Battle with CP9!

"But..." Luke paused, then continued, "but there probably isn't much material left for making armor now."

So they were just short on materials.

Swain asked, "Where can we buy the materials?"

"You can't buy them." He shook his head.

That left Swain and Norton puzzled.

Since it concerned him personally, Norton still asked, "Why can't we buy them?"

Only then did Luke explain what had happened.

Every year, a portion of the ships and weapons produced in Water 7 was allocated to the World Government and the Navy.

This had caused an extreme shortage of materials. Those two major powers alone took sixty percent as part of the membership fee.

The remaining forty percent had already been made into weapons and sold.

Seeing Swain and Norton's disappointment, Luke pointed them toward another path: the Black Market!

The Black Market could be found practically everywhere, especially on a prosperous island like Water 7.

That afternoon, following Luke's instructions, Swain bought eight hundred jin of materials from the Black Market.

Luke arranged for Swain to return for the armor in one week.

After paying the deposit, he found a place to stay and discussed matters with Norton.

"I saw members of CP9 in the Black Market today. For the next few days, you need to wear a mask and disguise yourself."

Norton nodded. He knew his identity was sensitive; if the World Government discovered him, they would likely send even stronger people to capture him.

As they spoke, someone was walking through the air, observing the crowd below as though searching for something.

If Swain had seen him, he would certainly have recognized him.

This man was Kaku, a member of CP9.

"Someone reported that two strange people have arrived on the island. They may be connected to Iceburg, so I need to investigate them thoroughly!"

He muttered to himself.

He had been sent to monitor Iceburg and wait for an opportunity to seize the blueprints for Pluton in his possession.

Iceburg was the mayor of Water 7 and Franky's senior brother.

Meanwhile, Norton put on a mask. After Swain gave him some instructions, the two split up.

Swain went to the Galley-La Company to have a ship built.

Swain had told Norton to stay at their residence, but after returning to a normal life, he had gradually begun to loosen up. He was only nineteen, after all, and like any other newly grown adult, he was especially curious about the outside world.

Unable to bear the loneliness, he slipped out. First, he wandered around outside and experienced a different kind of life.

Then he found a tavern and started drinking. Drinking was his greatest hobby.

Back when his life had been at its darkest, it had been the only thing that could make him forget his troubles.

"Bring this guest more alcohol," the tavern owner, Blueno, ordered.

The cups on the table were stacked in layer after layer.

The other patrons marveled, "This young man is amazing. He's drunk so much and still hasn't gone down."

The Lunarian Tribe's constitution truly was powerful. Norton only became slightly drunk after nightfall, and seeing how late it was, he knew it was time to leave.

Owner Blueno was wiping cups. Seeing Norton leave, he prepared to close up as well.

But when he reached the door, he found no sign of the man on either road.

The sound of wings flapping came from the sky. Looking up, his eyes filled with gravity. Norton was flying through the air.

"That is definitely a trait of the Lunarian Tribe!"

He had already suspected Norton belonged to that special race when Norton removed his mask.

However, Norton had concealed his wings well enough that Blueno had failed to notice them. Many people shared similar hair and skin colors, so without wings, there was naturally no reason to suspect that race.

Now that he had confirmed it, he naturally had to report it to his superiors.

Blueno's true identity was that of a CP9 agent and the user of the Door-Door Fruit.

After closing the tavern's door, he opened it again. The scene beyond was no longer a tavern, but a conference room.

Meanwhile, when Swain returned to their residence and did not see Norton, he found it somewhat strange.

Fortunately, after waiting for a while, he saw Norton fly back alone.

"Yo! Captain!" Norton said drunkenly.

"How can you make Clones?"

He lunged to one side, only to grab at empty air.

Then he fell straight to the ground and began snoring loudly.

Swain could not help laughing at the sight. Although Norton had ignored his order to stay put and gone drinking instead, he was not angry.

If Norton obeyed every one of his orders completely, wouldn't he just be a subordinate? What kind of companion would that make him?

Swain had spent over a month with Norton, so he naturally understood him somewhat.

Norton was not the kind of person who would betray him, so he could just let him be.

With Swain there to cover for him anyway, allowing Norton to release his true nature would instead strengthen the relationship between captain and crew.

Just like Whitebeard and Ace, Roger and Rayleigh, Red-Haired and Beckman, Luffy and Zoro—and wasn't Kaido the same with King?

Just let him be... Swain himself was more of a figurehead captain anyway. It was enough for his crew to treat him as a friend.

However, trouble arrived at noon the next day!

Bang! Someone flew out of the house.

"You think someone like you can sneak attack me?" Norton mocked.

The person sent flying was Kalle, the user of the Bovine Fruit!

"Lucci, hurry!" Kalle shouted.

The instant his words fell, two people appeared behind Swain and launched a sneak attack.

They were CP9 leader Rob Lucci and member Blueno.

Using his Devil Fruit ability, Blueno had transported them behind Swain and Norton.

Clearly, this was a carefully planned assassination.

But Swain reacted incredibly fast! In an instant, he used his ability to form a shield of seawater, protecting both himself and Norton.

The shield shattered beneath Lucci's kick, but neither of them was injured.

Seeing that the sneak attack had failed, Lucci pulled away from Swain.

"Not bad!" Swain praised.

To shatter his defensive shield, Lucci truly had some ability!

But not much!

"Very strong," Lucci said gravely.

He had not expected that even a sneak attack would fail to kill his opponent. Their assassination attempt had truly been arranged too hastily.

They had attempted an assassination before even investigating Swain's strength.

It was not entirely their fault. Swain did not even have a bounty poster at this point, and their target had been Norton.

Yet they had not expected there to be someone even stronger.

But even without Swain, Norton could have utterly crushed them!

Swain and Norton were not on the same level as Luffy when he only had a one-hundred-million-berry bounty.

Shigan!

Lucci vanished from sight, then suddenly emerged from a door.

Blueno and Lucci were coordinating their attacks!

This method of appearing through a Devil Fruit made it difficult for Observation Haki to predict!

Others might truly have fallen into their hands, but they were facing Swain, not some random nobody!

Swain used the same move.

The difference was that he coated his fingers with Armament Haki Ryuo.

The instant the two Shigan attacks collided, Lucci was sent flying as though struck by overwhelming force.

The change happened in the blink of an eye!

Norton reacted as well.

"You think I'm just decoration?"

Fire Ball!

Norton swung his right hand toward Blueno. A fireball half the height of a person shot toward Blueno, who was still assisting Lucci in fighting Swain.

Poor Blueno, the mere tool, had truly forgotten there was also a Lunarian Tribe member here. The fireball sent him flying, scorching his entire upper body black.

Seeing this, Kalle used Soru to teleport to Blueno's side.

Rankyaku! Only then did the fireball disperse, blocking Norton's attack.