Ugh, it hurts—
Just kidding.
Aokiji casually froze the long-haired man into a block of ice.
He pulled the dagger from his chest, a few ice crystals coming away with it.
It was the classic way a Logia-type Esper toyed with people.
He pretended the enemy's attack had landed, yet his elemental body remained completely unaffected.
From the island's unremarkable dark-red volcanic rock came the whir of machinery.
With a slight tremor, countless gun barrels rose from the ground.
''Mm-hmm, landing here directly would have been a mistake,'' Bang's eyes were razor-sharp.
''Preparing this many weapons—what kind of assassination is this?'' Watchdog Man dead-panned.
A torrent of gunfire!
Assassins poured out like cockroaches.
Bang's figure flashed, darting through the hail of bullets into their midst.
Like a powerful bowling ball, he sent the assassins flying sky-high.
Watchdog Man turned into a white streak, weaving through the battlefield in an instant.
Every auto-turret he passed exploded and crumbled.
The Assassination Alliance, infamous in the underworld, now looked as helpless as a speed-bump under a hundred-ton truck.
Aokiji casually blocked the gunfire aimed at him.
Step by step he walked toward the base inside the island.
Once inside, the place looked far more high-end than the Q-City branch, filled with high-tech creations.
For instance, the bizarre-looking guns several men up ahead were holding.
They seemed to fire some kind of 'wave'.
Yet Aokiji felt nothing unusual and turned them into ice sculptures with a wave of his hand.
He picked up one of the odd guns and studied it, but couldn't figure out its purpose.
If he ever obtained Vegapunk's template,
he could probably analyze it completely in no time.
Thinking of Vegapunk's appearance, Aokiji wondered if a Logia could keep his head from getting so big.
The Brain-Brain Fruit was certainly useful.
He just couldn't accept what it did to the user's looks.
The more knowledge you gained, the larger your head became; in the end Vegapunk had his own brain removed and linked remotely, and after adding protective layers its diameter exceeded a kilometer!
While Aokiji's mind wandered.
Inside a deep safe-room, an old man looked horrified and furious.
He slammed the table as he stared at the monitors.
''Damn it!!''
''Didn't those Tsukuyomi people say their tech could suppress Espers?!''
''Some anti-Esper invention this is!!''
''Trash! Garbage!!''
As Aokiji advanced, the surveillance feeds kept going white and disappearing.
The old man forced down his rage
and contacted the Tsukuyomi people.
''Hey—I've lured that Esper here like you asked; my place is about to fall completely—where are your people?!''
After a brief silence,
an icy, emotionless voice replied:
''Calm down. Don't vent your stupidity; the fault lies with your Alliance for not following my plan.''
''Follow it? How?!''
The old man couldn't hold back and roared at the other party.
''Those guys didn't act the way you predicted at all—they smashed two of my branches and came straight here!!''
The other side remained cold: ''So the problem is yours. If your people hadn't sold you out and revealed your location, the plan could have proceeded as intended.''
The old man took several deep breaths and stopped arguing.
He asked hoarsely:
''…How long until your people arrive? The weapons you gave me are useless; I can't hold out much longer.''
''No effect?''
The other side finally showed a flicker of emotion,
then calmed again.
''I see—so he really is a special case.''
''My men are carrying the originally prepared equipment and rushing over. At full speed, they'll reach you in about five minutes.''
After saying that,
the cold voice murmured:
''Though… it might draw the attention of a certain someone…''
''What?''
The old man hadn't caught the last line and frowned.
''It's nothing to do with you. Things have gone this far—just stall with everything you've got.''
With that final remark the other party ended the call on his own.
The old man slammed the table again.
Five minutes!
He might not last even two and a half!
''…Release all the failures.''
Failures.
They were the products of joint experiments between the Assassination Alliance and other dark-world forces.
Using drugs, body modification, brainwashing, and more,
they'd tried to create super-soldiers with great combat power who would obey every order.
In the end,
each one's individual strength was inferior to the already-defeated Killer Zero,
their mental states were extremely unstable, they couldn't follow commands,
and they would even attack indiscriminately.
Forget assassination missions—
they couldn't even handle basic gang turf fights.
Brothers risk life and limb on the streets,
and you, you little bastard, stab them in the back??
The old man had never imagined these utter failures would ever be useful.
A subordinate tapped away at a console
and opened the heavy doors sealing the failures.
Lines of data scrolled across the screen.
Chips implanted in the failures could monitor vital signs.
Seeing the hundred-plus active signals, the old man finally felt a sliver of hope.
By disaster-rating standards,
the failures' combat strength barely reached Tiger level.
With these numbers, they couldn't be insta—''Sir! All failure vital signs have vanished!!''
They'd only just been released!!
The Esper hadn't even reached the containment area yet?!
The old man nearly choked.
''Mindless beasts calling themselves assassins.''
A tall, slender, handsome man flicked his long blade,
so fast that not a drop of blood stained the steel.
It was none other than Flashy Flash, who had just arrived!
Someone besides me is hitting the Assassination Alliance?
Flash recalled the battle he'd seen outside.
A weirdly dressed fellow and an old martial artist—
both radiating the aura of true powerhouses.
Flash had no interest in stealing others' prey.
He simply headed straight inside.
Entering from another direction, he happened upon the newly released failures.
And cut them all down in passing.
Flash sheathed his blade and surveyed the buildings around him.
This place was larger than the previous branch—time to pick up the pace.
Whoosh—
Like a beam of light he sped forward,
cutting down every enemy he encountered along the way.
The assassins had no time to react before their heads hit the floor.
Until… clang—!!!
Aokiji caught the incoming blade and raised an eyebrow.
What a coincidence?
...
(Throw some stones)