A seemingly casual remark sounded full of murderous intent to Lucci.
He looked at Noyer warily, "Why would you take an interest in us?"
Noyer chuckled, "I admire your philosophy."
Lucci was taken aback. His philosophy was Dark Justice — the belief that weakness, and not compliance with the World Government orders, is a sin, that necessary evil must be used in exchange for peace.
Noyer continued persuasively, "Your justice won't get a chance to flourish in the government. In their eyes, you're that weak sinner. Small-time work is fine, but they'd never promote you."
These words were purely fabrication. In truth, after Lucci was defeated and pursued by the Marines, he still returned and became CP0.
But CP0 still had to serve the Celestial Dragons. Noyer didn't believe someone as proud as Lucci would serve those fools.
He knew this guy would be reemployed by the government, but Lucci didn't. And with Noyer framing it this way, he actually began to waver.
Jabra spat, "Stop pretending to be the good guy. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Noyer sneered and shook his head.
Enel cursed back, "If you hadn't targeted us first, I wouldn't even bother looking at you!"
Jabra bared his teeth and was about to pounce, but Lucci stopped him.
Lucci said coldly, "The mission failed because of us. We failed because of our own weakness — should we blame our opponents for not showing mercy?"
Jabra swallowed his curses and reluctantly retreated.
After a moment, Lucci said to Noyer, "My justice can't be practiced in the government. Can you provide that?"
Noyer smiled, "Well, do you have any other choice?"
Lucci didn't know his own future and was troubled by his situation. The government had abandoned him — was he supposed to become a pirate?
Noyer speculated that Lucci's return to CP0 in the future might be due to the Summit War's aftermath.
After Whitebeard's death, pirates ran rampant. After the battle between Aokiji and Akainu, there was talent loss and internal chaos. To balance the impact, the government had no choice but to bring back the disgraced "Massacre Weapon".
With his foreknowledge, Noyer believed he could recruit Lucci by intercepting him now.
Seeing his hesitation, Noyer said directly, "Then work for me first. If you want to leave, just let me know — I won't stop you."
Lucci looked at his companions. The former CP9 members all gave him the same look, indicating they'd follow his lead.
Lucci finally nodded, "It's a deal."
Noyer smiled approvingly, "That's more like it. But let me be clear — you can leave in the future, but while you follow me, if you betray me, I'll take back your lives."
Lucci nodded silently. The CP9 members behind him lowered their heads.
The Celestial Drake set sail again. With CP9's seven members joining Noyer's crew of four, the ship became much livelier.
The numerical imbalance made Wyper and Enel especially vigilant.
Lucci, Kalifa, and the others had seen Enel's strength, so they were compliant. The remaining three, including Jabra, were bold enough to openly compete with Enel.
The ship had been restless these past few days — wolf howls one moment, thunder the next.
The ship sailed along the route. Noyer finally found time alone. After everything they'd been through, even an iron man would tire. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sea breeze.
Suddenly, his shoulders felt heavy. A pair of warm hands reached his neck and began gently pressing.
"What's wrong? Too noisy?" Robin stood behind him, massaging his neck.
Noyer adjusted his posture, "It's fine. This kind of liveliness is nice."
Robin furrowed her brows, "Don't you worry Enel and the others will have conflicts?"
Noyer shook his head, "Although our little battery has a cruel personality and a bad temper, he barely counts as a normal person. Perhaps he just doesn't know how to communicate."
A few days ago, Enel finally triggered the system reward for getting to know him.
Besides a Copy Card, the damn system gave Noyer a complete set of home appliances — refrigerator, washing machine, TV. Why doesn't that damn system just produce smartphones and tablets while it's at it?
Setting aside this digression, the system notification indicated that Enel was beginning to accept himself and the team.
Robin nodded, "True. Perhaps they'll develop feelings through fighting."
The saying "we fight because we care" occasionally rings true.
However, while they were chatting, Enel rushed into the kitchen from behind. He was dragging Jabra's wolf tail. The werewolf had already been electrocuted to a charred black and passed out.
Enel shouted, "Conis! Heat up the pot with oil — we're eating wolf meat!"
Robin: …
Noyer held his forehead helplessly. He'd have Wyper teach CP9 Haki on his behalf. Getting beaten constantly wouldn't improve their relationship…
In the following days, Wyper taught everyone Armament Haki. Although he was only half-competent himself, teaching basic theory was enough.
