Chapter 51: Rob Lucci!

Lucci's senses were razor-sharp, honed through years of training on Guanhao Island. His intuition, more akin to that of a beast, screamed at him to flee from the man beside him. Every fiber of his being was flooded with warnings, urging him to escape—far, far away.

A bone-deep coldness invaded his mind, and cold sweat trickled down his temples. He couldn't move. It wasn't some supernatural power holding him back; it was pure, unadulterated fear that had seized control of his body, rendering him almost immobile.

"W-who are you?" he stammered, his voice trembling.

Before the man could respond, the government official, who had been frozen in panic, suddenly found his voice and shouted in a mixture of fear and anger, "This is a World Government warship! A warship is a moving territory! Do you intend to provoke the World Government?"

The official's words ignited a spark of courage within Lucci.

Shave!

He used the technique instantly, breaking free from the man's grip and retreating to the mast of the warship. His fingers dug into the wood, clinging to it like a leopard ready to strike.

"Rokushiki, Shave?" Edie ignored the panicked official and turned his attention to Lucci, now perched on the mast. "Stepping on the ground dozens of times in an instant to generate explosive speed?"

"You seem to know it well! Who are you?" Lucci's voice was icy, but the distance he had gained gave him a false sense of security.

Edie chuckled, his tone almost patronizing. "It's not quite right. The real principle of Shave is simpler. It's the Haki energy released from your soul that compensates for the speed you're lacking."

Lucci frowned, clearly not understanding what Edie was talking about.

"You're unconsciously controlling ghost particles within your soul," Edie continued, as if lecturing a child. "The repeated kicking motion is just a mechanical trigger, a way to signal your soul to provide the missing energy."

Lucci, unmoved by the explanation, stared at Edie coldly. "What are you trying to say?"

Edie sighed, realizing he was getting nowhere. "I've tried to explain it in a way even a monkey could understand."

Monkey? Lucci's eyes narrowed. He understood the insult, at least.

BANG

Just then, he heard a gunshot. A bullet zipped toward Edie from the left, only to freeze in midair before it could hit its mark. Edie turned his gaze to the shooter—a government official, pale and trembling, clutching his gun with both hands.

"I-I didn't mean to..." the official stammered, terror evident in his voice. The bizarre scene had unnerved him so much that he had accidentally pulled the trigger.

Edie's eyes narrowed. "If apologies were enough, why would we need the police?"

With a flick of his gaze, the hovering bullet shot back at the official, piercing his forehead with a sickening pop. The man fell to the deck, his terrified expression frozen in death.

Edie, having dispatched the unfortunate shooter, turned back to Lucci. "My name is Edie. I'm a scientist."

Lucci felt another wave of cold wash over him, this one even stronger. He knew that name. As a reserve member of CP9, he had learned about some of the world's most dangerous individuals. Edie was one of them—a scientist notorious for his illegal research.

"It's...it's you!" Lucci gasped, horror creeping into his voice. "You're the one who copied Kaido's Blue Dragon Fruit!"

Edie raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused. "That's slander. I didn't copy Kaido's fruit—I just cloned him. The difficulty is worlds apart!"

But Edie quickly dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand. "Never mind that. What's more interesting is your blood factor."

As he spoke, a red energy ball formed in Edie's palm. Sensing imminent danger, Lucci used every ounce of strength to dodge the attack.

The red energy ball missed him but exploded violently, obliterating the deck above the warship in an instant. Waves surged, crashing against the remains of the vessel.

When the chaos subsided, Lucci lay on the deck, his body drenched in blood. He panted heavily, hearing footsteps approach.

"I'm sorry, I'm still getting the hang of this. I couldn't control the energy level," Edie said nonchalantly as he approached, pulling a new blood collection needle from his white coat. With a casual toss, the needle pierced Lucci's shoulder, automatically drawing blood.

"What...do you...want?" Lucci croaked, barely able to speak.

