Rokushiki

After wandering around Water 7 for a while, Luo Ya realized that its streets really were a tangled maze. Without a guide, he wasn't going to find anything by wandering around at random.

So, after asking some locals, Luo Ya made his way to a shop that rented out Yagara Bulls. These remarkable animals were the best guides and means of transportation in Water 7, after all.

But after Luo Ya cheerfully paid, a new problem cropped up: the Yagara Bulls were all terrified of him. The moment he came near, every one of them trembled from head to toe. They wouldn't even let him ride them. If they hadn't been so well trained, they probably would've scattered and fled long ago.

Luo Ya was at a loss. He couldn't understand why someone as sunny and cheerful as him would scare anyone.

He didn't stop to consider that, in a sense, he'd just killed everyone in an entire country. Even without deliberately releasing it, the killing intent clinging to him was enough to make anyone shudder.

The shopkeeper was at a loss, too. All he could do was calm the little animals down and see if any of the Yagara Bulls were brave enough.

After a long struggle, it became clear that the little animals wouldn't carry Luo Ya around—or even let him get close.

Seeing this, the owner refunded Luo Ya double what he'd paid.

He sent Luo Ya out the door with an apologetic smile.

With no other choice, Luo Ya had to get around Water 7 on foot again.

After sampling plenty of local specialties, Luo Ya was thoroughly satisfied. He found a hotel, rented a room, and settled in for the night.

Meanwhile, after finally seeing off the excited Iceburg, Lucci and the others gathered at a bar that Blueno ran in the original story.

"What's so urgent, Kalifa?" Lucci asked once the CP9 agents had taken their seats.

They'd been undercover in Water 7 for years. Apart from meeting at the bar at a set time each month to share intelligence, they avoided contact with one another—especially with Kalifa—to keep their identities from being exposed.

"Black Flame Swordsman Luo Ya knows who we are," Kalifa said gravely.

"How did he find out? How much does he know?" the others asked urgently.

Kalifa explained what had happened, and everyone fell silent, lost in thought.

They pondered how they'd been exposed and how they could turn things around. After all, for agents, failure meant death.

The World Government had no use for failures.

They went over everything they'd done over the past few years, but couldn't figure out how their cover had been blown. In the end, Lucci made the call.

"Whatever the reason, our priority is to find out if anyone besides him knows. If he's the only one, we kill him and eliminate the threat." The others nodded in agreement.

"Kalifa, since he told you to visit him tonight, you should go now. Blueno, go with her and use your Door-Door Fruit to bring him to the Scrap Shipyard. It's deserted and far from the city. We'll take him out there."

"Understood!"

"The rest of you, come with me to the Scrap Shipyard." At Lucci's command, the group split up and left the bar.

Blueno locked up, hung out the closed sign, and followed the others.

Luo Ya was getting ready to rest in his room when he heard a knock at the door.

His faint Observation Haki sensed that, besides Kalifa, there was a burly man with horns outside.

Luo Ya raised an eyebrow. He'd known that CP9 would make a move after what he'd said to Kalifa that afternoon, but he hadn't expected them to act so quickly.

As the door opened, Kalifa reached for Luo Ya's collar before he could say a word.

Curious about CP9's methods, Luo Ya deliberately didn't dodge and let her grab him.

Kalifa seized his collar and flung him toward the door beside them.

But instead of a collision, Luo Ya strangely fell straight through the doorway and disappeared.

When they saw that the plan had worked, Blueno and Kalifa exchanged a glance and stepped through the door as well.

With a thud, Luo Ya landed on his feet. The hotel room had been replaced by a place filled with heaps of clutter.

Sails, rudders, keels, and planks lay scattered everywhere. The wreckage of countless ships had formed an island.

Rob Lucci and the long-nosed Kaku, whom he'd seen that afternoon, stood in front of him. Kalifa and Blueno emerged from a green doorway behind him, surrounding him.

"Black Flame Swordsman, how did you learn about Pluton? Who have you told?" Lucci asked, speaking aloud rather than using ventriloquism this time.

"Heh, that doesn't matter anymore. Let me see what the Marines' Rokushiki can do."

Luo Ya lit a cigarette and took a leisurely drag. Lucci and the others exchanged glances, then rushed at him.

Black Haki covered Lucci's hands as he transformed into his leopard-man form. He thrust out both index fingers and unleashed his ultimate technique, Six King Gun.

