Monster vs. Kumadori

Kalifa's room is still filled with water, foam, and the wreckage of Nami's lightning attack. Nami stands with the Clima-Tact, watching the smoke and bubbles drift across the room. Kalifa's voice cuts through her confidence: "That's what you get for being too confident in yourself...!!" Then something rises from the foam with a huge "!?" The attack that should have punished Kalifa has not ended the fight at all. Instead, the room goes quiet around the strange dome of bubbles forming in the bath, and Nami realizes her opponent is not simply hiding.

The bubble mass swells with "bloop bloop bloop," and Kalifa emerges from inside it, calm and unharmed. Nami cries, "Eh!?" Kalifa smiles, "... Hoho," and rises from the bath in a shower of foam. "What a surprise," she says. "I never thought I'd ever be struck by lightning indoors." Nami tries to understand: "What... was that thing that protected her from the lightning...? It turned into bubbles and disappeared...!!" Kalifa gives only the warning that matters: "If you don't solve this mystery... you have no chance of winning." Nami studies the effect: "...!! It's just like soap dissolving and forming bubbles... Maybe the 'Awa Awa' no Mi made her a soap-woman or something."

Nami understands the ability, but Kalifa refuses to let that equal victory. "B-but even by knowing my ability, it doesn't mean you can win!! You insolent fool!!" Nami thinks, "I guess I got that right. I feel sorry for her!" Kalifa states the truth of her Devil Fruit: "That's right, I am clean lines personified!! After eating the Awa Awa no Mi, I've become a 'soap-woman.' Who can create bubbles from any part of her body!!" Nami, despite the danger, blurts out, "Wah, she's so sexy... If she were my secretary, I'd be happy!!" then corrects herself in fury, "Wait, I'm not a man!!"

Kalifa demonstrates control over her bubbles. Nami asks, "But isn't it rather inconvenient for battles? It doesn't look very strong!!" Kalifa answers, "But I can control the bubbles I create from my body... any way I want." She shapes them into "Bubble Master!!" and the bubbles from the bathtub move at her command. Then she forms the ridiculous but dangerous "Soap Sheep!!" Nami stares and asks, "Are you an idiot?" Kalifa answers coldly, "Appearances can be deceiving," and sends the attack into "Hitsuji-Gumo Relax Hour!!!" with the note that it means "sheep cloud," also a pun between chika and awa.

Kalifa explains why Nami lost strength when she entered the room. "Think about it; why did you lose your strength when you first came in?" Nami realizes it: "That's right...!! It's most likely because of her ability...!! Bubbles...!! Now that I think about it, when I stepped into this room... the floor was covered with bubbles!!!" Kalifa fires the bubble sheep: "Shoot!!" Nami is hit with "splorch!!" and cries, "Argh!!!" as the foam clings to her body. Kalifa smiles, "You noticed it a little bit too late... Hoo hoo." Nami staggers under the effect, the bubbles already draining the strength from her again.

Nami finally names the danger: "I'm losing my strength...!! So, losing it earlier was because I stepped on the bubbles on the floor...!!" Kalifa says, "You'll slowly see what's so terrifying about this ability..." and the floor erupts beneath Nami. She screams, "Aauuh!!!" as the room splinters under the impact. Kalifa explains, "The bubbles I diffuse from my body can remove anything. From stains and dirt... to strength... and more." Then she reminds Nami what she is: "And don't forget one thing... I'm an assassin of the secret intelligence organization."

Nami refuses to stay helpless. She notices, "I can move!! This attack blew away the bubbles...!!" and grips her Clima-Tact: "...!! I won't forgive you anymore!!" She fires "Thunder Ball!!!" and the charged orb bursts toward Kalifa. Kalifa steps close with "tap tap," admitting, "Only that weapon is still foreign to me...!!" Nami tries to seize the opening, but Kalifa slips behind her and catches her with "Golden Hour!!" Nami gasps, "Wha...!?" as Kalifa puts her hands on Nami's body and begins coating her again with bubbles.

Nami tries to escape with "Soru," but she cannot stand. "Eh!? I can't stand up!? Ack!! Wh-what is this!? My legs...!!!" Kalifa calmly explains while foam curls around her hands: "Isn't it beautiful? Anything I touch will gain beautiful luster. Allow me to make your skin shiny on every part of your body." The bubble power slides over Nami's legs and body, turning the danger intimate and humiliating as well as tactical. Kalifa is not only taking Nami's strength; she is reshaping her body surface into something too slick to fight with.

