Chapter 29: You'd Better Go All Out, Otherwise You'll Die!
"How could this guy recognize me-chwan?"
MR.2, whose real name is Mr. 2 Bon Clay, the Okama, didn't understand how the person in front of him saw through his disguise.
His "Imitation Devil Fruit" transformations of appearance and voice were clearly perfect; he had never failed before.
But obviously, that didn't matter.
Because even if his identity was exposed,
his kicks were still without hesitation.
"The so-called Okama Way is the path of knowing difficulties yet pressing forward without deviation—Okama Kenpo: Swan Arabesque Dance!"
His leg, clad in a ballet slipper, tore through the air, heading straight for Chen Long's mask with a sharp whoosh!
But at this moment, Chen Long was clearly not flustered.
He didn't even get up from his lying position, his left hand still holding his last cola.
He casually raised his right hand, his index finger flicking lightly upwards.
"Whoosh!"
Then, Mr. 2 Bon Clay immediately noticed the temperature around him drop instantly.
Just as the tip of his foot was less than half a chi from Chen Long's mask,
a massive ice wall condensed out of thin air, blocking between the two.
"Bang!"
A dull, massive impact reverberated through the hall, and Mr. 2 Bon Clay's foot firmly struck the ice wall.
Then,
"So cold... No, not cold... So painful... No, that's not right—it's too hard, isn't it?"
Mr. 2 Bon Clay saw, incredibly, that when his kick—honed over years and something he took pride in, strong enough to shatter a giant rock—landed on the ice wall, the latter didn't even budge an inch.
Let alone cracking, it didn't even show a single scratch.
Instead, Mr. 2 Bon Clay's leg was now throbbing with intense pain, a feeling brought on by the cold and freezing aura.
At the same time, he could also see lines of ice beginning to spread up his leg towards his body.
"Ice-chwan! Isn't your ability to control rain?"
Mr. 2 Bon Clay's eyes widened, and he shouted without hesitation.
"Miss Merry Christmas! Isn't it about time? The intelligence was right, I'm no match for this guy, let's attack together!"
And as his voice fell,
"Rumble!"
A rumbling sound began to come from beneath the ground, and the earth subtly trembled.
Then, on the surface of the originally quiet South Palace, the stone slabs shattered with a crash.
And accompanying the broken floor, one could clearly see several deep, dark holes had appeared beneath the ground at some unknown time.
"Oh?"
Chen Long raised an eyebrow, seemingly noticing something.
But at this moment, a round, rolling figure was already emerging from one of the holes.
It was a stout man holding a giant baseball bat, and by his side was a strange creature resembling a dachshund, or perhaps a sausage dog.
Baroque Works, MR.4 'Babe' and his pet—the cannon 'Lasso,' who ate the Dog-Dog Devil Fruit, Dachshund Model.
"Lasso."
And at this moment, MR.4 was slowly speaking.
"Prepare to fire."
Then, the dachshund-like cannon Lasso next to him also slowly raised its head.
MR.4 then picked up the giant baseball bat and made a motion to swing it.
"Four Hundred Bat Attack!"
He uttered the name of his technique in a low voice.
Indeed—this was their passionate combination technique, where 'Lasso' spat out projectiles, and he was responsible for completing the long-range attack with a swing.
But...
Chen Long: "..."
MR.2: "..."
Watching the master and pet's extremely slow movements, Mr. 2 Bon Clay's expression was a little frantic.
"Hey, hey, hey! This isn't the time for a comedy show! Who could possibly hit anyone with such slow movements? I'm already about to be frozen solid-chwan!"
He looked at the ice that had already spread to his thigh and shouted loudly.
"Of course it can hit!"
"Because everyone, including your defeat, MR.2—is all under my meticulous plan!"
A gloomy, sinister voice came.
Then, from another hole, a head of hair shaped like the number "3" poked out—it's worth noting that the top of the hair even had a fuse, with sparks flickering from it.
And along with it, a thick-lipped man wearing glasses also emerged.
