Clang! A crescent of steel flashed through the air. Lucci dodged, but not quite fast enough—a sliver of his suit fluttered to the ground.
Tony sheathed his blade with a deliberate slowness. Lucci's mask of indifference finally cracked. "Interesting... but not enough."
"We'll see about that," Tony growled, hand on his sword hilt. "Your Excellency might want to watch his step."
In a heartbeat, Tony struck. "Ittoryu: Mikazuki Kiri!" (One Sword Style: Crescent Moon Slash!)
But instead of flesh, his blade met steel. Tony looked up, eyes narrowing at the square-nosed man blocking with twin swords.
"A Nitoryu user?" Tony muttered.
"Not quite," Kaku grinned. He shoved Tony back, then launched into a whirlwind of attacks. "Yontoryu!" (Four Sword Style!)
The clash of blades filled the air as Tony found himself on the defensive. His blood worm-enhanced strength kept him alive, but just barely.
"Damn you!" Aludo roared, his patience snapping like a twig. "You'll pay for hurting Mingde!" He charged Lucci like an enraged Sea King.
Jabra stepped in, grinning. "I'll play with you, big guy."
But Aludo wasn't just brawn. As Jabra moved to kick, Aludo's eyes glinted with unexpected cunning. At the last second, he shifted, driving his elbow into Jabra's instep.
WHAM! Jabra howled in pain as he went flying. His Tekkai hadn't even slowed Aludo down.
Before Jabra hit the ground, two more CP agents fell, clutching bleeding wounds. Simon and another cadet wove through the crowd, their sword work a deadly dance of precision and teamwork.
The elite camp was giving as good as they got, but how long could they hold out against CP's finest?
The Jerome brothers' blades flashed, precise and deadly. They weren't aiming to kill, but their newly mastered ability to cut iron made them a force to be reckoned with. CP agents fell left and right, unable to stop their coordinated assault.
Meanwhile, in the meeting room...
"That's the gist of it. We can iron out the details later," the bald official said, taking a sip of coffee. He immediately spat it out. "It's cold! You there, fetch me a fresh cup!"
Sengoku's face darkened, but he signaled a young marine to comply. Swallowing his anger, he said, "About the exchange between CP and the Elite Battalion... perhaps we should schedule it for tomorrow?"
"Oh, that won't be necessary," the official smirked, eyeing Zephyr. "Your disciples should be... entertaining our CP agents as we speak. I'm sure it's all wrapped up by now."
"What?!" Sengoku's eyes widened. "They've gone already? Why weren't we informed?"
The official waved dismissively. "Just a friendly sparring match. No need for us old-timers to interfere. I'm sure they won't be too rough."
Suddenly, Zephyr burst into laughter, startling everyone.
The official's eyes narrowed. "Something funny, Former Admiral Zephyr?"
The laughter cut off abruptly. Zephyr fixed the man with an icy glare. "Funny? No. But you're right about one thing – they won't be too rough. I just wonder... when your men end up in the infirmary, how much will the World Government pay in compensation?"
The official paled, a chill running down his spine. "Impossible. Lucci's mastered that technique. Defeating Christopher Loya should be child's play."
Back at the battle...
Lucci surveyed the chaos, his cold eyes taking in his struggling subordinates. "Useless trash," he muttered.
WHAM! Aludo, caught off-guard, went flying. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he crashed into a wall.
Lucci's patience had run out. The real fight was about to begin.
The courtyard fell silent as Aludo's massive form slumped to the ground, leaving a human-shaped dent in the wall. The Elite Camp members stared in disbelief, cold sweat breaking out on their brows.
Simon's voice trembled. "This... this can't be real."
"Even for Rob Lucci, that kind of power is..." another cadet whispered, unable to finish the thought.
Lucci calmly lowered his leg, as if swatting Aludo – their third strongest – had been no more effort than crushing an ant.
"I'm not here to play games," Lucci's cold voice cut through the silence.
Meanwhile, in the meeting room...
Kizaru lazily flipped through the dossier, a name catching his eye. "Loya-kun? Now there's a scary rookie."
He glanced at Zephyr, a teasing lilt to his voice. "Sensei's students keep getting weaker, but this one... he's something special, isn't he?"
"Watch your tone, Borsalino!" Zephyr growled. "You're an Admiral, for crying out loud!"
"Maa, maa, so scary," Kizaru drawled, unfazed. "Sensei's scolding us again."
Sengoku rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine coming on. It wasn't just the usual Zephyr-Kizaru tension. No, he could see the storm brewing.
He could picture it now: Loya emerging from training to find his comrades battered and broken. The rage that would follow. And while Sengoku didn't know what trump card the World Government thought they held, his gut told him it wouldn't be enough.
This was going to be a diplomatic nightmare.
