Just Want to Take You Down with Me

"Idiot, look at the trouble your words caused. You ruined the boss's plan, so you can take the lead."

"Hey, hey, hey! This isn't the time for jokes! Aren't we comrades? No matter how you looked at it, we should be facing this together!"

Seeing that the other CP9 agents actually seemed ready to back away, the CP9 agent who had just thought he'd had a brilliant idea immediately panicked.

He knew perfectly well that in a one-on-one fight, let alone himself, even their boss was no match for this Lunarian.

The talents of this race could only be described as monstrous. Whether it was their absurd defense, their ability to wield flames, or their gift for switching between speed and defensive strength, each was comparable to a Devil Fruit power.

According to the intelligence, this Lunarian had previously been surrounded and hunted by CP0. She had already been injured when she broke through their encirclement. It was only because those CP0 agents lacked their boss's tracking-friendly Fruit power that she had managed to escape.

At first, CP9 had also tried to forcibly surround her, but she had charged straight out of their encirclement. During that process, however, the Mato Mato no Mi's mark had been placed on her, leading to this plan to wear down her stamina and capture her alive.

Judging from the results, she was already at the end of her rope, but a cornered beast would still fight.

She wanted to take people down with her. If he took the lead, there probably would not even be ashes left of him.

"Boss, it's me. The situation has changed. Balo's big mouth exposed your Fruit power. That woman's ready to fight to the death now... All right, I understand."

The CP9 agent beside him ignored him and instead turned to call the head of CP9, reporting the current situation. In the end, he received instructions to wait for reinforcements and begin the capture operation ahead of schedule.

As for Balo's punishment for his big mouth, that could wait until they returned.

For the sake of loyalty, these CP9 agents had been trained by the World Government from childhood. They had all cultivated themselves on an island called Guanhao Island since they were young.

Generally speaking, a formal CP9 team was usually made up of classmates from nearby graduating classes. They had some familiarity with one another. They might not get along well in daily life, but they would not stab each other in the back while carrying out missions.

"Reinforcements are on the way. Until they get here, we'll have to rely on ourselves."

On the World Government's ship in the distance, aside from the essential personnel needed to steer the vessel, every agent who had mastered Geppo and possessed a certain level of combat strength had been thrown out by the CP9 leader using his Fruit power.

After flying for a while longer, they would reach this place.

"But this isn't going to blow over that easily. Just wait for your punishment!"

"Easy there... Tekkai! Hey! Why attack me first?! Since I was the one who told you that information, shouldn't you be attacking them first no matter what?!"

Before Balo could finish speaking, the Lunarian, who had just been preparing something, had already rushed in front of him. The flames on her back had long since gone out, and her speed had reached its limit.

The blade in her hand came crashing down at Balo's head. Even with Tekkai's defense, it left a bone-deep wound on his arm.

"Damn it, she's already in this state, and she still has so much strength..."

At that moment, Balo felt fear from the bottom of his heart. If she had been in slightly better condition, or if he had used Tekkai even a moment later, he might have been cut cleanly in two.

They said Tekkai came with a kind of hypnotic effect, making its user mistakenly believe, I can block this, before they became little more than background scenery.

But if he did not use Tekkai, he might not even leave behind an intact corpse.

[Flame Phoenix: Chaotic Feathers!]

Several slashes carrying scorching flames came slicing toward Balo close behind it.

Balo was utterly confused. He did not understand why, with so many people hunting her together, he was the only one she had singled out.

Was it just because he had said a few extra words?

"Don't just stand there! Help me!"

The wound on his arm was still there. Even though he used Seimei Kikan to control his muscles and blood vessels to stop the bleeding, he no longer dared to take her attacks head-on.

It was a special martial arts technique that allowed finer control over every part of the body, enabling one to do many more things.

For example, one could lengthen their hair into weapons, move their internal organs to evade attacks, rapidly digest food to recover stamina, and so on.

Emergency hemostasis was one of its most commonly used applications.

Geppo allowed humans to fight in the air, but compared to wings capable of flight, it was ultimately far inferior. Seeing the situation, Balo immediately fled in embarrassment toward the others for help.

But she had gone mad. Even when she took the others' attacks head-on, she merely relied on her racial gifts to endure them before continuing to attack Balo.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sounds of Sky Breaker rang out. At the distant horizon, two shuriken were speeding toward them.

They were weapons thrown by the CP9 leader using his Fruit power. They had likewise been thrown by the Mato Mato no Mi user, but their flying speed still followed certain physical laws.

These shuriken flew much faster than people. During the earlier pursuit, weapons like these would suddenly come flying over from time to time, preventing her from getting any proper rest.

"Hahaha! It's the boss's power! Reinforcements will be here soon! Let's see what kind of trouble you can stir up then!"

The thrown weapons had already arrived, so the other CP9 agents could not be far behind.

This eased Balo's heart, but her actions far exceeded his expectations.

This Lunarian did not ignite the flames on her back. Instead, she extinguished the final flicker and allowed the two shuriken to strike her shoulders.

In the process, her speed, which had originally slowed, surged once more.

"Tekka—"

"Squelch!"

Before he could use Tekkai to defend himself, the flaming blade had already pierced Balo's heart. He never expected that she would rather take the injury than kill him.

"You lunatic... You didn't defend against an attack like that. What are you going to do afterward?"

"I never planned to leave alive. What did an injury matter? Right now, I just wanted to take a few more people down with me. That was all."

As she spoke, she kicked Balo away and let him fall into the sea. After pulling the two shuriken from her shoulders, she used the flames extending from her blade to stop the bleeding.

"Who... was next?"

The death of their companion saddened these CP9 agents, but the madness blazing in the Lunarian's eyes made them involuntarily step back.

Reinforcements would arrive soon. No one wanted to be targeted by this lunatic now and end up like Balo.

"Balo and that big mouth of his... He really had it coming..."

At that moment, resentment also began to spread among the CP9 agents. If Balo had not been such a big mouth, she might still have been desperately trying to escape instead of entering this fight-to-the-death state.

At the same time, the Lunarian choosing her next target had entirely different thoughts in her heart.

I'm sorry, Dad, Mom. I might have to break my promise. Living on... I may not be able to do it after all. In the end, I was still... not strong enough...