Hunting Begins

Having received the message from this agent, the World Government quickly mobilized its forces, including some agents who only obeyed the Celestial Dragons.

This is an extremely powerful force. In the past, these agents were scattered throughout the Night Sea Domain, taking great care to avoid being exposed.

The Night Pirates have many important locations, which the World Government has also explored extensively. They have suffered significant losses in these explorations but have also obtained the intelligence they sought, including the general purpose of these locations.

But they didn't find the information they needed about the secret research institute.

If they could destroy the secret research institute and kill or plunder the scientists inside, the Night Pirates' dominance would undoubtedly be greatly diminished.

This has even attracted the attention of other forces.

The World Government may also acquire the technology possessed by the Night Pirates, greatly enhancing its power. Through the life-extending drug, it could then use this opportunity to demand more Heavenly Gold from its Affiliated Nation.

These allied nations certainly wouldn't refuse; no one understands the desire for longevity among these upper-class nobles better than the World Government.

More important than pleasure is the pursuit of longevity.

That is why the World Government is so eager to obtain the Op-Op Fruit, because they can grant immortality.

Of course, very few people know that one of the reasons the World Government reclaimed the Op-Op Fruit was to prevent the user of the Op-Op Fruit from using its most powerful technique on Joy Boy, who might be present.

In this way, the Devil Fruit could unleash infinite power by constantly burning its lifespan and vitality would no longer have any flaws.

While the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika is terrifying, it's still within acceptable limits. However, if one possesses limitless life force, their immense power would be unrestrained, and that's what the World Government truly fears.

Although the chances of this are incredibly slim, there are very few people who can develop the Op-Op Fruit Mi to the point where they can adapt to the ultimate technique, let alone be willing to give their own lives to use it on others.

But we must prevent the worst from happening.

It can be said that if the operation succeeds, not only will the formidable Night Pirates be weakened, but the World Government itself will also be able to rise again.

The enormous profits made the World Government without hesitation, and it immediately launched an operation.

They were still very careful, secretly gathering agents and converging on this sea area through various means, totaling as many as three hundred people.

Three hundred agents—that's an extremely powerful force.

It boasts three top-tier combatants, including CP0 Deputy Chief of Staff Alastair, Army Admiral Vulture, and the Chief of Staff of CP0, as well as nearly twenty agents at the rank of Vice Admiral or above.

These are the powerful foundations of the World Government, mostly cultivated by the Celestial Dragons themselves.

This is an incredibly terrifying power; Alastair is in no way inferior to Marine Admiral, and may even be superior.

CP0 Chief Zero is getting a bit old, so he was sent here to keep things under control.

As a world-class martial arts expert, his mastery of Life Return is undoubtedly extremely strong. Although he takes good care of himself, it doesn't change the fact that his physical strength has declined somewhat.

His combat strength has not declined, but his physical decline is difficult to reverse; even Marine Vice Admiral Garp could not reverse aging.

Gaia, the "Earth," could not come, such an action was not suitable for him, so he was appointed to guard the Holy Land Mary Geoise in place of Zero.

Over the years, the number of army troops has only increased from 100,000 to 300,000, despite funding from the World Government, but it is still far from what it used to be.

The Army Admiral was still Vulture, with a mechanical prosthetic on his severed left hand, like a claw, after all, his main fighting style was Claw Strike, to complement his abilities.

Even with three top-tier combatants, the World Government was still not at ease. In addition to its own powerful forces, it also summoned Admiral Kizaru, another highly mobile and powerful combatant.

I originally wanted to call Novoya over, but Novoya refused outright, citing that it was too dangerous.

It sounds blunt, but it's true. Don't be fooled by how close Novoya is to the World Government.

On the surface, he is close to the World Government, but in reality, he maintains some distance from it; otherwise, the Navy would not tolerate him.

Novoya did not directly agree to join the World Government, but he did not completely reject it either, which gave the World Government hope.

Vergo also refused, despite being a key figure the World Government wanted to win over. However, Vergo refused because he needed to guard the G5 Branch.

Vergo's mission is to conceal his identity within the Navy and cling to its coattails; naturally, he wouldn't risk offending the Navy by joining the World Government.

