P.S. Thanks to Mo Mo Mo, Remu Caolam, Let's Make It Better, Blowing Away Stories, From Now On I'll Depend on You, Shensuan, Heartache and Pain, Fleeting Years Sing a Sad Song, Asking What Books Are For, Snow Never Stopped Falling That Year, and the others for the tips. Thanks for your support!
P.S. 2: Whew, I slept in way too late today. I didn't get up to write until nearly seven tonight, so I only had time to write two chapters, almost 6,000 words...
The fire grew more and more intense, nearly engulfing the entire Terminal Gray.
Yet four people walked slowly through the terrifying blaze. Behind them, Kubo Yamato, his hands shackled in Seastone Handcuffs, was dragged along by a chain.
"How could someone this powerful choose to live in a place like this? I just don't get it!" The man at the head of the group looked to be around forty. A scar crossed his left eyebrow, and he wore a zebra-patterned coat.
"Yeah. Luckily, after the Goa Kingdom reported this, the higher-ups sent more of us because the Celestial Dragons are coming here. Otherwise, we might've been in danger!"
"Right. I'd been hoping to test our new recruit Lucci's combat strength, but I never thought we'd run into someone this powerful. There's no way he could even get involved in a fight like this!" The speaker was a man with wavy hair and a black bowler hat. Though his words seemed kind, they were full of mockery.
The last of them was a boy of about seventeen or eighteen—in other words, Lucci, the one the wavy-haired man had just mentioned. When he heard the man's words, he gave him a cold look but said nothing.
He truly hadn't been qualified to take part in the earlier fight. But that didn't discourage Lucci. He believed that one day he would reach that level himself—and even surpass them by far.
"Tch!" Seeing that Lucci didn't retort, the wavy-haired man couldn't be bothered to pay any more attention to the kid who'd been parachuted in. He turned to the zebra-coated man at the head of the group and asked, "Stussy, big brother, your transfer order came through, right?"
The burly man called Stussy nodded and smiled. "After this mission, I'll be joining CP0." He was quite pleased to have been promoted to CP0, an organization dedicated to serving the Celestial Dragons. After all, every CP0 member had the authority of a general.
"Ah, I really hate to see you go. But I heard all of us old hands might be getting promoted and assigned to various posts. After that, Cipher Pol 9 will be full of young people like that kid." The wavy-haired man sneered.
"Hm?"
Just then, Stussy suddenly stopped and looked behind them, sneering. "Heh. Looks like two little bugs have caught up with us!"
The others also sensed movement behind them and turned around. Two youths of about fifteen or sixteen were rushing toward them at incredible speed. If they remembered correctly, these were the two brats Stussy had sent flying with a single palm strike at the dojo earlier.
"They're asking for death!" The wavy-haired man sneered.
Kubo Yamato turned around. When he saw the two boys, his expression immediately darkened. He spun around and shouted, "Tufang, Zongcilang, go back! Get back there, now!"
Before he could finish, the wavy-haired man yanked the chain, dragging him to the ground. He ground his shoe against Kubo Yamato's cheek and sneered. "Heh. What a touching bond between master and students."
"Teacher—"
At the sight, Tufang and Zongcilang's eyes turned bloodshot. They roared and charged forward.
"It's your turn to show what you can do, kid!"
The wavy-haired man pursed his lips and smiled at Lucci.
Lucci didn't even glance at him. He abruptly kicked toward Zongcilang and Tufang.
"Rankyaku!"
The vacuum slash generated by his kick sliced through the air and struck the two charging boys.
Zongcilang and Tufang Yoshitoyo both leaped to the side, dodging the oncoming slash.
"Soru—"
But the instant they jumped aside, Lucci vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was already behind Tufang.
"Too slow!"
Tufang Yoshitoyo's expression changed when he saw Lucci suddenly appear behind him. He instinctively tried to turn around.
"Finger Pistol—"
But Lucci gave him no time to react. His blade-like index finger stabbed into Tufang's chest in an instant.
