Chapter 205

"Good work Kozue. Take a break," I said as I looked at the open palm of my right hand, smiling at the gash in its center courtesy of Kozue's Instant Death.

It's been an hour or so since Kozue awakened her Haki, and we didn't stop our spar as she needed to get a feel for it and learn how to utilize it in combat.

Kozue was a natural fighter, and she quickly adapted to the enhanced defense and attack provided by armament Haki into her fighting style, adopting a more aggressive and assertive style instead of dodging and waiting for a chance for a counterattack.

"What I said earlier..." I remarked as I approached her, trailing at the end of my sentence to think about how to best apologize for my remarks when I was trying to rile up Kozue.

"Don't worry about it, captain," Kozue said, cutting me off with a wave of her hand. "You were only trying to help me, and it worked," she added, slightly smiling in my direction.

"You have my thanks," she concluded, bowing her head.

"Don't mention it. Come to me anytime you feel like getting a beating," I said with a chuckle, patting Kozue's shoulder as I walked past her.

...

"Oh? You're leaving so quickly?" Iceburg remarked as he sat behind his desk, looking at me as I sat on his office's fancy leather couch with Elvis next to me.

"We're on a schedule. We need to get to the Florian Triangle as soon as possible, and I've already wasted too much time," I replied with a sigh, shaking my head.

"Besides, Elvis here is getting impatient already," I added, chuckling as I smacked the fish-man on his right shoulder.

It's been a week since Kozue awakened her Haki, and I spent all of that time exploring the abandoned undergrounds below Water Seven in search of Tsui village.

Unfortunately, Tsui village, the resting place of Yagara bulls and, by extension, a spiritual realm, did not exist as I was unable to find it despite searching tirelessly for the past week.

For those of you who don't know, Tsui village is said to be the resting place of the Yagara bulls, and Luffy stumbled upon it by accident in an anime-only, non-canon episode.

I guess it was just that, after all, filler. But then again, it might actually exist, and I missed it.

In any case, things have been relatively quiet and peaceful this week, with no one showing up to bother my crewmates and me, which isn't surprising since we already beat up the two biggest troublemakers on this island.

I beat up Franky myself, and saw Bob beating up Rob Lucci, so I'd know.

And speaking of CP9, I met Khalifa multiple times on my way to see Iceburg, but I didn't ask her out again, nor did I bother giving her more than a casual greeting.

I was horny, not desperate. I had already given Khalifa as much information as I was willing to share, and if I wanted to get anywhere with her, I'd have to tell her more.

Still, not all is lost. Khalifa was most likely re-evaluating her life choices, and she might even harbor a doubt or two about her choice of companionship considering the look she gave Blueno when he refused to help her at the bar during our date, but who knows?

Whether she had any doubts or not. And whether she acted on those doubts or not would depend on how much dignity and human decency she had left after whatever it was the world government did to her and the other CP agents to mold them into such loyal hounds.

Either way, I didn't really care.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Iceburg, but I've been itching to get back into the sea for quite some time now, and I can't keep freeloading on your goodwill forever," Elvis said, scratching his head with an awkward smile.

"Don't be silly. You're always welcome here, Elvis," Iceburg replied, copying Elvis' awkward tone and body language as he scratched his head with a sheepish smile.

"Besides, I had fun teaching a talented shipwright like you... I know you'll be a great shipwright one day, greater than you already are..." he added, shrugging off his awkwardness and genuinely smiling.

"That's the plan," Elvis said with a smile, nodding his head as he stood up from his seat, prompting me to do the same. "Thanks for everything, Mr. Iceburg," he concluded, quickly engulfing Iceburg's in a tight, brief hug and leaving the office before the astonished shipwright could say anything.

"You've given me a good shipwright, Iceburg. I owe you one," I said, snapping Iceburg out of his surprise as I extended my right hand towards him, asking for a handshake. "But I don't do hugs, not with dudes anyway..." I added, chuckling as Iceburgg shook my hand with a wry smile.

"Don't mention it. I'll be looking forward to reading about what you and Elvis from the newspapers," Iceburg replied as he let go of my hand. "But do visit if you have the chance in the future," he concluded, smiling as he sat down.

"Will do. Now let me see if I can get a goodbye hug from Khalifa..."

Suffice to say. I didn't get one.

...

As he stood on a relatively tall building a distance away from Water Seven's shores, Rob Lucci frowned, his expression a mixture of doubt, anger, and confusion while watching the Black Pearl sail away.

Rob Lucci was a living weapon. A tool with the sole purpose of dispensing the world government's bloody justice as the ultimate necessary evil.

Lucci, of course, knew what his superiors thought of him, and not only did he accept his role as a tool, he even took pride in it.

In fact, the only reason he joined the world government was that it was a chance for him to act upon his violent, bloodthirsty tendencies without worrying about the consequences.

Still, Lucci's already twisted mind turned even more grotesque and dark thanks to the intensive training and brainwashing he went through on Guanhao island during his training to become a CP9 agent.

Lucci's handlers on Guanhao island quickly realized Lucci's twisted nature, and they harnessed it, turning the then eight-year-old boy into the perfect frenzied bloodhound he was today.

No price was too great for Lucci as long as he completed the mission given to him by his masters, the celestial dragons on Mary Geoise, and he even took pleasure in the suffering he would inflict in their name.

During his eighteen years of dedicated service as a tool for the celestial dragons, he showed no remorse or regret as he killed countless people in their name and ruined the lives of an untold number of people.

And most importantly of all, he showed no fear. However, that came to an end a week ago as he found himself lying on the floor, bloodied, beaten, and helpless, as another stood over him, twirling his mustache with a leisure expression.

For the first time in his life, Lucci knew fear. It wasn't fear of failure, defeat, or even death. It was a fear of weakness, the only thing Lucci could not and would not tolerate, as the man settled for ridiculing him after beating him to a pulp and allowing him to escape instead of killing him.

And worst of all, the mustached man had even deemed him too boring, too far gone to be worth the effort, before allowing him to flee with no explanation for the man's actions.

"Hattori...?" Lucci remarked, snapping out of his daze as Hattori the pigeon softly called, nuzzling his face against Lucci. "I suppose it wouldn't matter as you say... I'll find that man again and make him pay... but the mission comes first..."