"Oh no!"
"We've been spotted!"
Panic seized the hearts of everyone present.
"They found us way too quickly!" Law's expression grew grim, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
After sneaking into the Arms Manufacturing District through the ventilation shafts, Brook had used his soul-projection to terrify a dozen or so workers who were hiding out in a breakroom for a smoke break. Then, using those workers' discarded uniforms and ID passes combined with Law's own Devil Fruit abilities, they had managed to infiltrate this deep. Less than an hour had passed since then.
"This room only stores rifles, which means there must be separate vaults for artillery, bullets, mortar shells, and explosives!" Law's eyes gleamed with a calculating light as he said in a low, sharp voice, "Keep searching. If we can find the main explosives vault and set it off, we might be able to blow this entire manufacturing district sky-high!"
"Blow this place sky-high?!"
The Straw Hat Pirates gasped in horror, staring at Law in absolute disbelief.
"But there are so many ordinary workers here! If we detonate the explosives, they'll all be caught in the blast!" Nami flatly rejected Law's plan, asserting firmly, "There have to be other ways. We cannot drag innocent people into this!"
"Innocent people?"
A cynical sneer curled Law's lips. "These weapons are manufactured by those very 'ordinary people.' Every single one of them is a highly skilled veteran craftsman. The sheer volume of arms they churn out daily is enough to overthrow a small nation. Simply destroying the production machinery and the current munitions stockpiles won't be enough to shake the Chris Pirates' foundations!
"As long as they have spare machinery, those workers can just start production all over again. The only way to ensure the Chris Pirates can't recover, even if they have backup equipment, is to eliminate the skilled workforce so they can never assemble a labor pool of this scale again!"
Logically speaking, Law's cold calculation was entirely correct. But for the Straw Hat Pirates, slaughtering thousands upon thousands of workers and security guards in one fell swoop was something they could absolutely never bring themselves to do.
"No way! I can't just slaughter workers!"
"Laying a hand on unarmed, helpless people... I won't do it!"
"I-I can't bring myself to attack ordinary people either!"
Within moments, the entire Straw Hat crew voiced their staunch opposition to Law's ruthless strategy.
"Tra-guy, is there any other way?" Luffy raised his head, his eyes locked onto Law with unwavering resolve.
Seeing that his allies refused to budge, Law realized he had no choice. He let out a deep, defeated sigh. "Sigh... You're letting the perfect solution slip through your fingers. Fine, our only option left is a frontal assault. We'll cause massive havoc throughout the Arms Manufacturing District first, forcing the Chris Pirates to evacuate the workers, and then find a way to blow the facility up!"
Hearing this alternative, Luffy and the others finally smiled, nodding in eager agreement.
Bam!
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Luffy slammed his fists together, a wide, trademark grin breaking across his face.
"If it's just pure destruction you want, I happen to be quite good at that," Zoro chuckled. His hand drifted down, casually resting on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji at his waist.
With a calm, composed expression, Law shed his stolen factory jumpsuit, pointing toward the rows of reinforced wooden crates packed with flintlock rifles. "The firearms here aren't loaded with ammunition yet. Let's start with this room!"
"Open this vault!"
"Wait, this door isn't locked! Someone forced it open!"
"What?! Alert, we have intruders!"
Just then, frantic voices echoed from the corridor outside.
Bam!
The heavy steel door was brutally kicked open, and several black-uniformed guards armed with swords and rifles burst into the vault, locking eyes directly with Luffy and the crew.
"Uh… hi! How's it going?" Nami offered a deeply awkward wave, her face tightening with embarrassment.
"Intruders!"
"It's 'Cat Burglar' Nami of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"Straw Hat Luffy and Roronoa Zoro are here too!"
"And Trafalgar Law!"
The guards recognized them instantly. There was absolutely no mistaking it, the invaders had been found!
"Leave them to me!" Franky roared, raising his massive arms and throwing a devastating, heavy punch forward.
Boom!
The sheer force of Franky's fist sent the front guards flying. Coughing up blood, they crashed backward like broken dolls, with two of them propelled entirely out of the room, slamming hard against the walls of the corridor outside.
Somewhere in the Facility Corridor…
"Edmond-sama! The Straw Hats and Trafalgar Law have been spotted in the Munitions Vault! They are causing massive destruction!"
A frantic voice screamed through the Den Den Mushi, turning the faces of the executives incredibly grim.
"Hold them off at all costs! I'm on my way!" Edmond barked into the receiver before snapping the line dead with a sharp click.
"Intruder alert! The invaders have been identified as the Straw Hat Pirates and Trafalgar Law!"
"Intruder alert! The invaders have been identified as the Straw Hat Pirates and Trafalgar Law!"
"All patrol squads, converge on the Munitions Vault immediately!"
The facility's PA system blared to life across every sector. It was clear that the personnel in the Administrative Center had spotted the intruders' trail via the surveillance Den Den Mushi.
"They're actually in the storage vaults!" Mina ground her teeth in pure fury, her voice dripping with venom. "Those brats are trying to blow up the entire manufacturing district!"
In an instant, Mina's beautiful eyes flushed a predatory crimson. Sharp fangs extended from her gums, and the muscles along her back surged violently as a pair of massive, jet-black bat wings patterned with blood-red veins tore through her clothes and expanded outward.
"I'm going ahead!"
With a wingspan exceeding three meters, she unleashed a powerful downward stroke, conjuring a howling gale. Whoosh! Mina launched herself forward like a lethal arrow, vanishing past the end of the corridor in the blink of an eye.
Seeing Mina take off on her own, Betilla and the others grew anxious. This woman was their Captain's beloved companion; if anything happened to her, there would be hell to pay!
The group broke into a frantic sprint, desperately tearing down the corridors toward the Munitions Vault.
Along the way, endless columns of black-uniformed security forces were also converging on the sector, moving in lockstep with several towering, bio-engineered Dragonians. Excluding the guards stationed to lockdown the primary exits, virtually every ounce of security manpower within the facility had been mobilized.
"Miserable little brats!"
Flying through the upper corridors, Mina soared over squad after squad of guards, arriving at the Munitions Vault within mere minutes.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, the reinforced walls ahead shattered outward into a shower of flying debris and dust as a torrential barrage of fist shadows erupted into Mina's field of vision.
As the afterimages faded, they revealed a scene of absolute devastation. Dozens of security guards lay groaning on the floor amidst a sea of smashed, ruined firearms.
"Hehehehe~ that's room number seven!" Luffy cheered, cracking his knuckles as he admired his handy work with a satisfied grin.
"You bastards!"
Mina stared at the ruined vault, her boiling fury finally exploding.
"Ah? A Devil Fruit user?" Luffy blinked, looking up just in time to see the bat-formed Mina hovering above him.
"Damned brat! I'll tear you to pieces!" Mina roared in a rage. Snapping her bat wings, she dived downward like a bolt of lightning, appearing directly in front of Luffy in a fraction of a second.
Her slender right leg lashed out like a razor-sharp blade, whipping through the air with a piercing screech. Bam! The devastating kick connected squarely against Luffy's crossed forearms.
The sheer impact caused Luffy's entire frame to shudder. Feeling the immense physical force behind the strike, he was forced backward, his feet plowing two deep, jagged trenches into the solid ground before he finally came to a halt.