The explosives' calming effect was immediately apparent.
At least the ruffled feathers on Morgans's body had become much smoother.
He wasn't sure how much effect such a small amount of explosives could have, but he had no desire to take the chance.
They were far too close to his head!
"What a scoop." Morgans forced himself to remain calm, his beak trembling. "I never knew Major Arrow was a Devil Fruit User. None of the other reports mentioned that."
That ability looked familiar.
Independently Moving Limbs.
The Four-Way Split-Split Fruit!
Clown Buggy!
News about Buggy had only recently appeared in the papers. His bounty had jumped from fifteen million Beli to two hundred million in one go. Not just his former crewmates—even an Intelligence Chief like Morgans had been caught completely off guard.
And that Major Arrow seemed to be one of the people aboard the warship.
If he could blow up an escort ship, blowing up a bird's head wouldn't be too much, would it?
Morgans grew increasingly wary. For the sake of his bird head, he didn't dare show too much.
He even asked somewhat submissively, "Is there anything I can do for you, Major?"
A proper Underground Emperor knew when it was time to duck back underground.
"Of course."
The hand resting on Morgans's shoulder gave a little shake.
"But first, we need to take care of a small problem."
The eye on the hand rolled around.
As he spoke, the lone hand suddenly split off a small piece.
It shot off in an instant, darting into the guest room just beyond the wall from Morgans.
If Brownie had been there, she would surely have thought that move looked a lot like her Finger Pistol.
"Photo King!"
Morgans's cry came out rather shrill.
Photo King was the head of his photography department. He had brought him all the way from headquarters specifically for the big event that was coming up.
But that wasn't the only thing that struck him as odd.
"Tekkai!"
Photo King, dressed like a paparazzo, instinctively used one of the Rokushiki techniques to defend himself against the sudden attack.
"Damn it, he's with the World Government!"
As the head of the underground intelligence business, Morgans was especially alert to the Rokushiki techniques favored by the CP Organization.
He simply hadn't expected the CP Organization to have infiltrated his own side.
But how had Buggy found out about him?!
Morgans was even more afraid of this fellow who seemed to be after something big, though he still wore an expression of utter fury.
"You'd better give me a good explanation!"
Photo King cursed inwardly. He had no idea how he'd been exposed. Judging by the shocked look on Morgans's face, even the Intelligence Chief himself, his cover operation must have been a great success.
Unfortunately, he'd run into Buggy.
Buggy had a Prophet Cheat.
From the moment he noticed Photo King, he'd been planning to deal with him.
Morgans was a very important Tool Person to him.
And to make a man like Morgans, who had spent years in the Surface World, feel genuine fear...
Buggy thought the corner of his mouth must have curled up high, but the back of his hand didn't have enough room for his grin.
So it looked like a curved, circular slit had appeared on the hand.
Even stranger!
Although Photo King had used Tekkai in a panic, the finger Buggy sent flying exploded the instant it touched his skin.
Back in the Solitary Confinement Room at District 66 Base, Buggy's face suddenly paled.
The result of separating his body's organs and making them explode was that his face had gone pale.
His ability wasn't unlimited. He knew that from the university student's memories.
But the mouth on Morgans's shoulder was still grinning.
He could blow himself up one more time.
"How surprising."
His easy, casual tone made it sound as if he'd just run into an old friend at a party in Gotham City.
Though they hadn't exactly welcomed Buggy as a guest.
While he spoke so casually, Photo King was already darting away.
The sudden explosion of the limb had startled him, but it hadn't caused him any real harm.
"Major Arrow is a Devil Fruit User. That information may not be important enough, but I have no choice but to withdraw."
Photo King thought to himself, then punched the window.
With just a few nimble leaps, he landed easily on Inn Town's street.
"We can't let him get away! He knows where our headquarters is!"
Morgans cried out, but both his claws stayed firmly planted where they were.
Who knew how strong this undercover agent was? He had no desire to go and get himself killed.
His shout was mostly directed at Buggy on his shoulder.
He couldn't count on Secretary Pigeon at all. That fellow had already skillfully hidden under the bed.
"Don't worry."
"Ah, what was I going to say? The story about the scar? That one's a little old, but I can tell it if you want to hear it."
"Would you prefer the version about a wife filled with tragic love, or the one filled with paternal love?"
"Oh, right, right, right. I also saw a really interesting movie in my memories."
Buggy on his shoulder was still chatting away with a grin.
If a psychiatrist had been there, they would have recognized this as a classic symptom of mental illness.
Flight of ideas.
The typical sign was a long string of words tumbling out before the brain could vet them.
They weren't following him.
But they couldn't catch him anyway.
Photo King lowered his head and disappeared into the crowd, taking a moment to check the shots he'd taken with his spy camera.
A strange hand, captured clearly.
That was enough.
An undercover agent's instincts told Photo King there was probably more to the story behind that hand.
But after taking just a couple of steps, he felt something strange in his chest.
The sensation...
It was like a swarm of ants strolling across his heart, forming a line one moment, then a person-shaped pattern the next.
The strange feeling instantly filled him with panic once more.
He turned around.
His gaze traced the way he'd come, past the window he'd stepped on twice, through the small hole blasted into the wall by Buggy's finger, and landed right on the hand resting on Morgans's shoulder.
That big, carefree grin.
"That movie's called Let the Bullets Fly for a While."
Bang—
On Inn Town's street, Photo King suddenly exploded into a cloud of blood.
The clump stuck to his chest had blown up.
Gulp.
Morgans felt as though he'd swallowed an ice cube. A chill crept through him.
Strange. From the moment this hand had appeared to the abilities it had displayed, everything about it was strange!
Had that really been done by the pirate named Buggy?
He couldn't make heads or tails of it.
But his question came out with an involuntary note of flattery.
"Sir, what's our next move?"
"Do I look like someone with a plan, Lord of Big News?"
The mouth on the strange hand stopped smiling and asked in an even tone.
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