At this moment, his hands had already transformed into pure white wax.
MR.3, Wax-Wax Devil Fruit Ability User—Mr. 3 Galdino.
Clumps of wax were connected to one of his arms, while the other side...
"Hmm?"
Chen Long suddenly let out a hum of interest.
Because at this moment, he had already seen white wax begin to emerge from the ground beneath his feet at some unknown point, firmly binding his legs.
"While you were suffering your humiliating defeat, I had already instructed Miss Merry Christmas to dig a hole under this guy's feet."
Mr. 3 Galdino said smugly to MR.2, "And thanks to you for distracting his attention—MR.4, attack!"
And as his words fell, MR.4 and the dachshund dog 'Lasso,' who had been slowly preparing for a long time, finally got ready.
Lasso was seen opening its mouth and spitting out four wooden boxes.
And MR.4 finally swung his baseball bat.
"Bang!"
The immense power possessed by his large body instantly shattered the four wooden boxes, and the contents of those four boxes rapidly flew towards Chen Long.
In an instant, those four items completely bound Chen Long's hands and feet.
They were indeed four handcuffs and leg shackles.
"Specially crafted Marines technology, handcuffs and leg shackles inlaid with Seastone, plus my 'Wax-Wax'—now this guy can't escape."
Mr. 3 Galdino laughed maniacally.
As he spoke, the pure white wax continuously wrapped Chen Long more and more tightly.
Then,
"Hahahaha—I'll help too!"
Accompanying the exaggerated laughter, a woman holding a parasol descended from the sky.
"Hey, wait a minute, Miss Valentine—I'm still here-chwan!"
But at this moment, Mr. 2 Bon Clay shouted in panic—the extended ice block was still connected to his leg, so even though Chen Long was sealed in wax, he still couldn't get free.
But obviously, Miss Valentine, who had eaten the Kilo-Kilo Devil Fruit, didn't pay him any attention.
"Thud!"
The enormous weight instantly pressed the wax-encased Chen Long, along with Mr. 2 Bon Clay, directly into the ground.
Immediately after,
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Three more figures suddenly burst out from the holes in the ground.
They were a black man with an explosive afro wearing sunglasses—the Bomb-Bomb Devil Fruit Ability User, Mr. 5 Gem.
A sexy woman in revealing clothes with blue hair—the Thorn-Thorn Devil Fruit Ability User, Miss Doublefinger 'Sara'.
And finally, the last one—a brawny man with a muscular physique and a monk's haircut, the Dice-Dice Devil Fruit Ability User, MR.1 'Mr. 1 Daz Bonez'.
At this moment, all three of them also attacked simultaneously.
Miss Doublefinger's hair instantly transformed into sharp thorns, and countless spikes instantly pierced Chen Long repeatedly.
MR.1's hands transformed into sharp blades, silently slicing Chen Long's body directly apart.
"Hey! You've stabbed me-chwan!—Aren't we colleagues? Aren't we friends-chwan?"
And amidst this continuous piercing and slicing, Mr. 2 Bon Clay moved his body, shouting loudly while constantly dodging.
Until a certain moment, MR.1's slash happened to sever the ice block connecting his leg to Chen Long. Only then did he fall to the ground, letting out a painful "Ouch!"
"You guys..."
But before he could complain, he saw that the two Baroque Works agents who were wildly slicing and piercing Chen Long had already retreated, and MR.5, with his explosive afro, had already pulled out one of his hairs.
Then, Mr. 2 Bon Clay's expression instantly changed drastically.
He immediately turned and leaped backward, then...
"Boom!"
The fierce explosion triggered by MR.5 had surprisingly descended.
The massive explosion instantly brought with it huge clouds of dust and fire, shaking the entire South Palace.
"Bang!"
And Mr. 2 Bon Clay, who was once again blasted flying to the ground by the explosion, could no longer bear it at this moment.
"You guys! You just want to kill me-chwan, don't you? Are you jealous of my beauty-chwan?"
