This Buster Call was personally authorized by Admiral Aokiji.
The golden Den‑Den Mushi in Spandam's hand was given to him by Aokiji.
Hearing the admiral's voice, Vice Admiral Oni‑gumo and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Whether they had to keep fighting or negotiate, at least an admiral would now be backing them.
"Admiral Aokiji! The Buster Call has been activated, but…"
"Vice Admiral Uchiha Chiyu suddenly intervened and tried to stop it. We tried to reason with him, yet he refused to listen and even engaged us in combat…"
Aokiji Kuzan's lazy voice came down the line.
"Okay, I understand."
"That's enough—come back."
"W‑w‑what?!"
Aokiji asked, "Is there a problem?"
"If the fight drags on, the ones who'll die are you, aren't they?"
Onigumo and the others flushed with embarrassment; they knew he was right.
"But … if we just retreat like this, it won't only be our reputations—what about yours, Admiral?
This would be the first Buster Call ever called off mid‑operation…"
"Besides, Vice Admiral Uchiha openly defied an order from Marine Headquarters—surely we can't let him off so easily?"
Aokiji replied, "I get all that. We'll deal with it later."
The vice admirals fell silent.
Just then, Chiyu flashed forward like lightning and appeared casually in front of the Den‑Den Mushi, taking it from Onigumo's hand.
"Aokiji Kuzan, don't you find this ironic?"
Aokiji recognized Chiyu's voice at once and paused.
"What are you getting at, Uchiha Chiyu?"
"Back on Long Ring Long Land you condemned Sakazuki's justice and mine, claiming only your justice was truly right.
"Yet now you've handed Spandam a golden Den‑Den Mushi and the authority to launch a Buster Call—bombarding the innocent citizens of Water 7…
"Isn't that you, Aokiji Kuzan?"
Oni‑gumo and the others shuddered.
Did this man speak like this even to an admiral? And from his tone, he seemed to have met Aokiji before—what had happened between them?
Aokiji's voice finally turned serious.
"I gave Spandam that Den‑Den Mushi because CP9's mission involves top‑secret World Government matters. Extreme measures are sometimes necessary.
"You understand that, don't you?"
Chiyu replied calmly, "Of course I do.
"Ohara was one incident, Water 7 is another—all over Poneglyphs, the Void Century, the Ancient Weapon Pluton, the truths the World Government wants buried…
"Such tedious reasons, yes?"
The vice admirals paled; they had no right even to know these secrets, let alone discuss them. Each silently wished they were deaf so they wouldn't be held responsible.
Aokiji paused.
"You may find them tedious, but they're essential to maintaining peace.
"Besides, I never actually ordered Spandam to fire the Buster Call—the decision was his. The moment I heard, I came to stop it."
Chiyu gave a cold laugh.
"Passing the buck, are we?
"If I hadn't saved these citizens tonight, Water 7 would already be destroyed. Tens of thousands of innocents would have died under the bombardment.
"Who would answer for that?
Spandam?!"
"Ah‑lah‑lah … Uchiha Chiyu, are you putting an admiral on trial? You don't seem to have that authority."
"Is that so?" Chiyu's voice remained icy. "Then you clearly don't understand my position. Next time we meet, I'll make you understand."
He hung up.
Chiyu cast a cold look at the five badly injured vice admirals. "Get out."
Though resentful, Oni‑gumo and the others knew they couldn't keep fighting. With Aokiji's words as cover, they had only been following orders.
"Withdraw."
Ten Marine warships had been reduced to eight; the sailors fished from the sea were hauled aboard, and the battered fleet pulled away.
Chiyu returned to his own ship, the Uchiha.
Citizens of Water 7 fell to their knees, bowing again and again.
"Thank you, Vice Admiral, for saving our city—and our lives!"
Iceburg, barely able to move, also knelt. "From now on, my life is yours, Vice Admiral…"
Franky knelt too. "Chiyu-sama, mine as well!"
He glanced apologetically at Nami. "I'm sorry for disrespecting everyone!"
Nami sighed. "Forget it." She looked around: although Chiyu had stopped the Buster Call, countless houses lay in ashes. She could hardly stay angry.
Rear Admiral Hina, however, was worried. "Vice Admiral, I fully support you—but you wiped out CP9 and halted a Buster Call. That's direct opposition to the Navy and the World Government. The top brass won't let this slide… Even Admiral Akainu may not be able to shield you."
"I know," Chiyu said calmly. To Sakazuki's brand of justice, civilians were expendable if it meant destroying Pluton. That was where Chiyu differed: he had no mercy for villains, but never slaughtered the innocent.
Hina asked, "Then what do we do?"
"If the enemy comes, we'll meet them; if a flood comes, we'll dam it," Chiyu replied, ending the discussion.
He ordered every Marine ashore to help the townspeople fight the fires. Water 7 might lack many things, but not water; within an hour most flames were out. Still, sixty or seventy percent of the buildings lay in ruins.
Iceburg sighed, "To rebuild completely will take at least a year—if we have enough money…"
"I've got money!" Franky suddenly declared. He and his crew produced sacks and crates stuffed with Berries.
Iceburg gaped. "Franky, where did you get all that?"
Franky grinned. "Found it on Spandam's ship! We dismantled that bastard's private vessel and came across a fortune—at least two or three billion."
Iceburg was stunned—and elated. "If that's true—"
"It's still up to the Vice Admiral to decide," he added.
"Use it all to rebuild Water 7," Chiyu said.
Iceburg burst into tears. Franky too was overwhelmed: "I wronged you before, Vice Admiral, yet you saved the whole city… From today on, my life is yours!"
His gang knelt. "Command us, Vice Admiral!"
"Work with Iceburg and rebuild the city," Chiyu answered. "I don't need your lives."
Franky sobbed even louder—though he'd never admit how easily moved he was.
"Vice Admiral! One more thing… We also found these on Spandam's ship!"
He produced a bizarre sword that moved on its own and two odd fruits—clearly Devil Fruits.
Chiyu's eyes flickered. He took the sword; with a thought, its blade swelled and transformed into a gigantic elephant.
He remembered: Spandam's sword—Funkfreed—a blade that had eaten the Zoan‑type Elephant‑Elephant Fruit.
Nami's eyes sparkled. "What a sword! It turns into an elephant—oh, I get it, an elephant that ate the Sword‑Sword Fruit, right?"
"Wrong," Chiyu said. "A sword that ate the Elephant‑Elephant Fruit."
Everyone was stunned. "A sword can eat a Devil Fruit?!"
"That's the handiwork of Vegapunk, the World Government's top scientist—only he can do it," Chiyu explained.
Funkfreed's hybrid form turned the front of the sword into the front half of an elephant, using its mass, tusks and trunk‑blade for charging attacks. Because the sword was the fruit‑user, its weight never changed, so even someone as weak as Spandam (Doriki 9) could wield it.
As for the two Devil Fruits: they were the ones Kaku and Kalifa were meant to eat—
Zoan‑type Bull‑Bull Fruit, Model: Giraffe
Paramecia‑type Bubble‑Bubble Fruit
~~~
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