Make the Navy Believe Nika Had Sunk into the Sea

The drag marks cut through the northern woods, leading straight to the harbor warehouse.

Su Hang did not continue the chase.

He lay behind the rooftop gutter, looking down through broken tiles.

Benns was tied to an interrogation chair. Two Seastone Nets had been set up beside him, while more than a dozen Marines sealed off the warehouse exits.

Major Thorne stood before the table, examining Benns's Five-Ring Cross iron plate.

"Direct orders, village-destroying artillery, a rendezvous ship, and a missing Nika host."

Thorne pressed the iron plate against the tabletop.

"Benns, you botched the mission this badly. What makes you think you deserve to live?"

Benns's jaw was wrapped in bandages. Blood seeped from the edges of the cloth with every word he spoke.

"Red-Hair intervened... and the Devil Fruit user lost control too."

"I asked where the fruit is."

"I don't know."

Thorne raised a hand, and a Marine immediately fastened a length of Seastone Chain around Benns's wrist.

"You'd better come up with a different answer. The men who escorted you here made it very clear: if the host isn't found before sunset, you'll disappear along with Windmill Village."

Benns's arm twitched.

Su Hang rubbed the knuckle of his index finger, his gaze sweeping across the evidence table.

Behind the table sat a wooden box containing clothes collected from North Cliff and the village, shell casings, and fragments of coded messages.

Thorne did not trust testimony.

He only trusted evidence that fit together.

The rooftop vent was barely half a foot wide. No adult could possibly pass through it.

Su Hang took off his coat and squeezed his shoulders inward. He slipped his right arm through the gap first, gripped a beam with his palm, and slowly stretched his body through.

The old wound on his shoulder immediately flared with pain.

[Warning: Host's stamina is insufficient.]

"Shut up."

Su Hang bit down on his collar, flattened his waist and abdomen, and slid through the vent onto the upper wooden framework.

Several drops of blood fell toward the floor. He snatched them out of the air, catching every drop in his palm.

Thorne suddenly looked up.

"What was that sound up there?"

The Marines raised their guns toward the roof.

Su Hang hung from the back side of a beam, his limbs wrapped around the wood. He did not move again.

A Marine stabbed open the vent cover with a bayonet. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating nothing but a few drifting specks of dust.

"Probably rats."

"During a harbor lockdown, even rats need to be checked."

Thorne drew his gun and fired twice at the beam.

The bullets grazed Su Hang's ear and buried themselves in the wood.

He tightened his abdomen and suppressed even his breathing to the bare minimum, but his right hand quietly extended along the beam and slipped into a crack in the rear wall.

The evidence box was two feet from the wall.

His five fingers landed on it, and the lid silently lifted.

A torn garment soaked in sea beast blood, Benns's second layer of code, and a numbered bronze plate removed from a supply boat were placed inside one after another.

After finishing, Su Hang's fingertips slid down the back of the chair and tapped Benns's neck.

Benns's body abruptly stiffened.

Su Hang lowered his voice until only one person could hear him.

"If I'm alive, your mission failed."

Benns's pupils contracted.

"If I'm dead, you can at least say you completed half of it."

"You..."

"Choose quickly. Thorne doesn't have much patience."

Thorne turned and walked over.

"Who are you talking to?"

Benns stared at the empty space ahead, his Adam's apple bobbing twice.

"I remember now. That kid went to the harbor. He stole a supply boat."

"When?"

"After the shelling caused chaos. He wanted to draw the pursuers away from the village."

Thorne did not believe him immediately. Instead, he pressed the barrel of his gun against Benns's forehead.

"The supply boat's number."

Benns could not answer.

The gun barrel pressed forward another half inch.

Just then, a thunderous blast erupted offshore.

An unmanned supply boat broke in two at its center. Its bow reared high before crashing into the sea.

The Red-Haired Pirates' ship swept past behind the flames. Shanks held a sword in one hand and severed the supply boat's last mast.

Rapid footsteps sounded outside the warehouse.

"Major, an explosion has been spotted in the southwest waters! A government supply boat was sunk by Red-Hair!"

"Was anyone aboard?"

"A black-haired figure was seen falling into the water! The clothing matched the target's!"

Thorne stared at Benns.

"How did you know he would board the supply boat?"

