Meanwhile, over the distant seas, a somewhat weary figure was flying just above the surface of the water.
Long, flowing silver-white hair streamed behind her, and her skin was a healthy wheat tone, overall leaning toward a bronzed hue.
Sharp eyes betrayed deep exhaustion, along with a trace of unwillingness.
"These dogs of the World Government… haunting me one after another…"
She tore off a piece of her clothing to make a strip of cloth, bit one end, then wrapped it around her arm, roughly bandaging the still-bleeding wound.
She had lived this kind of life on the run for many years now. In the past, she usually hid on uninhabited islands or deep in mountain forests, moving the moment her whereabouts were discovered.
Because from past experience, once anyone discovered traces of a Lunarian, it wouldn't take long before World Government pursuers arrived.
Previously, spending a bit of effort to shake them off wasn't difficult.
But this time, for some unknown reason, CP9 agents were biting closely at her heels, impossible to shake off.
"I'm about to enter the Calm Belt… their ships shouldn't dare to go in…"
Adjusting her breathing rhythm, the Lunarian accelerated toward the distant sea. Yet behind her, several figures were also rapidly closing in.
"I see her! She's right ahead!"
"Same as usual! She's already injured, she won't last much longer! Rankyaku: Star Shatterer!"
Several slash-like attacks came flying from behind, though these weren't blade slashes, but attacks kicked out with Rankyaku.
Sensing the incoming attacks, flames instantly ignited on the Lunarian's back. After hardening her body to tank several of the blows head-on, she swung her blade at the nearest CP9 agent.
"Tekkai!"
The attacked CP9 agent crossed his arms in front of his chest, holding his breath and focusing. In an instant, his entire body became as hard as iron.
Clang!
The blade struck his body, sending out a shower of sparks. When he saw flames beginning to spread along the blade toward him, the CP9 agent hurriedly leapt backward, stabilizing himself only after several consecutive jumps in midair.
"Geppo! Damn it, weren't we told she didn't have much strength left? Why is she still this troublesome…"
"That's a Lunarian. Don't fight her head-on! Just keep wearing her down! Shigan: Barrage!"
Another CP9 agent took over his companion's position, his arms leaving behind a blur of afterimages as he thrust his fingers toward the Lunarian in front of him.
Whether it was Shigan or Geppo, they were only parts of Rokushiki. The earlier Rankyaku and Tekkai, along with Kami-e—relaxing the body to sway with the wind and evade attacks—and Soru for rapid movement, together formed the complete Rokushiki.
Both Marine members and Cipher Pol branch agents could train in these techniques.
To be able to use them proficiently meant stepping into the realm of the "superhuman."
And the standard for an official CP9 member was mastery of Rokushiki.
Faced with their encirclement, the Lunarian also displayed her countermeasures. The flames on her back burned even more fiercely, blocking the incoming attacks while she released wide-area flame attacks to force her opponents back.
Then, suddenly, the flames on her back went out, and she shot toward the distance at incredible speed.
This was the innate ability of the Lunarians. When the flames on their backs were lit, their defensive power increased. Once a Lunarian grew to a certain level, even Zoro's slashes during the Onigashima period would be unable to break through their defenses.
And when the flames extinguish, their speed increases. Lunarians can adjust the intensity of their flames to control their focus, allowing them to adapt to more complex environments.
"It's useless! You might as well surrender! Captain is the user of the Mark-Mark Fruit, you've already been marked by him!
No matter where you run, as long as you're alive, Captain will be able to find you!"
The Mark-Mark Fruit was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. In the original timeline, several decades later, this Devil Fruit would become the ability of Vander Decken IX.
And the ability of the Mark-Mark Fruit was not complicated: coordinate locking.
If the user made physical contact with a target, they could leave a mark on that person. Afterward, no matter how far away, anything the user threw would fly toward the marked target.
The captain of these CP9 agents had previously encountered the Lunarian they were now pursuing. During the fight, his palm had brushed against her arm, thus leaving this mark.
Each hand could only mark one target. If he touched someone else, the marked target would be replaced, which was why this CP9 officer had been wearing gloves the entire time.
Objects he threw did not arrive instantaneously; they required a certain amount of flight time, and the human body could endure it, which was why he threw his own subordinates.
Over the vast, open sea, those who were thrown would not encounter any obstacles, allowing them to reach the vicinity of the target without expending much effort.
The other CP9 members followed by ship, using the Vivre Cards of the CP9 agents who had been thrown ahead to determine direction, wearing the enemy down through a relay-style battle.
Once these CP9 agents had been thrown over and made contact with the Lunarian, the sustained effect of the Mark-Mark Fruit would end.
But as long as they could close the distance, CP9's objective would be achieved.
Geppo was not as convenient as flying for long-distance pursuit, but it was more than sufficient for short-term aerial combat.
"Idiot, why are you explaining the captain's ability to her?"
One of the CP9 agents looked at the one who had shouted earlier. After using Geppo to move in front of him, he angrily questioned him.
"Her speed is far slower than before, and her attacks are much weaker.
It's about time to close in. Don't you think this will crush her hope and make her give up resisting sooner? Look, she's not even running anymore."
"I don't see it that way. I only think she's ready to fight to the death… Why do you think Captain chose this method to drain her stamina?!"
Lunarians were hard enough to deal with to begin with. For these CP9 agents, the merit of capturing her alive was clearly far greater than bringing back a corpse.
And if they forced a direct encirclement, CP9 would inevitably suffer casualties. Requesting reinforcements would also reduce the credit that should have belonged to them.
That was why they devised this tactic of slowly wearing down her stamina. But now, it seemed that because of a single careless remark from a teammate, the plan had failed at the final moment.
"So that's how it is… No wonder I couldn't shake you this time…"
It wasn't that she believed everything her enemies said, but this pursuit really was too strange. She had been hunted by the World Government before and always managed to escape danger in the end.
This time was different. No matter how far she flew over the sea, these CP9 agents always managed to catch up in bizarre ways.
"What a shame… I hope this ends up in the hands of someone suitable…"
She took out something like a glass bottle from her person and threw it into the sea, then turned back to face the group of CP9.
"You want to take me alive? Then come and try. Let's see how many of you I can drag down with me to the grave!"
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