"So, what's your plan? Are you going to tell me the training methods for Six Powers and Life Return or not?"
Xia Qiu was lying on the open ground, looking at the three figures in front of him.
The three of them were now imprisoned on Island No. 5. Lucci was locked in a Seastone cage. He sat inside, his expression as indifferent as ever, but his heart was filled with despair.
Kaku's limbs were broken. After treatment, braces were installed, and he was now lying on a stretcher, unable to move his body.
Kalifa, on the other hand, was wearing handcuffs and shackles. She sat there, her clothes disheveled, looking somewhat disheveled.
"What difference does it make if I tell you or not?"
Lucci, from inside the cage, looked at Xia Qiu and asked with a cold laugh, "If I tell you, will you let the three of us live?"
"No."
Xia Qiu answered directly and then said, "But you can live a little longer."
There was no way he could let these three people leave alive. CP9 was very united and adhered to their duties.
Letting even one person go was a risk.
"I've long been prepared for death, I don't care about this little bit of time."
Lucci said coldly.
"If we die, we die. It's not bad if we all die together."
Kaku was the most severely injured, but a faint smile hung on the corner of his mouth.
"We were mentally prepared for this the moment we joined CP9," Kalifa said coldly.
Xia Qiu said, "But if you're willing to talk, I can give you a quick death. Otherwise, I will torture you severely. I can use all the torture methods you use on yourselves."
Hearing this, Lucci raised an eyebrow slightly, but his expression didn't change much.
Kaku snorted and said, "You can try."
Kalifa suddenly opened her mouth and bit towards her tongue, but before she could bite, a hand grabbed her chin.
"Trying to commit suicide?"
Zala held her mouth, scoffed, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and stuffed it into her mouth, "It's too late to commit suicide now."
"It seems you've thought of the possible consequences."
Xia Qiu withdrew his gaze from Kalifa and then said, "Don't worry, whether the negotiation is successful or not, I won't torture you. I'll give you a quick end."
"But we won't talk," Lucci said calmly.
"Don't rush."
Xia Qiu smiled and said, "You're not afraid of death, why don't you think about others?"
"What do you mean?" Lucci couldn't help but frown and look at Xia Qiu.
Xia Qiu said, "CP9 isn't just the three of you. What about Jabura, Wiper, and the others who are carrying out assassination missions against Revolutionary Army cadres? What if it's them?"
"How do you know?"
Lucci's eyes widened as he looked at Xia Qiu.
Kalifa and Kaku also had disbelief lingering in their eyes.
Xia Qiu smiled and said, "Don't worry about how I know. As long as you agree, I'll let them go. How about it?"
Lucci's face darkened and he said, "They are also prepared for death."
Xia Qiu said, "What about their mission? Their mission won't be completed, and CP Department information will be exposed. Can you just stand by and do nothing?"
Lucci snorted and said nothing.
"Let's not talk about them."
Xia Qiu said, "What if I attack a Marine warship? Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, Captains – how many people do you think I can kill? What if I attack civilians? With my strength, how many can I kill?"
Hearing this, the three of them looked even more grim. If this giant beast attacked anyone below the Vice Admiral rank, there would be almost no one in the sea who could stop him.
If civilians were attacked, the casualties would be in the tens of thousands.
They couldn't imagine the consequences. Lucci's eyes were obscure, and his expression showed hesitation.
Seeing this, Xia Qiu looked at Zala and said, "Show him the thing."
Zala nodded, took out a piece of paper from her pocket, and handed it to Lucci.
"What is this?"
Lucci took the paper and saw that it was a table listing the heads of each branch and their locations.
Xia Qiu said, "If you don't agree, I'll kill you, and then I'll go and attack these Vice Admirals. Not only that, I'll find Wiper and the others and continue to interrogate them about Six Powers. If they refuse, I'll kill them all. If CP9 doesn't give it to us, then I'll go to CP8. I'm sure someone will give me the training methods for Six Powers."
"You..."
Hearing this, Lucci felt a sense of powerlessness for the first time.
Xia Qiu said, "Teach me Six Powers, and you can live until we master it. You can hope that the World Government will send people to find you, and maybe you can still survive."
Lucci looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "Let me ask you a question, how exactly do you know so much about CP9?"
CP is the World Government's intelligence agency, with divisions ranging from CP0 to CP9. CP0 is the direct subordinate agency of the higher-ups, while CP1 through CP9 are the most secretive, with CP9 being the most clandestine of them all.
Many people don't even know CP9 exists.
Yet, he can obtain information on everyone, down to the smallest detail. This goes beyond simple knowledge.
Xia Qiu shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess you've already figured it out."
"You just mentioned seven names, and Commander Spandam wasn't among them. Could it be him?"
