"You guys found anything over there?"
Late at night, outside the Tom Shipyard, Rob Lucci asked the members returning from all directions.
"No, there's nothing in Iceburg's office or home."
Kaku shook his head. He and Kumadori had practically torn Iceburg's house apart.
"Same with Tom's home…"
Blueno and Jabra also shook their heads. They really had dug everywhere… apart from four standing walls, there was almost nothing intact left in Tom's house.
"That guy Franky — his place is a complete mess! It's a pigsty!"
Kalifa said angrily, no longer able to contain herself.
Fukurou followed behind her, nodding its large head and letting out "woo woo woo" sounds.
"You forgot to unzip before speaking again!" Rob Lucci sighed. "Kalifa, zip it up first…"
"Kala—"
"Uwa — thanks a lot, Lucci, otherwise I'd have forgotten again! What I meant to say is, I totally agree with Kalifa! Cheep cheep!"
Once the CP9 members regrouped, all their faces were taut with gravity.
Even Rob Lucci had misgivings in his heart…
Does something like the Pluton blueprint really exist somewhere in the world?
A warship in shipbuilding history so terrible it could destroy an island in one blast — is such a weapon truly real?
Or in other words… do the three ancient weapons actually exist?
Rob Lucci didn't dare think further.
Now all their hopes were pinned on Tom's Shipyard.
This was the last plausible place where the Pluton design might be stored, and also the largest site in scope.
Tonight… they had to search every inch of Tom's Shipyard from top to bottom.
"Let's go. The success or failure of our mission hinges on this one move." Rob Lucci's expression grew stern. "If we don't find the Pluton blueprint directly… what awaits us instead is a long, drawn-out undercover mission."
All CP9 members hardened their expressions and silently nodded.
Although Spandam never explicitly said it, that was the fact…
Otherwise, there would be no need to have them enter Tom's Shipyard via recruitment first, and act from inside.
In other words, Spandam had long ago planned to bind them here for the long term.
They were geniuses within CP9; Rob Lucci especially was a talent centuries unproduced!
Such an undercover mission would entirely hinder their personal development… tantamount to exile.
"Damn Spandam… he's obviously a loser who can't beat an ordinary person, yet he clawed to the top above us…"
Jabra clenched his teeth, saying in a sullen tone.
"We can't help it — whose fault is it that he has a good father? Cheep cheep!" Fukurou opened its beak and spoke everything. "By the way, Kalifa's father was once a senior CP9 official too… cheep cheep!"
"Don't lump me with that idiot who advanced only by connections." Kalifa snorted coldly, sweeping back a strand of silky blond hair, her eyes icy. "I joined CP9 purely by my own strength… you should know that well."
"Of course!" Jabra laughed as he drew close to Kalifa. "So, Kalifa, when will you agree to go on a date with me?"
"You're unbearable…" Kalifa said, smoothing her hair. "That's sexual harassment."
"Hey! This was just an invitation to a date!"
…
"Next, the second agenda." Nusjuro cleared his throat and continued, "Regarding the Fish-Man Island's Ryugu Kingdom rejoining the World Government as a member state."
"Any objections?"
"Country of Kano, none."
"Dressrosa, none."
"Alabasta, none."
"Germa Kingdom, no meaning."
"Sorbet Kingdom, none."
After the various kingdoms voiced their positions, Nusjuro nodded.
This was as he expected.
Ryugu Kingdom of Fish-Man Island becoming a World Government member again would be good for everyone.
Any objection… would be absurd.
"Let's move on to the next agenda." Queen Maria D. Sora of Germa said, "This matter that no one will oppose — let's hurry up and vote. Everyone present, your time is valuable, yes?"
"The Germa Queen is right. There's really nothing to debate here." King Riku III of Dressrosa nodded in agreement. "Saint Nusjuro, let's proceed to the next item."
"Very well. Then the second agenda — the matter of Fish-Man Island rejoining the World Government — is hereby passed unanimously!"
Nusjuro nodded.
So far, the World Summit had proceeded very smoothly.
So smoothly, in fact, that Nusjuro kept glancing at Michael in the audience.
That guy… sat there so meekly from beginning to end?
Such behavior was odd not only to Nusjuro and the Five Elders, but even Garp, who was also attending as an observer, found it strange.
But one way or another, Michael always had that composed, serene demeanor.
"Now, next is the third agenda, and also the most important one in this World Summit." Nusjuro inhaled deeply and continued, "It's concerning… the Revolutionary Army."
The very mention of "Revolutionary Army" silenced everyone present. All eyes turned to Nusjuro.
"Does the Revolutionary Army need to be brought up at a World Summit? That seems unnecessary." A king from a small country in the New World said with a laugh. "In the New World, there has never been a trace of the Revolutionary Army."
"Even in Paradise, the Revolutionary Army's activity is limited. They've merely established so-called 'Rescue Stations' and 'Offices' around the Drum Kingdom and Alabasta Kingdom. What harm is there? If you ask me, the threat from those pirates is greater." King Seki of Lulusia Kingdom shrugged. "What danger do they really pose?"
As for the member states from the Four Seas, they watched mutely, neither speaking nor revealing emotion.
The nations in the Grand Line don't care much about the Four Seas. Otherwise they would know: in the Four Seas, the nations are now in effect wearing the same trousers as the Revolutionary Army.
Of course, this was also because the Revolutionary Army, following Michael's instructions, had delayed armed liberation of the major nations, and devoted itself to managing and consolidating the territories they already held.
In the original story, at this time Monkey D. Dragon was already defined as the world's most vicious criminal at the World Summit.
Now, although Dragon carried a bounty worth one billion Belly, his presence…
Was still even less than Doflamingo's Donquixote Family.
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