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One Way Home, Chapter 12.
🕑 Added 2024-09-21 14:48:09 +0000 UTCChapter 12: New Discovering.
—OoOoO—
“Nico Robin possesses knowledge she shouldn't have. For now, we will let her live under our supervision for several reasons.”
Rob Lucci said it flatly, and his voice echoed throughout the building, giving off a strong sense of intimidation. However, the person he was talking to was Zen'in Maki, a girl from another world who knew no fear.
“And you'll kill her after she has finished serving your so-called duty?” Maki replied with an ironic smile, "Robin-san has knowledge that can destroy the world. If she wants, she can use it to do so. However, she chose to make peace with her past and focus on continuing the legacy of her teachers and parents."
"Stop babbling nonsense."
"Well, well. I mean, if you think that Robin-san's knowledge's dangerous and needs to be eradicated, but in the end, you also want it. Then…."
Maki hung up her words while stretching her neck, making a faint 'crack' sound. However, in the next second, the girl disappeared from sight. No one expected that to happen, and in the blink of an eye, Maki was in front of Lucci, ready to swing her sword.
“Huh?!” Rob Lucci muttered while squinting his eyes
“…Isn't it a hypocrite like you are more deserving of death?”
At the same time, Maki swung her sword quickly and with great precision. The long-haired man's neck was her target. Unfortunately, a leopard's hand suddenly blocked her path. Also, when her sword collided with the monster's hand, a loud 'clank' sound was heard, like a noisy collision of two metals. However, what surprised me even more was that her sword was broken by the man's arm.
'Huh? What's that?' thought the girl, still staring at the object.
Her Kenbunshoku screamed loudly, warning her of an impending attack. Maki turned to the side in response, and sure enough, a punch of a leopard-like arm was aimed at her face.
Everything happened like frames of a video connected to her, allowing her to clearly see the direction of the attack. However, something was bothering the girl, so she just stood still, waiting for the blow to land hard on her face.
The punch landed cleanly and smoothly, followed by a resounding bang. Maki was sent flying and crashed into the wall, knocking it down, flying out of the building, and sending dust into the air. On the other hand, Rob Lucci stared at his creation blankly.
“One is down,” the man thought as he returned his hand to its original shape.
Franky and the twins stared in horror at the wall that had collapsed from the heavy impact. Especially for the ladies, cold sweat began to pour out as they saw the girl they thought was strong being sent flying just like that.
Meanwhile, Lucci glanced at the hand he had used to block Maki's sword. To his surprise, there was a cut that wasn't too deep, but it wasn't something he thought shouldn’t happened. His brows furrowed, wondering what was different about the girl's slash.
'I had activated tekkai before the attack landed, yet it still left a scratch on my hand.'
Lucci recalled the moment when a green-haired member of the Straw Hat group did the same thing a while ago at Iceburg's residence. However, he was able to block Zoro's attack completely.
'That girl's swing was as strong as the previous swordsman. So, that can't be the reason.'
Seeing Lucci's confused expression, which was almost no different from his regular expression, a long-nosed man beside him seemed to understand what his colleague was thinking.
“Not only is she strong, but her sword technique is also extraordinary. You can see it from the precise angle of her swing.”
Rob Lucci glanced at his comrade momentarily before returning to the battle.
Kaku was a fine swordsman even though he didn't look like it because he rarely carried such a sharp object. With the skills he had witnessed himself, Lucci wouldn’t doubt his partner's words.
Basically, the art of swordsmanship wasn’t just about how strong someone could swing a sword. An accurate elevation angle was also needed to get a deep cut. Because if you relied on brute force, it'd only "tear" the target, while if executed with perfect technique, it became "slashing".
The proper elevation angle was also influenced by habits and fighting styles. Western-style swords tend to be strong and made from high-quality iron ore, making them suitable for brute-force slashes. On the other hand, iron ore in Japan wasn’t as abundant as in the Western world. That made the katana durable, below that of Western swords.
Because the blacksmiths tried to compensate for that deficiency by creating swords with curved blades, the katana became sharper when used for cutting. However, it took perfect technique to bring out its potential.
Meanwhile, Maki was a master of close-quarter combat. Even before getting a zero-cursed energy body when she came to this world, she had mastered martial arts. So, even if Rob Lucci considered the girl to have raw power equal to Zoro, Maki's perfectly honed technique was a differentiator.
“You don’t think it’s over just by hitting the girl, do you?” Stussy asked provokingly.
Lucci looked at the woman through the corner of his eye.
“You don’t need to remind me. I will take Cutty Flam and end this mission quickly.”
The man averted his gaze, but Stussy gave a look of disappointment.
'That's not what I meant, tho. If only CP9 had also been taught about haki, Lucci would have understood what I meant,' Stussy thought as she glanced at where Maki had been thrown.
