This Miss's outfit is truly bold

"Bastard!"

Rob Lucci was instantly enraged. Just how much did this guy look down on him, daring to make a move on Spandam right past him?!

Sure, Spandam was a waste in his eyes—useless beyond relaying orders from above—but he was still the commander of CP9. Hitting him was like slapping the face of all CP9. How could Lucci not be furious?

"Shave!"

In the blink of an eye, Lucci shot in front of Spandam, blocking Xi Yan's line of sight and shielding Spandam firmly behind him.

Kaku and Jabra moved too, using Shave to appear behind Xi Yan, aiming a Whip Kick at his head.

"Heh."

Xi Yan chuckled lightly, leaning his body back to easily dodge both kicks.

"Bam!"

The two, failing to hit Xi Yan, kicked each other instead, absorbing each other's force. Their expressions turned sour.

"Don't get in my way, bastard!"

"That's my line!"

They glared at each other, both convinced the other had hindered their attack on the enemy.

"Don't bicker when you're fighting~"

"Shut up, bastard!" Jabra snarled at Xi Yan. "Go to hell, Finger Gun!"

"Thud!"

The sharp Finger Gun easily pierced through the desk, but unfortunately, it didn't hit Xi Yan. The moment he launched the attack, Xi Yan had already moved, returning to his original spot.

"Slippery as an eel." Jabra grumbled.

What was with that guy's speed? And that weird ability to turn into a wooden stake—his Finger Gun couldn't land a hit at all.

"Everyone..."

"You didn't really think we'd chat with you, did you?" Kalifa spat, darting in front of Xi Yan and swinging a Whip Kick at him.

"Thud~"

"Such a limp attack—no need to join the fun." Xi Yan said.

"Bastard, are you looking down on me?"

"Not at all." Xi Yan shook his head, then teased, "Though Miss's outfit is quite bold. I thought you'd be the serious type."

"Chababa, Kalifa's been seen through~"

Kalifa: ...

Is this the time for that kind of talk, you bastard Owl?

Seeing Kalifa's murderous glare, Onimaru Owl wisely shut his mouth. Even he sensed something was off—if he ran his mouth again, who knew if Kalifa would take it out on him later.

Turning her gaze to Xi Yan, Kalifa tried to pull her leg back, but Xi Yan's grip was too strong.

"Bastard, let me go!"

"Sure~"

Xi Yan raised his hand and flung Kalifa away.

"Whoosh~"

"Bam!"

"Boom!!"

Mid-flight, she crashed into Onimaru Owl, who came to catch her. The force carried them both into the side wall before they stopped. Thanks to Owl breaking her fall, Kalifa took little impact—poor Big Guy behind her took the brunt of it.

"Cha... baba..."

"Thanks, Owl..." Kalifa said, her face pale.

This man showed no mercy or chivalry, striking without hesitation. If not for Owl, she'd have been seriously injured.

"Clatter~"

A Devil Fruit fell from Kalifa's clothes, landing on the floor, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

It was the Devil Fruit Spandam had given them earlier to boost their strength, but before they could head to the break room to eat it, Xi Yan had barged in.

"So this is the so-called Devil Fruit." Xi Yan eyed it curiously, making no move to grab it.

Eating that thing meant becoming a landlubber—a pure nerf for him. He had zero interest.

But where did this woman hide the Devil Fruit just now?

Kalifa grabbed the Devil Fruit, considered it for a moment, then took a bite.

The next moment, her face twisted in disgust, looking as if she'd eaten something foul—utterly miserable.

Watching Kalifa force herself to choke down the Devil Fruit, Xi Yan said, "You don't have to do this. I'm not interested in your Devil Fruit."

But unfortunately, Kalifa had no intention of listening to him; she kept eating the Devil Fruit bite by bite, even though it tasted like hell.

Kaku saw this and didn't waste words, pulling out his own Devil Fruit and eating it, apparently hoping to boost his combat power on the spot.

Xi Yan glanced over and looked away—let them eat if they wanted.

Then he turned to Spandam and said, "I think you should be clear on my strength by now. Do you still believe these guys can beat us?"

Spandam's vacant eyes snapped back to focus at Xi Yan's words, and his face turned sour.

"Don't get too cocky, you bastard." Rob Lucci said, "If we really went all out, you wouldn't stand a chance against us."

Even so, Rob Lucci knew this man before him was a troublesome opponent.

"What do you think the Buster Call is?" Spandam shoved past Rob Lucci, who was blocking him, and slammed his longsword onto the table. "You think you can just use it whenever you want?!"

"Talk to me when you've beaten them."

"Hehe, you'll find out."

Spandam was already under his control; beneath these eyes, a waste like him had no power to resist and was easily dominated.

If Xi Yan wanted, he could take over Spandam's body at any moment and trigger the Buster Call.

"You really think Straw Hat and his crew can beat us?" Kalifa, having eaten the Devil Fruit, panted heavily.

They had endured over a decade of training, survived that hellish boot camp, and mastered the Six Forms—techniques only superhumans could learn!

A bunch of rookies who just set sail—what gave them the right to think they could win?!

"That's right!" Xi Yan said firmly. "The Straw Hat Pirates won't just beat you—we'll show you that the Buster Call means nothing to us!"

"What makes you so confident?"

"Because I'm strong enough!"

With one last look at the group, Xi Yan decided to leave first.

He couldn't take out all the enemies; his partners needed the training. Having witnessed the Straw Hat Pirates' growth, Xi Yan understood this well.

Most importantly, his real opponents weren't these CP9 agents—it was the Buster Call waiting ahead!!

Five Vice Admirals... just thinking about it got him a little excited.

"Trying to leave?"

"Shave!"

Jabra roared, transforming into his wolf-man form and closing in on Xi Yan in an instant, throwing a heavy punch straight at him!

"Heavy Step Wolf!"

"Bang!"

The heavy fist slammed into Xi Yan's raised arm, sending him flying backward.

"Hahaha, see how strong I am?!"

"Ao!"

Jabra was thrilled—his punch had landed perfectly!

"Idiot." Kaku cursed.

"Bastard, what did you say?!"

"I said you're an idiot!"

From the look on Xi Yan's face, he hadn't been caught off guard by Jabra's attack at all!

And indeed, Xi Yan didn't crash into the wall from Jabra's blow; instead, he stopped steadily in the hallway.

Seeing this, Jabra's face darkened. Was he... being toyed with again?

"Little wolf dog, your strength's still lacking."