Lucci was the only one among them who had mastered both types of Haki. The moment Luo Ya appeared, he could sense the terrifying killing intent radiating from him.

So he didn't dare hold back and immediately used his strongest move.

Following Lucci's lead, the other three also gave it everything they had.

Blueno tensed every muscle in his body and entered the Iron Body state, then spun at high speed and charged at Luo Ya.

Kalifa turned her arms into springs to increase her strength, thrust out both index fingers, and covered herself in bubbles.

Kaku took the form of a giraffe, drew his two swords, and slashed at Luo Ya's waist.

As all four attacks came at him, Luo Ya took a drag of his cigarette. A flash of crimson lit his eyes.

A ring of flames burst from his body and exploded almost instantly. With a boom, it sent all four of them flying back.

Even Blueno, in his Iron Body state, was blasted away. His head lolled to one side as he fainted on the ground.

The other three were singed and covered in soot by the sudden explosion.

Thanks to his Observation Haki, Lucci had crossed his arms in front of himself just before the flames exploded, so he escaped with little harm.

As soon as the blast ended, Lucci and the other two tapped their feet and used Soru to attack Luo Ya again.

Haki gathered rapidly around Luo Ya's foot. Dragon Spike! He drove a powerful kick into Lucci's chest, sending him flying.

His left hand snapped into a claw and snatched Kaku's two swords, then threw him toward Kalifa.

They crashed into each other with a bang, rolled across the ground twice, and quickly got back up.

Before they could attack again, Luo Ya teleported beside Lucci, grabbed the leopard's head with his left hand, and squeezed hard.

Lucci's eyes rolled back as he reverted from his Devil Fruit form. Luo Ya casually tossed him to the ground.

Seeing their strongest member, Lucci, easily knocked down, Kaku and Kalifa felt their hearts sink.

Lucci was hailed as CP9's once-in-800-years genius. Now Luo Ya had tossed him to the ground as casually as a chick.

And Luo Ya was a swordsman who hadn't even drawn his blade. It was hard to imagine how enormous the gap between them was.

Before the two could regain their composure, Luo Ya kicked the giraffe-shaped Kaku.

Kaku hurriedly crossed his two swords to block. With a clang, both blades snapped, and he flew backward, reverting from his transformation and fainting on the ground.

"Heh, you're so weak you can't even hold my interest," Luo Ya mocked.

The bubbles covering Kalifa vanished. She'd seen that the outcome was decided and had given up resisting, deactivating her Devil Fruit ability.

"We lost. Do whatever you want with us," Kalifa said, spreading her legs and slumping onto the ground.

Luo Ya was also starting to feel bored. He'd originally hoped to sneakily learn the Marines' Rokushiki.

Given his physical abilities, he could surely have learned them with ease. But the CP9 agents had gone down so quickly that the fight was over before he could even make sense of what he'd seen.

"Heh, you're taking this well. I'll let you go. You can leave," Luo Ya said, heading toward the three unconscious men.

"W-wait. Black Flame Swordsman Luo Ya, let's make a deal. I want you to spare them."

"Heh, you don't think the Marines' Rokushiki are that valuable, do you? What else do you have to offer? Your body? If I forced you, could you really resist?"

"The World Government has specialized training for this. You can experience it before you decide," Kalifa said resolutely.

"Heh, how different could it be?" Luo Ya asked, somewhat surprised.

Kalifa began taking off her clothes, preparing to show Luo Ya the results of her training right there in the Scrap Shipyard.

"I promise you'll be satisfied."

Luo Ya was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected the World Government's agents to have such pure friendship.

He hadn't particularly cared about killing Lucci and the others in the first place, so he decided on the spot to accept Kalifa's request.

"Heh, fine. But not here. I'm not that desperate. Go get them all settled somewhere, then put together instructions on how to train in the Marines' Rokushiki.

"Come find me in the room you were in before. And, by the way, that fishnet outfit you're wearing now will do just fine."

Luo Ya remembered what Kalifa had been wearing before she started undressing: a black, tight-fitting top that hugged her hips, with a black fishnet shirt underneath; black fishnet stockings connected to a garter belt; and black pointed heels. He thought it looked much better than the secretary outfit she'd worn that afternoon, so he made a point of mentioning it.

With that, he set off toward the city center of Water 7 with a smile, leaving Kalifa standing there, speechless.