Chapter 57: Unfortunately, You Have No Path to Survival
Water Buffalo Bar.
Blueno, who had just closed the main door of the bar, quietly walked to the counter and reached out to grab a floor tile beneath his feet.
"Click."
Above the floor tile, a door suddenly opened.
And beneath that door was a secret passage that had clearly been dug out long ago.
Blueno stepped into it.
"Iron Body: Fall!"
Then, he began to fall.
After falling several tens of meters downwards and passing through three checkpoints with spike traps, he landed heavily on the ground.
However, at this moment, his body remained completely unharmed.
He stood up and looked at the hidden secret room in front of him.
A moment later.
"Rumble!"
In the direction he was looking, a heavy sound similarly echoed.
A figure fell from another passage—it was a person with a round body and head, who looked like a ball at first glance.
He had green hair, and his mouth was shaped like a zipper.
"Fukuro, you're five minutes late."
Blueno said calmly.
"No choice, the passage here was prepared for Lucci and Kaku. I'm not in charge of the mission here. If Iceburg didn't have a temporary meeting tonight, and Kalifa couldn't free herself, it wouldn't be my turn to come! Gahahaha!"
The CP9 agent named Fukuro replied with a loud laugh.
"...As a temporary intelligence messenger, you cannot reveal information about other people or missions—that's the rule."
Blueno remained calm.
He and the other three agents were stationed in Water Seven to carry out a mission to investigate the ancient weapon "Dark King" by infiltrating Mayor Iceburg's side.
But recently, the two agents originally responsible for the Water Seven mission, "Rob Lucci" and "Kaku," had both accepted the government's summons to participate in the Three Armies Mock Battle, taking the opportunity to report on the investigation of "Dark King."
And the other agent, Kalifa, served as Iceburg's secretary, with a difficult mission.
Therefore, the intelligence consolidation work for Water Seven was handed to him, and the one responsible for receiving intelligence from him also became this Fukuro in front.
And he was, of course, clear about his colleague's big-mouthed nature, which was why he was reminding the other party at this moment.
"I didn't reveal any information!"
Fukuro retorted with a righteous expression, then belatedly let out an "Ah," covering his mouth: "It seems I really did let something slip again."
Seeing this, Blueno shook his head and said helplessly, "The intel?"
"Here it is."
Fukuro reached out and took a huge bag from behind him, handing it to Blueno.
But as he handed it over, he also said curiously, "Director Spandam said that inside are all the intelligence records he recently had people collect from Headquarters regarding 'Dark King' and 'Water Seven' related keywords from the past 20 years. And I heard you also asked for information about 'Luo Yi Alas'?"
"Did you see him? How strong is that Marine? Lucci and Kaku are also participating in the Three Armies Mock Battle this time, can they beat him? They definitely can, right? Oh, I'm definitely not gossiping right now… Gahahaha!"
No, you clearly are gossiping!
Blueno's expression remained unchanged.
But he didn't say much more, just hoisted the huge bag onto his right shoulder: "I didn't fight him, but since he can become a Seven Warlord of the Sea, his strength should be very high. I asked for his information just to ensure absolute certainty."
He didn't answer the question about Loy and his other two comrades' strength—mainly because he knew that if he said anything, Fukuro would definitely blurt it out.
Lucci and Kaku are both very strong guys; if he told them, they might come looking for trouble.
"Alright, you can leave now."
Then, without waiting for Fukuro to ask more troublesome questions, he said directly.
"Hmph, boring… Gahahaha!"
Fukuro grumbled somewhat unhappily.
But he still turned around, preparing to use Moonwalk to leave along the falling pipeline.
But it was at this very moment.
"Swoosh!"
Blueno clearly heard the sound.
As a professional CP9 agent, he could instantly discern what that sound was—it was the sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh.
And indeed, it was so.
The next moment, Blueno saw Fukuro's huge head fly up in front of him.
Immediately after.
"Swoosh!"
His entire body instantly turned into a pool of blood.
Enemy!
Blueno instantly made a judgment.
Who was the opponent? What attacked Fukuro? When did they arrive in the secret room? How did they conceal their presence?
Blueno didn't know, nor did he have time to think.
Because.
"Swoosh!"
At this moment, he already felt a sharp pain from his right arm.
The next moment, his right arm was severed clean from the shoulder.
"Thud!"
The huge intelligence bag also fell to the ground with it.
"It's a slash—where did it come from?"
Even at this moment, Blueno didn't even know where the slash had come from.
But as a veteran agent, his mind didn't lose its rationality because of the pain.
"He chose to cut off my right arm first—does he want the documents in the bag?"
Even at a time like this, he could still calmly think and analyze.
"Iron Body: Steel!"
He didn't have time to mourn for Fukuro; he activated Iron Body—one of his most proficient "Six Powers" techniques.
The next moment.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Continuous slashes instantly came from almost every part of his body—the intensity and ferocity of the continuous attacks made Blueno clearly realize that even his Iron Body couldn't last much longer.
"Seventeen slashes aimed at the neck, seventy slashes aimed at the limbs, and slashes aimed at the body…"
He calmly calculated the intervals of the continuous slashes.
Then.
"It's now!"
At a certain moment, he deactivated Iron Body.
"Swoosh!"
The slashes instantly severed both his legs and cut open his abdomen.
But Blueno endured the pain, stretched out his only remaining hand, opened a door in the air, and with a fierce pull, flew inside.
And the moment the door closed, even Blueno couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
The inside of the alternate dimension opened by the Door-Door Fruit was absolutely safe—this was an ironclad rule in his understanding.
"Slashes attacking almost every part of the body simultaneously—is it an Ability User?"
It didn't matter, because the slashes couldn't follow him into the door.
"Can't see the opponent, are they concealing their presence?"
It didn't matter, because he could observe the outside world from within the alternate dimension; he could wait for the opponent to show themselves.
But just as Blueno subconsciously scanned his surroundings, his gaze froze.
Then.
His usually calm, wooden expression showed a ghostly shock for the first time.
Because at this moment, he clearly saw.
Right in front of him, there was actually a person standing.
"A very decisive choice, sacrificing non-fatal parts like your legs and body to gain a path to survival—as expected of a CP9 agent."
A person wearing a mouse mask.
At this moment, he was speaking softly.
"But unfortunately."
He said softly,
"You never had a 'path to survival'."
"You… you are…"
And looking at that iconic Sea Beast Mask, Blueno naturally vaguely realized the truth.
"I am the 'Rat' of the Twelve Star Generals—as you can see, I am an assassin."
As his words fell, Blueno again heard the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air.
And this time, his peripheral vision vaguely caught sight of where the blade was.
It was beneath his left shoulder, a place almost in his blind spot.
There was a hand there.
And the forearm and fingers of that hand reflected a sharp gleam.
It was a hand, and also a blade.
It grew on Blueno's body, like death that followed him like a shadow.
The next moment—
"Swoosh!"
The sound of a sharp blade tearing through flesh was not pleasant to the ear.
(end of chapter)