Volume 1 Chapter 23 (I)

Ezra and his team were at a vacant warehouse in Fontwell town somewhere in the West Blue. The mission this time was to put an end to the secret organisation with the aid of the local police force if necessary.

A shootout was reported to have taken place in the heart of the city, there was no warning resulting in the death of several civilians. The hoodlums have no intention to stop the violence causing widespread panic.

At the moment, every member of the Blue team was disguised as normal students who came to this town for a field trip. After settling in the abandoned warehouse, it was time to gather some information.

"No 20, you are to take command when I am away. No. 18, you are to lead a squad of snipers to the upper floors to secure this location." Ezra said, turning to the rest of the officers "who has any idea on how we should deal with this mission?" Ezra asked.

"Captain, I have an idea," replied No. 5. He was a quiet officer, he never excelled at shooting or fighting, but he was swift on his feet, he was more suited to be a scout than a main fighter due to his flexible way of thinking.

After getting Ezra's acknowledgement to speak, he introduced his Idea "We split into 2 groups, one group will head to the police station, we need to understand what started the shootout and why it happened in a busy street. The second group will have to dig out information about the secret organisation at work in this town, majority of towns in West Blue always has an information agency run by local gangs we can start our investigation from there."

"That is a very well thought out plan," Ezra said. "No. 5, you will be the spearhead of this mission. we will proceed with your plan" with this the group spent a few more minutes fine-tuning the plan before setting off.

Squad 1 was made up of Five Officers including No. 5. Their job was to interrogate the police about the shootout.

Squad 2 was made up of Five Officers and Ezra. Their job was to draw out the members of the secret organisation.

No. 20, No. 18 and the rest of the team were to guard this location while awaiting any orders to mobilise.

***Squad 1 - Lead by No. 5

"Ok guys, let's get going, I will be honest with you all, this part of the mission is very fishy." No. 5 mentioned as he walked out the door. No. 1 to No. 4 were with him.

"Why do you say so?" asked No. 4

"As a marine, will you have a shootout in the middle of a busy street, or will you try to avoid a shootout to rescue as many civilians as possible?" asked No. 5.

The others could only think about it, If they received the order to fire, they will have to do it. But if they were the ones giving the orders, they will consider the civilians present on the street before taking action. The question seemed simple at first but it was not as straightforward as they initially thought. What was the actual story, were the police just obeying orders or is there more to the series of events?

The group solemnly walked towards the police station at the centre of the town. this building could not be missed, it has a huge sign with the word police written on it placed on top of the building.

Walking into the station.

"I would like to see your Sheriff, we are from the Marine Division Base. Here are our identification papers." No. 5 announced.

"One moment, Sheriff Laffitte will be with you soon," said the receptionist as she made a call on her den den mushi.

Sheriff Laffitte was an incredibly pale, tall man. Unlike most police officers who wore the standard brown uniform, He was wearing an off-white collared long-sleeve shirt patterned with yellow crosses and navy jumper pants. He also had on a distinguished classic black top hat and a red wooden cane. As he walked towards the squad, tapping sounds could be heard as his black tap dancing shoes made contact with the ground.

"Dear Sirs, Laffitte is at your service," he said with grace as he performed an exquisite bow.

The first impression the squad had was that the sheriff was a refined and sophisticated person. The way he carried himself, his words were polite and courteous, most importantly he always had a smile on his face. Only No. 5 wasn't fooled by this, he knew that this type of people were the most difficult ones to deal with. 'Do I need to review my plans' No. 5 thought.

"Hello Sheriff Laffitte, you can call me No. 5. I will be in charge of the investigation. We would like to know what happened 3 days ago on Arundel street."

"Very well, come to my office and take a seat. I will be able to brief you on what happened and our response," Laffite said politely.

After the team was seated and a hot drink had been served. The sheriff started his narration. "3 days ago, we found out that gangsters were mixing with civilians. we could not determine what their aim was but there was evidence that they had some connection with a secret organisation that was taking shape here in this town so I heard. These thugs had been digging corpses out of the cemetery and were delivering the bodies to a place here in Fontwell for transportation out.

When we noticed a bunch of thugs harassing a local store, I gave the order to bring them in by force. It was time to put an end to this madness don't you agree?" he asked the officers. Unconsciously officers 1, 2, 3 and 4 nodded. No. 5 replied, "We will have to discuss this with our captain before we can make any decision."

After speaking to a few other police officers the squad made their way back to their hideout.

The squad was shocked at the information they had gathered, the sophisticated sheriff was no different from the gangsters, he only had a badge to hide behind. There were numerous cases of abuse of power, excessive violence and unnecessary cruelty to civilians that were disclosed to the squad privately.