Benns saw the bloodied garment protruding from the edge of the evidence box.

The clothes belonged to Su Hang. There were tears at the back of the hand and shoulder, and the stench of blood was strong enough for even him to smell.

"Because that boat was the escape route I arranged."

Benns caught his breath.

"After he found out, he took the boat instead. Red-Hair was afraid the government would capture him alive, so he personally sank the supply boat. Is that so hard to understand?"

"You fought Red-Hair?"

"My broken jaw is proof enough."

Thorne opened the evidence box and pulled out the torn garment.

Dark red blood dripped from the corner of the cloth, with two rough, hard scales caught inside.

A Marine leaned closer and sniffed it.

"Human blood, and blood from a large sea beast."

The supply boat's bronze plate was immediately revealed at the bottom of the box.

The number matched.

Benns immediately added the final line.

"A Devil Fruit user fell into the sea, and the wounds drew sea beasts in. The Nika host is already dead."

Thorne asked coldly.

"Where's the body?"

"Dragged into deep water by a sea beast. Where do you expect me to find it?"

"At the bottom of the sea."

Thorne turned and gave the order.

"Deploy all Seastone Nets. Repeatedly dredge the area where the supply boat sank. Dead or alive, I want the body. If you can't retrieve it, cut open every sea beast nearby."

Benns's face went pale.

"The report already fits together. How much more time are you going to waste?"

Thorne turned back and drove a fist into his stomach.

The chair legs scraped across the floor, sliding several feet away.

"A report fitting together doesn't mean it's true. Direct agents who fear mission failure and fake the target's death—I've seen it before."

Thorne crouched down and grabbed Benns by the collar.

"You'd better pray there's really a corpse in the sea. Otherwise, you'll be the first one put into a net."

Su Hang slid down the outside wall of the warehouse and climbed the drainpipe to the harbor clock tower.

In the distance, Shanks stood at the bow. Across the sea, he saw a strip of blue cloth hanging from the clock tower window.

He raised his sword and cut through a burning ship plank, letting the debris drift toward the deep-water area.

Seastone Nets fell into the sea one after another.

Several sharks drawn by the scent of blood had barely approached the wreckage before Marines pierced them with harpoons.

The nets dragged up scraps of clothing, broken boots, and large amounts of bloodstained wood, yet no body was ever found.

Shanks spoke across the sea, regardless of whether Su Hang could hear him.

"Thorne won't believe it."

"You're still missing one last step."

Inside the clock tower, an old Den Den Mushi sat beside the gear housing.

It was the backup line between the harbor and the rendezvous ship.

Su Hang took out the code and dialed the rotary according to Benns's number.

The Den Den Mushi closed its eyes, its mouth producing a long connection tone.

Click.

Someone picked up the receiver on the other end.

"Authorization."

Su Hang wrapped cloth around the mouthpiece and lowered his voice.

"Five-Ring Cross, East Blue Code Seven. Inspector Benns reporting. The target boarded a supply boat and was attacked by Red-Hair. The vessel sank, and the host fell into the sea."

"Has the body been confirmed?"

"Sea beasts fought over it. The target's bloodied clothing and the vessel's identification plate were found. Ability fluctuations have vanished. Death confirmed."

The other side fell silent for several breaths.

Su Hang continued.

"Please send back the confirmation code."

The Den Den Mushi opened its mouth and spat out a string of mechanical syllables.

The code matched.

It worked.

Su Hang pressed a finger to the receiver hook and chuckled softly.

"As long as the report sounds real enough, even a living person can die once in advance."

"That's an interesting sentence."

The stiff voice in the receiver suddenly changed.

Low and calm.

"Benns's jaw is broken. He cannot clearly repeat the full code. Besides, he doesn't know that you used your left hand when you ate the fruit, and that you trembled three times before swallowing."

The smile slowly faded from Su Hang's face.

"You were at Windmill Village?"

"I saw more than you think."

Below the clock tower, Thorne abruptly looked up.

The Den Den Mushi line indicator lights were illuminating one by one, finally stopping at the harbor clock tower.

The Marines raised their guns at the same time, surrounding every exit.

The stranger's voice drifted softly from the receiver.

"Dead men don't make phone calls, Su Hang. You're somewhere near the harbor."