Lucci looked at Xia Qiu, his eyes chilling.
"You're all going to die anyway, so there's no harm in telling you. Our collaborator within CP9 is precisely Spandam," Xia Qiu replied.
"That guy."
Lucci clenched his fist, his heart filled with anger, but he still asked suspiciously, "How did you contact him?"
Xia Qiu said, "It's simple. Spandam's father was the one who initiated the Buster Call on Ohara. Robin discovered this and used it as leverage. We captured Spandam and got everything we wanted. Although he doesn't know the Six Powers, he's still useful."
"So that's how it is."
Lucci frowned. The other party had revealed many secrets, including Spandam's father initiating the Buster Call.
And he had indeed acted with Robin before, which is how they connected.
Lucci looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "So, in order to cooperate with Spandam, you killed Robin?"
"That's right."
Xia Qiu nodded. "Now that you know all this, what's your decision? Are you going to tell us about the Six Powers and Life Return or not?"
Lucci hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, I refuse."
"Why? Aren't you afraid I'll attack others?"
Xia Qiu looked at him in surprise. He had revealed so much, yet Lucci chose to refuse.
"Of course, I'm worried."
Lucci said, "But every attack you make will expose more clues and increase your standing in the eyes of the World Government. They will send stronger opponents to stop you. Many people might die in the process, but those are just the consequences you must bear for killing me. However, if you obtain the Six Powers and Life Return, it will only increase your strength and make you a greater threat."
Luci then looked at Xia Qiu, narrowing his eyes, "So I won't give you what you want."
"Very well."
Xia Qiu nodded, then looked at Zala and said, "Kill him."
"Yes."
Zala stepped forward, drew the gun from her waist, and aimed it at Lucci.
Lucci closed his eyes in resignation. Just as Zala was about to pull the trigger, with a bang, Kalifa crashed to the ground, struggling.
"Wait, don't kill Lucci, we'll talk."
Kaku spoke up.
"Hmm?"
Xia Qiu was surprised, and Zala lowered her weapon.
"Kaku, what are you doing?" Lucci asked angrily.
"Boss Lucci, you have to admit, his threat makes sense. The casualties are too high. Besides, if we don't talk, someone else eventually will. With Spandam's cooperation, they can capture Wiper, capture Jabura, and attack other CP departments." Kaku narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "More importantly, learning the Six Powers isn't something that happens overnight. As long as there's time, anything is possible."
With time, they would have a chance to survive, and there was so much they could do in the meantime.
What set Lucci's subordinates apart was his adherence to a dark sense of justice, where weakness was a sin. He had once killed five hundred soldiers to capture pirates.
In his view, Xia Qiu's threat was too great, and as long as he could be eliminated, sacrificing a few people was acceptable.
However, for Kaku and Kalifa, the immense damage was difficult to accept, and Xia Qiu revealing their companions' locations worried them greatly.
Not only that, but there was also a glimmer of hope for survival. Live first, then find an opportunity to escape.
The Six Powers were a skill. If too many people mastered them, handing them over in exchange for the safety of others...
With both factors considered, Kaku chose to agree.
"But you won't get Life Return," Xia Qiu said coldly to Kaku.
"I can teach you Life Return, but I have two conditions," Lucci suddenly said.
"Conditions?"
Xia Qiu looked at Lucci coldly. "You don't have the leverage to bargain."
Lucci said, "This is our bottom line."
"Fine."
Xia Qiu looked at Lucci. "Let's hear them."
Lucci said, "I need you to give us a newspaper every day."
"A newspaper?"
Xia Qiu knew he wanted the newspaper to check for outside information and likely act on it. So, he said, "I can give it to you, but it has to be delayed by a day."
"Fine."
Lucci hesitated for a moment before agreeing to the condition and then asked, "You'll learn the Six Powers too, right? You've already mastered Armament Haki, so you definitely won't let the Six Powers pass you by."
Xia Qiu looked at him and nodded, saying, "Of course."
Lucci replied, "That's good. We'll only teach you one technique at a time. We won't teach you the second until you've mastered the first. Life Return must be taught last, and you are forbidden from killing any of us."
"Agreed."
Xia Qiu nodded. He knew what they were planning. They had two goals: they were afraid that if he let his subordinates learn, they would become useless, and they wanted to kill them.
Secondly, they probably thought he would learn slowly or couldn't master it, which would allow them to live indefinitely.
However, Xia Qiu didn't think it was a big deal. If he couldn't learn it himself, but his subordinates could, it would pose a threat to him, so Xia Qiu wouldn't agree. He said, "I can agree to that."
"Then that's settled for now," Lucci said, closing his eyes and falling silent.
"Send Kaku and Kalifa to the dungeon," Xia Qiu said to Zala, giving the order.
