Whole Cake Island.
Stussy suddenly shivered as she held a cup of coffee.
"What's wrong, Stussy? Eat up! Why'd you stop?"
Seeing her good friend pause, Big Mom shoved another piece of cake toward her.
"Linlin, I'm already full."
Discreetly pushing away the dangerously overloaded dessert bomb, Stussy shifted the topic.
"Linlin, did you form an alliance with Doflamingo and Kaido?"
Her visit to Big Mom was nothing more than a mission from the World Government.
"Mamamama!"
Seeing Stussy not eat, Big Mom popped the cake into her own mouth, remembering what her dear son-in-law had said.
"An alliance with Kaido? I can't handle the Navy all on my own! Doflamingo's just my good little son-in-law, that's all!"
Still, that brat's Haki… it meant he shared the same ambition as her and Kaido.
"True enough. The Navy's power is immense. Under such overwhelming force, even the once mighty Redfield who ruled the seas alone has ended up imprisoned in Impel Down."
Stussy nodded in agreement, then casually asked:
"But with Admiral Zephyr dead, and the Navy having retreated from the New World, don't you have other ambitions, Linlin?"
"Oh?"
Big Mom paused mid-chew, lowering her head. Her eyes, as large as an average face, locked onto Stussy.
"Stussy, what exactly are you suggesting? Have you uncovered another clue about the races I'm missing?"
Stussy instantly sobered and waved her hand in front of her mouth with a light laugh.
"Hehehe, not at all! But I'll keep an eye out for you."
From a distance, Katakuri watched the two women speaking and turned to the side.
"Perospero, have you seen Stussy before?"
"Stussy?" Perospero paused mid-repair of his prosthetic hand, frowning in thought.
"Don't think so… but maybe she was a friend of Mama's from her Rocks Pirates days, perorin?"
"Is there a Devil Fruit that preserves someone's appearance?" Katakuri muttered. Stussy didn't look older than their mother.
"There's talk of a Mythical Zoan with that kind of ability, perorin."
…
A group of children in identical uniforms were caught in a chaotic free-for-all, kicking off another day of intense training.
Nearby, those who had already been eliminated watched enviously from the sidelines. The center battlefield was now far beyond their reach.
"Wham!"
The round-headed Fukurou took several kicks to the face and tumbled out like a ball, bouncing twice on the ground.
Linton, standing to the side, made the call.
"Fukurou's out!"
"Ow, that hurt! If I hadn't picked up a bit of Kami-e, I'd be paralyzed by now!" Fukurou muttered, rubbing his swollen face as he got up.
It's not like he meant to spill their secret. Why did they always target his mouth!?
His defeat was like a signal—one blow after another followed.
Kaku, Kalifa, Fukurou, and Blueno were knocked out of the fight one by one.
Only Kuro and Rob Lucci remained, locked in a brutal, high-speed duel too fast for the average eye to follow.
Fukurou, fuming, charged back toward the fight. No way was he losing to those two bastards—Kuro and Lucci—again!
But in the next instant—
"Thud!!"
His body seized up as if struck by lightning. His waist bent sharply, and he crashed into the sand.
"Gah!!"
Coughing up blood, Fukurou curled up on the ground.
Linton lowered his powerful leg and spoke coldly.
"Interfering in the evaluation. That's your first and only warning."
"I get it, Instructor Linton!" Fukurou gasped, clutching his aching stomach and staggering off the field.
"What an uncouth meathead," Kalifa muttered, brushing the dust from her clothes and firing off a quiet jab.
"Who are you calling a meathead?!" Fukurou snapped.
"I never said it was you. Don't flatter yourself," Kalifa said with a huff.
"You're looking at me like that—what, are you trying to sexually harass me or something?"
Meanwhile, Blueno had just finished analyzing the earlier battle.
"Fukurou, I didn't mean to kick your mouth. That just happened to be the quickest target."
"Ha?! Is this really the time to say that?" x5!
…
Linton watched the noisy group and shook his head, turning to the man beside him.
"Instructor Fury, who do you think's going to win this round?"
"Lucci's a genius, no doubt. But Kuro has the edge in stamina, technique, and ability." Fury had already foreseen the result.
"Shame," Linton sighed. "If Lucci had eaten Kuro's Devil Fruit instead, he might've become the strongest CP9 agent in 800 years."
"I think this is better. Lucci's more suited for a Fruit with strong offensive capabilities. He could go even further that way."
Fury's gaze sharpened.
"The end's coming."
…
On the battlefield.
"Boom!"
The two fighters clashed, then broke apart again from the force of their collision.
"Huff…"
Kuro adjusted his glasses, panting hard. His entire body was bruised.
This Rob Lucci—five years younger than him—had already caught up in physical strength.
If Kuro didn't already have solid mastery of Rokushiki, he would've lost by now.
Lucci wasn't doing great either. He was sucking air through clenched teeth, trying to dull the pain.
His hands looked like they'd been clawed apart by some big feline, flesh torn and raw.
Someday, he swore, he'd eat a Zoan with claws and tear Kuro to shreds with it!
"Bang!"
Smoke exploded from the ground.
Both Kuro and Lucci vanished in the blink of an eye.
Lucci's pupils narrowed. Kuro had disappeared from view.
There hadn't been any sound from his Soru just now.
"Tekkai!"
Sensing danger, Lucci surged blood through his body and switched to full defense mode.
"Kuro, your Tekkai has a flaw!"
Kuro's voice whispered from right behind him. His entire force channeled into ten sharpened fingers.
His hands turned to claws and raked downward with full force.
"Shigan!"
"Rip!"
It sounded like leather being torn open.
Blood sprayed. Lucci collapsed, completely incapacitated.
A pigeon fluttered down from a nearby pillar, landing on Lucci's shoulder and gently pecking at his cheek.
"How did you find my weak spot? And what was that Soru you used?" Lucci asked, looking sideways at Kuro.
Kuro adjusted his glasses. The light reflected off them, hiding his eyes. He reached out his right hand in victory.
"You guarded your back too obviously. It's a fatal habit. As for that Soru…"
"That technique is called Nukiashi."
"Evaluation complete. Kuro is the winner!" Linton announced loudly.
"Dismissed! Anyone ranked below the top ten—run twenty laps around the island!"
"YES, SIR!!"
…
Later, Linton and Fury sat back in the office, smoke curling around them.
"Whew… this batch—Kuro, Lucci, Kaku—way more promising than usual. You'd better come party with me in Sabaody when this is all over," Fury said with a grin. His mission results had exceeded expectations.
Linton tapped ash from his cigarette, gazing out the window at the boys running laps. His tone was somber.
"I wonder how many of them will survive this chaotic sea…"
"Hahahaha, don't get all gloomy on me now. All we can do—"
"—is make them stronger. What missions they're sent on…"
"…That's beyond us. Not our job, not our right."
Fury slid under his desk and rummaged around, pulling out two bottles of Sabaody bubble wine.
"Here! Drink up!"
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg