Destiny

"Don't even think about it!"

Roski let out a desperate cry, her hands swiftly forming a strange seal before her chest.

"Illusion Realm: Thorn Death Prison!"

"Bzzzz—!"

An eerie spatial ripple instantly burst outward from Roski!

The plaza, empty just a second ago, violently ruptured the moment C-4 revealed himself!

Countless thick black thorns, like pythons and covered in barbs, surged madly from hell as though alive, instantly wrapping C-4 in a deathly cocoon!

"Die!"

Roski clenched her fist sharply, and the thorns instantly contracted. Their terrifying crushing force was enough to grind steel into powder!

However—

"Too weak!"

"Your Fruit power may be miraculous, but your physical reactions and explosive strength are as laughable as an ant's!"

An exceedingly contemptuous sneer accompanied his words.

"Iron Body: Steel Blast!"

"Boom—!!!"

The black thorns wrapped around C-4 instantly shattered into specks of light filling the sky under that ultimate physical defense and recoil force, as fragile as glass!

Illusions could never withstand the absolute suppression of strength!

"Finger Pistol!"

Having broken through the illusion, C-4 showed not the slightest mercy as he thrust out a finger!

"Psh!"

A sharp burst of air pierced Roski's right shoulder like a bullet, spraying blood everywhere!

"Argh!"

Roski screamed and crashed heavily to the ground, no longer able to rise.

"Hehehe, got you now. A stepping stone to CP0..."

C-4 licked the blood from his fingertip and reached a large hand toward Roski's throat, his face twisted with lewd malice.

At that breathless, critical moment of certain death—

"Stop right there!!"

A roar of fury, as savage as an enraged lioness, suddenly exploded from the end of the ruins!

"Bang bang bang bang—!"

Amid a barrage of gunshots, more than a dozen black lead bullets tore through the air like a storm, racing straight for C-4's face!

"Hm?!"

C-4's brow furrowed as he was forced to pull back his right hand, drifting several meters backward like a falling leaf.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The bullets blasted huge craters into the ground.

The smoke cleared.

Lace, holding a gun in each hand, stood before Roski, panting heavily.

Her breathtakingly beautiful face was filled with unconcealed fury and frenzied killing intent!

Grinding her teeth, Lace guarded Roski behind her and kept her guns locked firmly on the enemy.

"You actually dared to openly slaughter an innocent village, and now you want to attack Colonel Rochi's family?!"

"Do you know that if the colonel finds out about this, he'll break every bone in your bodies inch by inch and feed them to dogs!!!"

Faced with Lace's furious questioning—

C-4 was briefly stunned. Then, seeing her Marine uniform clearly, he showed no fear at all. Instead, he clutched his stomach and burst into a piercing, mocking laugh.

"Hahaha! I was wondering who it was. So it's that arrogant brat's personal adjutant!"

"What? That madman Rochi didn't come, so he sent you, bitch, here to die?"

A cold gleam flashed in C-4's eyes, and his face instantly turned sinister.

"Don't try to scare me with that brat! Once we bring back this woman who possesses the Illusion-Illusion Fruit, who knows how many big shots above will treat us like honored guests!"

"If Rochi dares resist, even Fleet Admiral Sengoku won't be able to protect him!"

The other agent, C-5, sneered as he rubbed his wrists, his knuckles cracking like popping beans.

"Perfect. We'll collect the humiliation from that worthless branch a few days ago, principal and interest included!"

"A mere Marine major dares shout in front of us CP agents."

"Kill her! Kill every Marine she brought! Out here in this desolate corner of the East Blue, no one will ever learn the truth!"

A merciless and brutally savage battle instantly erupted!

"Kill us all? With just you two sewer rats!"

Lace laughed in fury, and the fearless ferocity of a Marine major erupted completely at that moment.

"Six Powers: Shave!"

Lace shouted, her figure instantly turning into a white afterimage as she charged C-4, the one who had been spouting such arrogance, at a speed no slower than the agents'!

"Bang!"

A heavy punch backed by advanced martial arts mastery smashed viciously toward C-4's face.

"Too slow, woman!"

A savage grin tugged at C-4's lips. He merely tilted his head slightly and easily evaded the blow.

Then, his thick arm came down like a black venomous whip!

"Tempest Kick: Sky Fang!"

A visible pale-blue vacuum slash, shrieking as it tore through the air, cleaved fiercely toward Lace's chest!

"Not good!"

Lace's face blanched, and she hurriedly crossed her arms. "Iron Body!"

"Boom!"

The violent force slammed solidly into Lace's arms. Even with the Six Powers' defense, it still felt as though she had been struck head-on by a sledgehammer.

"Urgh!" Lace groaned, sliding back seven or eight meters like a kite with its string cut. Her arms shook uncontrollably, and blood dripped from her fingertips.

They were both at Colonel Level.

But as World Government intelligence agents specifically tasked with assassination and silencing targets, these Cipher Pol Agents' killing techniques and combat experience were clearly far more ruthless than Lace's, who had spent years assisting from an office!

"Ma'am!!!"

At that moment, the several dozen elite headquarters veterans who had followed Lace finally rushed into the plaza.

However—

Before those veterans could even raise their rifles to provide support—

"Hehehe, I'm your opponent."

C-5, who had been standing to the side without acting, suddenly let out a chilling laugh.

"Whoosh!"

C-5 vanished into thin air. The next second, he appeared like a ghost directly in the middle of the Marines' formation!

"Finger Pistol: Turtledove!"

Psh! Psh! Psh!

As though piercing tofu!

These elite headquarters soldiers, who had never backed down even on the Grand Line, did not even get a chance to fire before C-5's hands instantly pierced the hearts of the three soldiers at the front!

"Aaaah—!"

Blood sprayed wildly!

These veterans, equipped with only simple protective gear and believing they had merely come to deliver supplies, were like lambs awaiting slaughter when faced with Cipher Pol Agents proficient in the assassination-focused Six Powers!

"Fire! Open fire!"

The remaining soldiers' eyes turned bloodshot as they pulled their triggers wildly.

Yet C-5 weaved through the hail of bullets as though taking a leisurely stroll. Every time he raised a hand, an elite Marine's throat was sliced open, or their head was twisted straight off.

"Thud! Thud!"

Bodies fell one after another.

Seeing her subordinates being slaughtered one-sidedly, Lace's eyes nearly split with rage. She wanted to rush over and rescue them, but C-4 clung to her like a parasite on the bone.

"You still dare get distracted in a fight? I'll be taking your life!"

Killing intent surged in C-4's eyes. Seizing the fatal opening Lace had exposed, he mercilessly drove a Finger Pistol coated in Armament Haki toward her throat!

She couldn't dodge it!

Lace's pupils contracted sharply as she closed her eyes in despair.