The Devil's Hideout

At the front gate battlefield, the combined rescue force keeps smashing through Government soldiers. One defender stares at the incoming wave and shouts, "Some-thing's coming!!!" while another asks, "Hey, what's that bruiser...?" The answer is not calm: Gomorrah and the fighters crash forward with cries of "Bahi hihi!!!" and "Baru buru ruru ruua!!!" Bodies fly as the charging beasts and allies tear through the line. The page is all impact and momentum, showing that the invaders have gone from forcing the gate open to turning the Government's own front defense into a collapsing path.

The mounted charge continues. Fighters yell, "Take 'em out!!!" as the bulls and sea beasts plow through the guards. The soldiers shout "Ora ora!!!" and "Gero!!" amid explosions and debris, but the line keeps breaking. One defender cries, "They're the pirates that broke through the main island gate!!" while another shouts, "Shit!! These guys!!" Sanji, calm in the middle of the chaos, judges the enemy's quality: "Looking good! These guys are really into it!!!" The raiders are not counting on the enemy to like losing bulls; they are counting on their own speed, nerve, and the shock of a direct assault.

The scene shifts to the Enies Lobby Tower of Justice, where Franky lies chained in front of Spandam and Robin. Spandam sneers, "Same as back then... he's just as hot-headed, Cutty Flam..." and begins digging into Franky's past. He says, "I should've known you were alive and in possession of the blueprints. I wouldn't have had to suffer this way..." Then he reveals how he manipulated events: "Using the sins of your past to reel you in... was all too easy!!!" Franky is trapped, beaten, and forced to listen as Spandam boasts that everything that ruined him was bait used to bring the ancient-weapon blueprints within reach.

Spandam explains the bargain that destroyed Franky's life after Tom's death. He says, "And in exchange, your senior, Iceburg, became an annoyance." The story unfolds: Iceburg took over Water Seven's shipyards with one arm, made them into a major corporation, and established his company as a World Government purveyor. He also became the president of the Galley-La Company shipbuilders and the mayor of the Water Capital, Water Seven. Blueno notes, "He would support everyone, even the Government, becoming an indispensable existence, on which even we couldn't lay a hand...!!" The Government could not simply crush Iceburg once the city depended on him.

Franky's old rage returns as he remembers Iceburg's deal with the Government. In the past, he shouted, "I heard you've signed on to build World Government ships!! You gotta be joking!!! I'll never forgive you!!" and demanded, "So, that's why he did business with the Government...!!" Spandam laughs at how useful the situation became: "What a smart guy he was! Waha haha!!! But now, the winds blow in my favor...!! Just when I was about time to shake off the numbness and begin our enforcement plan... I received some good news from Admiral Aokiji." Robin reacts sharply, and Spandam reveals the news: "It was that Nico Robin was aboard a pirate ship... and heading for Water Seven!!!"

Spandam boasts that he revised his plan around Robin's arrival. He says, "To calm myself, I drank a cup of coffee, and incorporated my access to the Buster Call into my strategy!!! Although the scenario changed a little... look!!! The two keys to reviving the ancient weapon are here in front of me!!" He throws his arms wide and claims, "The power to rule over any civilization as I wish is within my grasp!!! Don't you see!? The winds of the world are truly blowing my way now!!!" Robin asks the essential question: "Why would Aokiji... entrust you with the power of the Buster Call...?" Spandam snarls back in surprise, "What!?"

Spandam answers Robin's doubt with violence. He kicks her hard and yells, "Don't you dare question me!!! You insolent woman!!!" Robin falls as he rants, "You abominable blood from Ohara, the Devil's Land!!" and laughs, "Wahahaha!!!" But Robin, bruised and furious, throws his insult back at him: "The value of your damned existence would amount to nothing were it not for me!!! You should at least be thankful!!!" The page is cruel and precise: Spandam's authority depends on using Robin, yet he treats her survival and knowledge as filth to be beaten into obedience.

Spandam leans over Robin and promises punishment. "From now on, you will suffer so much pain, you'll wish for death countless times over... Prepare yourself... I'll beat you... I'll use you... and I'll cast you into the sea!! Your existence is that sinful!!!" Then he laughs and turns to another matter: "By the way... that moron from earlier that tried to take your lowly self back is here." Robin says, "It's not possible...!!!" but Spandam continues, "Well, he's probably been caught by the guards by now...!! The crew of 'Straw Hat Luffy'... why, he's just garbage before the 10,000-man force of Enies Lobby!!! He'll be taken to Impel Down."

Robin's patience breaks because Spandam has twisted her agreement. She screams, "Wait... that's not what you promised me!!! I agreed to cooperate with you all as long as they could escape safely!!!" Spandam tells Lucci to recite the condition, and Lucci states it coldly: "The six members of the Straw Hat crew, excluding Robin, will depart from Water Seven in peace." Robin confirms, "Yeah... that's right." Spandam then reveals the loophole: "You're clinging desperately to that hope... They sailed from Water Seven safely... then came here, didn't they!?" His cruelty rests on wording: the promise protected the crew's departure, not their rescue attempt.