Everyone studied seriously, especially Lucci. But there was one exception. It wasn't that Wyper refused to teach Enel — this guy simply wasn't willing to settle down and learn.
Noyer didn't care. When Enel got thoroughly beaten someday, he'd naturally understand his own weakness.
The team's atmosphere became harmonious. The Celestial Drake slowly entered the Florian Triangle. The surrounding sky was eerily enclosed by thick fog — not a ray of sunlight could penetrate. The seawater seemed to have turned dark purple.
This fog is much thicker than the one near the island where he and Ace got the Mera Mera no Mi, Noyer thought to himself.
Lucci changed into a white suit and stood coolly at the bow, "Are we going to cause trouble for Moria?"
Noyer nodded with a smile, "I really like Moria's ship and abilities."
Lucci immediately understood. Gecko Moria's Thriller Bark was known as the world's largest ship, comparable to an island in size.
The awakened Kaku and Blueno stood behind, trembling and not daring to say a word. Noyer's 〔 Supreme Swordmaster 〕 trait seemed to have taken effect. After being defeated, the two would always feel an inexplicable fear of him. When facing Noyer, they couldn't even raise their swords.
{T/N: Defeated enemies may be left with inner demons based on their willpower, hindering their growth.}
Lucci assumed they'd been scared from being cut down and didn't pay much attention. He retreated to the side to train Haki with Wyper.
He was quiet on the ship, exchanging only a few words with Wyper, that battle maniac. One teaching Haki, the other teaching Rokushiki — they got along surprisingly well.
While Enel was roughing up Jabra, a red light suddenly flashed in his eyes.
Someone?
He glanced toward a corner, but saw nothing. Yet in his Mantra perception, someone was clearly about to attack Kalifa!
Enel's heart jumped. He activated his lightning and struck down directly. Everyone on the ship saw him suddenly attack Kalifa and panicked.
Jabra, still pinned beneath Enel's foot, tried to stop him, "Don't!"
But the massive lightning struck down relentlessly — not at Kalifa, but at the space behind her.
Kaku and the others pointed at Enel angrily, "What are you trying to do…"
Before they could finish, a strange cry rang out. A scream came from behind Kalifa.
Someone?!
The smell of charred flesh filled the air. Kalifa hurried to her companions in terror.
Lucci looked gravely at the empty air, "I heard Moria has a subordinate who ate the Suke Suke no Mi (Invisible Fruit)."
Enel scratched his head, "What's the use of being invisible? I can still see them."
Everyone cast strange looks at him.
Only you can see them, okay?!
Noyer came running with a cold expression. He raised his sword and swung at the air. Blood suddenly spurted, and a stout figure became visible.
Blood gushed from Absalom's neck. He muttered something, his hand covering the wound — but to no avail.
Noyer sneered and raised Rasetsuō, delivering another stab to his heart. The invisible lion man appeared for less than half a chapter before Noyer sent him to his grave.
Fitting for someone with that title — sent straight to the graveyard.
Noyer spat at Absalom's corpse, his voice dripping with hatred, "Killing him like this is too easy…"
Lucci and the others exchanged bewildered glances.
Why does the captain's hatred seem so intense?
Noyer stared at the massive shadow looming in the mist. He hadn't even gone looking for trouble, yet they'd delivered themselves to his doorstep.
The Thriller Bark emerged from the fog, its massive "mouth" forming a gate, as if ready to swallow all intruders whole. The Celestial Drake plunged straight into the three-masted ship's mouth without hesitation, and the huge vessel slowly docked.
Since they were now inside the ship, no one needed to guard their vessel. Everyone disembarked together.
The pitch-black environment and eerily silent ship were genuinely intimidating. Even Kalifa, a professional agent, felt somewhat nervous. Conis clung to Robin's arm, not daring to raise her head.
Su, nestled in her arms, covered its eyes with its large tail, as if that would protect it from anything scary.
Robin, however, was full of enthusiasm. Like the boys, she was filled with interest in everything on this island.
Noyer and the others hadn't walked far when they passed a graveyard. The soft earth suddenly began to move. One after another, withered hands reached out from the soil as countless zombies emerged from the ground.