"Understood."
Zala found people to escort Kaku and Kalifa to the underground cages. Xia Qiu would personally guard the dungeon exit.
As Xia Qiu turned to leave, Lucci suddenly opened his eyes and asked, "What exactly do you want?"
Xia Qiu stopped and looked back at Lucci.
Lucci slowly said, "You're not human. Whether you have intelligence or not, it's hard for people to accept you. You command power, master Haki, and learn the Six Powers. Why?"
"To become stronger, of course."
Xia Qiu bared his teeth and smiled, saying, "To become the strongest in the world and become a part of this world's history."
"Is that so?"
Lucci snorted and said, "Then I can rest easy."
"Why do you say that?" Xia Qiu asked Lucci.
Lucci replied, "Because you will never achieve it. On your path to becoming the strongest, someone will kill you."
"Then we'll just have to wait and see."
Xia Qiu said with a smile and turned to leave.
...
"Lucci of CP9 has been captured. Kalifa and Kaku, along with nearby Marines, went to rescue him, but their warship was destroyed, and the three have vanished without a trace."
At World Government headquarters, the Five Elders gathered, looking at the secret report before them. Some were angry, some were sad, and some were troubled.
"Lucci was actually captured. Did they search the target location? Did they find any clues?"
The green-haired man in front of them said, "They have searched. They found the island they went to. There were signs of burning at the scene, leaving very little information. However, a partially burned document was found at the scene, containing the word 'Pluton'."
"Pluton?"
One of the Five Elders frowned and said, "Lucci infiltrated Water 7 to search for Pluton. Is their target Pluton?"
"We cannot let them find Pluton, or the World Government will face a great crisis."
"Not only that, Lucci's mission was highly classified. How was his trail discovered?"
"Therefore, there might be an inside informant. This matter must be thoroughly investigated."
"Furthermore, whoever defeated Lucci must possess extraordinary strength. And any force that dares to seek Pluton is not to be trifled with, so the enemy's strength must be considerable."
"Could it be the Revolutionary Army?"
"It's possible. With their strength, they could certainly do it. We must be on high alert."
"Deploy CP0 to investigate starting from Water 7 and CP9. Have at least one Admiral on standby at all times."
After their discussion, the Five Elders issued a series of orders.
...
"Zala, from now on, you'll be responsible for island security. Make sure no one leaves without authorization, and also prevent them from contacting the outside world," Xia Qiu told Zala. "You will also personally handle contact with Baroque Works, not use Den Den Mushi."
"I understand."
Zala replied earnestly.
Xia Qiu looked at Cecilia and asked, "How is your injury?"
Cecilia waved her arm and said, "After recovering, the wound isn't too severe. It's been treated, and I can still fight."
"Excellent."
Xia Qiu said, "During this period, you need to stay on the island and be responsible for security. You will also be the first to learn the Six Powers."
"Don't worry, I'll complete it well," Cecilia nodded. She yearned for the Six Powers; they fit her so well. Geppo and Tempest Kick, in her hands, could be used to immense effect.
Being able to gain powerful strength was also why she was willing to work for him even after learning his identity.
Not only the Six Powers, but Haki as well, Xia Qiu had promised to teach her.
"Then, let's leave it at that for now."
Xia Qiu left this statement, intending to depart, but a voice rang out, "I need to leave."
"Vivi?"
Xia Qiu looked into the distance. Vivi stumbled out of the room, her complexion a little pale. "Your injuries are too severe; you need to rest well."
"I must leave. Three days outside is the limit for me to be away. Besides, I can prevent any accidents. After all, the upcoming search will be very intense. Even though you eliminated the witnesses, if even one survivor remains, they will target you in their search. My father and the others know about the connection between Baroque Works and you, so I need to return promptly to stop any information from leaking out," Vivi said, looking at Xia Qiu.
"I didn't expect you to think of us too," Xia Qiu asked with a smile.
Vivi snorted and replied, "I just don't want to implicate Alabasta."
"Is that so?"
Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and asked, "Just like how you were determined to kill Kaku?"
Vivi blinked in surprise, then sighed and said, "That's right."
Xia Qiu asked with concern, "But what about your injuries?"
"Alabasta has doctors; you don't need to worry about that," Vivi said. She then added, "As for the journey back, I can still manage."
Xia Qiu nodded. "Then I'll have Zala escort you back. As for the Six Powers, your current physical condition isn't suitable for learning yet. Once Cecilia learns, I'll have her teach you from the basics."
"Okay."
Vivi nodded. Her urgency to master the Six Powers was no less than Cecilia's.
Mastering the Six Powers could compensate for the shortcomings of her Devil Fruit ability, allowing her strength to increase significantly.
Only by becoming stronger could she better protect her country.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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