One Piece: From Picking Up Red Hair's Broken Arm

Chapter 147 It's time to show you, a true swordsman, what you've got! [6.5K]

"Ah!"

Sitting under the parasol, Shano suddenly sneezed, spilling the coffee she was holding all over the floor.

"Smorg!"

He immediately turned around and shouted.

"learn."

Smoker, who was at the helm, immediately responded.

Swish!

The smoke swept over, and the floor was instantly washed clean.

The main focus is on professionalism and efficiency.

Xia Nuo rubbed his nose and looked up in confusion into the distance. Under the raging fiery clouds, the outline of the Water City was already visible in the distance.

Who is thinking of me?
Two days after I sneezed last time, Karp came knocking on my door.

Could it be that... Kaido is almost here?
……

After one hour.

The curtain finally sailed into Water City.

As night fell, lights gradually illuminated the winding waterway, making it sparkle.

This city, with its well-developed waterways, has countless entrances, and boats can be moored almost everywhere around the island's perimeter.

Xia Nuo deliberately chose a relatively secluded place to anchor, so as not to cause too much of a commotion. Once the ship was anchored and the anchor was firmly in place, the four men and the wolf all disembarked.

Of course, they didn't forget to bring the treasure chests with them.

Change to before.

Ah Yin will have to carry this treasure chest.

Ah Yin was often unwilling, feeling that it would damage the wolf king's dignity. She would always lie on the ground and whine for a long time until Xia Nuo kicked her in the butt, and then she would reluctantly become a sled dog.

But things are different now; there's a more professional porter on board.

Jack made full use of his physical strength, easily hoisting more than a dozen chests of treasure onto his shoulders, piling them high.

As it made its way along, it rattled and clattered like a mobile fortress, and the residents it encountered hurriedly gave way.

Several groups of thugs were also drawn to the treasure chest with greedy eyes.

But after noticing Jack's intimidating physique and fierce face, he shrank back and dared not take any action.

Xia Nuo saw all of this and was quite amused.

Having a fierce appearance has its advantages; even with a zero bounty, one still possesses a deterrent force equivalent to a billion Berries.

After renting a few Blues, the group headed straight for the upper town.

The bank and Life Card shop are both located here.

Getting from the outer neighborhoods to the upper town usually involves a lot of effort and requires navigating winding waterways due to the terrain.

but……

The City of Water has an elevator.

Its full name is "sluice gate elevator". Through a closed sluice gate, it can vertically lift ships or passengers on the Bru from a low water level area to a high water level area in just a few seconds.

It's somewhat similar to the Panama Canal locks in Xia Nuo's memory.

The group boarded the Blue elevator, entered the elevator, and in a flash, arrived in the Upper City.

"Hey, that's weird."

Xia Nuo looked around but couldn't find Guina and the others.

We had clearly agreed on the phone to meet at the entrance of Shangcheng District that evening.

"I'll make another call to check on things," Smoker said, pulling out a Den Den Mushi.

"Ah."

Xia Nuo nodded, not paying any attention.

It was lunchtime, and it's possible that Nami's gluttony caused the others to miss the meeting.

Brubru~
The Den Den Mushi rang for a long time, but there was no response.

"What's going on?" Smoker frowned, hung up immediately, and dialed Robin's number again.

Still not connected.

When I called Guina again, it was the same.

Chano, who was looking up to admire the beautiful fountain, finally turned her head away.

"Boss, something doesn't seem right..." Smoker said, a cigar dangling from his lips, his eyes narrowing slightly.

It's normal that you can't get through to Nami by phone.

After all, this girl is very carefree and unreliable. Who knows, maybe her Den Den Mushi (a type of electric scooter) will fall into the toilet while she's in her pocket.

But the fact that they couldn't even get through to Kuina and Robin's phones clearly indicated something was wrong.

"Big brother, big brother!"

Just then, a little girl with pigtails came skipping and hopping over.

She stood on tiptoe, held up a crumpled piece of paper, and handed it to Xia Nuo: "Here, this is for you. Someone asked me to give it to you!"

Xia Nuo opened it casually, and his companions behind him also craned their necks to take a look.