Franky had just woken up from shock after seeing his actions. However, that expression quickly changed to a face full of anger.
“You said you were the mastermind behind this whole conspiracy,” Franky said with veins bulging on his temples, “Tell me, Lucci. The person who tried to kill Iceburg, was that you?”
Even though anger almost controlled him, Franky tried to wait patiently for the man's answer. Because, he had considered the people before him as the pillars that had guarded Water Seven for several years.
“Tell me you were just kidding,” he continued.
However, the long-haired man didn’t say a word. His expression remained flat, unshakeable, like a sturdy fortress. Franky may be a weirdo, but he wasn’t a fool. Without further confirmation, he knew the meaning behind Lucci's silence.
“You, how dare you, you bastard!!” Franky shouted in burning rage.
The blue-haired man took a running start by pulling his arm back. In the next second, he made a movement as if punching the air. However, his wrist was torn off from his arm with the chain still connected to it. It flew towards Rob Lucci at high speed. However, instead of dodging, the man challenged it by dashing towards it.
He stomped his foot, creating momentum to move at a speed the normal eye couldn't follow. Usually, one couldn't change their trajectory while travelling at such high speeds. However, Lucci quickly tilted his head to avoid the oncoming flying punch.
“Huh?!”
Franky was shocked when the man was already in front of him before he could even blink. However, before he could do anything, a strong and fast shot landed hard on his head, sending him flying and crashing into a concrete wall.
—OoOoO—
Outside the secret shipyard that the Franky Family used as their headquarters, Maki lay staring at the sky with her back leaning against the building’s wall, which had just been almost destroyed by her impact. The blow that Lucci gave was so hard that it sent Maki flying through the shipyard’s wall and crashing into an old warehouse.
'The sky’s completely covered by black clouds,' the girl thought, 'the air currents are completely chaotic. Is a big storm about to happen?'
In contrast to the damage to the building caused by the decisive blow, Maki looked fine and didn't have a single scratch on her body. If anything, she looked a little dirty because of the dust stuck to her.
Maki got up to fix her position and sat down casually on the floor while staring at the hole in the shipyard wall created by the hard impact with her earlier.
'Leaving aside his tigerish arm, what's with that guy's body? Even if my sword isn't of good quality, it wasn’t supposed to be destroyed just by colliding with his arm.'
The dust quickly cleared away due to the wind brought by the bad weather, allowing Maki to see what was happening inside. It showed Lucci observing his arm clashing with her sword. Apparently, he was also talking with his long-nosed partner, who seemed to be giving an explanation.
'The moment before my attack connected, I saw his muscles visibly tense and harden. It was like his muscle fibres, no, even his entire muscle cells, were condensing with incredible density.'
Although not as broken as the Six Eyes, Maki had good eyes after being thrown into this world and automatically released from all ties in her original world. Her eyes were so sharp that she could see things normal humans couldn’t like, such as facets in the air and even a spirit that she suspected was the manifestation of the soul of the Going Merry.
With those fantastic eyes, Maki noticed an unusual activity in Lucci's muscles as her sword clashed with his arm.
'I'm sure it didn't come from a devil fruit because he obviously has powers related to a big cat.'
A loud bang from inside the shipyard brought Maki out of her reverie. The girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes. With a relaxed movement, she rose from her seat.
“Alright, just thinking about it won’t get me anywhere.”
—OoOoO—
Franky was lying helplessly on the floor with his face covered in blood. His head looked as if it had just been hit by a steel club weighing up to tons. He underestimated Lucci, let his guard down, and didn’t expect a single blow to cause fatal damage.
Rob Lucci looked at Franky, who was lying weakly. The condescending look in his eyes made it clear that the man wanted to emphasise that no one could match him on the island. With one hand tucked into his pants, the man strolled towards Franky. His footsteps echoed in the shipyard, strengthening the intimidating aura he gave off.
Lucci stopped as the twin sisters charged, blocking him from approaching Franky. However, instead of fighting, they prostrated themselves with trembling bodies before Rob Lucci.
“I don't know what you want, but please spare our boss,” Mozu begged, not daring to meet his eyes.
“We will give you whatever it is, but please leave us alone,” Kiwi said, completing their request.
“No.”
Rob Lucci's short reply made the twins stiffen in fear. They heard the sound of the man's footsteps approaching again. However, the next second, they heard a thud caused by a collision.
The two women spontaneously looked up. Their mouths were left agape when they saw the knee of a girl kissing Lucci's cheek. It was Maki, the girl from the Straw Hat group, who they thought had fallen after being hit by Rob Lucci's monstrous hand.
The man didn't expect the sudden attack. The quickest response he could do was to strengthen his fighting stance. However, Maki's knee hit his face harder than expected, sending him flying and crashing into the wall.