Robin realizes the betrayal and gasps, "...!! What'd you say...!?" She says, "You'd violate our agreement using a technicality!!!" Franky, still bound, shouts, "There's nothing you can do, these guys are bastards! They've got a screwed-up sense of justice." Spandam kicks Robin again and yells, "Shut up, you pieces of filth!!! There's no point in holding a promise with you criminals in the first place!!! Don't give yourselves so much credit!!!" He admits the trap without shame: "We tricked the pirates and caught them. It's an acceptable method used even by Marines!!!" Then he mocks Robin as she lies coughing on the floor: "You deceptive woman... now I think I'll choose your ideal demise...!"

Robin bites down in rage with a sharp "Gnash!!" while Spandam laughs, "Wa--ha ha ha ha ha!!!" He stands over her and says, "You can die together... You're powerless before this great justice." Outside, Luffy keeps smashing through soldiers, shouting "Out of my way!!!" as he drives a huge fist into the crowd and sends bodies flying with "Gyaaaah!!!" The page cuts between Robin's helplessness inside and Luffy's refusal to stop outside. Spandam calls her powerless, but the person she tried to protect is still coming.

Luffy charges deeper through the guards. The soldiers yell, "Commander!! He's so scary!!!" and another snaps, "Don't falter, you morons!!!" Luffy plows through them anyway, and one calls him, "You ass-holes--!!" as the line collapses. Luffy sees the path ahead and says through heavy breathing, "Haa... that looks like a dead end!!! I'll still get you out of here, Robin!!!" The statement is simple, but it is the spine of the scene. No locked tower, no army, and no misleading route changes the promise he has made to himself.

Back in the tower, CP9 discusses the arrival of the Straw Hats with unnerving calm. Fukurou says, "The Straw Hats have shown up? Yeah, we received a word of it earlier--chyapapa. The chief was so distracted by the news, it was embarrassing. But we only lost five people." Nearby, a receiver lies uselessly: "The phone's off the hook." Spandam gives the real orders: "Guards!! Chain them up!!! Don't remove Nico Robin's Kairouseki* lock." He instructs them to take Cutty Flam to Impel Down and Nico Robin to Marine HQ as soon as the convoy preparations are complete, through the Gate of Justice. CP9 will return to rest for the moment, and Spandam boasts that CP9 will surely be recognized for its accomplishments.

Lucci rejects Spandam's celebration. Spandam proposes a toast, but Lucci says, "I'm in no mood for a toast. I have no interest in status or authority..." Spandam asks, "What!?" and Lucci explains his creed: "Our brand of justice exists for the World Government. The Government recognizes you as the commanding officer of the CP9. It's our duty to perfectly complete our missions!! However, I'm not required to endorse your ideas." Spandam complains, "You make a sound argument... well then, what do you want!?" Lucci answers in his leopard form with one word: "Blood." He adds, "If I'm here... even death is justifiable."

The entire CP9 group begins to leave the chamber, and Franky stares after them with alarm. He says, "Surely this is the 'sole assassin group'!!!" Spandam, still bruised and gleeful, calls the night "a chill evening in the Government" and laughs, "What promising individuals...!! Hahaha... Now I feel like I won't lose to anyone!!!" The agents stand in a stark line: Kalifa, Fukurou, Blueno, Lucci, Hattori, Kaku, Jyabura, and Kumadori. Their silence and composure make Spandam's cackling look even smaller, but their strength makes his plan terrifyingly real.

In front of the courthouse, Government soldiers lose track of Luffy. The map marks the area, and the guards shout, "We've lost sight of Straw Hat Luffy!!!" Another insists, "That's impossible!!! There must be countless guards here!! Search for him!!! We'll find him for sure!!!" They argue over where he went: "But he's not anywhere..." "Is he in the courthouse!!?" "No, he's not!!" Luffy, meanwhile, lands on a higher ledge and exhales, "Whew." Looking up, he realizes the shape of the route: "So that's... the last building, huh?" The Tower of Justice stands ahead as his next target.

Luffy reaches a place where the tower is visible but unreachable by normal means. He looks across the gap and says, "But there's no way to get there!!" Then an impossible door appears in the air before him. Luffy blinks, "Hmm? What the??" and the explanation comes from inside the strange opening: "Air Door." Blueno steps out and says, "This is unheard of in the World Government... a man that broke in all the way to the front steps of the Government...!!!" Luffy recognizes him immediately: "Ah! You're the cow that was with the pigeon guy!!!" Blueno replies that their intelligence had mistaken the damage count, and Luffy grins, "Until I die!!!" when asked, "How long do you plan on struggling?" The chapter ends with Luffy face to face with Blueno at the edge of the final approach.

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