"Oh, it's you, Con D. Oriano. Are you here to help us?"
"Usopp said, seeing the man who appeared in front of them."
"Who is he? I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."
Luffy, standing opposite him, looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked.
"Have you forgotten? He's our comrade-in -Con D. Oriano, the one we met in prison..."
Usopp winked at Luffy and said that after realizing it was an acquaintance, he had come up with a good idea: to still pretend that Marine Special Envoy Captain Shepherd was his companion.
The plan was to attract the navy's attention, seize the opportunity to open the safe, take the gold, and then escape.
"Shut up, and don't call me that name. My name is Colonel Shepherd."
"He's a special envoy sent here from headquarters, how could he possibly be a companion to you nobodies?"
Shepherd shouted in fury upon hearing the name he hated to the core.
"Don't worry, we know you're a Navy spy, we won't expose you, Con D. Oriano!!"
Usopp pretended to suddenly remember his identity and spoke to him with a serious expression.
"Damn it! Bring me my weapon right now! I want to blast them into the sky myself!"
Enraged by Usopp, Shepherd ordered his subordinates to bring out the secret weapon he had prepared for Luffy and his crew.
Soon, a massive cannon-shaped gun was hoisted onto Shepherd's shoulder, aimed at Luffy and his Luffy, and he pulled the trigger with his right thumb.
A shell was fired from the gun barrel, but instead of heading towards Luffy and his Luffy, it was fired at the Marines behind him, forcing them to scramble to avoid the cannon fire.
boom...
The shell blasted into the gate behind him, creating a huge hole from which billowing black smoke billowed out.
"Well done, Con D. Oriano. I never expected you, an undercover agent, to be helping us. I'm truly touched..."
Since you've done so much for us, I need to hurry and open this door as soon as possible, so as not to let you down.
Usopp clenched his fist in approval, then wiped his eyes, which were now completely vacant, with his arm and said excitedly.
Even after Shepherd fired that cannonball, despite some confirmation of Shepherd identity, his series of actions that betrayed his teammates, coupled with Usopp's vivid and sincere gestures, led some to doubt him.
Then Drake stepped forward and spoke to Shepherd.
"Colonel Shepherd, please leave this matter to us. Please do not interfere."
"What, are you doubting my identity, Colonel Drake?!"
Having been advised by Drake, Shepherd was no fool. He realized they had doubts about his identity, so he questioned him.
"I wouldn't dare, but this place is far too dangerous. Please move to a safe location first, and we'll leave them to our Navarone navy to handle."
Colonel Drake responded in a tone that was neither humble nor arrogant.
"Good thing, we still have this one password left. It'll be ready soon..."
Meanwhile, Usopp continued to open the safe while they were negotiating.
Click...
"Alright, it worked..."
Upon hearing the final click of the mechanism, Usopp exclaimed excitedly, "I've finally opened the door!"
"Um..."
At the same moment, the instant the door opened, everyone's eyes turned to it.
Click click...
The gears whirred rapidly, and soon the large door slowly slid open, revealing what was hidden inside.
"It's almost done, is the gold inside?"
Luffy ran over excitedly, and then the sound of heartbreak echoed all around.
Under everyone's scrutiny, marks were revealed inside the safe, and then, illuminated by the light, an empty space was seen.
The gold wasn't there at all, which meant Luffy and his Luffy had made a wasted trip, leaving them extremely disappointed.
"Tch, isn't the gold here? That guy even fooled me! Just wait until I get back to headquarters, I'll report you, Jonathan."
When Shepherd saw that there was no gold there as he had expected, he realized that he had been fooled by that old fox Jonathan, and he said angrily.
"What? The gold isn't here? That Fortress Uncle tricked us! How despicable!"
Even Luffy, who's not very bright, felt angry at Jonathan for being deceived, and said with dissatisfaction.
"Now that the gold is gone, Luffy, we should leave!"
Zoro spoke to Luffy with an unchanged expression.
"Um, Usopp, Robin, and Zoro, let's get out of here quickly!!"
Luffy nodded, then called out to the others.
"Oh!!"
Usopp was the only one to agree.
"Don't even think about running away. Stay here, all of you. This time, there won't be any mistakes."
Seeing Luffy and his Luffy preparing to leave, Shepherd immediately raised his Giant gun to block their path and said...
Unfortunately, Luffy and his Luffy, eager to leave, completely ignored him, which infuriated Shepherd. He then aimed his gun at them, about to pull the trigger.
"Um, this is... wait, let me go, no..."
Just as he was about to detonate it, Robin smiled and used her ability on Shepherd, controlling his body to point the cannon at the marines.
boom...
boom...
boom...
His cannon was aimed at the marines, firing shells incessantly, causing them to scramble for cover.
"Um, wait, don't look there, no..."
boom...
As Robin and his group reached the entrance to the passage, he aimed Shepherd's gun at the ground directly below him and fired, blasting the screaming Shepherd into the air.
"Damn it, they got away again! Go after them..."
Drake stood up and spoke angrily, then dispatched soldiers to give chase.
Dududu...
Dududu...
Click!!
"Hey, Commander, this is Drake. I'm so sorry... they escaped again... I'm really sorry, please punish me severely!!"
After the soldiers' pursuit failed, Drake picked up the phone and dialed Jonathan's office via the chatbot. After Jonathan answered, Rick carefully explained the situation to him and asked him to hold him accountable.
"Okay, I understand. Don't worry, it's alright. It's not your fault at all. Don't dwell on it anymore. Let me handle the rest..."
Okay, you can go and rest now. Don't worry about it anymore. I'll hang up now!
Jonathan hung up the phone, got up and walked to the window, looked at the scenery outside, and then spoke softly.
"I really didn't expect that you, Straw Hat Luffy, would be able to escape from my men time and time again."
It seems that, as that young man named Luo Chen said, I really do need to take action personally.
Now, the bait is here. Let's see if you'll take the bait. This time, I won't hold back. I hope you won't disappoint me, Monkey D. Luffy!