“I call it even,” the girl said with a mocking smile.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze. The CP9 members stared at the scene with mouths no less wide than the twins. However, one person didn't seem surprised by what Maki did.
'That's right, that's how it should be. It would be very disappointing if the girl who managed to corner Enel just gave up in front of Rokushiki's techniques.'
Stussy smiled at the situation. Using her kenbunshoku, she already knew that Maki was utterly unaffected by Rob Lucci's punch even though the girl was thrown out of the building. However, kenbunshoku haki didn’t give its users the ability to read other’s minds. So, she had no idea what Maki was thinking while the girl sat in thought.
Unlike Stussy, who was calm and seemed interested in the situation's development, the other CP9 members were furious at what the girl did to Lucci. They were about to retaliate, but the long-haired man's voice stopped them.
"Calm down, don't get provoked," Lucci said as he got up as if it was nothing.
The man then looked at Maki sharply.
"It seems my punch just now wasn't enough to teach you a lesson, huh?"
“A lesson? That one?” Maki retorted with a slam, “You know, even the fuckin’ octopus I fought was better than you.”
“You innocent girl.”
As if answering the provocation, Lucci immediately transformed his body into a leopard with a humanoid form. He immediately shot off at high speed without further ado, leaving only a flash.
The man appeared in front of Maki in the blink of an eye and swung his claws at her. However, Maki tilted her head to avoid it and deftly stepped in to strike her solar plexus.
The blow connected, but the part that was hit felt hard, even harder than steel.
'This sensation again. It's not from the devil fruit. His muscles are really hardening.'
Maki's eyes widened, and she quickly ducked when she felt a punch coming from her right side. However, it seemed that it was just part of Lucci's build-up. Before the punch, the man stepped back, giving himself enough distance to build the needed momentum. However, as Maki ducked and the punch missed her upper body, Lucci quickly spun his body and delivered a roundhouse-spinning kick.
“Rankyaku.”
Since Lucci was taller than Maki, it was a low kick that went straight to her body. Maki managed to anticipate it reasonably by taking a safe distance. However, her eyes widened when she saw the kick, followed by a slash that cut through the air.
Maki threw her body back and did a roll until she finally landed with a 'superhero landing' pose. Meanwhile, the attack she managed to avoid continued to speed up until it slashed the wall.
'That's similar to Zoro's slash technique,' she thought as she glanced behind her, 'Seriously, how did they do that? I thought it’d be the same as Yuta when he used cursed energy reinforcement, but no.'
Rob Lucci didn't give his opponent a moment to think. He dashed towards Maki with another kick that sliced through the air. Maki dodged it by jumping right on that foot and rolling forward. She lunged and instantly tripped Lucci. However, the man quickly took a step back.
Maki followed to keep her distance and launched another punch at his solar plexus. However, instead of stiffening like before, Lucci's body bent so that Maki's punch passed by a narrow margin.
“Kami-e,” Lucci muttered.
Unlike before, Maki didn't seem too surprised by that one.
'At first glance, his body seemed to have reshaped. However, his muscles only became very limp, and his movements became more flexible. Coupled with his speed, it looked like an illusion, as if his body had been reshaped. Simply put, it was similar to the drunken fist technique in Kungfu.'
Just as Lucci's body returned to normal, he quickly tried to stab Maki with his claws, which Maki caught perfectly.
The girl turned her body, turning her back to Lucci. She grabbed Lucci's sleeve and pulled it hard. Her hips helped lift Lucci's upper body, and her legs were pushed up to add momentum.
It was a technique in judo, Uchi-Mata, which was executed perfectly by the girl.
Maki slammed Lucci to the ground and slammed him hard so that cracks were created around the man. It happened so fast that even Lucci didn't realise he was on the ground. Without wasting the opportunity, Maki immediately kicked his head as hard as she could.
'I actually wanted to go with ground-and-pound, but he was so much bigger than me that it was hard to pin him down.'
Ground-and-pound, or simply put, could be interpreted as beating and smashing an opponent by locking them on the ground. Hand-to-hand combat was a very effective technique to finish off an opponent. However, it only applied in Maki's world. The reason was simple. If the opponent had a much larger body, it was difficult to keep the opponent down, even though Maki was very confident in her physical abilities.
Taking a clean kick to the head from someone with the power of a monster like Maki wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Although it wasn't enough to knock him out, it took Lucci a few seconds to recover. Thus, Maki was about to take advantage of that gap.
Maki took a full stance to hit him right in the head. However, the girl suddenly felt an attack coming from behind her.
'Tsk.'
In a huff at interrupting her fight, Maki turned around and delivered the punch she had prepared for Lucci to the perpetrator. It was Blueno, a large man with hair that resembled horns.
The man lunged with a punch ready to be thrown at Maki. However, she responded by hitting the punch back. The two fists of different sizes collided with a fairly hard impact. However, because Maki possessed greater raw strength, Blueno's hand flew away, forcing him to take a few steps back to maintain his balance.