The following passage was prominently displayed above:

Your sisters are tied up in the station warehouse. If you want them to live, send your men to rescue them immediately.

Come to Carrera's headquarters alone and wait for me downstairs. I have a deal to discuss with you. Remember, you can only come alone; otherwise, I won't show myself.

"Hey! Wait, don't go yet!"

Smoker instinctively reached out to stop the little girl who was trying to run away. His fierce appearance with a cigar in his mouth made the little girl tremble, and her eyes immediately reddened.

"I'm so sorry, little sister."

Smoker quickly crouched down, softening his voice as much as possible, and took out a few mints from his pocket and handed them over:

"I wasn't careful with my tone. Big brother, I just wanted to ask you, who sent you to bring this note to us?"

"It's candy!"

The little girl's eyes lit up, and she happily accepted the candy. She immediately realized that Smoker was indeed a good person, and she spilled everything she knew.

"I don't know him either. He's a strange guy wearing a mask. He gave me 100 Berries and asked me to deliver it. He's very tall and thin... Well, that's all I know."

Finally, he didn't forget to add insult to injury: "The big brother I was talking about was that handsome black-haired big brother. It's shameless of you to call yourself a big brother, you white-haired uncle."

Uncle?
Hey, you're really pushing your luck!

Smoker frowned, watching the unfortunate kid walk away before reluctantly standing up: "What does everyone think of the contents of this note?"

"Of course it's made up."

Zeff crossed his arms and chuckled:
"The person who wrote this note must be a remnant of those CP9 agents. This kind of old trick might fool a three-year-old, but nobody would believe it."

"Huh??" Jack, who had been looking anxious and angry, was suddenly stunned. "So it was fake after all?"

He was all ready to go, just waiting for Boss Xia Nuo's order so he could rush to the station to rescue people immediately!
"So there really are three-year-olds!" Smoker jumped up and slapped him on the knee, his fangs roaring.

"Then why can't I get through on the phone?" Jack asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Idiot, it's normal for them to have some means of blocking communication signals, after all, they are a special intelligence agency of the government."

Smoker sneered, "But this approach... Hmph, what a bunch of ignorant fools! Don't they know just how terrifying the Observation Haki of a strong person can be?"

Everyone's gazes instinctively turned to Xia Nuo.

Just as Smoker said, Shano was standing in front of the railing, facing the vast city below, with his arms outstretched and his eyes slightly closed.

—With his powerful Observation Haki activated at full force, it swept across the entire island like a tidal wave!

In such densely populated metropolises, finding someone is actually not easy.

However, Xia Nuo was extremely familiar with Nami and Nojiko's auras. After searching back and forth twice, he accurately located them.

Xia Nuo opened her eyes and turned around.

"They're all to the east. If I remember correctly, that's where the banks are located, right?"

Xia Nuo shrugged and said, "I guess they received a false message delivered by children, thinking the meeting place had been changed to the bank."

"So I'm not the only one who got scammed." Jack immediately chuckled foolishly.

"What are you so smug about? It's completely different, you idiot!"

Smoker couldn't hold back and kicked him again. "The fake news they received didn't have anything this exaggerated!"

One was kidnapped, while the other simply had their meeting place changed.

Moreover, the original schedule indicated that the first thing to do after the meeting was to go to the bank to exchange cash, so the latter is indeed very credible and reasonable.

"So all this trouble, just to get us to leave so we can meet with Boss Shano alone?" Smoker exhaled a smoke ring and looked at Shano. "Boss, what do you say?"

"You guys go straight to the bank and proceed according to the original schedule. While you're at it, tell Kuina and the others about these things."

Xia Nuo looked towards the Carrera Corporation headquarters, stretched, and said nonchalantly, "Since the person behind the scenes wants to see me alone, I'll go and fulfill his wish."

"learn."

"Then let's go to the bank first, boss."

They all nodded and headed straight for the bank area.

No one objected, and no one was worried about Xia Nuo's safety.

the reason is simple.

They had unparalleled trust in their captain's abilities!
Faced with absolute power...

