The Gum-Gum Fruit's Whereabouts

By now, Beiyuan Heng had acquired quite a few traits.

He had eight blue traits alone.

And this had allowed him to discover a pattern.

That was, blue traits often came with additional effects.

For example, [Innate Great Strength] increased his strength every day.

[Light as a Swallow] allowed him to adapt to all terrain.

[Six Powers Peak] and [Armament Haki Peak] increased the power of the Six Powers and Armament Haki.

Not to mention the [Celebrity] and [Genius] traits.

Overall, once a trait reached blue quality, it underwent a qualitative transformation.

For Beiyuan Heng, advancing the quality of his traits now brought far greater returns than acquiring new ones.

Besides, having obtained eight brand-new traits at once, he needed time to turn them into his own strength.

Especially when it came to training his Haki.

Traits never represented one's actual strength. They were more like accessories or equipment.

What mattered most was Beiyuan Heng's own strength.

The stronger he was, the more powerful his traits became.

He really needed to settle down and train properly for a while.

However, just as Beiyuan Heng was preparing to devote himself to training, the Den Den Mushi from Cipher Pol suddenly rang.

Without any concern, Beiyuan Heng took out the Den Den Mushi right there in the training grounds and answered it.

The Den Den Mushi's expression immediately turned into Spandine's sleazy face.

"Hahaha, Agent Beiyuan, I never expected you to become Admiral Zephyr's disciple."

"Looks like you've been doing pretty well in the Navy."

Spandine's tone was full of teasing, but Beiyuan Heng detected a hint of unease beneath it.

"What is it? Did you call just to say that?"

Beiyuan Heng replied coldly. He had never shown a pleasant face to someone as power-hungry and unscrupulous as Spandine over the past few years.

"Of course not, my dear genius agent..." Spandine changed his tone. "I have a mission here that requires the strongest genius in eight hundred years to complete."

Beiyuan Heng narrowed his eyes. "What mission?"

"Just escorting a Devil Fruit," Spandine said.

"A Devil Fruit?"

Beiyuan Heng's eyes widened as a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

At this point in time, what Devil Fruit would make the World Government specifically dispatch CP9 to escort it?

There could only be one...

The Gum-Gum Fruit that Luffy ate!

But he had no intention of getting involved in this mess.

It was not that he was uninterested in the Devil Fruit.

He simply was not sure whether he could truly develop that fruit.

After all, even Luffy had only awakened his Nika form after his heartbeat and breathing had completely stopped.

Beiyuan Heng was not sure he could reach that point.

Besides, he had already made a specific choice regarding Devil Fruits.

Right now, he urgently needed to familiarize himself with his traits and train.

"Isn't it just escorting a Devil Fruit? Why not send Lucci directly?"

Beiyuan Heng could now completely abandon his position in Cipher Pol and transfer fully into the Navy.

Other than occasionally reporting some insignificant intelligence to Spandine, he had basically had no further contact with Cipher Pol.

Still, Beiyuan Heng had heard that Lucci and the others had completed missions much faster over the past few months.

If possible, he would not mind pulling Lucci and the others out from among the CP9 agents.

Their talent truly was not bad. With proper training, they could gain a foothold in the New World.

If he wanted to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' rule, he definitely could not rely on himself alone.

But thinking of how thoroughly brainwashed Lucci was gave Beiyuan Heng a slight headache.

No matter what, if they met later, he would beat him up first.

"There aren't many people on Enies Lobby right now. Even Kalifa has gone out on a mission," Spandine said.

"So after giving it some thought, our strongest genius is still the most reliable person for the job."

Beiyuan Heng rolled his eyes and said bluntly, "I don't have time right now. Figure it out yourself."

With that, he simply hung up.

Whoever took this damned mission would be the unlucky one.

Escorting the Gum-Gum Fruit was basically an impossible task.

The one who would seize that fruit was Red-Haired Shanks.

Though Shanks had not yet reached his peak, he was already capable of standing on equal footing with the world's greatest swordsman, Hawk Eyes.

Meanwhile, Spandine, sitting in his office on Enies Lobby, was completely dumbfounded.

No, who exactly was the commander here? Him or the other guy?

"You bastard, just wait. Sooner or later, I'll get rid of all of you."

Spandine froze for a moment, then his entire face turned red as he snarled in rage.

He pulled another Den Den Mushi out from beneath his desk and pressed its shell.

Purururururu...

Several dozen seconds passed before the Den Den Mushi was answered.

The moment it connected, the Den Den Mushi's appearance changed dramatically. It grew white hair and a beard shaped like the character for three, while a scar appeared beneath its right eye.

"Fleet Admiral Kong, you have to stand up for me!"

Spandine said this through tears and snot.

"That agent called Beiyuan Heng refused to obey orders. And he actually became the Navy's disciple—he's completely neglecting his proper duties!"

"Then just replace him with someone else."

A cold voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, carrying a trace of impatience.

If the Five Elders had not paid this man some special attention, he would have removed this undeserving fool from office long ago.

The person on the other end of the call was the current commander-in-chief of the World Government's armed forces, Kong.

However, despite being the commander-in-chief of the World Government's armed forces, his position was rather awkward.

As the nominal supreme commander of all armed forces, he controlled every force, including the Navy, Cipher Pol, and Enies Lobby.

Yet the Five Elders, who stood at the peak of power, also exercised complete control over those forces.

For this Devil Fruit escort mission, the Five Elders had not only issued orders to him, but had also directly given orders to CP9.

This showed just how seriously they regarded the matter.

"This isn't about replacing someone! That brat Beiyuan Heng's actions are a challenge to your authority, Fleet Admiral Kong."

Spandine continued to complain tearfully.

Fleet Admiral Kong's tone carried a trace of helplessness.

"If I remember correctly, that kid is from the North Blue. Making someone from the North Blue travel to the East Blue for an escort mission isn't very appropriate, is it?"

"I recall that you used to have a subordinate named Who's-Who. He's from the East Blue, isn't he? Have him carry out the mission."

As the commander of all armed forces, Kong had no intention whatsoever of punishing that kid called Beiyuan Heng.

To be honest, as long as Beiyuan Heng was serving the World Government, he did not care which department he was in.

Even the Five Elders saw it the same way.

"Fine. That's all."

Steel Bone Kong left behind that impatient remark before hanging up.

The Den Den Mushi instantly returned to normal, its eyes drooping shut.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Spandine slammed his fist against the desk. "Just wait until I climb higher. You'll all pay for this!"