Before Maki could take another step, two slashes came towards her. She quickly dodged, but Lucci's claws greeted her from behind. However, the girl quickly twisted her body to the side so the claws only slightly scratched her upper arm. Maki jumped away to get a safe distance because she was in a disadvantageous situation. Like Maki, the CP9 group seemed in no hurry and chose to regroup.
“So, you guys are gonna gang me up now? Not like I mind, tho. I can see you're having difficulty fighting me," Maki said with a challenging smile.
It was the umpteenth time Maki had provoked them. At first, they seemed unmoved by her words. However, the girl could see that her opponents were getting annoyed.
“We don’t mean to bother you, Lucci. But we can’t waste time,” said the woman with long blonde hair.
The long-haired man glanced at Kalifa briefly and then looked back at Maki sharply.
“I know.”
"In terms of raw power, she doesn't seem that different from Roronoa Zoro. But somehow, she's more troublesome than him," Blueno said.
“It’s because she’s quick to adapt," replied Stussy, standing at the back of the line, "She analyses your movements, studies your attack patterns, and most importantly when you fight a kenbunshoku haki user, you have to move even faster."
The group of people simultaneously looked at Stussy with their own expressions. Lucci, in particular, his eyebrows seemed to be furrowed, a few degrees sharper than usual.
“Kenbunshoku? No wonder she looks like she can read all my moves.”
The tension of the fight slightly decreased because neither party took the initiative to make the next move. CP9, who had the advantage in numbers, also seemed more cautious after hearing that their opponent had one of the three Haki abilities. Meanwhile, even though she appeared cornered, the look of confidence didn’t fade from Maki’s face. But still, she needed to adjust her tempo.
'The ability to harden the body, move at high speed dynamically, attacks that can release energy slashes, and the ability to limp all muscles to move flexibly. They all use the same set of abilities.'
Like puzzle pieces starting to connect and form a larger frame more clearly, Maki began to understand what she was dealing with.
'That's not a devil fruit ability, but a martial art.'
The girl straightened her body and relaxed her muscles.
More than anyone else, Maki knew that just that bit of information alone wouldn’t lead her to victory. After all, she recognised that Lucci was a formidable opponent. Facing him, one-on-one was still doable. However, being ganged up on by five people at once would be a hassle.
While no one took the first initiative, Stussy, standing at the back of the line, seemed to walk casually to the corner.
“This is not my fight. So, I will just watch.”
"You…" Lucci growled.
Meanwhile, Maki rolled her eyes at the woman's behaviour. Her pride as a warrior felt tarnished seeing the short, blonde-haired woman belittle her.
“Do you think I can't beat all five of you at once?”
Stussy didn't answer right away. The woman kept walking until she finally stopped and looked at Maki after leaning her back against the wall.
“Well, not really. I was just asked to help catch Nico Robin. The rest is none of my business….”
The woman hung up her words. She looked at Maki with a grin that had a million meanings.
“However, you can take it as a handicap from me.”
Maki felt a twitch in her temple. She smiled awkwardly as her jaw clenched. The girl often threw various banters at her opponents. However, Stussy was the first person who deliberately tried to provoke her.
"I'll save you for last, and we'll talk later."
Right after saying that, Maki disappeared from where she was standing. The girl shot rapidly towards CP9, and Lucci reacted quite quickly.
“Be careful—.”
Unfortunately, Maki was faster, so the leopard-man didn't have time to warn his comrades. However, instead of attacking any of them, Maki simply passed through the group with a gust of wind following her because of the high speed she had reached.
They reflexively turned their heads back, trying to follow the girl's movements. However, just as they did so, a raw punch landed on Kalifa's face, the only girl in CP9, causing a loud crashing sound.
Her mouth and nose immediately spurted fresh blood. Even saliva seemed to come out along with it. The blow successfully sent Kalifa crashing and breaking through the wall until the woman left the arena.
“One down,” the girl muttered coldly.
Meanwhile, the other CP9 members jumped away to keep their distance.
'Damn, I was caught off guard. I never expected him to attack right after she finished talking to Stussy,' thought Kaku, the long-nosed man.
Maki observed the three people. She saw Lucci about to counterattack. However, the girl disappeared again from her spot, leaving only a light gust of wind as a trail.
The remaining CP9 quickly looked around the room, only to find Maki's whereabouts, which they couldn't find. As if having the same thoughts, they simultaneously looked up and saw the girl on the ceiling upside down and her feet on it.
Maki stared at the people below her like an eagle hunting its prey from the sky. At that moment, Kaku's eyes met the girl's. Instantly, warning alarms screamed in the man's head, telling him to be as alert as possible.