"Aaagh—"
Though he managed to avoid his heart at the last moment, the impact carried by the Finger Pistol still made Tufang cry out. Blood burst from his chest as the attack pierced right through him. The impact inside his body knocked him unconscious in an instant.
"Get your filthy hands off him!"
At that moment, Zongcilang suddenly appeared behind Lucci. His long sword came crashing down like a mountain.
"Iron Body—"
Lucci tossed Tufang aside and didn't move, simply standing where he was.
Clang—
The sword struck his body with the sound of metal hitting metal.
Zongcilang was startled, but he didn't slow down. He kicked Lucci and sprang backward.
"What a monster!"
The instant he landed, Zongcilang sneered. His long sword suddenly blazed with azure flames, and he charged at Lucci once more, his whole body wreathed in blue light.
Lucci's eyes flashed with surprise. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was at Zongcilang's side, kicking diagonally downward.
"Fool!"
But Zongcilang's lips curled into a smile. His long sword shifted in an instant, changing from a downward slash to a sweep straight at Lucci's incoming kick.
"Tekkai: Utsugi!"
Though Lucci was surprised by how quickly Zongcilang had reacted, his leg didn't falter. Instead, he put even more power into it and kicked down with a rush of wind.
'Boom—'
A deafening explosion rang out where they clashed. Zongcilang was sent flying almost instantly. He rolled several times across the ground before collapsing, blood spurting from his mouth.
"Cough—"
Blood kept pouring from Zongcilang's mouth. The shock that had rebounded from that strike had damaged his internal organs. He glared at Lucci with bloodshot eyes and tried to get back up, but he no longer had the strength. After giving Lucci one last furious look, he passed out.
Lucci raised his leg and lightly patted the flames burning on his pant leg. His expressionless voice rang out. "Too weak."
"Then... what about me—"
Just then, a voice so cold it seemed to rise from the depths of hell rang out. A terrifying killing intent instantly filled the area.
"What?!"
Lucci's pupils contracted. His body instinctively tensed with Iron Body, but a moment later, a pitch-black slash sent him flying. Iron Body crumbled the instant it came into contact with the slash, and blood scattered as he was hurled backward... He landed right at the feet of the others and struggled a few times, but couldn't get back up.
He wasn't dead, but he had lost the ability to fight. Lucci stared in shock toward the direction the slash had come from. When he saw the small figure, his expression froze.
"Hm? This one's interesting!" The wavy-haired man looked with interest toward the direction the slash had come from. But when he saw who had unleashed it, his expression turned just like Lucci's. He even rubbed his eyes instinctively.
"Damn, are kids really this scary nowadays?"
The others' expressions changed as well.
Bai Ina slowly emerged from the sea of fire, his expression cold as his gaze swept over the group one by one. At last, his eyes landed on Kubo Yamato, who was pinned beneath the wavy-haired man's foot. His killing intent surged, and his eyes turned red.
But in an instant, his killing intent vanished as if it had never been there. Bai Ina swept his cold gaze over their faces once more, then said, "I'm taking those two with me."
Kubo Yamato smiled with relief at the sight.
"Taking those two with you?" The wavy-haired man put emphasis on "two," his face full of mockery. "And you're not going to save this man?" As he spoke, he ground his shoe hard against Kubo Yamato's face several times, tearing the skin across his cheek. Blood ran down his face.
Kubo Yamato seemed not to feel a thing. He kept smiling gently as he watched Bai Ina.
Bai Ina didn't reply. The cold aura around him grew stronger as he stared hard at the wavy-haired man, committing his face to memory. Then he strode forward, picked up Zongcilang and Tufang Yoshitoyo, one in each hand, and turned to leave.
But things in this world rarely went as people wished.
"Since you're here, you're not leaving!"
Just then, Stussy spoke in a cold voice. His sudden order to stop them made the two men beside him pause. After all, Cipher Pol 9 rarely captured anyone who wasn't connected to their target.
For instance, when they captured Franky in the future, even though Lucci had initially defeated Luffy, he hadn't tried to capture him. It could be said that this was an instinctive habit among Cipher Pol 9 members.