He said angrily, then pointed at MR.3 Mr. 3 Galdino: "Especially you, Mr. 3 Galdino—you just want to kill me-chwan and then become MR.2 yourself, right-chwan?"
"Huh, he's actually fine—Ah, I mean, how could such a thing happen?"
"I heard your first half-sentence-chwan, I heard it all-chwan!"
Mr. 2 Bon Clay said unhappily: "But no matter what you do, it's useless—if we manage to deal with this guy this time, I'll be the one to claim the greatest merit-chwan, there's no way I'd let you become MR.2!"
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Mr. 3 Galdino was clearly displeased.
"How could you be the one to claim the greatest merit?"
He adjusted his hair.
"Whether it was you performing the feint attack, us approaching him from underground, or the Seastone handcuffs locking away his powers, or the subsequent attacks—this artistic plan was entirely my idea! No matter what, I should be the one to claim the greatest merit, right?"
"No, no, no, the greatest merit is clearly mine."
And at this moment, a short, stout woman also emerged from beneath the ground—her hands were adorned with giant mole claws.
Mole-Mole Devil Fruit Ability User, Miss Merry Christmas.
"If I hadn't dug the holes, none of you would have been able to approach him, let alone kill him so easily."
"It was me..."
"It was clearly me..."
"It was me..."
"Woof woof!"
And while the other Baroque Works agents were bickering loudly.
"...What's wrong?"
Miss Doublefinger, however, looked at the calm and aloof MR.1 and asked softly.
At this moment, MR.1 didn't bother to interfere with the others' arguments—as the highest-ranking agent, he didn't care about claiming the greatest merit.
At this moment, he merely looked at the immense smoke and flames caused by the explosion and said softly, "MR.0's order is to kill him at all costs to ensure the plan proceeds smoothly."
"I am waiting for confirmation of the target's death."
He was very clear how much importance the mysterious Baroque Works president, MR.0, placed on this mission—the number of people who came here this time was proof.
Except for Miss Goldenweek, almost all the elite of Baroque Works had come—Miss Goldenweek didn't come simply because she was a little girl, unsuited for long-distance infiltration and assassination.
"...Relax, he's definitely dead."
Miss Doublefinger felt that her partner was being overly cautious: "I pierced him at least a hundred times, and you almost chopped his body to pieces, plus an explosion like that... No one could survive that."
She said lazily, then also looked towards the increasingly chaotic outside: "However, with the explosion just now, the guards will probably be back very soon..."
She clearly intended to retreat.
"After confirming the target's death, we will withdraw."
MR.1 remained unmoved.
So, Miss Doublefinger was a little helpless: "You really are—"
Her words stopped abruptly here.
In fact, all the other Baroque Works agents also paused instantly at this moment.
Because at this moment, all the Baroque Works agents felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
No, to be precise—the word "ice" in "as if fallen into an ice cellar" was not accurate.
"So cold..."
"What's so cold? Are you out of your mind?—So hot! No... So scorching! So hot!"
The surrounding environment seemed to be constantly changing.
The air seemed to become extremely cold, but the ground turned scorching red.
Scorching heat and icy coldness seemed to intertwine endlessly at this moment.
Then,
"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"
Footsteps echoed.
Every single step seemed to tread upon their hearts.
Then,
"So it wasn't just one, but—hmph—a full six."
"Truly not bad."
All of them heard that pleasant voice.
And accompanying the voice, someone walked out of the smoke.
But a moment later, they saw that Dragon-head mask.
As well as Chen Long, who casually tossed aside the Seastone cuffs on his body and emerged completely unharmed.
"How can this be..."
Thus, these four words almost became the shared thought of everyone present.
Their attacks had clearly hit him.
They had clearly put Seastone handcuffs on him.
Everything was clearly perfect.
But obviously, Chen Long had no interest in their thoughts.
"I can only tell you one thing—you guys destroyed my last cola, so now..."
He looked at the Baroque Works members, and his words finally carried a dangerous aura.
"I'm a little angry."
"You'd better go all out, otherwise... you'll die."
(end of chapter)