Unlike the cheerful atmosphere aboard the Golden Hind, the two World Government warships not far away were filled with a tense and gloomy atmosphere.
“Saint Roswald has been missing for so long, and we still haven’t received any news.
Are you Marines completely useless?”
The masked CP0 agent angrily glared at Vice Admiral Momonga beside him.
“If this continues, the Five Elders won’t let you off easily.”
“They won’t let you off easily, you mean.”
Facing the CP0 agent’s anger, Momonga calmly rested a hand on his sword.
“I wasn’t originally assigned to investigate the Celestial Dragon incident.
You forcibly recruited me while I was investigating Colonel Nezumi’s corruption.”
“If the Five Elders want someone to answer for this, they’ll question you, the person in charge of the investigation.”
“You!”
The CP0 agent angrily pointed at Momonga.
He knew that Momonga was right.
If he failed to uncover anything soon, he might not be able to keep his position.
But there was nothing he could do.
The sea was vast, and without any witnesses, identifying the attackers was incredibly difficult.
So far, they had destroyed numerous pirate crews of all sizes throughout the East Blue in their search for the people who had attacked the Celestial Dragon.
They had even killed several Sea Kings that might have devoured the Celestial Dragon.
Yet none of it had achieved anything.
They had failed to find the attacker, and they had not even recovered the Celestial Dragon’s body.
It was inevitable that the Five Elders would hold him accountable.
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t that the pirate crew that attacked Colonel Nezumi?”
Momonga was rather surprised as he looked at the Golden Hind approaching them from a distance.
“They’ve got some nerve.
They saw us and didn’t even try to escape.”
“As expected of the vicious pirates who dared to fire on Colonel Nezumi.”
Momonga walked to the bow of the ship and slowly drew his sword.
“Although we’ve now discovered Colonel Nezumi’s corruption, attacking Marines is still a genuine crime.”
“Now, you’ll go to prison and properly atone for it.”
As he spoke, Momonga, unwilling to remain around the CP0 agent, prepared to use Geppo to reach the Golden Hind.
But just as he crouched down, he saw a red figure flying from the Golden Hind.
“Ding.
A Devil Fruit has been detected.
Host, proceed to collect it.”
Hearing the mechanical voice in his mind, Zhuyun looked toward the warships ahead.
“So that’s where it is.”
“Vice Admiral Momonga and CP0?”
Zhuyun looked at the nearby warships.
“Since you’ve got a Devil Fruit aboard, I suppose that’s your bad luck.”
Zhuyun turned toward Emiya.
“How about you go?”
“If you manage to get some money, you can use it to strengthen yourself.”
“Although your strength hasn’t reached its peak yet, with your Noble Phantasms, unless you’re dealing with an Admiral, they shouldn’t be able to do much against you.”
“Yes.
I shall follow Master’s orders.”
Emiya stepped forward.
“And becoming stronger is certainly a good thing.”
“To be honest, compared with my peak condition, this body feels as though it’s in a weakened state.
It would be good to leave this state behind.”
“Then we’ll sit back and watch you perform.”
Zhuyun smiled.
“If you really need help, I’ll have Drake fire the cannons.”
“That’s right, Emiya boy.
Go without worry.
My cannons will be watching over you.”
Drake patted her chest firmly.
“Why does the way you put that sound so ominous?”
“And having cannons ‘watch over me’ is hardly reassuring.”
Emiya shook his head.
“Forget it.
I’m going.”
“I have confidence in dealing with them.
Once it’s over, just come over and collect the treasure.”
With that, Emiya Shirou leaped fiercely toward the World Government ships.
***
Momonga did not stop Emiya from boarding their ship.
He simply drew his sword and quietly watched Emiya Shirou.
“Abandoning a ship with overwhelming firepower and coming alone into enemy territory.”
“You certainly have courage.”
CP0 walked over beside Momonga.
“Should I call you brave or foolish?”
“I’m not here to chat.”
“If you’re willing to hand over the treasure aboard this ship…”
Emiya projected two broken blades into his hands.
“Kanshou and Bakuya.”
“Then we can avoid a battle.”
“What a strange ability.”
“You’re a Devil Fruit user, aren’t you?”
“There are indeed people in this world who eat a Devil Fruit and then assume they’re invincible.”
“Those people usually die very quickly.”
Momonga glanced at the twin blades that had suddenly appeared in Emiya’s hands.
He raised his sword and pointed it toward Emiya.
“We’re not the same as Colonel Nezumi, whom you defeated before.”
“You’ll learn the difference soon enough.”
“Momonga, enough.”
“Take him down quickly, then go deal with his companions.”
With that, CP0 turned and walked toward the interior of the ship.
“We have important matters to attend to.”
“Ah, looks like a fight can’t be avoided.”
Emiya crossed Kanshou and Bakuya before him.
“Then here I go.”
With that, Emiya launched Kanshou and Bakuya toward Momonga.
Momonga shifted his body, allowing the two swords to pass along a different trajectory.
The blades flew past him and continued toward his back.
After avoiding the attack, Momonga was about to charge toward Emiya with his sword.
But the moment he focused his eyes on Emiya, two blades identical to the previous ones suddenly flew toward his face.
Fortunately, Momonga was a battle-hardened Marine.
He immediately swung his sword twice, knocking the incoming blades away.
The newly projected Kanshou and Bakuya were sent flying in different directions.