Sicily Island.
St. Raphael Cathedral.
Noah sat in front of the large clock at the top of the church. Tomani, who came to support them through the Ray wormhole, used colored camouflage to turn the area where they were into a row of stone statues.
While maintaining the blade-like state of his hands, Daz attempted to activate his Armament Haki. He had taken the Origin Blood Potion a few days ago, and his physical abilities were rapidly improving. He could now faintly sense the Armament Haki within his body.
Kuro poured Noah a cup of black tea and stood by his side like a professional butler.
A gentle breeze swept by, and the minute hand behind him slid slowly, pointing to nine o'clock in the morning.
Inside a cluster of tall buildings about one kilometer from the church, a Sicilian auction is in full swing.
However, soon after, intense gunfire and explosions erupted at the auction.
The next moment.
A wormhole opened beside Noah, and Ray, dressed in a white suit and wearing a mask, walked out from the other side of the wormhole carrying a small box.
"You succeeded?"
"I have fulfilled my mission. The Castle-Castle Fruit is right here." Ray opened the small box, and inside was indeed the Castle-Castle Fruit.
On the other side...
Capone Bege, heading straight for the auction item storage room, also killed more than a dozen Gambino Mafia guards.
With an excited expression, he opened the storage room door and found the small box containing the Castle-Castle Fruit. Inside the box lay a " Castle-Castle Fruit ".
"Hahaha... Castle-Castle Fruit! This is the fruit I've always wanted!" Capone Bege picked up the fruit without hesitation and took a big bite.
"Delicious... hmm?" Capone Bege suddenly stopped, looking at the flesh after biting into it. The texture, similar to a mixture of cheese and cream, puzzled him. "Aren't Devil Fruit supposed to taste terrible? This Castle-Castle Fruit isn't bad at all!"
He took several more bites and found that the taste was not bad.
But after a while, his expression turned grim because he didn't sense Devil Fruit power. "Could it be that I didn't eat it all?"
Capone Bege swallowed the rest of the fruit, but after a while, the fruit's power still didn't activate.
"How could this be? Is this Castle-Castle Fruit fake? Damn it... Gambino Off! You deserve to die!" Capone Bege clenched his fists in fury.
"Godfather! Gambino's reinforcements have arrived..."
Hearing his underling's words, Capone Bege's expression darkened further. "Retreat immediately!"
Boom boom boom...
The area was bombarded by numerous rockets, and the violent explosions resulted in heavy casualties among many members of the Capone Family.
Capone Bege, who had used one of his henchmen as a shield, already sensed something was wrong.
Soon, amidst the intense gunfire and explosions, the number of the Capone Family members around dwindled until only Capone Bege and a dozen or so underlings remained.
At that moment, Gambino Off, the godfather of the Gambino Family, emerged from the bunker with more than three hundred of the family's elite soldiers.
" Bege! Hand over the Devil Fruit and 10 billion Beli, and I might let you go, otherwise..."
"Heh... Off, I didn't expect this was all part of your plan. I really underestimated you!" Capone Bege saw this and knew things were dangerous, but he still pretended to be calm:
"I've already eaten that fruit."
"What?" Off's eyes immediately turned fierce.
"However, I can compensate you with 20 billion Beli."
This put Off in a dilemma.
Capone Bege remained outwardly calm, but a multitude of thoughts raced through his mind: 'Strange! How could Off not know the Castle-Castle Fruit was fake? Did he also not know it was fake? Or was it switched out midway?'
However, this outcome gave him even more confidence to escape unscathed. " Off, I've already eaten the fruit. If you're determined to fight to the death, then I'll have no choice but to use my Devil Fruit power to take you down with me. Even if I can't kill you, I can severely damage the Gambino Family. You don't want other families to take advantage of your misfortune, do you?"
"..." Off became even more conflicted.
Noah and the others in the cathedral watched the secondary simulation of electromagnetic waves.
Kuro's face showed disdain. "They're utterly hopeless. Even though we gave them a warning, they still let the Capone Family launch a sneak attack."
"Capone Bege! He's certainly a character, but unfortunately, his ambition is too great. His mindset is already ingrained and there's no point in trying to change him."
"Brother, the negotiations between the two sides have ended."
Watching Capone Bege swagger away on the screen, Noah remained expressionless. "Proceed according to plan!"
"Yes!"
Capone Bege and his group after leaving Sicily Island.
He was rushing back to his family's headquarters at full speed. Although he did not obtain the Castle-Castle Fruit this time, Capone Bege had completely seen through Gambino Off's incompetent nature.
Clearly, he has no intention of fulfilling his promise of 20 billion Beli, and may even be planning to use this opportunity to eliminate the Gambino Family.
At that very moment.
A shadow loomed over the sky.
Capone Bege instinctively looked up, his pupils immediately contracting. " The Golden Lion?"
However, Noah didn't waste any words and directly used Conqueror's Haki to overwhelm the opponent, even Capone Bege was instantly stunned into unconsciousness.
With a casual snap of the Float-Float Fruit, the boat and its occupants were lifted high into the air.
Noah carried the unconscious Capone Bege. Law, who was waiting in the cabin, saw Capone Bege and asked, "Is this the patient for the surgery?"
"Let's get started!"
Luo skillfully opened the operating room and completely removed Capone Bege's frontal lobe.
Noah casually took out the Castle-Castle Fruit, stuffed it into Capone Bege's mouth, and then drew the World from the Tarot cards.
Capone Bege was encased in a golden cocoon.
The Apostle Bege was quickly and successfully transformed.
[World: Capone Bege ( Castle-Castle Fruit )]
The Apostle Bege, kneeling on one knee, greeted Noah with fervent eyes, "My lord, your servant Bege pays homage to you."
" Bege, your mission is very simple: unify the West Blue Mafia. I appoint you as the interim governor of the West Blue Governorate."
"Yes, sir."
That night, Ray and Noah launched a surprise attack on the Gambino Family's headquarters, turning Gambino Off into an ordinary Apostle without anyone noticing, and using the Bully Dog Fruit they had previously obtained.
By controlling Off, they quickly gained control of the Gambino Family.
They completed the initial control over the two Mafia families.
Then we can quickly eliminate the other three mafia families, and through mutual attrition and covert schemes, wipe out the most heinous members of these gangs through internal strife.
This is also part of the plan.
After all, the Noah Family wouldn't accept those heinous Mafia members, and in this way, they could secretly complete the internal purification of the five major Mafia organizations.
Such a small matter naturally didn't require Noah to carry it out personally.
Under Mary's leadership, the entire Department of Supervision secretly infiltrated the Capone Family and began a thorough internal screening in preparation for the upcoming purge.
Meanwhile, Bege and Off secretly ordered their subordinates to investigate Nico Robin's whereabouts.