No matter how strong a person was, they couldn’t fight gravity. Even if Maki had stepped on the ceiling, she’d eventually be pulled down in the next second. However, as if not wanting to lose momentum, she bent her legs and stomped them hard, creating a powerful thrust that produced a thunderous sound that shattered the ceiling.
However, it wasn’t as Kaku had predicted. Instead of targeting him, the girl dashed towards Blueno and slammed into his head, creating a large crater. That left Blueno embedded in the ground, and Maki locked his neck with her legs.
Not wanting to end it just like that, Maki combined her fists and brought them up. Without hesitation, the girl slammed them right into Blueno's nose. Fresh blood instantly gushed from his nostrils and his mouth dropped open from the shock. For a moment, his eyes were left with only the whites. However, it immediately returned to normal, like adrenaline had kicked in.
Maki could feel Lucci and Kaku about to charge at her. However, she didn't want to miss the opportunity to eliminate another CP9 member.
'At least, one more hit.'
Maki prepared to give another attack. She raised her two fists together again. Pouring out great power, she slammed them again into Blueno's face. However, the man didn’t want to just accept Maki's attacks. With his head still dizzy, he forced his hands to move.
'Please, make it,' the man thought.
Maki slammed her hands with all her might into Blueno. However, he barely managed to touch Maki's arms. Unexpectedly, the strength she had put into her punch disappeared from her hands. When Maki checked them, she found that her hands were in a strange condition. They looked like they were broken, but she didn't feel any pain at all.
'A devil fruit ability?!'
Maki tsked as, once again, the momentum she had built had to be destroyed instantly. She immediately jumped away to avoid direct confrontation, her hands in an uncontrollable state. However, Lucci and Kaku didn’t let the golden opportunity slip away.
The long-nosed man opened his attack with a pair of aura-slashing kicks, but the girl dodged them. However, Lucci appeared behind Maki in the blink of an eye and swung his claws. She again avoided it with difficulty by ducking and jumping to gain distance. Unfortunately, the attack managed to graze her right shoulder.
'Tsk. My hands have become useless. Not only can’t I move them, but it also makes it difficult to maintain balance in high mobility.'
Hands were a very important body part, even more important than people think. Some might think hands were only used for touching, grabbing, or such. However, they actually function as balancers in every movement. That was why humans unconsciously always swung their hands when they were moving, and that was just a small example.
Devil fruit, or door-door fruit, was what Blueno used to kill both of Maki's hands. It allowed the user to turn any object they touched into an 'open' state of the door. When their opponent was hit by it, they’d lose control of that body part; literally, their body was disconnected.
The series of attacks didn’t stop there. Kaku tried to give another attack by doing a handstand and roundhouse kick.
“Rankyaku.”
The aura slash shot in a 360-degree range, making it impossible to dodge by shifting one's body.
'With me losing control of my hands, it’d take longer to stand up if I chose to duck.'
Maki jumped to avoid the attack because she had no other choice. She managed to do so. However, Lucci caught and grabbed her ankle.
'Tsk. I knew this would happen,' the girl thought.
Not allowing Maki to react, Lucci immediately slammed her body to the ground, causing cracks. He then picked Maki up and slammed her again. The long-haired man continued ragdolling her repeatedly until the ground around her was shattered.
“You think I’ll let you do whatever you want, huh?” Lucci said.
Maki glared at the man. Of course, she couldn't just stay still and let the big cat play with her. However, his grip on her leg was solid. Meanwhile, Lucci knew that just throwing her down would never be enough to end the girl. His opponent was too formidable to be defeated by normal methods. Therefore, he’d use this opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
Lucci released his grip on Maki's leg but quickly grabbed her neck. However, Maki saw an opening as her hands returned to normal. As Lucci grabbed her neck and was about to stab his sharp claws into her face, her stance moved closer to him to gain effective distance. Seeing that, Maki immediately stretched her arms and grabbed one of Lucci's legs closest to her reach.
“What are you trying—.”
Before Lucci could finish his sentence, he felt the girl pulling his leg. It didn't make him fall. However, his body swayed a little, so the claws ready to rip Maki's head off missed him by a few inches.
“You know what? Your fatal mistake is….”
Maki said those words while pointing her foot towards Lucci's stomach. It made the man think that the girl was going to kick him. However, it wasn’t as he expected.
“…You just letting go of my leg," the girl said, completing her previous words.
Instantly, Maki grabbed the furs on the hand Lucci had used to hit her but missed. She forced that hand towards Lucci's calf area. That not only shifted his centre of gravity but also destroyed his balance because the hand Maki had forced on his calf area disturbed his stance. While his centre of gravity changed and his balance wavered, Maki freely lifted and threw Lucci's large body using the foot she had previously placed on his stomach.
Rob Lucci looked like he was being thrown backwards. However, because Maki controlled his wrist, he almost rolled to the side, with Maki taking the top position.
