Spandine's gun hand was shaking. He stared in disbelief at the man who had caught a bullet between two fingers, then at his own pistol, still smoking.
"Y-you… who are you?!"
After a brief, dead silence, Spandine shrieked, trying to cover his fear with volume.
"I don't care who you are! You dare obstruct CP9 official business! We act under orders of the World Government! This is a declaration of war against the World Government! You're an Ohara accomplice!"
Dr. Clover and the scholars' hearts shot into their throats. They were stunned by the man's strength—yet terrified he would be branded "Ohara's accomplice."
But Rain didn't even acknowledge Spandine's screaming.
He slowly turned his head. His gaze passed over Spandine, swept across Olvia dying in the mud, and finally… stopped on the black-haired little girl behind Dr. Clover, peeking out with tear-streaked cheeks and pure terror in her eyes.
That deliberate disregard was the sharpest insult of all.
"Bastard!!"
CP9 agents were elite—the World Government's sharpest blade. They weren't used to being ignored like this.
One agent behind Spandine, gripping a long sword, snapped. With a roar, he drew his blade.
"You dare ignore the commander?! Die!"
"Be careful!!" Dr. Clover and the scholars cried out together.
The agent gripped his sword with both hands, muscles tightening, clearly about to use Soru to "blink" in and deliver a fatal strike.
He was about to move—
Fwish.
Rain's figure vanished from where he stood.
The agent's pupils shrank to pinpoints. His Rokushiki wasn't even activated yet.
Where?!
A chill shot from his feet to his skull.
His instincts screamed danger, but his body couldn't react fast enough.
In the next heartbeat, Rain was already in front of him—so close the agent could see, through the lenses, those terrifyingly calm eyes.
The agent's vicious expression froze, replaced by pure dread.
He had his sword raised… but he couldn't bring it down.
Because Rain had extended his right hand and pinched the blade bare-handed between his index and middle fingers.
Two fingers coated in pitch-black Armament Haki—steady as mountains.
"Y-you…!" The agent's face twisted in horror. He strained with everything he had, trying to yank the blade free or force it down—
But the sword was welded in place, unmoving.
"You're too slow. And you're too weak," Rain said calmly.
Seeing the contest was hopeless, the agent made a split-second choice—he released the sword and shot his right hand toward his waist to draw a gun.
Too slow.
Before his fingers even touched the holster, Rain's figure was already behind him.
Crack.
A clean bone-splitting sound.
Rain's left-hand chop snapped into the back of the agent's neck.
The agent flew like a sack of mud, slammed into the burning trunk of the Tree of Knowledge, and died on the spot.
[Jasper]
[Overall Rank: SR3]
[Sin Index: 11,18]
"Not bad," Rain noted silently, glancing at the system prompt. "Even a 'regular' CP9 agent is worth over ten thousand points. World Government hounds really are filthy."
The sword, now ownerless, fell straight down.
Rain didn't even look. His right hand moved, catching the hilt cleanly.
"…"
The clearing went silent.
The remaining CP9 agents were completely frozen by what they'd just seen.
They understood better than the scholars how terrifying that moment had been—this wasn't a fight. It was a one-sided execution.
Instinctively, they raised pistols in unison, black muzzles aimed at Rain.
They knew it might be useless, but only this posture gave them a sliver of psychological safety.
Sweat soaked through their suits. Fingers trembled on triggers—but no one dared fire first.
"Y-you… y-you…!" Spandine collapsed into the mud, legs shaking uncontrollably.
Even while terrified, he refused to stop barking. He pointed at Rain and shrieked, bluffing with hollow fury:
"You're finished! You're completely finished! Do you even know what's outside?! It's a Buster Call! Five Headquarters vice admirals! You killed our men! You're done! You'll sink with Ohara into the sea!"
"Whether I'm finished or not, I don't know," Rain said, turning toward him as he casually twirled the sword once, the blade flashing cold in the firelight.
"But I do know…"
He lifted his head. Firelight reflected in his glasses like frozen flame.
"You're finished."
As the words fell, inky Armament Haki surged up from his grip, coating the entire blade.
Killing a hundred pirates might still accidentally include one foolish adventurer who didn't deserve death.
But World Government CP agents?
There was no such risk.
They were the dirtiest black gloves the Government wore—dogs that trampled justice. Every one of them deserved to die.
Rain swung once. His heart didn't move at all.
A black sword wave—too fast for the eye—swept across the clearing.
It curved cleanly around Spandine, passing so close it brushed his nose and brought a gust of pressure.
Spandine felt cold between his legs—then, in horror, watched the dozen CP agents behind him stiffen all at once.
The next second, their upper bodies separated neatly from their lower halves, blood mist erupting.
+12,420
+9,580
+8,350
+15,610
…
Dr. Clover and the scholars stared, utterly stunned.
They had spent their lives studying history. They had never seen a power like a demon god descending.
Rain's Observation Haki swept the area. No living CP agents remained within range.
He clicked his tongue in mild disappointment and tossed the sword aside.
"Thought there'd be a real fight."
He rolled his neck once. "Didn't expect them to be this weak."
Then he walked toward the only enemy left standing—Spandine, who was too terrified to even speak.
Just then—
From somewhere in the distance came Rosinante's voice, not loud, but frantic in its own unmistakable way:
"Rain—! Wait for us—! Why are you running so fast?!"
Rain glanced back once—
But his hand didn't stop moving.
He took two steps forward, picked up a pistol off the ground, aimed it at the Spandine collapsed in the mud, and pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The shot was insignificant under the thunder of bombardment.
A hole appeared between Spandine's brows, and his terrified expression froze forever.
[Spandine]
[Overall Rank: SR5]
[Sin Index: 211,180]
…
Rain blew lightly on the smoke curling from the barrel and tossed the pistol away.
His face stayed blank, but inside his mind he was staring at that 211k points like it was a miracle.
He hadn't expected Spandine to be worth almost as much as anyone but Roger—though, remembering Ohara's tragedy and its long shadow, it did make sense.
With a thought, Rain skimmed the remaining selectable rewards from the CP agents and converted them all into Physique Inheritance.
Better than nothing.
In the distance, Rosinante and Smoker were sprinting toward him, shells falling behind them.
Rain had a random, idle thought:
"I wonder… did that guy already father Spandam, that piece of trash?"
Then he shrugged it off.
"Doesn't matter."
And, oddly enough, Rain chuckled.
"Now that I'm here, Robin's fate is already rewritten. There's no way the future still plays out with an Enies Lobby incident."
~~~
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