Blueno was lying on the ground, his life or death uncertain. Earlier, Feraligatr had struck him with a powerful slap, sending him flying to the last carriage. While he was unconscious, the CP9 members did not immediately proceed with transferring Franky.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Franky managed to break free from the chains that bound him. With a normal human body, breaking free from these shackles would be impossible. However, Franky was a cyborg—both of his hands had undergone mechanical modifications.
Thanks to his modifications, Franky was able to free his hands, then he began fighting Kalifa.
With the strongest fighters having been lured away by Feraligatr and Tiger, dealing with Franky wasn’t an easy task for the ones left behind—Kalifa and Nero, who hadn’t even fully mastered Rokushiki.
“Come on, you smelly bastards! Get ready to experience my super explosion!”
Franky’s butt had already inflated, making it look as if he was prepared to go down in mutual destruction.
During the previous battle, the stench released by Nero had nearly knocked Franky’s iron nose off. Though the semi-finished Devil Fruit Spandam had purchased came with a significant side effect, it had at least preserved the abilities of a skunk.
After much effort, Franky finally found an opportunity to use his self-destruct mode to temporarily scare off Kalifa and Nero.
However, he hadn’t truly self-destructed—he didn’t actually have that ability. Instead, he pulled out a notebook from a compartment within his stomach.
“Fooled you! Franky Super Flames!”
The aged book went up in flames, turning to ash under the fire’s heat. A relaxed expression appeared on Franky’s face.
“This is something that has been passed down for generations among the shipwrights of Water 7. It was never a blueprint for a weapon—it was a legacy for the future.
It was meant to be a countermeasure, in case ancient weapons fell into the hands of people like you.
But rather than letting it fall into your hands, it’s better to destroy it completely!”
“You b*stard! Our years of hard work—”
Franky’s words made it clear: the notebook contained the blueprint they had been searching for. But now, it was all gone.
“Hahaha! Get mad all you want—it’s useless! Now, next up—”
Rip!
The roof of the train car was suddenly torn open. Feraligatr had found his target. Following Tom’s instructions, he wasted no time—grabbing Franky and leaving immediately.
At that very moment, a massive tsunami struck.
But this was not Tiger’s doing—Aqua Laguna had arrived.
The still Sea Train swayed precariously under the onslaught of Aqua Laguna. Amid the raging tides, no one had the luxury of worrying about anything else—they could only focus on their own survival. The Fish-Men were an exception; they had already taken advantage of Feraligatr’s help to leave safely.
“Mr. Tom! That’s great, you’re really alive!”
“Kid!”
On an island near Water 7, a frog, a cyborg, and a Fish-Men embraced each other. Franky and Yokozuna’s eyes were filled with tears.
Franky, who normally took pride in being a pervert, was crying like a child.
“All right, Franky, stop crying. Over the years, I’ve secretly kept an eye on you and Iceburg. You’ve both grown up wonderfully—you’re both excellent disciples of mine.”
“Mr. Tom, where have you been all these years?”
“That doesn’t matter, Franky. You need to change your way of life now. You’re probably on the World Government’s wanted list too.
Find Iceburg—he can help arrange a new identity for you. Or you can go into hiding and live on another island. If neither of those work, you can go to this island and contact them. They’ll arrange a suitable job for you, and it’s fine if you bring others along.”
“Wait, Mr. Tom! Let me stay with you! My skills have improved a lot! Just let me go back to Water 7 and handle some things first.”
“Franky, it’s too dangerous. Besides, this isn’t the right place for you. Just do as I say. Once things settle down, we’ll see each other again.”
Tom chose not to take Franky with him. As a Fish-Man, he could move freely with Tiger and the others, but having Franky tag along would be inconvenient.
Moreover, Tom knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t want Franky to get completely entangled in all of this. Instead, he simply left Franky with a business card—a backup plan for him.
After bidding farewell, Tom dived into the deep sea and left. Meanwhile, Franky secretly returned to Water 7. He still had to make arrangements for his subordinates at Franky House—he wasn’t planning to just leave like that.
One day later, at Enies Lobby—
Spandam was getting scolded. On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Spandine was furious, hurling every possible insult except those involving family members.
“You good-for-nothing! How could I have such a useless son?! Rob Lucci and Kaku are dead?! Useless!”
The number of deaths was not limited to just those two. The reserve member, Nero, also perished in Aqua Laguna. Among the CP9 agents assigned to the Water 7 mission, only Kalifa and Blueno survived.
However, they could not clearly explain who had attacked the Sea Train. Blueno had been knocked unconscious by a single slap before he could even see his opponent’s face, while Kalifa had only caught a glimpse of an “unidentified Sea King.”
Additionally, another squad encountered an accident during their mission.
Fukurou the Silent, Jabra, and Kumadori the Lion were not involved in the undercover operation at Water 7; instead, they were assigned to an assassination mission targeting a branch leader of the Revolutionary Army.
Originally, their task was to assassinate only three individuals. However, due to Fukurou the Silent’s big mouth, he accidentally leaked the plan to someone else. To complete the mission, they ended up killing 23 people.
Although the mission was ultimately successful, the repercussions were severe. Combined with the loss of CP9’s genius members, Spandam, as the highest-ranking officer, could not escape responsibility. Left with no choice, he turned to his father to pull some strings.
“Dad, what’s the result?”
“Result? You can hold on to your position. Right now, the World Government is preoccupied with other matters—they don’t have time to deal with something this trivial.”
In the Holy Land Mariejois, urgent footsteps echoed through the vast hall.
“Elders! Elders!”
“What is it?”
“The fleet that set out for the New World a few days ago has been annihilated! The Four Emperors—Red-Haired Shanks and Whitebeard, Edward Newgate—have made direct contact!”
“What?!”
The World Government didn’t particularly care if the Emperors of the Sea fought each other. What they didn’t want to see was them sitting down for a conversation—especially since something like this had already happened once before.
“First it was Kaido and Red-Hair, and now it’s Red-Hair and Whitebeard. What exactly are these guys trying to do?”
“Thinking about it carefully—Kaido hasn’t done anything particularly disruptive recently, has he?”
“Destroying two branches in East Blue and taking down a Shichibukai—is that not disruptive enough?”
“His daughter doesn’t represent him. Maybe she’s just going through a rebellious phase?”
The Five Elders continued discussing the implications of the Four Emperors meeting, and in the end, they came to a strange conclusion.
“Is there a possibility that, last time, it wasn’t Kaido who reached out to Red-Hair—but rather, Red-Hair who actively sought out Kaido?”
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