"So that's how it is." After a round of interrogation, Bellamy had actually managed to extract a top-secret piece of intelligence.
He casually snapped Kalifa's neck, his expression turning grave.
"The Five Elders!"
The world knew the Five Elders as the rulers at the pinnacle of power, but few knew that these five Celestial Dragons were themselves terrifyingly strong. From Kalifa, Bellamy had forcibly pried out some information about one of them.
Saint Jegarcia Saturn.Age: 300. Devil Fruit: User of the Fungus-Fungus Fruit. Strength: Unknown.
The operation to capture the civilians had been personally ordered by Saturn. The members of CP9 had been on an undercover mission in Water 7 but were forcibly recalled by Saturn to escort this batch of civilians.
Kalifa didn't know much more. For more detailed information, he would have to ask the Director of CP9, Spandam. Unfortunately, Spandam was not present for this mission; otherwise, Bellamy might have had a much greater harvest.
Just as Bellamy was processing this important information, a grief-stricken roar suddenly came from car number ten.
"Lucci, go! Get out of here!"
"What's going on?" Bellamy frowned. It seemed something had happened.
In the shattered train car, Lucci lay wretchedly on the ground, a large hole blown through his abdomen. In front of him, Fukurou and Kumadori were desperately clinging to Drake's legs, trying to hold him back.
"Go, now!"
Half of Kumadori's body had been crushed by Ross, but who knew where he found the strength to still erupt with such power. Drake tried to lift his legs a few times but found himself momentarily unable to move.
"You bastards!"
To be held back by two small fry... if Lucci escaped, Drake didn't know how he would explain it to his captain.
"Get off me!"
Drake erupted, his two claws slamming down on the heads of the two CP9 agents. With two sickening crunches, their broken bodies collapsed to the ground.
By this time, Lucci had dragged himself to the opening in the side of the car and was about to jump into the sea. The very hole he had been blasted through had now, ironically, become his only chance of survival. The bitter irony made Lucci want to grind his teeth to dust.
"Bellamy Pirates... just you wait! I will never forget this!"
Just then, a gust of wind shot through the air and silently struck the back of Lucci's head.
"Urk..."
Lucci's vision went black, and the whole world began to blur.
Am I going to die? He had never imagined he would die in a place like this. So this is what death is like...
Lucci's body fell heavily to the ground.
Bellamy lowered his right hand and looked at the ravaged train car. "Clean this place up. Throw all the bodies into the sea to feed the fish."
"Mia, you and Muret go to the driver's cabin at the front of the train and keep watch."
The Sea Train was moving at high speed, but that didn't mean it couldn't be stopped. Their whereabouts had been completely exposed, making the train's conductor a key figure. This train could not be allowed to stop until Bellamy had reached his destination.
Sabaody Archipelago.Human Auctioning House - VIP Room.
"This batch isn't half bad."
Spandam lay half-reclined on a large bed, two women in his arms. Although he said they weren't bad, he felt a certain lack of enthusiasm. If not for the fact that the auction house had trained them to be quite obedient, he would have already left.
"As long as you like them, my lord. We'll have them sent to your villa later," the auction house manager said, fawning over him.
Spandam was a notorious good-for-nothing, but his father, Spandine, was a high-ranking leader in the Cipher Pol organization. The auction house manager was sucking up to him so desperately for his own reasons.
"My lord, about our little matter...?"
"Don't worry. A small thing like that is no trouble for me," Spandam said, not thinking twice about selling out CP information. "All of Bellamy's information, from his birth up to the last ten days, I'll have it sent over to you."
The Human Auctioning House was one of Doflamingo's most important businesses. As the name implied, it was a large-scale auction house specializing in the sale of slaves.
"My lord, we've just captured a new batch of slaves from the Snake-Neck Tribe. They'll be transported here in a few days," the manager added. "When the time comes, I'll privately give you one. As soon as the goods arrive, you can come to the auction house and pick one out for yourself."
Since Spandam was being so cooperative, the auction house manager was also paying him special attention. With his background, if they could win him over, he would be of great use to the Donquixote Family.
"The Snake-Neck Tribe!"
This was a race even rarer than mermaids. Due to the slave trade, the Snake-Neck Tribe was now on the verge of extinction. Upon hearing of such a rare commodity, Spandam's limp little earthworm immediately perked up.
"Are there any females!"
"Yes, of course."
The auction house manager had seen plenty of his type. A profligate son like Spandam had been with women since his teens; there was no world-class beauty he hadn't had. After a while, he had long lost interest in ordinary human women, unable to get excited even with two in his arms. This was why women of rare races like mermaids, the Snake-Neck Tribe, the Long-Arm Tribe, and the Long-Leg Tribe were so valuable.
"You must let me know when they arrive."
Spandam's interest was clearly piqued. The manager puffed out his chest confidently. "Rest assured, my lord."
"Hehehe." The two men shared a knowing laugh.
Just then, Spandam's heart skipped a beat. I was so busy having fun, I almost forgot about the mission.
"That bastard Lucci, how dare he hang up on me!"
The call had been cut off halfway through, before he had finished speaking. This mission had been personally assigned by the Five Elders; if he screwed it up, he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences.
Spandam quickly took out his Den Den Mushi and dialed Lucci's number again.
"Purupurupuru... Purupurupuru..."
The Den Den Mushi rang for a long time, but no one answered.
"Why isn't he picking up?"
The fool still had no idea what had happened to CP9.
Spandam tried calling several more times, but he couldn't get through.
"The nerve of him! That bastard Lucci, how dare he not answer my call!"
"#!#!" Spandam cursed for a while, but still felt unsatisfied. "When I get back, I'm definitely filing a report!" But besides filing a petty report, there wasn't much he could do to Lucci. At that thought, Spandam suddenly felt deflated.
"This is trouble. Lucci isn't answering his phone. What about the batch of slaves in Gourmet City?"
It turned out the Celestial Dragons hadn't just captured civilians on Carnival City; they had taken people from all seven prosperous cities of the Seven Waters. Not only that, but even the residents of the Sabaody Archipelago had not escaped this fate.
Excluding the Sabaody Archipelago, which was only a few dozen kilometers from Mary Geoise, nearly ten thousand civilians from Enies Lobby, Water 7, the City of the Spring Queen, Nine-Color Island, Blue-White Island, Gourmet City, and Carnival City had been secretly captured by the Celestial Dragons' lackeys and locked away in hidden warehouses, just waiting for the Sea Train to arrive to be transported away. The ten empty cars on the train were precisely for imprisoning this vast number of slaves.
And CP9, naturally, was responsible for escorting them throughout the entire journey.
Unable to reach Lucci, Spandam began to grow anxious and angry. If this mission was botched, he wouldn't be able to withstand the wrath of the Five Elders.
"Lucci, you just wait!"