It was Yoko-Tomoe-Nage, a technique in judo. Unlike regular Tomoe-Nage that threw backwards, Maki's technique allowed her to control the placement of her opponent's fall. It was because she placed her target's hands around Lucci’s calves, which shifted his centre of gravity to the side, and a slight twist as Maki lifted her opponent's body using her leg.
Tomoe-Nage and its variations were used when dominated or in a bottom position. It was a technique specifically for counterattacks. Furthermore, it was also quite effective in releasing Lucci's choke on Maki's neck because his hand automatically released when he was thrown while the other hand was under her control.
“Gotcha.”
Maki was about to smash the man when she had the chance. However, she was interrupted again by someone else. This time, Kaku swiftly kicked her as Maki regained control. Unfortunately, Maki was even more agile. She quickly left and darted at Blueno, who had just gotten up while holding his head.
Maki kicked the neck of the man with horn-like hair, sending him back into the ground.
“Ugh!”
Blueno groaned in pain with fresh blood coming out of his mouth. He couldn't help it when Maki made him kiss the ground again. As if not satisfied with that, the girl continued to kick the head like she was kicking a ball.
“You just stay sleeping there.”
Her activated Kenbunshoku warned her of an attack from behind. However, instead of dodging, Maki turned around with her fist clenched. Meanwhile, attacking her from behind, Kaku narrowed his eyes to focus and tightened his jaw in preparation for the upcoming duel. His fist, which he had prepared, was strengthened with the Tekkai technique.
Neither intended to give in and see whose fist would land first. Until, at the last moment, a scream interrupted them.
"Stop right there, or I will kill this woman!"
Stussy suddenly appeared in her vision while holding Mozu as a hostage. This suddenly disturbed Maki's concentration, so Kaku's punch went clean into her face. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, the long-nosed man kicked the girl's stomach, sending her flying and crashing into the wall with a slash of aura that pushed her.
“You too, Kaku. Stop wasting time with meaningless fights,” Stussy said.
The man looked at the short-haired woman from the corner of his eye. However, no response came out of his mouth.
“Lucci, you don’t mind this way, do you?” Stussy asked again.
Despite hearing the question clearly, the man, still in humanoid leopard mode, seemed to pay no attention to it. His gaze was fixed on Maki, who had gotten up and spat out a bit of blood from her mouth, with her gaze not seeming to weaken in the slightest.
“You know she’s not my comrade, right?” Maki said, staring at Stussy sharply.
The girl seemed unmoved and just smiled casually.
“I know, but we will see.”
Stussy replied by placing the tip of her index finger on Mozu's neck, making the girl wince in pain with a bit of blood flowing from there. Although Maki tried to hide it, her eyes couldn’t deceive Stussy, who had much experience spying on someone. In fact, the short blonde-haired woman occasionally caught Maki stealing glances at Kiwi, who was lying weakly with a stomach covered in blood.
“You know you can’t lie to me, right? That woman…” she said, pointing at Kiwi, “… I purposely didn’t kill her to make an example for you. However, if you keep resisting, you know I can kill her twin any time.”
Stussy deepened her thrusts into Mozu's neck, making the girl wince in pain even more.
“So?” asked the girl.
“It's simple, just stay there while we take Cutty Flam away, and we're good.”
While the woman tried to seal a deal, Lucci appeared to take Franky away, watching helplessly. Before Maki and Lucci fight, Stussy had taken precautions by handcuffing the blue-haired man.
Maki tsked with an expression full of annoyance, which she had no intention of hiding anymore. She might not be a virtuous person who would help anyone selflessly. However, Maki was also not a cold-hearted girl who could ignore others. That was why, to draw a clear line where she stood, Maki always made it a point not to help anyone who wasn’t ready to accept her hand.
"No, don't listen to them, Big Sis!" Mozu shouted after gathering all her courage, "Don't mind us, and please save our Boss instead!"
Maki stared at the strange-haired woman with a sweatdrop.
'You kept calling me little girl until a moment ago, and now you change it to big sis?'
Maki let out a rough breath and stared at Stussy.
"Fine. But you won't return on your word, will you, you Government Dog?" Maki asked, raising her hand.
“Sure, you have my word,” Stussy replied.
Mozu widened her eyes, not believing the deal that had been made. She bit her lip to hold back the anger trying to burst out of her body. However, the woman didn’t want to accept the situation and struggled to free herself from Stussy. The blonde woman stared blankly at Mozu, who was trying to escape from her embrace. With a casual movement, she directed her hand to her chin and twisted it until it forced her to stop so as not to add to the pain in her neck that felt like it was about to break.
“Stop it. Don’t embarrass me by making me go back on my words,” Stussy said coldly.
Mozu didn't reply because Stussy was squeezing her chin so hard that just moving her jaw caused excruciating pain.
