Half a month later, at Hoenn Fortress.
The Groudon Ship docked.
The spectacular Golden Route and the magnificent fortress left Lucci and his team awestruck. They never dreamed they would see such an imposing fortress outside the World Government's sphere of influence.
"Look over there!"
Kaku pointed toward the shore, where two women could be seen fighting from a distance, their battle incredibly intense.
"It's the Pirate Empress!"
"And the other one is the Demon Princess!"
Both were legendary figures!
Boa Hancock, the "Pirate Empress," whose bounty had soared to 1,659,000,000 Berries after being stripped of her title as one of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea!
Yamato, the "Demon Princess," Kaido's only daughter, with a bounty of 1,060,000,000 Berries !
The two were locked in fierce combat—Hancock delivering relentless kicks while Yamato swung her spiked club. The mere shockwaves from their clashes left the CP9 agents dizzy.
"What... is going on?!"
Kalifa clutched her forehead, gripping the ship's railing to keep from collapsing. Among them, her Power Index was the lowest, making her the most affected.
"It's Conqueror's Haki!"
Lucci explained with a grave expression.
As CP9 agents, they were naturally aware of Haki. In fact, the Six Styles incorporated applications of Haki.
Techniques like Finger Pistol and Iron Body required not only martial arts skills such as accelerated blood flow but also Haki reinforcement to reach their peak.
"Huh, not bad!"
Gurd also stepped onto the deck, watching Hancock and Yamato's fierce battle with surprise. He hadn't expected the fight to be so evenly matched.
A few months ago, Hancock couldn't last more than a few rounds and had been "warned" by Thunder Bagua daily.
But now, Hancock was not only holding her own against Yamato's attacks—her long legs, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, delivered devastating kicks!
"Does Thunder Bagua really have some special effect?"
Gurd scratched his head.
By his count, Hancock had probably endured Thunder Bagua at least a hundred times. Combined with her daily life-or-death battles with Yamato, mastering Conqueror's Haki Coating wasn't too surprising.
Unfortunately, Conqueror's Haki also varied in strength.
If his own Conqueror's Haki was at a strength of 100, Hancock's current display was at most a 30.
After all, she was just the queen of Kuja.
"Hmm?!"
The two combatants sensed Gurd's presence and immediately stopped, turning their delighted gazes toward the river.
The Groudon Ship!
They sprinted toward the shore and leaped simultaneously.
"Gurd!"
Two human missiles came flying at him.
Gurd's expression changed as he swiftly dodged to the side.
BOOM!!!
Two massive holes were blasted into the ship's hull!
Soon, Yamato and Hancock emerged from the wreckage—neither angry, one grinning foolishly while the other peeked out from behind the mast.
Yamato beamed. "Gurd, you're finally back!"
"Yamato."
Gurd smiled warmly.
Lately, he had been too busy to spend much time with her, and he felt a little guilty. Fortunately, this airhead wouldn't get bored as long as she had something to do.
Gurd then turned his gaze to Hancock.
"G-Gurd..."
Hancock hid behind the mast, her face steaming like a boiled lobster, all her earlier courage gone.
Gurd greeted her with a grin.
"Hey, Hancock!"
"Eh?!"
Hancock was ecstatic.
Gurd had called her by her name—was this a marriage proposal?!
Looking at the woman crouched under the mast, seemingly lost in some strange fantasy, Gurd didn't know whether to laugh or cry before turning to leave.
"Let's head back to the fortress first."
High-level conference room in the fortress.
Gurd stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the fortress square below where numerous soldiers were engaged in physical training.
Their morale was quite impressive.
Gurd turned his attention to Lucci and the others.
"What are your thoughts?"
"Incredible!"
Apart from the taciturn Lucci, the rest couldn't help but exclaim in awe. The fortress here had truly broadened their horizons.
It could rival even Judicial Island.
Had it been built by the World Government, they wouldn't have been surprised. But the other party was a Pirate—since when could Pirates achieve something like this?
"The Hoenn Government was only recently established, currently with just 17 member nations—merely one-tenth of the World Government's size. Additionally, three large fortresses and over a dozen medium and small fortresses are under construction."
Gurd pulled out a map and began outlining the general situation of the Hoenn Government.
In the North Blue, there were ten member nations, including the Rune Kingdom. In the New World, there were seven, including the Nation of Labor.
If he wanted, this number could easily double, but more member nations weren't necessarily better.
What he sought wasn't a loose alliance like the World Government's, formed merely to collect Celestial Tribute, but a highly centralized, powerful entity firmly under his control.
His will would be the will of all member nations under the Hoenn Government!
Only then could these nations avoid acting independently, bickering, or attacking one another, instead cooperating closely for mutual development until a single nation could rival ten.
Though called nations, they were essentially islands under the rule of the Hoenn Government—part of the Hoenn Empire.
However, this approach had its drawbacks. It required massive upfront investments to improve infrastructure in each nation, with a relatively long payback period.
Compared to the World Government's rule, it might not measure up in the short term, but in the long run, the results would undoubtedly be better.
In short, there were pros and cons.
Normally, this approach would be biting off more than he could chew—nations typically took twenty to thirty years to develop.
But this world wasn't normal.
Take the impoverished Nation of Labor, for example. By exploiting the New World, it had rapidly expanded and now stood as the largest industrial base in the New World, generating staggering wealth.
Violence was the best accelerator!
The same went for the ten nations of the North Blue.
Through war, trade, land grabs, and even rent collection—violent means all—they plundered the wealth of other North Blue nations, drastically accelerating their own development.
The primitive accumulation of capital was inherently bloody.
"Absolutely astonishing."
The members of Cipher Pol 9 broke out in cold sweat, clearly shocked by the current scale of the Hoenn Government. As intelligence agents of the World Government, they had been completely unaware of this.
This meant the World Government's understanding of the Hoenn Government was extremely limited—they hadn't even realized the severity of the situation!
"Wait, how could something of this scale possibly escape the World Government's notice?"
The World Government's intelligence network wasn't limited to just Cipher Pol 9—there were Cipher Pol 1 through 8, and above them all, Cipher Pol Aigis Zero!
If Cipher Pol 9 were promoted further, they could enter the ranks of the elite Cipher Pol Aigis Zero!
And beyond the Cipher Pol departments, there was the Navy!
How had the Hoenn Government silently grown to this extent?
Unless—
A sudden thought struck them.
There was a traitor within the World Government!
And that person held a very high position!
"Confused?"
Gurd smiled as he looked at Cipher Pol 9, sending chills down their spines.
The answer was simple.
He had a capable partner skilled in cooking the books.
The "Pleasure Quarter Queen," Stussy.
Within Cipher Pol Aigis Zero, Stussy held the same rank as Gernica—both were top-tier agents, second only to the CP0 commander.
As the CEO of Groudon Company, Stussy had been feeding intelligence to the World Government, though only she and Gurd knew just how much of it was fabricated.
On the surface, their real estate business appeared booming, yet not enough to pose any real threat.
As for their developmental projects in various nations, they seemed more like poverty alleviation efforts—currently operating at a severe loss and equally non-threatening to the World Government.
But this situation would soon reverse.
All they needed was time!
Lucci remained silent for a long while.
"Knowing so many secrets... if we refuse your offer, I doubt we'll be allowed to leave this fortress, will we?"
"Of course not!"
Gurd's gaze darkened.
"If you refuse, you won't even make it out of this room!"
(End of Chapter)