In the novel, Straw Hat still had to risk his life to barely contend with him, but now, the opponent had utterly defeated this genius, known as "CP9's strongest in eight hundred years," without even using his full power.
Could Kaido's teaching really be effective?
From a distance, Spandam's hysterical roar echoed: "It's all your fault! Useless! You can't even deal with a few pirates!" The cowardly officer was frantically shifting blame into his Den Den Mushi, "Lucci and the others acted on their own! Yes, it was entirely CP9's mistake!"
Kalifa wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and sneered: "The same old face, as always."
Kaku clutched his chest and coughed: "Cough, cough… This time it was indeed our… misjudgment…"
Lucci ignored his companions' discussions; he slowly stood up, his torn suit jacket flapping in the cold wind.
Suddenly, he ripped off the tattered CP9 badge from his chest; the metal badge drew a cold arc in the sunlight and fell into the sea with a "thud."
"Lucci?!" Blueno exclaimed.
"From today onwards…" Lucci's voice was low and resolute, "I will become stronger." His eyes were as sharp as knives, as if to pierce the distant horizon, "Next time we meet… I will never lose again."
At the same time,
Spandam's disciplinary notice had already been issued: all CP9 members were demoted to CP0 reserve members and had to undergo hellish special training.
But no one noticed that when Lucci heard this news, a nearly imperceptible smile actually appeared at the corner of his mouth—this was exactly what he wanted!
"Just you wait, Straw Hat…" He looked at the gradually disappearing Sunny and made a vow in his heart, "Somewhere in the New World… we will fight again!"
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the Water 7 shipyard.
The newly refurbished going merry was quietly docked in the harbor; her brand-new hull shimmered with a warm glow in the evening light. Mr. Iceberg personally led the top shipwrights of the Galley-La Company, along with Franky, to complete this miraculous repair project.
"I can't believe it…" Usopp trembled as he stroked the Merry's hull, tears welling up in his eyes, "She's even more perfect than before she fell from Sky Island!"
Franky pushed up his sunglasses, proudly showing off the modifications: "Super~ The reinforced keel uses composite material from the Adam Tree, the hull is coated with a special alloy, and even the canvas is mixed with special cloud threads from Sky Island!"
He pressed a button on the deck, and two rows of auxiliary oars suddenly extended from the Merry's side. "Look! Now we can easily sail even in the Calm Belt!"
Luffy excitedly bounced up and down: "This is great! Merry has become stronger!" He suddenly stopped, leaned mysteriously close to the sheep's head at the bow, "Hey, Merry, you can hear me, right? We'll never abandon you!"
As if in response, a gentle sea breeze swept across the deck, and a hint of spiritual light seemed to flash in the eyes of the sheep's head statue at the bow. Usopp's eyes widened in surprise: "Th-that was just now…"
"It's a ship spirit!" Robin explained with a smile, "When crew members deeply love their ship, the ship will also respond to that love in the form of a spirit."
"It really is the ship spirit mentioned in the novel!"
"It seems everything the novel said is true; we've always been protected by the ship spirit!"
"I thought he wouldn't come out."
"Me too, hahaha!"
"Welcome, ship spirit!"
"..."
Night fell.
Water 7's central plaza transformed into a grand banquet venue. Mr. Iceberg prepared the finest roasted meat and wine, and residents from all over the city joined the festivities.
Franky's subordinates performed exaggerated dances, Usopp feasted on a mountain of food, and Zoro and Sanji began their thousand-and-first drinking contest.
"Cheers! To the Merry's rebirth!"
Nami raised her glass, her cheeks flushed with alcohol.
"Cheers!!" Everyone cheered in unison.
Luffy, his mouth full of roasted meat, shouted indistinctly: "Merry! We're going to sail together to the ends of the world!"
Just then, the Merry's sails moved without wind, emitting a soft "creak," as if responding to the Captain's vow.
Franky wiped away tears and struck his signature pose: "Super moving moment!" Even the usually stoic Mr. Iceberg showed a relieved smile.
The banquet lasted until late into the night, with brilliant fireworks exploding over Water 7.
Amidst the laughter and joy, the going merry quietly remained docked in the harbor, her brand-new hull reflecting the dazzling starlight, seemingly narrating an eternal vow of bonds and dreams.
...
After resting in Water 7, the newly refurbished going merry set sail, and Usopp's live broadcast camera recorded their astonishing next move—a raid on Enies Lobby!
"Watch closely, folks!" Usopp excitedly shouted into the Den Den Mushi, "Today we're going to do something big!"
"That is, live broadcast, taking down Enies Lobby!"
"Those hypocritical CP9, and Spandam, should have been taken down long ago; these guys only know how to oppress civilians!"
The number of viewers in the live stream instantly skyrocketed.
When the Straw Hat Crew broke through Enies Lobby's defenses, the netizens watching the live broadcast completely erupted:
[Holy crap! Directly storming a World Government direct agency?!]
[That moss-head swordsman split open the Gates of Justice with one slash!]
[Look! Black Leg Sanji's Sky Walk!]
[Wait… who did they rescue… the Giant Race?!]
Zoro and Sanji cooperatively unchained the Giant Race warriors. "Thanks, little ones!" The Giant Race warrior's boisterous laughter shook the windows of Enies Lobby.
However, when they reached the courthouse, they found that Spandam had already fled. "Tch, he ran fast." Nami pouted unhappily. Luffy pressed down his Straw Hat: "Never mind, we weren't specifically here for him anyway."
This lightning-fast raid lasted less than an hour, but it had already caused a huge stir online, with the live stream's bullet comments flooding the screen:
[This combat power is too outrageous, isn't it?]
[Is Kaido-sensei's "Spiked Bat Teaching" really that effective?]
[Newcomers? Are these really newcomers?]
But amidst the celebratory comments, many pirates also scoffed:
[Don't get too happy too soon; the first half of the Grand Line is just "Paradise."]
[When they reach the New World, the Four Emperors will teach them a lesson.]
[Red-Haired Shanks back then also… ]
At Marineford, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stared at the live broadcast screen, his brows furrowed: "Garp, your grandson is going to poke a hole in the sky!" Garp, however, laughed and stuffed rice crackers into his mouth: "Hahaha, he has the old man's style!"
....
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Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
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