Meanwhile, Kaku arrives carrying Blueno, who still seems unconscious, and Lucci, who drags Franky by force.
"You got me. Leave her already," Franky said with a sharp glare directed at Stussy.
However, the woman closed her eyes instead of answering, activating her kenbunshoku.
“What about you, Kalifa? Can you go by yourself, or do you need some help?” Stussy asked without looking at anyone.
In the hole in the wall where Kalifa was thrown out after receiving Maki's previous punch, a woman was seen standing while holding onto the edge to support herself. There was a large bruise on her face and traces of blood mixed with dust on her nose and mouth.
Her gaze seemed unfocused, and the woman was clearly having difficulty breathing.
“I am…. not doing well, but I can still do that much.”
Stussy gave a slight nod. Without further ado, she simply threw Mozu to Maki. The girl caught it without any problem, but that wasn't what bothered her.
The group, claiming to be secret agents, simply jumped through the hole Maki had created in the ceiling. However, what her eyes caught wasn’t as simple as jumping. In fact, she had difficulty explaining it in words. So, Maki immediately followed them through the same hole to confirm what she saw.
Maki landed on the bridge that hid Franky's secret base. She was frozen in stone, watching the CP members walk away. Her eyes widened, and she found it hard to believe what she was actually witnessing. Even for a moment, she looked like an idiot who had lost the vocabulary in her dictionary.
“They fly? No. They run in the sky using the air as a foothold.”
Maki's eyesight became even sharper after sinking into Megumi's domain, clashed with Dagon's, and gained a body of zero cursed energy when she landed. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that no human had eyesight as good as Maki's except Gojo Satoru.
"The ability to move dynamically at high speed and strengthen their muscles. Do they combine these two principles to gain speed and strength so they can move stably in the air?"
Maki was unfamiliar with martial arts in this world, but she was a master of various martial arts. She understood very well that one technique and another were often related to each other to achieve a particular move.
If only Maki could replicate the technique, her fighting style could be a game-changer.
Various methods to break the secret of the technique began to appear in her brain. She began to eliminate things that were practically related to the technique. Although her brain was accelerating rapidly, time seemed to slow down in her perspective. When complicated things dominated her mind, suddenly a simple one flashed.
“Wait, if all the facets that only I can see have become my reality, is it possible for me to touch them and use them as footholds to manoeuvre in the air?"
A strong urge whispered to her to try it immediately. However, the girl shook her head because she understood that there was something she still needed to take care of.
—OoOoO—
Mozu sat weakly before her sister's body, which was helplessly crumpled on the ground. Her gaze was blank as she watched her twin covered in blood. She didn't know how to react. Her base was destroyed, her leader was kidnapped, and her friends were nowhere to be found. She was left alone, mourning her helplessness that was slowly losing hope.
“I knew I shouldn't have expected help from strangers.”
Mozu lowered her head, squeezing her thighs that were wet from the tears that never stopped. There was a glimmer of hope before everything fell apart. She was a powerful girl who could pull a fight evenly despite being ganged up on by the people who kidnapped her leader. However, the girl was now gone without leaving a single word. It wasn't like she cursed her. In fact, Mozu understood if the girl was reluctant to give her a hand.
“Yeah, you shouldn't expect help from strangers, especially from people whose money you stole.”
Mozu jumped in surprise at the sarcastic words. However, instead of being offended, a glimmer of hope rekindled within her. She quickly wiped her tears roughly with her hand and looked up, staring at the voice owner.
“What?”
Maki raised an eyebrow when she saw that her interlocutor's eyes were glassy and snot dripped from her nose.
“Big Sis!”
“Stop calling me Big Sis, you’re looking more and more like a suck-up,” Maki retorted, still with her sharp words.
Mozu immediately lowered her head again, and a sad expression appeared.
"It's not like I want to take advantage of you, but I'm desperate. My Boss was kidnapped, my sister is dying, our base was destroyed, and I can't contact my other friends."
Raising her head, the woman then continued her words.
“That's why we'll give you anything—.”
Mozu's words stopped when she saw Maki walking away towards the corner of the room.
“Wait, why did you leave me again?” the woman asked hysterically, “Please listen to my request, please….”
“I'm listening,” Maki replied in a high voice, but without looking back.
Mozu didn't know if the girl was earnest with her words. Because she seemed so indifferent and not the type of person who would listen to other people's words. Even after she whined so much, Maki didn't take it seriously. However, one thing she could conclude from the girl, Mozu, was that she was the type of person who didn't like small talk and had a firm stance.
Therefore, continuing to whine would not help him.
There were no words that Mozu could say other than silently waiting for the girl's response. On the other hand, the person she was waiting for was busy looking for something in the corner without caring, even though someone was waiting for her. But the wait was finally over after seeing Maki turning around, walking towards her, and putting on the glasses she had put in a safe place.