The zombies roared, waving their arms menacingly and staring at everyone with hollow eye sockets. Some had their heads fall off. Others with broken arms and legs staggered forward.
But awkwardly, Noyer and his group showed no reaction. The boys looked at the zombies as if they were idiots. The three girls, including Robin, observed them with curiosity.
Seeing the zombies, Conis and Kalifa weren't frightened at all.
Conis patted her chest and laughed, "I thought it was a monster. Turns out it's just zombies…"
Kalifa asked in surprise, "There are zombies on Skypiea too?"
Conis shook her head matter-of-factly, "Enel is way more disgusting than zombies!"
Robin kept a straight face, thinking to herself: These zombies have pretty good taste. It seems things you can see and touch have no power to intimidate these girls…
Seeing that Noyer's group had no reaction, the zombies grew so frustrated they wanted to die again. They shouted urgently:
"Hurry up and be scared!"
"We're terrifying soldier zombies — don't we deserve any respect?!"
Enel, Wyper, Lucci, and the others silently exchanged glances and walked forward with clenched fists…
Bang Bang Bang!!
The graveyard's eerie atmosphere shattered as tombstones and structures collapsed. Every unlucky zombie was knocked to the ground.
The soldier zombies knelt in a row, large bumps on their withered heads, rubbing their hands together with fawning smiles.
"Oh my, dear guests, is there anything we can help you with~"
Noyer crouched down and asked, "Where does your master live?"
The zombies didn't hesitate. They all pointed in one direction, "Over there — there's a castle."
Noyer patted the zombies' heads with satisfaction. Like a bandit leader, he led his crew away.
Once the thugs left, the zombies breathed a sigh of relief and began whispering among themselves.
"They won't cause trouble for the master, will they?"
"How could they? The master will be thrilled seeing so many quality shadows!"
"But I feel like the master can't beat them."
"…"
◇◆◈◆◇
Moria resided in a massive castle. At this moment, he lounged lazily in a chair, his big belly sticking out as he sipped red wine.
The dim candlelight passed through his body, casting a huge shadow on the ground — an eerie and oppressive sight.
A fat human-faced bat flew in, reporting urgently, "My lord! Outsiders have broken in!"
"Kishishishishi — " Moria laughed dismissively, "Then just have Absalom deal with it. Must be another bunch of nobodies."
The human-faced bat said anxiously, "But Lord Absalom is nowhere to be found — we can't contact him!"
Moria frowned, "Hmm? Then go find him! First, have Perona send her scary zombies to deal with them. And don't let them get near Hogback's laboratory!"
The human-faced bat said with difficulty, "But… they've already gone there…"
"What?!"
◇◆◈◆◇
Noyer and the others walked through the dim corridor, leaving behind a trail of charred and shattered scary zombies.
Why isn't the samurai Ryuma's zombie anywhere to be seen?
Noyer was seventeen this year. Three years from now, when Luffy set sail and the story began, Ryuma would already have Brook's shadow and become a zombie.
Whether this "Sword God" had already come to life in this timeline, Noyer really wasn't sure.
Wano Country's national treasure, the Black Blade Shusui, had to be taken no matter what…
As Noyer was thinking, several cute white little things suddenly emerged from the walls.
Robin asked curiously, "Are these ghosts?"
Enel glanced around and pursed his lips, "Such tiny ghosts — what kind of threat could they possibly be?"
The white ghosts seemed to understand him. Raising their little hands, they rushed straight at him.
Enel casually released a spark of electricity at one ghost, but it passed straight through. The ghost passed through his body, and he suddenly shuddered.
Thud!
Enel collapsed to his knees, his aura turning gloomy as he muttered with his head down:
"I don't deserve to be called a god. Even a god's footcloth wouldn't be this pathetic… I should stick my head in the dirt… this face is just too ugly and wicked…"
Everyone stared at the suddenly emo man, completely speechless.
Only Kalifa said thoughtfully, "Has he become self-aware?"
Conis nodded, "Enel has finally seen himself clearly!"
◈◈◈
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want 20 chapters ahead of this novel for just $5 or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations (free or starting at $1.5): MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
I'm currently translating another project (for $1.5) where the main character travels through various worlds, like Highschool of the Dead, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Darwin's Game, and many more, building a massive harem. It will have smut chapters (+18) and spicy images of the female characters. Check it out if you're interested! :)
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)