"Then it's a done deal," Mike said coolly into the Den Den Mushi.
"Don't you worry your handsome head, Aide-san!" Kizaru's voice, now dripping with a sycophantic eagerness that was almost comical, chirped through the receiver.
"Leave the entire CP9 matter to this old man! I'll give you a call the second the transfer documents are signed, sealed, and delivered!"
"Good. I'm counting on you, old man," Mike replied with a satisfied smile.
"Not at all! The pleasure is all mine, Mike-kun! It is an honor to be of service!" Kizaru practically sang before hanging up.
'Heh. One billion Belly a month!' Kizaru thought, a positively giddy expression on his face.
'One billion! That's twenty percent of Whitebeard's entire bounty! And all I have to do is put on a nice suit, smile, and sweet-talk that old fossil Saint Saturn for a few minutes. Is there a faster, easier way to make money in this world? I think not!'
He scoffed to himself.
'Dignity? An admiral's prestige? Can you eat that? Can you spend it on fine wine and fast women? No. But you can spend Belly.'
...
Back on the Nautilus, Mike put down the receiver.
"Alright, Kizaru has it handled. Now we just wait for the good news."
Smoker let out a puff of cigar smoke, a smirk playing on his lips.
"That guy really is something else. The second money gets involved, he becomes a completely different person."
Kuzan just grinned his lazy grin.
"Ahaha, that's Borsalino for you. Predictably unpredictable."
"Alright, gentlemen," Mike said, pushing himself up from the sofa.
He stretched his arms high above his head, a series of satisfying cracks echoing from his back.
"Time for us to make an appearance. Let's head to Enies Lobby and go welcome our new comrades."
…
Meanwhile, at the Marine Headquarters in Marineford, the heavy oak door to Admiral Kizaru's office was shut tight.
Click.
The soft sound of the Den Den Mushi receiver being placed back on its cradle was the only noise in the room.
Kizaru didn't move immediately.
He remained in his chair, the usual lazy slouch gone, replaced by a rare, thoughtful stillness.
'To think…' he mused, tapping a long finger on his desk.
'A mess involving CP9… and even Kuzan is sticking his neck out for it?'
His brows furrowed.
His signature sleazy grin was nowhere to be found, replaced by an expression of deep, uncharacteristic seriousness.
He knew Kuzan.
On the surface, the man was a lazy, cold fish, but underneath he had a strong sense of personal justice.
But ever since the Ohara incident all those years ago, that fire had been banked.
Kuzan had all but lost his ambition, rarely taking the initiative on anything that wasn't directly ordered.
Yet here he was, actively working with Mike on this CP9 business.
It didn't add up.
"Things are just getting more and more interesting," Kizaru muttered to himself, his eyes, hidden behind yellow sunglasses, flickering with complex calculations.
"My dear aide… what exactly is your endgame here?"
He mulled it over for another ten seconds before suddenly smacking himself on the forehead.
"Ah, whatever! Who cares!"
The seriousness vanished as if it were a mask, and the familiar, cheeky, money-loving grin returned in full force.
"One billion Belly a month!" he chirped, his mood doing a complete 180.
"Why should I waste my brain cells worrying about their grand plans?"
"With this kind of money…" he began, counting off on his fingers, his smile growing wider and more gleeful with each item.
"I can get a new suit… custom-made shoes… a diamond-encrusted nail clipper… I'll buy the latest model of everything!"
His eyes glazed over for a moment, a distant, lecherous look appearing on his face.
"And… the freshest… hehehe~"
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat loudly, shaking himself out of his indecent daydream.
"Right! Mike's business first!"
With that, there was a brilliant flash of golden light.
Whoosh—
Kizaru's physical form dissolved into shimmering particles, vanishing from the office in an instant.
All that was left was a gently swaying window curtain and a room filled with a sudden, profound silence.
…
In the waters near Enies Lobby, on a nameless, forgotten island, the scene was one of utter devastation.
What was once a lush, green landscape was now a blackened wasteland, scarred by fire and explosions.
The acrid smell of gunpowder hung heavy in the humid air, mingling with the even stronger, sickeningly sweet stench of blood that clung to everything.
Huddled among the ruins were the battered and broken members of CP9.
Their once-immaculate suits were scorched, torn, and stained dark with blood.
Their hair was matted with sweat and grime, and every single one of them was injured, their faces etched with a bone-deep exhaustion that went far beyond physical fatigue.