'Now that I think about it, Boss would probably be defeated by that little girl if they were to fight. Boss is strong, but she’s on a completely different level.'
Her thoughts drifted back to when her group first confronted Luffy a few moments ago.
'If the member alone is already that strong, what about the captain? But we were so close to defeating the Straw Hat back then. Don't tell me he wasn't serious when he fought us?'
Mozu was lost in thought, imagining the worst scenario if the Straw Hat had been serious about fighting them from the start. Maybe that’d have really been the end of her group even before the CP9 agents took their Boss by force. So lost in her thoughts, Mozu didn't realise that Maki was already in front of her.
“Your sister isn’t dying. She’s not even close.”
Those words seemed to pull her soul back into her body.
“What? Are you sure? Then, what about this fresh blood that is pooling?”
Maki stared at Kiwi without saying a word. Her sharp eyes seemed to be trying to analyse the strangeness she saw in the woman. Her brain raced to find the most straightforward words she could use to explain.
“The wound was too shallow to bleed that much. In fact, I’m sure it wasn’t real blood. The point is, I can assure you it wasn’t her blood. If you’re asking why she passed out, I don’t know. Maybe the woman strangled her, or maybe she forced her to take sleeping pills.”
The words the girl said sounded convincing. Moreover, when Stussy attacked Kiwi, Mozu didn't know what the woman had done because it had happened so fast. She was slightly helpless because she also received a kick from the short, blonde-haired woman. Because of that, there was a part of him that couldn't let go of that anxiety.
However, Mozu tried to believe Maki's words.
“Then, for the main problem…,” the square-haired woman seemed hesitant to complete her words.
Maki nodded slowly. Without waiting for Mozu to finish her sentence, she understood what the woman wanted to convey.
“Without you asking, I’m sure Luffy will decide to make a move. After all, they kidnapped Robin-san too. Even if Luffy refuses, I'll go after them myself."
Mozu's expression instantly brightened. However, before she could respond, Maki continued her words.
"But I need to regroup with Luffy and the others first."
The woman's bright expression quickly turned sour after hearing Maki's story.
“Eh? Why? Can’t you and your friends just chase after them? I’m sure they haven’t run too far. The harbour or the station, I’m sure they went somewhere between those two.”
Mozu finished her words and waited for Maki's reaction. However, seeing the girl who was just silent made Mozu open her mouth again to convince Maki to act immediately.
"Moreover, you alone can match them. You can win if you and your friends gang up on them."
Once again, Maki remained silent, with a blank stare that made Mozu even more nervous. She worried that she had talked too much, which would make Maki uncomfortable and cause her to change her mind. Moreover, when Maki let out a soft sigh, it immediately made Mozu want to apologise. However, the woman decided not to do anything and patiently waited for Maki to give her thoughts.
Maki brushed her bangs back before replying to Mozu's ideas.
"First of all, you must realise that they are the group that carried out all the conspiracies on this island. They have been undercover and living in this place for many years. Considering those two things, do you think they didn't prepare something hidden on this island in case their plan doesn't go smoothly?"
As Maki said, her mind suddenly remembered Robin's story in Skypiea—about how the World Government razed her hometown in just one night. However, that worst-case scenario could have been avoided if they had not kept the agents in Water Seven anymore.
Moreover, with her years of experience exterminating cursed spirits, Maki had seen innocent people often dragged into the chaos of the supernatural world. Therefore, she did her best not to involve innocent people in the chaos because of her and her group's actions.
“Considering what they’ve done, especially to Iceburg, this battle’s no longer about the Straw Hats and Franky Family against CP9,” Maki said with her arms crossed over her chest, “It’s a war involving the Water Seven, the Straw Hat Pirates, and the World Government. That’s why we must think of a way to keep them away from this island regardless of the outcome.”
Mozu wasn't a woman with a bright head. However, hearing Maki explain her reasons slowly made her understand the worries she wanted to avoid.
Maki reached out her hand, helping Mozu, who had been sitting on the ground, stand up. Although the woman seemed hesitant to reach for Maki's outstretched hand, she eventually held Maki's hand tightly.
“If it can't be avoided, let's bring this war to their land.”
—To Be Continued—
Author Note: Hello, happy weekend. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Overall, I'm delighted. I like Maki mainly because she’s a pure fighter who relies on physical strength and martial arts. She’s described as a master of h2h combat, making me even more in love with her character. As such, I made her use two judo moves in this chapter.
Well, I have studied judo for many years, so the idea of applying the techniques to my story excites me.
Apart from that, what do you think about the fight against CP9? Hopefully, I didn't make them look too weak, as I never intended to.
OK, that's all from me. I hope you enjoy the story. Stay safe, and I'll see you when I see you guys.
