Midnight.
A dark and windy night.
On a shallow beach outside Water Seven, several warships quietly docked.
The crashing waves against the shore drowned out the sound of the warships and the countless Marines aboard them.
Rob Lucci and his comrades knew the gap between themselves and the silver-haired crew, but their superior, Spandam, did not!
This man, a second-generation official who had climbed to the top position of CP9 by leveraging his father's achievements.
He possessed little skill but was arrogant and conceited, with a despicable and malicious personality.
Even his subordinates, the entire CP9, despised this man.
After disembarking and docking.
A man in a black military uniform, with short purple hair, wearing a mask that covered half his face and a long sword at his waist, led two strange figures, one fat and one thin, off the warship first.
This man was Spandam.
Upon receiving Bruno's call, he did not report it to his superiors but instead commandeered the Marines stationed at Enies Lobby and rapidly headed towards Water Seven.
He didn't care much about the silver-haired crew, but Nico Robin was a high-priority wanted criminal that the World Government had been searching for for years.
If he could capture Robin, it would be another great achievement.
As for whether he could capture her, he didn't even consider it.
He had brought soldiers from several warships, and there was CP9 on the island, as well as Lucci.
He didn't believe that with so many people, they couldn't capture Nico Robin.
Pirates, after all!
Who would dare to face warships and not flee?
Although the silver-haired crew was strong, he had never seen them, and with his own limited strength, how could he differentiate the true extent of their power!
On the shore.
There was only a man in a black suit with two horns on his head.
The man stared at the warships on the sea, standing perfectly straight, his face filled with seriousness.
He was the owner of a hotel in the central street of Water Seven, but in reality, he was a member of CP9, a Devil Fruit user of the Door-Door Fruit, capable of opening doors anywhere, including walls and the air.
During the day, it was he who discovered the silver-haired crew and informed Kaku, who then, under Lucci's orders, reported it to Spandam.
He never imagined that Spandam would be foolish enough to bring people to capture Robin.
Robin on any pirate crew in the Paradise region was irrelevant, but this Robin was on the ship of the silver-haired captain, who had a bounty of 2.5 billion Berries!
2.5 billion.
What were the odds.
Among the countless pirates in this world, only the Four Emperors of the New World surpassed such a bounty.
This meant that the silver-haired captain's standing in the eyes of the World Government had risen to fifth in the world.
Although bounties did not always represent strength, especially in the first half of the Grand Line.
Still, the silver-haired captain was by no means someone Spandam and their CP9 could handle!
Whoosh!
With a tearing sound of the wind, two figures, also dressed in black suits, suddenly appeared on either side of him.
Upon closer inspection, they were Lucci and Kaku.
Both of them had been asleep but had suddenly received an urgent call from Bruno, prompting them to rush over.
Due to the urgency of the situation, they hadn't even notified Kalifa.
Glancing at Lucci and Kaku.
Kalifa asked in a low voice, "Lucci, what do we do?"
Although Spandam was the nominal leader of CP9, in the hearts of the members, Lucci was their true leader.
Of course, he was also their comrade.
Because they had grown up together.
"What do we do?"
Lucci, dressed in a black suit and wearing a black top hat, appeared cold and indifferent.
He stared at Spandam, a flash of anger in his eyes.
He detested this superior.
Didn't this guy realize that such recklessness could expose them, or even lead to them being wiped out by the silver-haired crew?
However, knowing Spandam's personality well, he knew that trying to dissuade him would be futile.
So, he also didn't know what to do.
"Heh heh!! Everyone's here?"
*Crack!*
Spandam stepped onto the rocks on the shore, moved forward quickly, his gaze sweeping over Lucci and the other two, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Except for Kalifa, CP9 is out in full force this time! We must capture Nico Robin."
Spandam let out a loud laugh and strode forward towards the distant stairs.
"Go."
The two strange figures following behind Spandam glanced at Lucci, then shook their heads, passing by them and quickly following.
Clearly, they had already tried to reason with Spandam.
Lucci frowned, turned to look at the countless Marines disembarking from the warships, then turned again and followed Spandam's footsteps.
Who could help it when Spandam was currently the highest-ranking official in CP9?
No matter how foolish the man was, they had to obey him.
They could only take it one step at a time. If things became truly impossible, they still had Bruno's Door-Door Fruit for escape.
The wind.
Ever since Spandam landed, the wind seemed to pick up.
It stirred the clouds in the sky, gradually obscuring the faint moonlight, plunging Water Seven into complete darkness.
Darkness provided excellent cover.
Thus, despite their numbers, Spandam and his group, moving cautiously, made no sound.
As they reached a secluded two-story inn, the group gradually dispersed, forming a cordon around the building.
"Heh heh!!"
Before they could even launch an attack, they suddenly heard a soul-piercing, slightly mocking laugh.
"Marines, World Government, CP9."
Silently, a young man appeared on the rooftop eaves of the inn.
The young man had silver hair and wore a white bathrobe, lounging lazily on the rooftop eaves.
He looked down, his azure eyes staring at those below without a trace of emotion.
"I didn't expect the first ones to come looking for trouble wouldn't be pirates, but you CP9."
"What?"
"Do you really want to die?"
"Don't..."
Spandam stared at Kōta, who had suddenly appeared, without any fear, and stepped forward, opening his mouth to shout.
However.
Kōta, who had been on the rooftop moments ago, had now appeared silently in front of him, his eyes, which glowed blue, fixed on him.
There was no aura, no extraneous movement, yet Spandam's body froze in place, unable to utter another word.
"Shhh!"
"It's late at night, disturbing someone's sweet dreams wouldn't be good."
He reached out, patted Spandam on the shoulder, and tilted his head, looking at him, "Don't you agree?"
From the moment Kōta appeared, Lucci and the others following Spandam had been locked onto by an inexplicable aura.
The aura was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, making them feel that if they dared to move, they would be brutally killed on the spot.
The Marines behind them were all frozen in place as if they had been hit by a petrification spell.
Only the foolish Spandam, as if he had noticed nothing, took another step forward, attempting to shout.