'It looks like we are dealing with a madman' No. 5 thought.

***Squad 2 - Lead by Ezra

No. 7, 8, 12, 15, and 19 were selected to accompany Ezra. They all had a large physique, excelled in unarmed combat and looked older than their age.

According to No. 5's plan, they were to spend part of the team's allowance in getting outfits. Ezra had to play the role of a spoilt young master while the others were to act as his bodyguards. This type of scenario should attract the attention of the local gangsters.

Following the plan to the letter, Young master Ezra and his bodyguards made their way into town to gather some information.

There was only one place for information of these sorts to be bought and that was at the Goldilocks information agency. There was also the possibility that this agency was being run by the local gangs or the secret organisation.

Ezra remembered how arrogant the young celestial dragon he had seen was. She had that sort of pride ingrained in her soul. No matter how much Ezra tried to reproduce it, it was just impossible. 'I just have to act, it probably will be seen through but acting will also serve its purpose.'

Walking through the door, Ezra said "I am looking to contact certain people for a special job, there is a lot of money to be made from working with me, so get me the best for this kind of work."

Inside the room was someone with his back towards the door, from the shape of her physique, she looked like a man but was dressed in a pretty pink flowing flowery gown, her long golden hair draped over her fairly broad shoulders, 'Okama' everyone thought.

The reply was in the most bizarre voice, it was a mixture of feminine high pitches and masculine low tones. "500 Berri for this information."

"Pay Her" Ezra signalled his guard to make the payment. No. 19 walked forward with a heavy treasure chest, as he counted 500 Berri from the content inside the chest making the payment.

"Go to Block 39 Chi off Arundel street, knock twice, then ask for Jonny's special, tell them Goldilocks sent you."

Walking out of the building the team could feel that their every action was now being monitored by a few people around the area.

Ezra was fully immersed in his role as a Young master. The squad walked from shop to shop, requesting a viewing of the best items for sale. The act of an arrogant young master sure was tiring for Ezra and the two guard that had to carry the treasure chest. They had to convince the gangsters that they were fully loaded.

After a tiring afternoon, they arrived at Block 39.

Knock Knock

"What do you want" a voice responded from behind the door

"I'm here for Johnny's special, Goldilocks recommended you to us," No. 19 spoke facing the door to the person behind it.

Almost immediately 15 armed gangsters exited Block 38, blocking off the street. Their aim was to surround Ezra and the others.

Ring Ring

The tense atmosphere was interrupted by the ringing of Ezra's den den mushi.

"Captain it's No. 5, we are dealing with a madman sheriff. How should we handle this case?..."

After hearing the summary of their investigation. Ezra requested to speak to No. 20. "You are to arrest the informant at Goldilocks Information Agency and Sheriff Laffitte, mobilise the team, head to Block 39 Chi off Arundel street for clean up." Ezra said then hung up the call, turning to his bodyguards "Pass me your water bottles, It's time to see how much improvement you 5 have made in the past months. I will knock down all with a rifle, you handle the rest, kill if you must."

"Water Bullet"

5 drops of water hovered on Ezra's palm as he sent them flying at the 5 thugs who were assuming the firing stance.

Thud!

5 bodies hit the ground simultaneously.

"Water Dome"

Water poured out of the bottles as a dome slowly took shape surrounding the street in between Block 38 and 39.

"He is a sorcerer" someone yelled

Ezra noted that down, 'it seems these thugs had met someone with the devil fruit power before' Ezra thought as he sat on the floor. Before saying out loud "I have some questions to ask, but only one person needs to answer."

The Officers charged into the thugs giving them a thorough beating, out of the remaining 10 only one person was left conscious.

"Congratulations on being the one selected by fate to answer my questions, what is your name?"

"Byron"

"Byron, why is a kid like you with these gangsters?" Ezra asked

"Who is a kid, you are younger than me,…ow ouch." His reply was cut shut by a kick to his side.

"I am giving you a once in a lifetime chance. Tell me where the base of the underground group is? What are their forces like? Who do they work for? What your gang has been doing for them?

Answer those four questions and you have my word, you will be given a chance to start afresh unlike these others who will be facing trial and sentencing. The choice is yours?"

"You promise to get me out of this island.

The base is the Fisherman's Club by the harbour.

There are about 40 members present in that building.

From what I heard they are backed by a very strong pirate who is a sorcerer.

We were tasked with gathering corpses, all these will be picked up once a month by a ghost ship. The shipment for this month was a few days ago.

This is all I know, I swear it."

"Stand next to me Byron," Ezra said as he dispelled the dome.