Elsewhere.
As Natsuya had expected, the fleeing Blueno immediately contacted Spandam, the current head of CP9.
"What!? Natsuya stole the Celestial Dragon's property for himself and even tried to kill you!?"
Spandam was shocked when he heard Blueno's report.
Although this mission involved a Celestial Dragon, he had considered it nothing more than a minor task. How had things taken such a turn!?
Natsuya had stolen the Celestial Dragon's property and had even tried to kill Blueno?
What was going on!?
But Spandam's expression soon turned grave.
Blueno was not particularly eloquent, but the key intelligence he reported sounded highly convincing.
First of all, one of the items the Celestial Dragon had lost was a Devil Fruit.
Natsuya had become greedy because of that Devil Fruit.
As for why Blueno had been unable to defeat Natsuya, it was because Natsuya had concealed his strength!
His mastery of the Navy's Rokushiki was even greater than Blueno's!
Since Natsuya had hidden his strength, it made sense that he would covet the Devil Fruit and try to kill Blueno.
Of course.
Spandam did not blindly believe Blueno's side of the story.
After ending the call with Blueno, he also tried calling Natsuya's Den Den Mushi.
But the call was rejected.
That convinced Spandam that Natsuya had truly betrayed them.
"Damn it, how dare that bastard!?"
Coming back to his senses, Spandam cursed under his breath.
To be honest, he still could not understand why Natsuya would dare do such a thing.
Was it really all for a single Devil Fruit?
But Natsuya had been in the CP Department for quite some time. How could he not know how terrifying the World Government was!?
Was a Devil Fruit really worth it?
No matter how precious that Devil Fruit was, once he offended the World Government, he might not even live long enough to use it!
Or even if he ate it, so what?
Could he possibly develop his Devil Fruit powers into something formidable in the short time before they sent forces to surround and eliminate him!?
If not, then even with his hidden strength, he was at most only slightly stronger than Blueno.
That kind of strength was utterly insignificant before the massive World Government!
At that thought, Spandam immediately snorted coldly.
Since he could not figure it out, he could not be bothered to keep thinking about it.
As the head of CP9, he could not escape responsibility now that Natsuya, one of CP9's members, had betrayed the organization.
Since his own career was at stake, Spandam decided to resolve the matter as quickly as possible and minimize the fallout!
With that in mind, Spandam immediately summoned Rob Lucci and the others who were currently free of missions, ordering them to head to East Blue and assist Blueno in capturing, or even killing, Natsuya!
"What, Natsuya betrayed us!?"
Rob Lucci and the others were also deeply shocked upon hearing the news.
Kalifa especially.
Her pretty face suddenly turned pale.
The fondness she had felt for that young man instantly turned into overwhelming panic.
"That's impossible. How could Natsuya betray us!?"
"Could there be some misunderstanding!?"
After freezing for a moment, Kalifa anxiously spoke up for Natsuya.
Aside from Rob Lucci and Kalifa, the CP9 members summoned were also Kaku.
Yet after hearing the news, neither Rob Lucci nor Kaku spoke. Only Kalifa did.
Seeing this, Spandam nodded in satisfaction.
He had worried that if he sent Rob Lucci and the others after Natsuya, they might let their feelings for a teammate interfere.
But now, it seemed only Kalifa was defending Natsuya. Rob Lucci and Kaku clearly obeyed him and the World Government more.
That was enough.
In truth, Spandam did not dare underestimate Natsuya too much.
After all, Natsuya had hidden his Rokushiki strength and might even have become a Devil Fruit user!
But if Rob Lucci made a move, there would be no problem!
After all, he was the strongest CP9 member in eight hundred years!
And he was also a Devil Fruit user!
With Kaku's considerable strength on top of that—
Even if Natsuya truly had become a Devil Fruit user, he surely would not be able to cause any great trouble.
As for Kalifa, he doubted she would dare betray the World Government.
Thinking that, Spandam snorted and said, "Hmph, are you saying Blueno is lying? And how do you explain Natsuya refusing to answer his Den Den Mushi?"
Kalifa froze at those words.
That was right. Every sign pointed toward Natsuya.
Natsuya refusing to answer the call was already highly suspicious.
And Blueno had always been a rather honest and dependable sort.
Natsuya, on the other hand, was carefree and flippant, always saying startling things and sometimes coming up with very strange ideas.
It was obvious who was more likely to betray the World Government: Natsuya!
Seeing Kalifa like this, Spandam frowned. "Kalifa, you do not have to go."
He suddenly became worried.
Could this woman really cause trouble for that pretty boy when the time came?
But at that moment, Kalifa's expression suddenly hardened with resolve. "I'm going!"
"But I won't make a move until I confirm the truth!"
Spandam's expression changed slightly, and he was about to say something.
But Rob Lucci had already risen to his feet and said flatly, "Enough talking. Let's leave now!"
"It'll take some time to get from here to East Blue."
Kaku did not say a word and immediately followed.
Seeing that, Spandam naturally could not say anything more. He merely gave them one instruction.
"Go quickly and come back quickly. I'll be waiting for good news!"
And so.
Rob Lucci and the others immediately set off for East Blue.
They were all Rokushiki Superhumans who had mastered Geppo.
Under such circumstances, their mobility far surpassed that of ordinary Marines.
Thus, Rob Lucci and the others set out from Enies Lobby and reached East Blue in only a few days.
Before long, they met up with Blueno, who had been lying low in East Blue.
"You're finally here."
Blueno's face immediately showed excitement when he saw Rob Lucci and the others.
"Blueno, did Natsuya really attack you?"
Kalifa immediately questioned Blueno as soon as she approached.
Blueno's expression changed, and he seemed somewhat angered. He then pointed at the bandages on his body. "Of course. Why would I lie to you?"
"If you don't believe me, then once we find him, I can confront him face-to-face!"
Though he spoke with such certainty, Blueno was beginning to feel a headache coming on.
He knew Kalifa and Natsuya were close. With Kalifa present this time, his lie might not be easy to maintain.
Fortunately, Rob Lucci and Kaku were here as well.
The two of them were closer to him than they were to Natsuya.
Even if something went wrong when he confronted Natsuya face-to-face, those two would surely stand on his side.
Besides, what could possibly go wrong!
After so much time had passed, Blueno was one hundred percent certain that Natsuya had already eaten that Devil Fruit.
In that case, even if Natsuya had not betrayed the World Government, he was still a criminal!
Because it belonged to a Celestial Dragon!
And to give the higher-ups an explanation, they naturally could only hand over Natsuya.
After hearing Blueno say that, Kalifa could not continue questioning him.
Rob Lucci said nothing more either and simply said, "All right, let's find him now."
And so, the four of them immediately returned to the scene of the incident and began searching the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Natsuya seemingly had no idea that a crisis was rapidly closing in.
He was still in East Blue at the time, even remaining aboard that pirate ship.
As a result, Rob Lucci and the others did not have to spend much effort before discovering Natsuya's trail!
Before you continue