It was the exhaustion of the soul.
They never would have imagined it.
The World Goverment, the very organization they had served from the shadows, had turned on them.
The pursuit from the marines had been relentless, brutal, and without mercy.
Even with their superhuman training, they had been pushed to the absolute brink.
They were out of medical supplies, out of food, and rapidly running out of hope.
"Damn it all!" Kalifa hissed, grinding her teeth.
Her anger was a sharp, brittle thing, visible even behind her cracked glasses.
"Those Navy bastards have lost their minds! We are CP9! The World Government's direct intelligence unit! And they're hunting us down like dogs!"
"The World Government abandoned us the moment we failed," Rob Lucci's voice was a low, hoarse rasp.
He was leaning against a shattered wall, his chest rising and falling in ragged breaths.
A large, dark stain was spreading across his white suit jacket.
"To them, we are now worthless."
"I refuse to accept this!" Blueno slammed a fist into the dirt. "We've dedicated our lives to them! We sacrificed everything! And this is our reward?!"
"And what good does refusing do?" Jabra growled from nearby, clutching a wound in his side.
"We can barely stand, let alone fight back!"
"What's the point of this talk now?" Lucci's cold, emotionless voice cut through the despair.
He scanned his defeated comrades, his eyes devoid of any warmth.
"If you want to live, then get yourselves together! Those Navy dogs will be on us again any minute now!"
As if summoned by his words, the silhouettes of several warships appeared on the distant horizon.
They were cutting through the waves at full speed, their white bows slicing through the blue water like the gleaming edge of a guillotine.
"They've found us!" Kaku breathed, his expression grim.
A fresh wave of despair washed over the exhausted agents, drowning what little hope they had left.
Their once-formidable power now felt laughably insignificant against the might of a full Naval fleet.
"We fight until the end," Lucci said, slowly pushing himself to his feet.
He swayed, his body screaming in protest, but a final, defiant glint of resolve flashed in his eyes.
It was better to die on their feet than be captured like animals.
Just as they braced for their final, hopeless battle, a shadow fell over the island.
A massive, unnatural shadow that grew with terrifying speed, blotting out the sun.
They all looked up instinctively, their jaws falling slack at the impossible sight before them.
A colossal beast of steel was rising from the ocean's depths, water cascading down its pitch-black hull like a monstrous waterfall.
It was a submarine, but larger than any ship they had ever seen, its strange, angular design reflecting the sunlight with a cold, menacing gleam.
"What… what in the world is that thing?!"
"Is it friend or foe?!"
As the members of CP9 stood frozen in shock and uncertainty, a section of the steel behemoth's belly slowly hinged open.
A ramp extended, and a group of figures stepped out, landing lightly on the scorched earth of the island.
Leading them was a tall, handsome young man in a pristine, custom-tailored Navy uniform.
An enigmatic, almost amused smile played on his lips as his eyes swept over the approaching Navy warships.
"Well now," Mike remarked, his voice calm and cool.
"Seems we arrived just in time."
Before anyone could react, Kuzan, who had been standing behind Mike, launched himself into the air.
He moved not with a jump, but with an effortless ascension, a trail of icy mist in his wake as he shot directly towards the oncoming fleet.
The "Justice" kanji on the back of his admiral's cloak fluttered behind him, an undeniable symbol of absolute authority.
"???"
"!!!"
"A-Admiral Aokiji?!"
"What is he doing here?!"
The soldiers on the lead warship gasped, their faces a mixture of shock and disbelief.
Why would one of the three admirals of Marine Headquarters possibly be here?
"I'm acting on official orders," Kuzan's voice boomed across the water, as cold and unforgiving as the ice he commanded.
"Your mission is over. You can turn back now."
"But, sir—!" the Rear Admiral in command started to protest, his duty conflicting with his survival instinct.
He was silenced by a single, icy glare from Kuzan.
"What?" the admiral asked, his voice dropping to a dangerously quiet level.
"Do you have any objection?"
------------
Info dump :
After a failed mission and their defeat by the Straw Hats, Spandam blamed them for the fall of Enies Lobby and sent Marines after them, turning the agents into fugitives before they were later reinstated into CP0.
Their reinstatement came after they uncovered and stopped an underworld plot against the World Government.
PS : Kalifa sister is a baddie!
PSS : If you like this fic, i release a similar fic to this called , One Piece : I'm Just Slacking off, do you think i'm weak ?