Borsalino wouldn't refuse; after all, it was an order from the World Government, and given his speed, his chances of survival were extremely high.

Gathering intelligence on the strength of the World Government and the Night Pirates for the Navy was an important task assigned to him by Marshal Sengoku before his departure.

In this way, we would have four top-tier combatants, plus many other powerful individuals.

That's about it. The World Government has also calculated the fighting strength of the Night Pirates. Although it's formidable, if they can move quickly enough, they can completely evacuate before the Night Pirates' reinforcements arrive.

The method of escape has been decided: by submarine. Compared to aircraft, which are more easily targeted by snipers, a submarine is undoubtedly a better option.

As for the ship, whether it can even leave the Night Sea Domain is a question.

Most importantly, the World Government has confirmed that the Night Pirates' secret research facility is located on this island surrounded by reefs and whirlpools.

They were very careful, first sending several special agents with unique abilities to evade the mechanical birds' surveillance.

On the outskirts of the island, they witnessed ten thousand members of the Night Pirates, led by Kaguya, the "Bone Demon," a key member of the Dark Kaguya Night Pirates.

Furthermore, the research base is located at the foot of a small hill.

To put on a convincing act, one must be thorough, otherwise suspicion will arise. Several baskets of Artificial Devil Fruit and boxes of potions were transported to an airship, which then left the island and was delivered to other locations of the Night Pirates.

There are some minor questions: why weren't these drugs and Artificial Devil Fruit properly packaged, but instead visible on the outside?

But why would the World Government care about such a trivial matter? They naturally ignored it and didn't even consider whether it was a trap Night Pirates.

If it really is a trap, wouldn't they dare to walk into it?

The greed in my heart, the surging desire, had long been impatient.

The urging from the Celestial Dragons, coupled with the fear that delay might lead to unforeseen changes.

Everything the World Government saw was real: various products, heavily guarded, and even the research base was a small base of the Night Pirates. However, all the people and things inside have now been removed.

The Night Pirates had been preparing for this operation for quite some time.

The assembly took two months. The Night Pirates' control over the Night Sea Domain prevented them from making any unusual moves.

Nearly three hundred people gathered in a dense forest. The operation was scheduled for the morning, when people would be more relaxed than at night.

Whether it's morning or night, the mechanical creatures' eyesight is unaffected. To be precise, they observe using infrared light, allowing them to detect enemies even when invisible.

The reason the agent wasn't discovered earlier wasn't because he was hiding in the clouds, but more importantly, because he was high in the sky, above the mechanical bird.

To make it easier to observe, the mechanical bird rarely looks up.

Among the many agents, there are those with various abilities, and several of them were specifically transferred here for this operation.

An agent waved his hand, and a transparent cube appeared, expanding continuously until it enveloped everyone. The next moment, the cube slowly rose.

Immediately afterwards, the bodies of the others also rose.

Because they were standing inside a transparent cube, they could make a clear sound when they stomped their feet lightly. This sound could only be heard inside and could not travel outside, so it was essentially isolated.

That's his ability: to create a space that isolates everything except sight.

This space is exposed to the air and cannot be hidden; because it is transparent, people outside can see inside.

This seems like a rather useless ability, but touching the edge of the cube reveals that its defensive capabilities are not bad.

But to many, this is a cage that can trap not only others but also themselves.

Of course, he wasn't the only one. Another agent stepped forward, raised his hands, and grabbed out a black cloth that kept getting bigger.

Under the control of another ability user, the cloth was not blocked by the surrounding spatial walls and came out of the space, then enveloped the entire cube.

The black cloth changed color, quickly mimicking the colors of the surrounding environment, and no one could detect that a cubic space was flying through the air.

This creates a perfect hiding effect, since the only drawback of cubic space in terms of concealment is its visual appeal.

Of course, the view from the inside out will also be blocked, so several gaps need to be made in the cloth to observe the outside situation.

The best way to infiltrate that island silently is to do so; nothing is more important than stability.

Their every move was under Teach's control. Even though they hid their abilities, they were still full of flaws in Teach's eyes. The changes in airflow caused by the movement of the huge cubic space also exposed their location.

