip my mouth this entire week-" Fukurou replied as he unzipped his mouth. "-and I haven't opened it even once this entire week," he concluded, zipping his mouth again as he did.

"YOYOI. It doesn't matter who did this. I will take responsibility and commit seppuku right this instant," Kumadori Exclaimed with his hand in front of his face while jumping on one leg, causing the other two cp9 agents to smack him on the head. "Now is not the time, you idiot," they shouted with their fists on his head.

"YOYOI. If that is the case, then there is no longer a need to continue this pointless argument," Kumadori remarked with a nod. "We must hurry up and leave this island to complete our mission, hopefully well enough to keep our lives," he added, causing the other two to nod while sighing.

"However, meeting my mother in heaven does not sound like a bad idea, so feel free to continue arguing if you wish," the pink-haired cp9 agent added after a minute's pause, causing the other two's eyes to twitch.

"That can be easily arranged," Came a voice from outside as one of the room's walls exploded into countless pieces, revealing Johnny's scowling face as he burst into the room, rushing towards the trio.

-0-

Johnny's point of view:

Earlier:

"So this is where those bastards are hiding," I murmur to myself while looking at an unassuming building with very few windows compared to the surrounding building with what little windows it had closed shut.

'I've waited this long, so might as well figure out what they're up to before I get to it,' I think to myself as I disappear from the rooftop I'm standing on, only to appear near the cp9 hideout leaning my back on the wall and straining my senses.

'It seems that they're talking to their superior,' I think as I close my eyes, focusing on my hearing instead.

"It looks like they weren't acting on anyone's orders," I murmured to myself as the conversation between Jabra and the person on the other line of the transponder snail ended.

'It doesn't change what I'm here to do anyway,' I concluded, channeling the impact fist technique through my body.

"However, meeting my mother in heaven does not sound like a bad idea, so feel free to continue arguing if you wish," I heard Kumadori's voice from the other side of the wall, causing me to scowl as I punched the wall, shattering it to countless pieces.

"That can be easily arranged," I remark as I rush into the room, channeling the impact fist again and lunging at Jabra, who quickly activated his Tekkai Kenpo as soon as the wall shattered.

I held Jabra's face with one hand to make sure he wouldn't go flying and buried my fist in Jabra's abdomen as soon as I reached him, the shock wave caused by my punch going through his defenses and injuring his internal organs that were still recovering.

I then slammed him to the ground, with the back of his head impacting the wooden floor, shattering it into pieces and immobilizing him for now as Kumadori shouted, "Shishi Kebab," hurling a fireball at me, which hit me in the back, but I shrugged it off thanks to my heat resistance cyber ware enhancement.

"Soru: Iron ball," Fukurou shouted in a hurried tone as his body turned even more round, launching himself at me as he spun in the air.

It took me a mere fraction of a second to calculate his trajectory and movement pattern thanks to my enhanced vision and enhanced brain processing power, so I took two steps forward, my left arm snaking its way towards the spinning Fukurou's collar, gripping it and forcing his motion to a halt.

I then slammed him on top of Jabra in an over-shoulder throw, channeling another impact fist and releasing it with my hands on his chest, immobilizing him as well and causing Jabra, who was beneath Fukurou, to faint.

Looking at this scene, Kumadori hurriedly lunged at me, the butt of his staff pointed at me as he held like a billiard's cue, continuously thrusting it at me and releasing a compressed air bullet with every thrust.

I quickly drew my sword, deflecting the air bullets as I charged at Kumadori as well, causing him to frown and shout, "Lion Finger Gun."

Kumadori's hair became longer and morphed into countless hands with their fingers pointed at me, releasing even more air bullets as he thrusts them all in my direction.

I naturally could not deflect such an ungodly amount of projectiles, causing some of them to hit me, doing absolutely no damage thanks to my tough, cyber ware enhanced exterior and Tekkai technique that I learned to move while activating earlier this week.

"Zekku (absolute void)," I murmured, feeling my consciousness being drawn into Satori's blade, leaving me unable to think of anything but the most optimal way to swing it as my hands moved on their own, slashing Kumador's torso leaving a red gash that extended from his chest to the upper area of his stomach.

"I have questions, and you will answer them," I stated while looking at Kumadori collapsing next to Fukurou and Jabra, bleeding profusely and staining the floor red with his blood as he fell.

"You won't get a single word out of my mouth," Fukurou said as he unzipped his mouth and zipped it nack again after he finished speaking.

Jabra didn't say anything since he was unconscious while Kumadori tried to say something, but only blood came out of his mouth.

I raised an eyebrow in bemusement at Fukurou as I kneeled down next to him and unzipped his mouth. "Why did you attack my companions?" I asked in an icy tone.

"Don't look down on me. I'm the tight-lipped Fukurou, lover of gossip," Fukurou said while looking me in the eye challengingly. "There is no way I'll tell you that we've attacked your friends, so we'd have less trouble when we go after you," He added, causing me to sigh in exasperation and Kumadori's body began twitching on the ground.

"I see. If you're not going to answer that question, then it can't be helped. I'll just have to ask you a different one," I remarked in a mocking tone as I watched Kumadori's body twitch even more intensely, seemingly trying to say something but only making grunting noises.

"Why do you want to go after me?" I asked as I turned my face to look at Fukurou again.

"As I've said, you should give up already. There is absolutely no way I'll tell you that Jabra wanted to go after you because a cp0 agent promised him a promotion if he managed to capture you alive," Fukurou exclaimed, his eyes filled with resolve and his tone unfaltering to the point where even I would have been moved if he wasn't telling me everything.

"I see. You're a tough nut to crack, but you'll break eventually," I remarked with a blank face, barely holding my laughter at this scene, even forgetting my earlier rage.

"Why does the cp0 agent want me captured alive?" I asked the green-haired humanoid ball again after a second's pause to compose myself.

"I don't know, and even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you that I think it has something to do with the celestial dragons or the SSG since they are the only ones able to make them move," Fukurou replied, his tone challenging and his eyes unflinching as they met my own.

"So you won't crack until the end?" I asked as I heaved a purposefully long sigh of disappointment. "Then there is no point in asking you any more questions since you will now answer," I added while shaking my head with a defeated expression on my face.

"Then, that only leaves deciding your fates on today's schedule."

(Author's note: discord gg/sEtqmRs5y7 <—- the link to my discord server. It already has a couple of awesome guys with memes and constant discussions about one piece)