"Why did this happen!? What is going on!? I need an explanation, Sengoku!"
When Daren and Borsalino strolled up to the Admiral's office, they could already hear a cold, furious voice shouting from across the hallway.
"...Seventeen candidates for the Shichibukai, and now only five remain! The elders are extremely dissatisfied!"
Daren frowned.
There were only a handful of big shots at Marine Headquarters, but this voice was unfamiliar to him.
He also noticed that the two Marine guards stationed outside the Admiral's office were standing stiffly, trembling slightly, pretending they hadn't heard a thing from inside.
"What's going on?"
Daren shot Borsalino a questioning glance.
Borsalino shrugged helplessly and muttered under his breath,
"The candidate list for the Shichibukai is top secret. Besides top-level government officials and senior CP agents, only Fleet Admiral Kong and Admiral Sengoku are authorized to know about it..."
"Now that the Shichibukai candidates have been slaughtered one after another by an unknown force, the government believes whoever is behind it is targeting the system itself—and they're beginning to suspect that the list was leaked."
He pointed lazily toward the office door and grinned.
"See? CP wasted no time showing up."
Daren raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued.
"So CP suspects that the one behind hunting down the Shichibukai candidates might be linked to Admiral Sengoku?"
Borsalino gave a half-smile.
"Who knows? But Marine Headquarters has always been against the creation of the Shichibukai system."
"And since Sengoku is one of only two people in the Marines who knows the list, it's only natural for CP to be suspicious."
"Poor Admiral Sengoku... taking the fall for the real culprits."
As he said this, he casually glanced at Daren.
Daren pretended not to notice the playful look and walked straight up to the office door.
The two Marines outside stiffened the moment they saw Daren and Borsalino, hastily snapping to attention and saluting.
Daren waved them off and pushed open the door.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw Sengoku, face flushed with rage, slamming his palm onto the desk and roaring,
"So you're suspecting me!?"
"I've served in the Marines for decades, rising from a mere Seaman Recruit to an Admiral! How many pirates have I defeated, how many missions have I carried out for the government... and now you dare suspect me!?"
He was panting heavily, clearly furious.
Just then, Sengoku noticed Daren and Borsalino stepping into the office one after the other.
"Admiral Sengoku, you called for me?"
Daren saluted crisply, his gaze casually drifting over to the two cold figures standing nearby.
Both were clad in loose white silk robes, exuding an eerie chill. Their faces were hidden behind masks branded with strange patterns, making it impossible to see their true identities.
The World Government's most elite intelligence agency... CP0.
The one on the left was slightly taller, wearing a black mandala-patterned mask. Judging by the voice, he was the one who had just been questioning Sengoku.
The other wore a fox mask. Wisps of slightly curly golden hair spilled from under it, and the elegant lines of a woman's body were faintly visible beneath the flowing white silk robe. She wore a pair of red high-heeled shoes.
This CP0 agent was a woman.
The moment she saw Daren, she seemed to freeze slightly.
Daren narrowed his eyes, the corner of his lips curving into a faint, knowing smirk.
What a coincidence... an old acquaintance…
"Ah, Daren, you're here."
When Sengoku saw Daren and Borsalino walk into the office, he took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the anger in his heart, and spoke in a stiff tone.
"These are CP members sent by the government. Their primary task is to investigate the incident involving the hunting of the Shichibukai candidates. Borsalino should have already informed you about the situation, right?"
Daren nodded and smiled slightly.
"I'm fully aware of the situation, Admiral Sengoku."
"However..."
He turned his gaze to the two CP0 members, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"It seems you two aren't very satisfied with the answers from our Marine side?"
Sensing Daren's look, the female CP0 member instinctively took half a step back, as if feeling something ominous.
The other, however, remained unmoved, sneering coldly.
"You must be Vice Admiral Daren, the famed 'King of the North Blue,' the one who just took down the Great Pirate, Shiki the Golden Lion, right?"
"But what's with this blatant killing intent?"
"I am a member of the World Government's highest intelligence agency, here under the orders of the Five Elders—"
Before he could finish, the expression beneath his mask changed drastically.
"You dare!"
A sharp streak of black light suddenly shot through the window, carrying a terrifying force capable of cutting through anything, reaching him in an instant.
"Don't be reckless, Daren!!"
Sengoku's face changed dramatically, shouting out in alarm.
Clang!!
Boom!!
A deafening blast, sharp enough to tear at the eardrums, exploded through the room, followed by a violent, dragon-like gale that shredded the office into chaos, scattering papers everywhere.
As if struck by a cannon, the CP0 member was knocked back several meters, the shockwave cracking the office walls with loud groans.
A bead of cold sweat slowly dripped from the CP0 member's chin.
His hands, coated in Armament Haki, were clutching a sinister, cursed black blade.
The overwhelming impact from the sword burst into a shower of sparks between his palms, the hilt trembling violently.
The sudden outburst left everyone else in the room stunned, faces paling.
Only Borsalino remained relaxed, leisurely sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, as if watching a show.
"You're insane!! You dare attack me!?"
After a moment of dumbfounded silence, the CP0 member finally snapped back to reality, an angry, trembling shout bursting from under his mask.
He couldn't believe it.
This Marine punk had actually dared to attack him—right in front of so many people!
What terrified him even more was the realization that, had his reaction been a split second slower, he would have been dead on the spot!
Staring at the cursed blade before him, emanating a chilling aura, the CP0 member swallowed hard.
The cursed sword, Enma!
A peerless cursed blade that had consumed the Moa Moa no Mi, now wielded by this Marine, possessing the terrifying destructive power to obliterate a small island in a single strike!
"As expected of a high-ranking agent meticulously trained by the World Government... You actually managed to block Enma's 'ten times speed' shot."
Daren tilted his neck slightly, a faint smile on his lips.
"CP0-sama, do you know just how fast Enma's maximum shot speed can reach?"
"It's fifty times."
Daren let out a soft sigh.
"Which means... what you just blocked was only one-fifth of its full speed."
As his words fell, a bone-chilling coldness shot down the CP0 member's spine, his pores standing on end.
His face twisted into a ghastly expression.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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