Worse still, Zephyr's attitude made it clear he'd known about this "exchange" in advance. He'd probably warned Loya, explaining his tardiness.
The fact that Zephyr hadn't bothered to inform Sengoku first... that's what truly exhausted the Fleet Admiral. The politics of it all were giving him a headache worse than any battle.
In the Elite Camp courtyard, chaos reigned.
Lucci effortlessly deflected Minnie's kick, his sneer cutting deeper than any blade. "Is this all you've got?"
Minnie, left arm dangling uselessly and ribs screaming in protest, gritted her teeth. She twisted, desperate to land a hit with her other leg.
"Tekkai Sai!" Lucci's body hardened instantly.
Minnie's kick connected, but it was like striking an iron wall. Worse than that – the force rebounded, shattering her ankle in an instant.
Her scream of agony pierced the air. Lucci, unmoved, tossed her aside like a broken toy.
He wanted to kill them all. In his eyes, weakness was a crime, doubly so for Marines. But even CP0 couldn't get away with a massacre on Navy grounds without consequences. Besides, orders were orders – no fatalities.
Lucci surveyed the carnage, adjusting his hat with deliberate calm. The outcome was clear: CP's dozen agents stood victorious over the battered Elite Battalion.
Jabra, having recovered from Aludo's initial surprise attack, had turned the tables completely. Even the Jerome brothers, with their newfound iron-cutting prowess, couldn't match CP's mastery of Rokushiki. They fell quickly under the onslaught.
Tony held out the longest against Kaku, but his half-formed plan to use the blood marrow worms backfired. Kaku, ever sharp, seized the opening and put Tony down with a decisive slash.
The only real challenge had been Aludo. That monster of a man, with his freakish strength and surprising grasp of Armament Haki, had pushed even Lucci to briefly reveal his Devil Fruit abilities. In the end, though, even Aludo lay broken among his comrades.
As the dust settled, a chilling realization swept through the surviving Elite Battalion members. This wasn't just a defeat – it was a massacre. And the true monster of CP hadn't even broken a sweat.
The dust settled, revealing the extent of the carnage. Even Aludo, for all his monstrous strength, had barely dented CP's ranks before falling.
Lucci's cold voice cut through the silence. "This is the Navy's elite? What justice can you uphold with such weakness?"
His words stung worse than any physical blow. The few conscious Elite Battalion members could only seethe in silence, their pride as shattered as their bodies.
Simon, nursing his bruised ribs, let out a pained sigh. "If only Loya were here..."
As if summoned by the thought, a bone-chilling voice suddenly reached Lucci's ears.
"Excuse me, what did you do to my companions?"
Lucci's eyes widened in shock. Someone had gotten behind him without triggering his Haki?
He spun, launching a devastating backfist on pure instinct. But his fist met an unyielding grip. A large, calloused hand caught Lucci's punch effortlessly, then twisted.
For the first time that day, pain flashed across Lucci's face as his arm was wrenched behind his back. A powerful kick sent him stumbling forward.
"Loya!" "Loya's here!"
The battered Elite Battalion members cried out in relief and excitement.
Even Tony, sprawled on the ground as his blood worms worked to close his wounds, managed a weak smile. "About time... now I can rest easy."
The air crackled with new tension. CP's unstoppable force had just met an immovable object. The real battle was about to begin.
The Elite Battalion members watched with bated breath. A month ago, Loya could've taken any of them down in seconds. Now, after mastering Rokushiki in record time? They couldn't even imagine his current strength.
But one thing was certain – Loya was their best hope against Lucci's overwhelming power.
Loya surveyed the carnage, his smile a stark contrast to the icy rage in his eyes. He hadn't expected such a cowardly sneak attack. Zephyr's warning had come just in time.
Lucci pushed himself up, eyeing Loya warily. "Christopher Loya... you finally showed up."
Loya's sneer was razor-sharp. "You were looking for me?"
"Indeed." Lucci's body rippled, transforming into his leopard-human hybrid form. Muscles bulged, promising both power and speed. "I want to see what a 'genius' who mastered Rokushiki in a month can do."
"You'll be disappointed," Loya's voice was calm, but carried an underlying threat. "The gap between us is too vast for you to comprehend."
Lucci's eyes narrowed. "Oh? Then prove it with your strength, Christopher Loya!"
With a bestial roar, Lucci launched himself at Loya.
"Gladly," Loya's stance shifted, ready to meet the assault head-on.
The air itself seemed to thicken as these two monsters clashed. This wasn't just a fight – it was a collision of ideologies, a battle to determine the very meaning of justice within the Navy's ranks.
The battered Elite Battalion members could only watch, hoping their faith in Loya wasn't misplaced. The future of their training, their mentor's reputation, and perhaps the very soul of Marine Headquarters hung in the balance.