All the conspiracies and schemes, all the painstaking calculations, are nothing but a joke.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Carrera headquarters.

Iceberg, the mayor of Water City and president of Carrera Corporation, was pacing back and forth in his office with a furrowed brow.

"That's strange... Where did Kalifa and Kaku go?"

He stopped in his tracks and muttered to himself, his fingers tapping lightly on the table, "We clearly agreed to work together tonight to organize all the shipyard order reports..."

They disappeared in the afternoon; in the blink of an eye, they had vanished for most of the day.

Kaku is one thing, but he might have been tricked into going to a tavern and getting drunk by that guy Barry, and forgot about this incident.

But his usually dedicated secretary, Kalifa, insisted on going to work even when she was sick with a cold, staying by his side every step of the way. There was never a precedent for her being absent from work without cause.

"This is really a headache..."

Iceberg lay on his office chair, looking miserable, and picked his nose in a very unladylike manner. "I'm all alone here, where do I get the motivation?"

He's a very lazy mayor, used to slacking off. If you want him to work seriously, you need subordinates to push him along.

squeak~
At this moment, the office door was pushed open.

"They're finally here? What's going on, Kalifa? I thought you'd forgotten..."

Iceberg hurriedly wiped the booger he'd picked his nose under the table, then looked up in surprise to see the person who walked in—a man in a black suit and a black top hat…

"Lucci?"

Iceberg was slightly taken aback.

"What are you doing here? Where's Kalifa? Weren't you supposed to be working overtime at Shipyard One tonight, inspecting that merchant ship? What are you doing here—"

Before he could finish speaking, his voice abruptly stopped.

Because Lucci did not respond at all, he just walked to the sofa with a blank expression, sat down, crossed his legs, and slowly raised his head. His usually gentle eyes were now as cold as knives.

"What are you..."

Iceberg hesitated, involuntarily taking half a step back. Something seemed amiss...

He had known Lu Qi for over a year. Although the young man was taciturn, he was hardworking and reliable, and often made witty remarks, using ventriloquism to make him laugh heartily.

But now.

The man in front of him, who exuded a dangerous aura, felt like an unprecedented stranger to him.

"I'm sorry, Mayor Iceberg."

Lucci casually brushed the dust off his trouser legs and finally spoke in a low voice:
"Thank you for taking care of us all this time, but unfortunately... tonight, I am not here to see you as a boatman."

"Hey, what does that mean?"

Iceberg scratched his head and chuckled dryly. "What's going on here, Lucci... Haha, this is the first time I've heard someone speak with their mouth. I'm not used to the sound. Hey, where's Hadley? Why isn't it with you?"

Hadley is the name of Lucci's pigeon.

Lu Qi did not answer, but simply raised his index finger slightly.

Phew—!
Two finger guns shot out, instantly piercing the iceberg's knee and spurting out a large amount of blood.

Iceberg collapsed to his knees, clutching his wound, and stared at Lucci in disbelief.

"Now that you can't run away, let me reintroduce myself."

Rob Lucci's gaze remained calm. "I am Rob Lucci, a member of CP9, the World Government's intelligence agency, and the captain of the Water Seven Project."

--What???
Iceberg's eyes widened, and his face instantly turned pale.

CP9?

The world government's most secretive intelligence organization?!
When did Lu Qi become a government official?

No, that's not right. It should be said that this guy was originally a government employee, but he was disguised as a boatman and infiltrated Carrera.

Wait, captain? Then there are still team members...

Kalifa and Kaku... they seem to have joined the company around the same time as Lucci, right? Could it be that they did too?
"I'm sorry, as you guessed, yes."

Lucci seemed to see through Iceberg's thoughts and said calmly, "However, they both have things to do right now and can't come here, so I can only say goodbye to you on their behalf."

It’s true!

Damn it, Kalifa, Kaku...

"What...what exactly do you want?" Iceberg suppressed his shock, but his voice still trembled slightly.

Lucci did not answer directly, but got up and walked slowly to the window, looking down at the Water City in the night.

In his field of vision.

The little girl he had instructed beforehand was now standing on tiptoe, handing the note to the group of people.