At that moment, he was standing high in the sky.

Beside him are seven powerful flying warriors: "Shadow Dragon" Rediat, "Chercarne" Mostima, "Devil Patrolman" Lafitte, "Queen" Anne, "Thor" Enel, "Ice Demon" Hersi, and the long-absent "Phantom Butterfly" Xiouyapufu.

That's not all; the Night Pirates' flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge," was approaching the sea below from afar.

The ship has a menacing three-headed dragon prow and a dark purple hull.

From the other two directions, two secondary ships, one black and one purple, surrounded the area with the main ship, but did not continue forward; they were waiting for a signal.

These three pirate ships included Slada of the Shiryu of the Rain, Emperor Crocodile Eight-Headed Serpent Orochi, Mobius, Wallace the Steel, and Mog Radon —all the Dark Lords besides Enel.

In addition, there are members of the Thirteen Demon Generals, such as "Muscle Monk" Clemons, "Demon Serpent" Wos, and "Death Gun" Kos, as well as other powerful individuals.

It can be said that the Night Pirates mobilized almost all of their top combat forces for this operation, laying Heavenly Net to wipe out the forces sent by the World Government in one fell swoop, giving them no chance whatsoever.

In reality, they were still inside the Night Sea Domain, so they weren't worried about problems arising elsewhere.

This operation won't take much time at all.

Kaguya is stationed at the Night Palace, Ares is stationed at the Combat Pyramid.

The functions of each legion are in operation, and the existence of the Thirteen Demon Generals and the Seven Demon Kings, the core members of the Night Pirates, is generally difficult for ordinary people to come into contact with.

On the main ship.

The "Goddess of Luck," Baccarat, tosses a coin, unleashing all the luck she has accumulated and using her abilities to bless the operation with complete success.

They've even prepared mystical divination techniques.

Having located the World Government group, Teach waited until they had traveled some distance to an undetected area of the sea before disembarking.

"Heh! I hope some of you survive, otherwise all my arrangements will have been for nothing."

Teach remained indifferent, extending his right hand. In his companions' eyes, a ball of energy shimmering with blue fluorescence appeared in his palm.

They were still experiencing this move so closely, some even feeling it for the first time. This was the Heart of Destruction, that astonishing, terrifying power that made one's soul tremble.

With a gentle flip of his hand, the Star of Ruin rolled out of his palm. With his current strength and control over his abilities, maintaining the stability of the compressed gravity for a short period of time was not a problem, and he did not need the Dark Jade to suppress it.

The Star of Ruin, falling from the sky, is pulled by Teach's gravity as it falls, moving towards cubic space.

As the Star of Ruin drew ever closer and began to fall, it became increasingly unstable, the air distorted, and an unsettling aura permeated the atmosphere.

As instability intensified, the Star of Ruin began to expand slightly.

The small sphere, though not yet exploded, has already subtly affected an area several hundred meters in diameter around it with invisible gravity.

Inside the space, due to its isolation, the people inside were unaware of what was happening outside.

However, several powerful individuals sensed something was amiss; it was an instinctive feeling emanating from their bodies.

I couldn't help but raise my head and look upwards.

"Eliminate the isolation between this space and the outside world first," Zero said, and although it was unclear why, the ability user obeyed the order.

As the spatial isolation disappeared, the powerful figures inside the space all changed their expressions, feeling the terrifying energy and astonishing fluctuations emanating from above. At the same time, a horrifying thought arose in their minds.

Just by feeling it, one can imagine what they are about to face.

"Run!" Zero shouted.

In an instant, Borsalino transformed into a golden ray of light and swiftly fled into the distance, so dashingly.

No one knows the fear in his heart; the Star of Ruin is one of the few moves that can make him feel extremely threatened.

Even before Zero spoke, he had already begun to elementalize.

The second reaction was zero, followed by Alastair.

Ling Yi leaped over a hundred meters away. As a top-tier physical martial arts expert, the power he unleashed was terrifying. He directly stepped into the space beneath him, creating several cracks.

Alastair then overtook him, possessing astonishing speed as a Comet Devil Fruit User.