Just as Rob Lucci began observing again, a burly pirate suddenly slapped his shoulder.
"Hey, which ship are you from? You look unfamiliar."
Information instantly flashed in Lucci's mind:
"Large-Spider Squad Captain, Squard—Bounty: 210 million berries. Appears sneaky, but actually simple-minded."
Feigning casualness, Lucci slurred, "I'm a chanic on the flagship. And you?"
Squard scratched his head, bemused:
"Ah, a chanic—no wonder I didn't recognize you. All good. Keep drinking! We're counting on you to check every ship—especially before our underwater assault."
Lucci's heart skipped. "Underwater assault?" This confird Whitebeard's plan to use coated ship to breach Marineford's naval defenses—a massive, covert operation. He'd just scored priceless intel.
Within fifteen minutes, drunken pirates dragged Squard away—but Lucci had what he needed.
"Using bubble-wrapped hulls to infiltrate USG waters—that's a solid plan, though they're sloppy with security. If I can't kill him, at least I'll bring this screenshot to Sengoku."
But after briefly observing Roya, he'd realized the impossible: "Assassinating him awake? His Observation Haki would detect it instantly. I need to wait until he sleeps..."
---
Dead of Night – Assassination
As the blackest hour approached, the pirate fleet settled into drunken slumber. Lucci crept to the Vice-Captain's quarters, its door silent in the hush. He narrowed his eyes at the steady breathing—Roya was truly asleep.
Silently, Lucci shifted into half-beast form. His padded leopard paws moved soundlessly across the deck as he entered the room.
Moonlight illuminated Roya's face as Lucci drew his sharpened index finger—hardened like a steel spike through Life Return—ready to strike.
His foot bounced on the floor—"Six-form Slash!" A flash of power surged through his body, feeding into the lethal tip of his finger. He was confident it could pierce heavy steel.
But to his horror, the finger struck... nothing—no flesh, only slipping away as if eting an invisible barrier.
Impossible. His steel-hardened finger had hit a force field.
His heart thundered. Rooftop-sized dread flooded him. No intel explained this: an Observation Haki so perfected it works even in sleep?!
Panic obliterated reason. His mind spiraled—he was being toyed with by an unseen master.
"He's not just using Observation Haki—he's embedding it into my mind!"
That realization triggered ntal overload. Lucci blacked out.
---
Dawn – A thod to Retaliate?
He awoke to dim dawn light. Roya was still asleep; Lucci exhaled. It had been every bit a passive defense.
"Terrifying."
Stealthily, he left the room and blended into the drunken throng again. At the threshold, he twirled the dove-whistle in his paw, anxious and unsure.
Leaving without completing the plan didn't suit him—but trying again felt hopeless.
He wavered until morning broke, then decided:
"One more attempt—with poison. If that fails again, I'll go back and honestly report to Sengoku. And if that's not enough? Fine—I'll join the pirates myself. At least I'd be free, not cannon fodder."
He muttered, fell asleep—and dreamt he was a pirate under Roya, seeing him beco Pirate King—and even kicking the Five Elders in the face. Sengoku and Akainu, helpless beneath his heel.
But then—PAIN. He was kicked awake.
"Hey, get back to work checking the engine rooms, will ya?"
PS: Access advance chapters at
spatreon/c/NanamiTL
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