Is it coming, katana master Shano?

Lu Qi let out a soft breath, his eyes filled with barely concealed excitement.

to be frank.

It's been almost a year since we started lying low in Water 7. That idiot Spandam has been telling us not to make any moves and to plan slowly, and he's had enough of that.

It's already pretty much confirmed that Tom's blueprints are on the iceberg, so why not just take action against the iceberg instead of letting them continue to play the role of shipwrights and waste their time here?
How much longer does he have to wait?

Half a year? A year?

As the strongest genius in CP9 in eight hundred years, why should he waste so much time on this boring mission!
Thankfully, Xia Nuo arrived.

This gave him a chance to extricate himself from the mission.

Taking advantage of the lull before the battle begins, I'll come and meet the Iceberg.

If he wins, he can not only take the head of the billion-dollar pirate and return to Enies Lobby in glory, but also kidnap Iceberg and bring him back with him. It's a win-win situation.

As for losing...

Although that possibility is unlikely.

But if that were the case, all of them would be doomed. In this way, at least they could confront the Iceberg before they died, allowing him to vent his resentment on this idiot mayor who truly regarded him as his superior.

Kaku and Kalifa seem to like this guy quite a bit, and even seem to like the atmosphere here.

But he was different; he had no attachment whatsoever to this city or this company.

"iceberg."

With his back to the iceberg, Lucci's voice was calm, "Since you asked, I'll be frank. Regarding the blueprints for the Ancient Weapon 'Pluto'... you should be very familiar with them, right?"

The iceberg's breath caught in its throat.

As expected...

So that's exactly what they came for!

"Hades?"

He forced himself to remain calm and said in a deep voice, "I don't know what you're talking about. Hades is a legendary weapon. How could an ordinary person like me, a shipwright, possibly come into contact with something like that—"

"lie."

Lucci turned around and gave him a cold smile.

“Our commander Spandam has already investigated thoroughly. The reason he sent us to infiltrate Carrera was because of you.”

He approached the iceberg step by step, his voice growing colder and colder, "After all, Tom's other disciple, Fram, is dead, leaving only you as his disciple. Where else could the blueprints for Hades be but in your hands?"

Upon hearing this name, Iceberg clenched his fist tightly.

Spandam...

A few years ago, there was that CP5 leader who wouldn't let go of their studio.

Tom, his teacher, was already exonerated, but he was executed by the World Government because of this guy's framing!

His junior apprentice, Franky, is also missing and his fate is unknown.

"I had no idea! Mr. Tom never mentioned anything like that to me!"

Cold sweat beaded on the iceberg's forehead, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.
"What Hades design blueprints? I've never seen them before... Even CP9 has to follow the rules. Accusations without evidence are just your imagination!"

"Under normal circumstances, it is indeed necessary to follow the rules."

Seeing that he remained completely silent, Lucci finally lost his patience. "Unfortunately, I have to go downstairs to meet someone soon, so I have no interest in playing along with this charade."

Swish!
His figure vanished from the spot, and the next second he appeared in front of the iceberg, kicking him hard in the chest.

Iceberg instantly spat out a mouthful of black blood, his upper body fell backward, and he felt dizzy, but he gritted his teeth and withstood the kick without fainting or losing consciousness.

Tom's disciple was surprisingly resilient.

Lucci glanced coldly at the iceberg and gave the order:
"Knock him out, tie him up, and put him in a bag, Bruno."

"The officers on that swordsman's ship are also a bit troublesome. Once I've dealt with Xia Nuo, I won't linger on them. I'll just requisition the sea train and take these two guys to Enies Lobby tonight."

"Yes, Lucci."

A burly figure emerged from the shadows. Bruno, his face indifferent and silent, reached out his large hand toward the iceberg.

“Bruno from the tavern, so you are also…” Iceberg paused slightly, then gave a bitter laugh and uttered the words with difficulty, “So I’m completely surrounded by your people now?”

"And I didn't find a single clue? I'm so slow..."

Iceberg lowered his head with a self-deprecating laugh, then suddenly looked up and stared directly at Lucci, grinning broadly as he laughed: "Take me to Enies Lobby? You think I'm afraid of dying?"

