The Winds Rose, the Waves Raged, and Battle Began

Bang!

The gunshot was like a drop of water falling into a hot oil pan, instantly causing an uproar throughout the entire Galley-La Company headquarters.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!!"

"Attention! The enemy is wearing a mask and carrying a whip!"

"Everyone be on high alert! Don't let them get within ten meters of Mr. Iceburg!"

Amidst the commotion, all the armed boatmen of the manor mobilized to hunt down an assassin dressed in fine clothes, wearing a mask, and wielding a long whip of thorns.

"Here we go."

Taking advantage of the chaos, a tall figure wearing a bear headgear and a checkered cloak, along with a woman in a white hooded trench coat and an eye patch, leaped down and landed in the courtyard, immediately causing the surrounding boatmen to point their weapons at the two.

"You have nowhere to run!"

"Take off your mask and show your face—"

Facing the long guns and short cannons all around, the tall figure in the bear-head hood just chuckled and suddenly pulled up his cloak!

"Fire!!"

Bang bang bang bang——

The shipyards located at this Grand Line were no pushovers. Since their opponents refused to surrender willingly, they wouldn't hesitate to use their bullets! However,

??!

As the cloak, instantly ripped to shreds, slowly fell away, there was no corpse as expected, only a bare wall.

"Those two guys have disappeared!"

"What happened?"

"Could it be Devil Fruit ability? We..."

"Here we go,"

Roman, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and glanced at the building that was now bursting with flames and noise.

"The actors have all taken their places on stage, it's our turn now!"

Snap,

With a slap to the ground, amidst a crashing sound, the extra 'roof' rapidly deformed, reformed, and transformed into the shape of a sailboat. The Straw Hat crew was positioned on the deck.

"Nami."

As Roman tilted his head to look at the orange-haired girl beside him, Nami nodded and unfolded "The Art of the Thief" on the paper boat.

"Loss weight by one kilogram."

When Nami activated her power through the book, extending it to the paper boat of the same origin, the weight of this sailboat, identical to the 'Golden Merry,' immediately decreased dramatically. Simultaneously, its sails rose, catching the wind, while its wings maintained balance. Then, in the gale-force winds before the tsunami arrived:

"Fly, White Merry!"

The huge white sailboat was lifted up by the gale and flew through the night sky toward the Galley-La Company headquarters.

The shipwrights, whose skill rivaled that of elite pirates, have fallen;

The foremen, whose bounties amounted to 40 million, also fell;

The shouts and sounds of battle faded away rapidly, and within just a dozen seconds, the entire Galley-La Company headquarters was deathly silent.

On one hand, the invaders were far stronger than them; on the other hand:

"Cough cough cough, Mr. Iceburg! You'd better get out of here—"

Click, click!

Barry, one of the foremen at Galley-La Company, a rigging foreman, was pinned to the ground by several arms that suddenly sprouted from his body before he could finish speaking. His superior, the mayor of the city, Iceburg, suffered the same fate.

"Get out! I don't have what you want here—"

Snap, snap

Faced with the words of Iceburg, the legendary shipbuilder and mayor of Water 7, owner of the Galley-La Company, who refused to comply, a pigeon landed on the leader of the attackers, a man wearing a bull's head hood.

"First of all, where should I begin?"

As the hood was removed, a face that was very familiar to Mayor Iceburg and Foreman Barry appeared before them— Lucci, one of the company's five foremen.

"You refused to listen to reason and ended up in this situation because of your stubbornness. Mr. Iceburg."

Another skull-faced assassin also removed his hood; he was Kaku, another foreman in the company. Like Usopp, he had a long nose, the only difference being that his nose was rectangular.

"If possible, I would also like to leave behind wonderful memories in this city."

The person wielding the Thorn Whip also removed their mask, revealing themselves to be none other than the mayor's secretary Kalifa!

"His stubbornness must have come from his teacher, Tom."

Under the bear head mask is Bruno, the bar owner of this city.

"You······"

Seeing these people they had spent every day with tear off their disguises, both Mayor Iceburg and foreman Barry were shocked into disbelief.

