Grand Line, Water 7.
Across from Blueno's Bar, Carlo appeared out of thin air, then turned invisible and vanished, his presence completely hidden. Only faint footprints on the ground proved that two people were standing there.
Carlo used Observation Haki to sense the target and confirmed there were no abnormalities. Then, together with the invisible modified Mihawk, he teleported away and reappeared inside the already closed bar.
In the back room, Blueno, who had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
The instant Carlo grabbed his wrist, the CP agent, trained since childhood, snapped awake. For the first time, someone had gotten this close to him without warning, and it was obvious the intruder meant harm. His thoughts raced as his leg kicked upward at a strange angle.
"Rankyaku—"
Whoosh!
Before the attack could fully form, Blueno, along with the invisible Carlo and Mihawk, vanished instantly.
The gap in strength made all his years of training meaningless, and he was taken away without the slightest resistance.
They reappeared in the Fleet Admiral's office at New Marineford.
* * *
New World, New Marineford.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Carlo appeared with the two of them, revealing himself.
At that moment, Blueno's Rankyaku had just been unleashed. It had not fully formed yet, and he had not even realized he had been moved. The force of the kick continued as a wind blade formed and shot toward Carlo.
The man did not react.
A thought flashed through Blueno's mind. 'Did it hit?'
Suddenly, everything in front of him seemed to slow down, like the moments before death.
A large hand wearing a black glove moved at an unbelievable speed, grabbing the Rankyaku blade and crushing it instantly. The shattered wind blade had not even dispersed before the same hand pressed forward, driving straight toward his head.
Blueno's eyes widened as adrenaline surged.
"Te—"
Crack!
The sound of his skull breaking rang out, but it did not shatter.
Sakazuki had controlled his strength. Otherwise, that casual strike would have killed him, and his Devil Fruit still had great use in the final war.
Blueno's eyes rolled back, yet his will, honed since childhood, kept him from losing consciousness. His body instinctively tightened as blood and muscles surged, and he muttered.
"—Kkai."
His body hardened like iron.
Sakazuki glanced at him indifferently. His gloved hand grabbed Blueno's head, lifted it to shoulder height, and then pressed down lightly.
Crack, crack…
The sound of thigh bones breaking echoed, followed immediately by more.
Crackle!
Bones were crushed one after another, the sound sharp and relentless.
Under the pressure, shattered bone fragments burst through flesh, piercing Blueno's legs and grinding them into pulp.
This time, he completely lost consciousness.
Even with his iron-hard body, he had been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh under Sakazuki's brute force, with only the faint rise and fall of his chest showing he was still alive.
Sakazuki casually tossed him aside onto the floor.
At some point, a pair of Seastone shackles appeared in Carlo's hand. He stepped forward, locked them onto Blueno's wrist, and smiled lightly.
"The Door-Door Fruit is ours."
Sakazuki looked at the broken body on the ground. "Is the fusion vessel ready?"
Carlo stood up and answered, "Egghead Island is attempting this kind of experiment for the first time, so success isn't guaranteed. They've been adjusting the equipment. Everything is ready, and they're just waiting for this test subject."
Sakazuki nodded. "Cover his face. The others will be here soon."
Carlo replied, "Yes."
The strategic value of the Door-Door Fruit was extraordinary, and in the final war, it would be extremely useful for encircling and annihilating pirates.
The reason they had not acted until now was because this man belonged to CP9.
It was not that CP9 agents could not be killed. The problem was that there were only a handful of official CP9 agents, and all of them were stationed in Water 7, a place practically filled with government personnel.
For a CP9 agent to vanish out of thin air on an island full of government eyes, especially one with a survival ability like the Door-Door Fruit, would immediately raise suspicion.
Only top-tier figures from a few factions could accomplish something like that. Either pirates or the Marines.
That was why they had held back. But now, with the final war approaching, there was no need to wait any longer. With Sugar's ability, everyone's memories could be erased.
Even if Enies Lobby had personnel records, it would still take time to notice, and they might not even realize it before the undercover mission to obtain the Pluton blueprints was completed.
* * *
Late at night, far away on the Grand Line, in Water 7.
At the Franky Family base, the group had just finished a long day of work and were preparing to head out for a drink.
The moment they stepped outside, they froze.
Franky scratched his head and looked at his subordinates. "We… what were we about to do again?"
* * *
In the New World, at Egghead Island, inside a secret laboratory above the clouds.
Whoosh!
Carlo appeared.
Vegapunk and his clones were already there, waiting.
Lilith greeted him with a grin. "Yo, Carlo. Did you bring it?"
Carlo smiled and handed over the horned toy in his hand. "Here it is."
Lilith took it and examined it. "Good. Let's begin the experiment!"
Ignoring everyone else, she rushed straight to the control platform.
The others exchanged glances, then shrugged helplessly and followed.
On the platform, the modified giant bear that had eaten the Munch-Munch Fruit was already prepared, connected to a massive screen.
Lilith tossed the horned toy into the bear's mouth and pressed a button, and the machine began operating, starting the fusion of the toy with the Seraphim of Jinbe that had already been swallowed earlier.
Hiss!
Steam burst out continuously as thick black vapor poured from the bear's ears and its body trembled.
Lilith looked at the black steam and clicked her tongue. "Tch. As expected… it failed."
The excitement on her face faded a little, though her motivation remained.
The others stepped forward, and Shaka, the embodiment of logic, spoke calmly. "Failure is normal. This is the first attempt. Increase the output. We'll eventually find a way to extract the Devil Fruit ability."
Because of the special nature of Sugar's power, once someone was turned into a toy, everything about them was sealed within it. So without killing Blueno, making everyone forget him while still being able to use his ability was extremely difficult.
Still, this was hardly a problem for Vegapunk and his clones, as the Munch-Munch Fruit was practically a bug-level ability.
Carlo watched for a while and prepared to leave. This was not his field, and just watching was tiring.
After saying goodbye, Vegapunk walked him out and said with a smile, "Don't worry. We'll definitely extract it before the final war. The vessel is already prepared.
"At the very least, we can open a door large enough for dozens of warships to enter another space and set up an ambush. That will be more than enough."
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