Elsewhere in the tower, monster Chopper rampages. Kumadori screams, "BUOOOH!!" and then, "Insolent fool!! 'Geppou'!!" He leaps through the ruined kitchen and tries to resume his own performance: "Now, die, die, die!!" and "Haru Gin Jou!!!" He strikes with his staff and claws, but the huge Chopper shrugs through the attack. Kumadori hardens with "Tekkai!!" and still gets smashed aside. The panels are chaotic and brutal: the CP9 fighter who had been reciting death poetry is now the one being tossed around by a body that does not even seem conscious.

Kumadori cries "BUOOO OOOH..." as monster Chopper looms over him. Kumadori tries to recover with "Tekkai!!" but Chopper's massive fist drives him down anyway, the impact tearing the room apart. Kumadori is slammed again with a huge crash, and Chopper stands over the wreckage without a word. His expression is empty, his body enormous, and his violence automatic. The scene makes Kureha's warning real: this is not Chopper fighting harder, but Chopper's Devil Fruit and Rumble Ball power running wild beyond his control.

Outside, Franky runs along the tower path, breathing hard. "I don't know what lies ahead," he thinks, "so I better get a cola refill... Oh yeah, I wonder what happened to that reindeer..." Then the wall breaks open before him. He stops with "Hrmm!?" and sees the monster form towering in smoke and debris. Franky stares upward, shocked by the silhouette. The body has Chopper's hat and antlers, but its size and shape are wrong, making Franky's earlier guess of a strange enemy suddenly feel uncertain and dangerous.

Franky recognizes the defeated enemy first. "What the hell!!?" he shouts as Kumadori is hurled away. "That's the 'CP9' dude who was in the fridge!!! Eh!? Did this monster beat him up!?" He watches Kumadori fly out across the tower with a huge "!!" and looks back at the monster. The hat gives him the clue: "Wasn't that deer wearing a similar hat?" Then he calls up at the giant, "Hey, you!! You ain't that deer gorilla, are ya...!?" The monster gives no answer, and Franky can only mutter, "What the hell is going on...?"

Kumadori is flung from the Tower of Justice and lands in the plaza in front of the courthouse on the main island. People nearby stare at the crash and shout, "No doubt; he's Kumadori-san from 'CP9'!!!" and, "Was he just sent flying from the Tower of Justice!? No way." Another asks, "Who could've done this!?" Kumadori's huge body lies battered while, far above, the monster form of Chopper roars "BUOOOOH!!!" from the broken tower wall. The terrifying answer is visible to anyone who looks up: something inside the tower just defeated a CP9 agent by brute force.

In the undersea passage between the Tower of Justice and the Gates of Justice, Spandam drags Robin forward. From behind, Luffy's voice echoes: "Hey, hurry up... What are you stopping there for, Nico Robin!!?" Spandam panics, "Hey!!! You 'woman of sinful existence'!!! Don't stop!! Lucci!!! Drag her over!! Pull her hair if necessary!!!" Robin says softly, "I just heard a voice..." Spandam refuses to believe it: "Wa ha ha ha, such a fool. Are you really hoping for those weak-ass pirates to be here? I bet the loud sound earlier was just our imagination. There's no way they can come here!!" Lucci only says, "It's an order... Walk, Nico Robin..."

Spandam explains the route with cruel satisfaction. "While you're day-dreaming, we're getting closer to the 'Bridge of Hesitation,' which stands right in front of the 'Gates of Justice.' After crossing half of the bridge's length, the other half will come up from the seabed and we can finally cross the 'Gates of Justice.'" The diagram labels the undersea passage as their current location, the half-off Bridge of Hesitation, and the Gates of Justice crossing section. Spandam tells Robin, "And once the Gates are closed... you'll never feel 'hope,' ever again. You will keep atoning for the sin you've committed by staying alive until today!! Do you understand, Nico Robin!? Wa ha ha ha ha!!" Robin then hears it clearly: "Robiiiin!!!" Luffy is coming.

Robin turns toward the voice, and Spandam and Lucci react in shock. Spandam stammers, "Wha...!? What was that just now? I heard a voice!!! Hey!!! What was the voice just now!?" Lucci says, "Chief, please keep going... and take Nico Robin with you..." Luffy reaches another World Government door and says, "Doors? It doesn't look like steel this time." He charges with "Uryaa-aaah!!!" and smashes through it with a huge "Gum Gum Cannon!!" The passage explodes open as Luffy forces his way toward Robin, proving that the voice she heard was real.

Luffy bursts into a wide open space beyond the passage. "Where am I!?" he asks, then realizes, "A wide open space!!" He looks across the grand chamber and sees his enemy. "Ah!!! Pigeon guy!!!" Luffy shouts, grinning with fury. Rob Lucci waits for him with a calm smile and says, "... Welcome." The chase through the undersea passage has finally brought Luffy face to face with Lucci, while Robin is still being taken onward. The chapter ends by setting the next decisive clash: Luffy has reached the man who stands between him and Robin.

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