Edie smiled as he retrieved the blood-filled needle. "Your blood factor is quite remarkable. But now, it belongs to me."

Lucci, now too weak to resist, watched helplessly as Edie pocketed the sample. Edie shook his head in mild disappointment. "Goodbye, little monkey."

With that, Edie effortlessly lifted off the ground, flying away as if carried by a breeze. In an instant, he was gone, leaving Lucci alone on the shattered remnants of the warship.

Rob Lucci lay motionless on the shattered deck, his body battered and broken. He could only watch helplessly as Edie floated away, effortlessly defying gravity like a gust of wind, leaving behind a lingering sense of awe and confusion.

What... was that?

The question echoed in his mind, accompanied by flashes of their brief encounter. Images flickered before his eyes like a revolving lantern, each one reminding him of the overwhelming power he had just witnessed.

It wasn't a Devil Fruit ability... was it Haki?

Lucci had heard of Haki during his training on Guanhao Island. His instructors had spoken of it as the next step after mastering the Six Styles, a mysterious force that could grant abilities beyond human comprehension. They had said that once someone fully mastered the Six Styles, practicing Haki would make their efforts yield even greater results.

But this... this was far beyond anything he had imagined. Could Haki really allow someone to fly through the air? To walk on the sea as if it were solid ground? Could it conjure red energy blasts that could destroy a warship in a single strike?

"Ahem...!" Lucci coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The taste of iron filled his mouth, and he could feel his strength fading. With a painful groan, he forced himself to sit up, leaning heavily against the bulwark of the warship.

"To do all that without a Devil Fruit... He must be a god," Lucci muttered through labored breaths. His thoughts spiraled as he tried to make sense of what had happened. "Compared to him, the Six Styles... they're nothing. We're just monkeys... throwing bananas at a god, hoping to cause some harm."

A bitter laugh escaped his lips. For the first time, he felt the insignificance of his strength. Everything he had prided himself on—his mastery of the Six Styles, his status as an agent of the World Government—felt meaningless in the face of Edie's unimaginable abilities.

"I used to think the Celestial Dragons were gods," Lucci whispered, his voice faint. "The World Government, too. They taught me to believe that."

But today, his beliefs were shaken to the core.

"That power... that magic... He said my blood was excellent," Lucci recalled, his thoughts growing hazy. "Could I have that power too...? Can I..."

His body was failing him. Blood continued to seep from his wounds, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop it. He had dodged the worst of the explosion, but not enough to escape unscathed. His strength was fading fast, and his vision began to blur. The edges of his sight darkened, as if curtains were slowly being drawn over his consciousness.

I'm going to die, he realized. The thought settled in like a cold weight on his chest.

But just as darkness began to consume him, Lucci's gaze fell on something unusual—something that didn't belong amidst the wreckage. A single piece of paper lay undisturbed on the deck in front of him.

How? he wondered. The explosion had obliterated most of the warship, and yet, here it was—completely untouched. It could only mean one thing.

That man... he left it.

The realization struck Lucci like a bolt of lightning. A surge of adrenaline coursed through him, and with newfound determination, he gritted his teeth and reached for the paper. The short distance between him and the paper felt like an insurmountable chasm, his body screaming in agony with every movement.

But he had to know.

His fingers trembled as he finally grasped the corner of the paper and unfolded it. His eyes widened as he saw a string of numbers—no words, no explanations. Just a simple phone number.

Lucci stared at it for a moment, blood dripping from his lips, and then... he smiled.

He wants me to live, Lucci realized, his mind racing. He's giving me a chance.

With a grin stained in blood, Rob Lucci made a vow to himself. He wasn't going to die here, not after witnessing something so miraculous. That phone number, left by a godlike figure, was his lifeline—a path to something greater.

"I will live," he whispered, his voice filled with newfound resolve.

He had seen a miracle, and now, more than ever, he wanted to grasp that power for himself.