Lu Qi frowned slightly.

"My teacher would rather die than hand over the design drawings." Iceberg's voice grew firmer. "As his disciple, how could I possibly dishonor his will!"

"I will never allow Hades, a forbidden entity capable of destroying the world, to reappear in this world, no matter what!"

"As for wanting to kill me?"

He suddenly pulled two pistols from his inner suit pocket, gripped them tightly, and his eyes blazed with fury:

"Come on, you government lackey!"

boom!boom!
Both pistols fired simultaneously, bullets whistling towards Lucci.

Lu Qi frowned slightly, his eyes turning completely cold.

"Foolish move."

He stood still, not moving an inch, letting the bullets fly by.

The iron block has already been activated; it would be a joke if these soft bullets fired by ordinary people could penetrate them…

boom! ! !
In that instant, the office window shattered with a deafening roar!

A long katana burst through the window, colliding perfectly with the trajectory of the bullets. It cleaved both bullets in two, shattered the metal block, and pierced through Lucci's abdomen from the right, pinning him firmly to the wall.

This happened too suddenly.

Bruno and Iceberg were both stunned, and even Lucci was taken aback for two seconds before looking down at the wound on his side that was gushing blood...

"Oh, I'm sorry."

A lazy voice sounded.

Lu Qi struggled to lift his head and saw a black-haired boy sitting leisurely on the windowsill, his legs dangling in the air, a smile on his face:
"I was originally waiting for you to finish your business in the garden downstairs, but the commotion upstairs was a bit too loud. I was worried that you would get angry and actually kill Mr. Gin, so I had no choice but to take action first."

Gin?

Who?
Lu Qi was stunned, not understanding what Xia Nuo meant.

But... that's not important!
He looked at the sword that had pierced through his waist and almost burst out laughing on the spot.

What powerful energy!

Even a casually thrown sword could pierce through his iron block!
Is this the swordsmanship of a great swordsman who is famous throughout the sea?
but……

Pirates are all idiots!
The note he gave was a calculated move from the start.

Regardless of whether the other party saw through his disguise, he was certain that a pirate with such a great reputation had an overly arrogant confidence in his own strength.

The results were unsurprising.

The other party not only cared about the so-called "style of a great pirate" and "the benevolence of a pirate," but also actually came to the door alone.

And Bruno didn't even have to lift a finger; he threw the sword over first just to save people!
Is it because they're afraid the sword energy they unleash might affect the iceberg?
In any case, it won't be so easy to get it back.

The plan is going even more smoothly than expected!

"Bruno!" he suddenly shouted, forcefully pulling the sword out of his body.

"understand!"

Bruno instantly understood, took the blood-stained katana, and slashed Lucci's body with his right hand—

"Open the door to the human body!"

A strange scene appeared.

Lu Qi's body was like a door that had been pushed open, splitting open a square gap to reveal an eerie green space inside.

Without hesitation, Bruno grabbed his katana and leaped into the abyss!

Swish!
The gap closed instantly, and the person and sword vanished without a trace.

Ok?
Xia Nuo was puzzled by this scene, wondering what the two of them were up to.

"It was a complete success."

Lu Qi licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, oblivious to the fact that his abdominal wound was still bleeding profusely.

Under the moonlight, the strongest member of CP9 swelled violently, immediately adopting a half-beast stance, his muscles bulging like steel bars, his eyes burning with fanatical fighting spirit:
"That sword of yours hurt me terribly."

"However, now..."

He grinned maliciously as he tore his tattered shirt, revealing his incredibly muscular physique:

"It's my turn now. It's time for you, swordsman, to witness the allure of mastering physical techniques to their peak!"

　P.S.: I'm still 1500 words short of 8000. I won't skip it; I'll add another 2000 words tomorrow to finish it.

　　To be honest, Spandam knew long ago that Tom had the Pluton blueprints and that Iceberg was Tom's apprentice. Yet Lucci and his crew waited five years until Luffy arrived before finally taking action against Iceberg, and even then, it was through coercion and threats. Frankly, I've never understood that.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)