"Are you all government employees?"

Although Iceburg knew the government would definitely send people to infiltrate his company, he did not expect that three of his most trusted secretaries and five foremen would be undercover agents!

Should we say the other person is extremely professional, or...?

"The design blueprints for the Ancient Weapon Pluton,"

Lucci, with a pigeon perched on his shoulder, stepped forward.

"Please speak out, Mr. Iceburg. — Before more victims appear."

"Hey, hey, hey, are you kidding me?!"

Foreman Barry's face twitched as he looked at the four people in front of him: two foremen from the same shipyard as himself, a secretary to the mayor, and a bar owner he frequented.

"Although this period is a 'mask carnival,' why are there only these few faces under the masks?"

"I've always... I've always considered you guys my friends! You bastards!!"

"Sorry, friend."

"I'm sad too, but you must die here today—"

Faced with his 'friend's' questioning, team Lucci simply raised his hand calmly.

?!

"Charge!"

Just then, a huge white object rushed into the room.

Boom!

Splash—

The enormous floor-to-ceiling window shattered into countless fragments in an instant, like a shower of crystal-clear 'rain'. An oval-shaped ship's prow crashed through the window and wall, forcefully entering the room.

"The Going Merry?"

The familiar sheep figurehead startled the white-robed, hooded woman, who was the only one whose face was not yet revealed, and her familiar voice also caught the other party's attention.

"Robin!!!"

Snap, X6

A row of figures jumped down from the 'boat' embedded in the room.

Luffy wearing Straw Hat, Roman with a stern face, Zoro with three swords at his waist, Sanji with a cigarette in his mouth, Nami with a book open, Chopper in his half-beast form.

Why do you hang out with these guys?

Luffy forward and looked seriously at Nico Robin, who was standing behind several CP9 members, wearing a white hood and an eye patch.

"Even if you want to leave, you need to give us a reason!"

"... It's really a mess,"

Robin, having removed her blindfold to reveal her true face, stepped forward.

"With Roman's abilities, you should have received my 'message' by now, right?"

"Those things don't matter."

Luffy adjusted his Straw Hat, his serious gaze making the elegant beauty opposite him unable to meet his eyes.

"I just want to know the real reason!"

·······

"It's to fulfill my wish, a wish that could never be fulfilled with you all."

Upon hearing Robin's words, the Straw Hat crew collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sure enough, it's exactly as Roman said."

Nami sighed.

"Robin, are these the people?" Nami held "The Art of the Thief" in one hand and pointed to several CP9 members in black suits in the room with the other.

"Threaten you with our lives?"

!?

"Why--"

After a moment of surprise, Nicole Robin looked at Roman.

"As expected of Mr. Roman, you know everything."

"I don't know everything, I just happen to know what I do know."

Brush,

An arm blocked Robin's path, a serious-looking man wearing a black top hat and perched on her shoulder looked at the Straw Hat crew who had suddenly barged in.

"That's enough for our reminiscing,"

"Originally, I just wanted to make you take the blame, but it seems you know quite a bit..."

"Hehehe, as for intelligence, I do know quite a bit."

Roman looked at the four CP9 members opposite him. Finally, finally, he had met a group of equally matched opponents! This was no easy feat for the Straw Hat crew!

"I know you are members of CP9, I know you are here for the blueprints of 'Pluton', I even know where those blueprints are!"

??!!

"So, Robin."

Roman spread his hands, facing the CP9 members whose expressions had changed drastically, with an air of 'what can you do to me?' His gaze, however, passed over the CP9 members blocking his way and landed on Nico Robin behind them.

"Look, once the Straw Hat crew found out about this, they were already locked in a life-or-death struggle with the World Government."

"The premise of your so-called 'sacrifice of yourself' to ensure our safety no longer exists."

"So,"

Ignoring the murderous expressions of the government agents opposite him, Luffy stepped forward and extended his hand.

"Come back to our side, Robin."

Through the broken French windows, the pure white Golden Merry is embedded. And in front of the Golden Merry, there are six outstretched hands.

"Come back, Robin (Robin)" x5