Chapter 126: Spandam's Panic – Franky's Sacrifice & CP9's Final Stand
"Lucci—this time I authorize you to kill freely on the island! Wipe out every last one of these lawless pirates—leave none alive!" Spandam roared in fury, his twisted face contorted with rage.
After giving the order, he immediately acted as though a single second's delay would bring disaster. He hurriedly beckoned several personal agents: "Quick! Take Nico Robin and Princess Vivi—we're evacuating Enies Lobby immediately! We can't let this drag on!"
But the moment he finished speaking, an unexpected twist occurred! Franky—who had appeared to be heavily bound in iron chains and powerless—had somehow silently freed himself.
He stood proudly, holding high a stack of ancient, yellowed papers with visibly aged, curled, and damaged edges.
Spandam's gaze locked instantly onto the papers. His pupils contracted from extreme shock and ecstasy! He almost screamed: "Th-This is it! The blueprints of the legendary ancient weapon capable of destroying the world—'Pluton'! Flam! Cutty Flam! Quick! Hand those blueprints over to me! Give me—no, give the World Government—the blueprints we've dreamed of for decades!"
His voice trembled with greed as he reached out desperately to seize them.
"Wait!" Kaku stared up and down at Franky in disbelief, his tone full of incredulity. "Don't tell me… you've been carrying something this important on your person this whole time?! Right under our noses?!"
"SUPER—exactly!" Franky declared loudly, voice booming and resolute, carrying a do-or-die determination. "This big bro Franky is making a gamble today! I'm betting everything on the Straw Hat crew winning completely! And more than anyone, I know exactly why you World Government bastards want these blueprints so badly—it's not for any bullshit 'justice,' but to obtain that power to destroy everything! So right here, right now—I'm destroying them myself!"
With that, he took a deep breath. Then, with a sudden burst, scorching, dazzling flames erupted from his mouth! The fire instantly engulfed the stack of papers carrying endless legend and calamity. The precious Pluton blueprints curled, blackened, and turned to ash before everyone's eyes at astonishing speed!
"No!!! You bastard! What have you done?! Do you even know what you've done?! I'll kill you! I'll tear you to pieces! You've ruined everything—five years of CP9 infiltration, countless efforts—all destroyed! All destroyed!"
Spandam looked as though his soul had been ripped out. He lunged forward like a madman, futilely clawing at the ground, trying to gather the now completely unrecognizable ashes. An ill-timed breeze swept across the balcony, effortlessly scattering the handful of cinders into the air—gone forever.
"Franky big bro! It's Franky big bro up there!" At that moment, earth-shaking shouts came from below. Zanbay and the entire Franky Family waved their arms wildly toward the balcony, ecstatic. "Big bro! We came with the Straw Hats to save you! You're okay—thank goodness!"
The sudden cries made Franky instinctively look down. A relieved smile spread across his face.
But in that brief moment of distraction, Spandam—driven insane by rage—flashed with murderous madness in his eyes. He suddenly kicked Franky in the back with all his strength! "Die, you damn bastard!"
"Ah! Franky big bro!" Below, the Franky Family screamed in terror.
Caught off guard, Franky lost balance instantly. He plummeted straight down from the high balcony of the Tower of Justice!
"Damn it—don't underestimate me! Wind Cannon!" In this life-or-death moment, the battle-hardened Franky displayed astonishing adaptability.
Mid-fall, he forcibly adjusted his posture. Powerful cola energy surged out—"Wind Cannon!" Using the massive recoil generated in that instant, he canceled most of the terrifying downward force. Still, the remaining impact prevented a graceful landing.
With a final bang, he crashed solidly yet somewhat comically onto the cold bridge surface below. He winced in pain, gritting his teeth—but he was safe.
"Damn it! Even that didn't kill him! This cursed cyborg!" Spandam raged from the balcony, stomping his feet as he watched Franky quickly get back up.
He knew he couldn't stay any longer. He immediately ordered CP9: "Remember this, all of you! You must kill every last one of these lawless bastards! Leave no survivors! The top-class CP0 reinforcement my father sent should arrive soon! I'm leaving this place to you—I'm getting out first!"
With that, without any further hesitation, he hurriedly ordered several trusted agents to forcibly drag Vivi and Robin away along a secret passage inside the tower.
"Karoo! Karoo hasn't caught up yet!" Vivi struggled against the two burly agents shoving her forward. She twisted back desperately, only able to watch helplessly as Karoo—bound tightly with special ropes and unable to move—was mercilessly left behind, crying out anxiously with "quack quack" sounds.
Spandam glanced back impatiently at the mention, waving his strange elephant sword Funkfreed with extreme disdain. "Are you kidding me! Just a stupid, clumsy duck beast—do you really expect this director to wait for it? Too much trouble—leave it to fend for itself!" His words were cold and cruel, as though he were discarding not a life, but a useless piece of trash.
Once Spandam's figure completely vanished at the end of the passage, an eerie silence temporarily fell over the balcony.
Kalifa pushed up her glasses; the lenses reflected cold light. She looked toward the direction Spandam had fled, her tone calm yet carrying a barely noticeable trace of mockery: "The director talks so lightly—leaving the most troublesome enemy to us with just a few words. That 'Fire Dragon' Sol is the guy who even hurt Lucci—he's not someone easy to deal with."
Lucci remained expressionless. He gently stroked the feathers of the white pigeon on his shoulder, his voice low and devoid of any fluctuation—as though stating a fact unrelated to himself: "It doesn't matter. Didn't Director Spandam say it? CP0 reinforcements will arrive soon. Until then, we only need to focus on dealing with everyone else here. As for that Sol…"
A faint yet extremely sharp glint flashed in Lucci's eyes. "…Someone will naturally take care of him. Our mission is to ensure the rest of the Straw Hat crew cannot leave Enies Lobby alive."
As his words fell, the aura of CP9 on the balcony instantly turned sharp and filled with killing intent. The air seemed to solidify slightly; the oppressive atmosphere before a great battle enveloped the Tower of Justice.