Bai Ina stopped and slowly set the two boys down. The urge he had been suppressing could no longer be held back. Boundless killing intent and murderous aura surged from him.
"Heh. Looks like we've got a real killer here..." Seeing this, a trace of killing intent rose in the wavy-haired man's eyes as well.
The Black Blade Dawn at Bai Ina's waist flashed from its sheath. As he turned, an enormous pitch-black slash swept horizontally through the air.
"Let me play with him!"
The wavy-haired man sneered and strolled forward as if he hadn't even seen the enormous slash. Just as it was about to hit him, his arm suddenly turned pitch-black, as though ink had been poured over it. In the firelight, it gleamed like metal.
"Hahaha! Utterly useless!"
With a wild laugh, the wavy-haired man's right arm, shining with a metallic luster and carrying tremendous pressure, smashed into Bai Ina's black slash.
Crack—
With a sharp snap, Bai Ina's slash shattered into pieces and vanished into the air.
"Flying Dragon Black Flame!"
The instant the slash was broken, Bai Ina appeared in front of the wavy-haired man. His Black Blade Dawn was wrapped in black flames as he slashed straight at the man's neck.
The wavy-haired man sneered. His right hand, still not yet withdrawn, swung with his turning body and struck the Black Blade Dawn.
Bai Ina immediately felt a terrifying tremor travel from the blade into his hand. His hand went numb, and the Black Blade Dawn nearly slipped from his grasp. Even his body was knocked off balance.
"May Rain—Tornado Flash."
But in the very next instant, he let go of the Black Blade Dawn and caught it in his left hand as he spun. A black tornado of slashes immediately engulfed the wavy-haired man.
The wavy-haired man looked a little surprised, but his face was still full of mockery. In the blink of an eye, a metallic black sheen spread across every bit of exposed skin on his body.
'Crack, crack, crack...'
A string of sharp snaps rang out. Countless slashes shattered the moment they struck the wavy-haired man.
Bai Ina's expression darkened. Though he'd expected it, the result still left him looking grim. He couldn't even cut through steel, so how could he slice through Armament Haki, which was even harder than steel?
"Rankyaku Ten-Fold!"
With a cold shout, ten powerful slashes shot out from the Tornado Flash and rushed toward Bai Ina.
Bai Ina's expression shifted. His Black Blade Dawn became a blur as he cut down each slash that reached him.
"It's over, brat!"
The wavy-haired man appeared in front of Bai Ina at some point. His left hand clamped around Bai Ina's head, while his Haki-coated right fist slammed into Bai Ina's stomach.
"Ugh—"
Terrible pain shot through his abdomen. Bai Ina spat out a mouthful of blood, which splashed across the wavy-haired man's face.
"Hahahaha, it's not over yet!"
The wavy-haired man licked the blood that had splattered near his mouth and gave a cruel laugh. Then he punched Bai Ina in the stomach again. Blood spurted from Bai Ina's mouth once more, but the wavy-haired man showed no sign of stopping. He continued to pound Bai Ina's belly, one punch after another.
Blood poured out as if it were free, and Bai Ina's face grew paler and paler.
After more than ten punches, the wavy-haired man finally stopped. He grabbed Bai Ina with one hand and hurled him to the ground like a corpse.
The impact of the fall injured Bai Ina further, but he still didn't pass out. Instead, he glared at the wavy-haired man, his expression twisted and his eyes full of madness. Despite his injuries, he somehow forced himself back to his feet and swung the Black Blade Dawn at the wavy-haired man.
'Clang—'
The wavy-haired man casually swatted the feeble slash aside. The Black Blade Dawn flew from Bai Ina's hand and landed behind him.
The wavy-haired man didn't even look at the inconspicuous black blade. Instead, he sneered at Bai Ina, who could barely stand, and said viciously, "Brat, it's time to die!"
As he spoke, his Haki-coated right fist hurtled toward Bai Ina's head with terrifying force...
Before you continue