"Kuchi!"
A female CP7 agent screamed out in anguish as she watched her comrade die before her eyes.
But her own situation was just as dire. The royal army infiltrators who had just torn apart the agent named Kuchi charged straight toward her, intending to join forces and kill her next.
To her shock, the two royal soldiers she had been fighting suddenly moved and attacked much faster than before. Her advantage vanished instantly, forcing her to expend tremendous energy using Soru over and over just to evade their blows.
And it wasn't just her, every CP7 agent, aside from their captain with the red tear-marked mask, noticed the same thing. Their opponents' speed had suddenly skyrocketed.
Within seconds, two more CP7 agents were caught and torn to pieces by the royal army infiltrators.
In only a few heartbeats, three CP7 agents had been brutally slain.
"Damn it!"
The red tear-marked captain's fury erupted as his subordinates fell one after another. He immediately launched a Rankyaku, forcing Hodgson back, then blurred with Soru to aid his embattled teammates.
But just as he prepared to strike, a massive serpent tail lashed out with lightning speed, slamming into him and sending him crashing through the air.
Even Hodgson's speed had suddenly increased, fast enough to keep up with the captain's Soru.
The moment to save his subordinate was lost.
Moments later, the exhausted female CP7 agent could no longer maintain her Soru. Overwhelmed by the newly empowered infiltrators, she was torn apart, her life snuffed out in an instant.
"Who's behind this trickery?! Show yourself!"
The CP7 captain's furious roar echoed through the hall. He had long since realized something unnatural was happening.
"Heheheh~ Scream all you like, dog of the Celestial Dragons… and then die. Every one of you deserves it."
From the shadows, Aaron watched with wicked delight as CP7 agents fell one after another and their captain's rage spiraled out of control. His heart felt light as if he'd just gulped down an ice-cold drink on a blazing summer day. The frustration and disgust he'd bottled up from being scorned by nobles and witnessing the mermaid slave's torment vanished completely.
Beside him, Williams also grinned, silently giving Aaron a thumbs-up.
So, who was behind the sudden surge in the royal infiltrators' power?
Of course, it was Aaron. Using the power of the Speed-Speed Fruit, he had secretly boosted Hodgson and the others, granting them bursts of speed just long enough to catch CP7 off guard.
The Speed-Speed Fruit wasn't a power limited to the user, it could also accelerate others. When used wisely, it could change the tide of a group battle entirely.
Like now, when the CP7 agents had begun to adapt to their opponents' fighting rhythm, Aaron would subtly enhance the infiltrators' movement speed, throwing off the agents' timing and leaving them open to deadly counterattacks.
There had been nine CP7 agents in total. Now, four were dead. Gilbert's defenses were crumbling fast.
Hodgson and the royal infiltrators hadn't forgotten their mission. Though puzzled about who was secretly aiding them, they knew this was their best chance. They split up some to hold off the remaining CP7 members, others to rush straight for Gilbert.
Gilbert's face turned pale. Watching his elite Celestial Dragon bodyguards fall one after another filled him with terror. Desperately, he shouted for his own guards to protect him, but those ordinary men were no match for the drug-fueled infiltrators and were swiftly overpowered.
"Watt! Wicks! What are you two waiting for?! Get over here and protect me! Take the pills, now!"
Seeing the deadly infiltrators charging toward him, Gilbert could no longer afford to hold back his trump card.
Watt and Wicks, who had been lying on the ground pretending to be dead, glanced at each other, then clenched their jaws and swallowed a pill each.
As Gilbert's most trusted bodyguards, they too possessed the deadly drug. But they had avoided using it unless absolutely necessary, it was a last resort. The side effects were horrific. Almost everyone who took it ended up aged into a withered husk, their bodies ruined beyond recovery.
Still, everything they had their wealth, their power was thanks to Gilbert. They had done countless dirty deeds in his name. Their fates were tied to his: if he died, they would be hunted down, unless they fled Drum Island to live as pirates.
But neither wanted to lose their privileges, nor live as fugitives. With grim resolve, they swallowed the drugs.
A moment later, their eyes turned blood-red. Their bodies swelled with grotesque muscle, and their auras exploded in strength.
Watt transformed into a hulking, horned ram-beast; Wicks, now missing one arm, became a massive black-furred cat brimming with power.
"Raaaagh!"
The two roared and charged forward like living missiles, blasting through the royal infiltrators who had taken the drug themselves. In moments, they reached Gilbert's side and stood as his shields.
With Watt and Wicks joining the fray, Gilbert's crisis was momentarily averted. Their power had already rivaled Hodgson's and as Devil Fruit users, the drug's amplification made them even stronger than the royal soldiers.
Meanwhile, Hodgson and his comrades were clearly reaching their limits. Their hair had turned ashen, wrinkles spreading across their faces as their lifespans burned away.
"So Gilbert had the drug too, huh… These royal infiltrators are done for."
From afar, Aaron observed the battle through his Observation Haki and shook his head. The royal loyalists' strength was fading fast, their numbers nearly halved.
It was time for him to act.
There was no way he'd let the Celestial Dragons' dogs live. He would make sure they all died in Drum's civil war.
He exchanged a glance with Williams, who immediately understood. Together, they ducked under a banquet table draped with a long cloth, disappearing from sight.
There, Aaron used his Munch Munch Fruit ability to temporarily store Williams in a pocket dimension. Then, turning invisible with the Clear-Clear Fruit, he re-entered the blood-soaked chaos of the banquet hall.
The once-opulent hall was now a slaughterhouse. Thanks to Hodgson and the others taking the deadly drug, the nobles' guards were massacred with ease. Nearly one-third of the nobles who had come to the feast were already dead, while the rest huddled together in terror, trying to resist.
Using his invisibility and Observation Haki, Aaron walked calmly through the carnage, effortlessly avoiding stray bullets and flying blades.
"You all die here too… filthy trash."
His eyes burned with killing intent as he looked at the trembling nobles hiding behind guards and overturned tables. He hadn't forgotten their earlier cruelty, how they had treated the mermaid slave as nothing more than a toy.
Scum who idolized the Celestial Dragons… deserved the same fate.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Aaron drew his transparent revolver and fired five quick shots in a blur.
By the time the echoes faded, five nobles lay sprawled in pools of blood, eyes wide with terror and disbelief.
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