CP3

Chen Qiang's request was something Toby simply couldn't fulfill. Even before he was injured, he couldn't have made a gemstone that enormous.

Fortunately, Chen Qiang seemed to realize that Toby couldn't make one that big, either, and told him to make smaller ones instead. That was something Toby could manage. But when he heard how many Chen Qiang wanted, his whole body went limp.

That was far too many. He couldn't possibly make that many. If he did, he'd be completely drained.

"Why are you just standing there? Get to work!"

Seeing Toby stare blankly at him, Chen Qiang urged him on.

"Fine!"

Since he was going to die anyway, there was nothing left to fear. He only hoped the reinforcements he'd called for would arrive soon, so Chen Qiang could give him a quick death.

After thinking it over, Toby began making the gemstones. To get as close as possible to what Chen Qiang wanted, he made each one as large as he could manage.

Toby had considered cheating, making green gemstones to heal himself while he was supposed to be making rubies. But whenever he thought of it, he looked out at the city engulfed in flames and the ships already destroyed at the dock. Even if he healed himself, he understood that without a ship, Chen Qiang would find him quickly.

And then who knew how Chen Qiang would torment him?

Toby had never known how painful torture could be. He'd even enjoyed tormenting slaves, taking pleasure in their desperate, anguished expressions. Now that he was in Chen Qiang's hands, Chen Qiang had only tormented him a little, but Toby already felt he couldn't take it. He just wanted to die quickly.

Fortunately, Chen Qiang kept his word. Once Toby got to work, he stopped tormenting him. Then one of Chen Qiang's small clones, left at the dock, spotted someone arriving. With a single stroke, Chen Qiang cut off Toby's head and ended his life of sin.

"What a pity. Why did only a few people come? This guy really isn't valued at all, is he?"

After beheading Toby, Chen Qiang received the message from his clone. He looked at Toby's fallen body with a helpless expression and spoke with obvious disdain.

"But since they're here, I might as well go meet them."

Chen Qiang quickly made up his mind. He wiped the blood from his long blade on Toby's headless corpse, then headed toward the people who had just landed on the island.

Meanwhile, the members of CP3 who had just landed made their way toward the city. But as soon as they entered and saw corpses scattered everywhere and flames spreading throughout the city, they sensed something was wrong.

One of the men at the head of the group immediately signaled for the others to stop and took a guarded stance. Another quickly pulled out a Den Den Mushi, apparently intending to notify the main force.

"Blood Spike!"

Before he could place the call, the blood in the corpses around them began to flow strangely toward their feet, then rose into sharp spikes that shot straight at them.

As expected of an elite force belonging to the World Government, everyone except one unlucky member who failed to react in time immediately used Iron Body, one of the Six Powers, to block the attack.

"The Undying, Chen Qiang?"

The moment they were attacked, the Cipher Pol agents realized who their assailant was. After all, the report they'd received said that The Undying, Chen Qiang, was causing trouble in the city and trying to seize the little girl who might possess the Longevity Fruit.

"Blood Strangling!"

Even though they'd guessed Chen Qiang's identity, he had no intention of showing himself to talk. Instead, he attacked again, turning the blood into blades that whirled around them and tore at them.

Clearly, Chen Qiang's attack had been in vain. These Cipher Pol agents might not have been particularly strong, but everyone in Cipher Pol had to master at least one of the Six Powers before they could officially join.

Every CP3 member, from the leaders to the ordinary agents, had mastered Iron Body first. That was because CP3 was a force tasked with protecting the Celestial Dragons.

They answered only to the Celestial Dragons, and their duty was to protect them. Iron Body was the best defensive skill, so they were required to master it.

Each of the organizations from CP0 to CP9 had its own area of expertise, and all of them served the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. CP3 might have been weaker than CP9 in terms of combat strength, but when it came to defense, it was the strongest after CP0.

So Chen Qiang's blood blades did little damage to the dozen or so agents. Only a few of the weaker ones had their skin scratched; the rest weren't hurt at all.

"That's some impressive physical technique!"

Seeing even the ordinary soldiers withstand his attack with the only Iron Body technique they knew, Chen Qiang couldn't help but marvel.

Still, there were some strong fighters among them. After Chen Qiang's two attacks failed, the two men who looked like leaders used Observation Haki to sense where he was.

"Shave!"

They used another physical technique. In the space of a single breath, they were right in front of Chen Qiang. Then they used Iron Body again and punched him.

"Bang!"

Chen Qiang didn't dodge. He let the man's fist hit him, then swung the long blade in his hand and slashed at the man's chest.

"Whoosh!"

A flash of crimson light cut across the man's chest, leaving a long but shallow gash.

Iron Body's defense was formidable. Even Chen Qiang's attack had only barely broken through it.

As soon as Chen Qiang's blade fell, the two men swung their fists again and struck him in the chest. Their blows landed on his solid muscles, even making his internal organs tremble a little, but that was nothing to Chen Qiang.

"I love this kind of fight!"

With his powerful healing ability, Chen Qiang loved close combat like this. They traded attacks without dodging, relying on their bodies to take the blows. The fight was boring, but he enjoyed it, and the longer it went on, the wider his smile grew.

After all, no matter how long the fight lasted, as long as he could break through their defenses, he could keep slashing them until they questioned their own existence.

The two Cipher Pol agents fighting Chen Qiang had clearly realized this, so they began instinctively dodging his attacks.

But both of them specialized in physical combat. They'd only learned two of the Six Powers, Iron Body and Shave, and they had no Devil Fruit abilities. To beat Chen Qiang, they had to fight him at close range. Yet Chen Qiang practically ignored their attacks, and every time, he seized an opening to slash them.

They had Iron Body to protect them, but their physical strength was still no match for Chen Qiang's. Trying to dodge his attacks after attacking him left them struggling to keep up.