Blueno and Kaku moved quickly, launching an assault on the Straw Hat Pirates. But Zoro was soon struck down by one of Kaku's Finger Pistols, while Luffy's attacks were effortlessly dodged by Blueno. Having successfully gathered the necessary intelligence, Nico Robin leaped out a window and withdrew.
By this time, Xiaohu had largely recovered. With a deep breath, he flicked a dozen paper talismans from his sleeves, instantly surrounding Kalifa, who had been standing over him. Before anyone could react, Kalifa was struck by a barrage of spells. As the dense smoke cleared, Kalifa lay on the ground, her fate unknown, but Xiaohu was nowhere to be seen.
Xiaohu had already reached Mr. Iceburg, hoisting him onto his back and sprinting toward the nearest exit. Naturally, Kaku and the others had no intention of letting him escape. "Soru!" "Flame Burst Talisman!" Prepared in advance, Xiaohu scattered another handful of spiritual talismans in a circle around himself.
The sudden explosion threw everyone off balance. By then, Xiaohu and Mr. Iceburg had already left the room. Suddenly sensing movement behind him, Xiaohu instinctively ducked. "Tempest Kick!" A blade of wind sliced over his head, cleaving the building ahead in two.
"Regrettably, according to our plan, you are supposed to die here alongside the pirates while defending Mr. Iceburg. Therefore..." Kaku retracted the right leg he had used to unleash the slash, drew the woodsaw blade tied at his waist, and shouted, "Soru!"
Startled by this technique that allowed for sudden disappearance, Xiaohu shouted, "Four Directions Suppression!"
No sooner had four spiritual swords formed a protective barrier around himself and Mr. Iceburg than Kaku materialized right in front of him, sweeping his arm outward as he commanded, "Go back!"
The woodsaw blade struck the Longquan Sword, fracturing it inch by inch. Yet Kaku used brute force alone to drive Xiaohu back into the room. As Xiaohu struggled to steady himself, his vision suddenly darkened as a massive figure blocked his path. A hulking, speckled beast had appeared.
"What..." "Finger Pistol!" Xiaohu took a brutal blow to the abdomen, tasting sweetness in his throat as a mouthful of blood sprayed out. "A monster..."
Amidst the flickering flames, those trapped inside the room finally caught a glimpse of the beast's true form.
"Zoan fruit, Leopard form," Rob Lucci declared, the oppressive weight of his presence filling the room. "Pirates, you see it now. The gap in strength between us is vast."
Before long, Lucci in his transformed state had defeated both Zoro and Luffy. At that moment, Nami was the only one left conscious in the room.
"Stay away from me," Nami retreated, secretly clutching a talisman in the palm of her hand.
"I advise you not to bother with those toys; they're useless," Kaku said, pulling a stack of talisman paper from his pocket—the very ones he had taken from Mr. Iceburg.
"How do you have so many..." Nami felt a wave of despair wash over her.
"Hmph, mere trifles. Only a fool like Kalifa could be taken down by them."
Lucci glanced with disdain at Kalifa lying unconscious on the floor, then ordered Blueno to hoist her onto his back.
"Only through one's own strength does one become truly strong." Lucci took the talisman paper, tore it to pieces, and tossed them into the flames.
"Now then, it's your turn, petty thief Nami."
"No, you've got to be kidding." Nami watched in horror as the other man destroyed the talismans. If she remembered correctly... Danger!
"Run!" With a deafening crash, the sky darkened with storm clouds, followed by a roar of thunder and a downpour of countless lightning bolts, intermingled with raging fire. The room itself began to shake violently, walls fracturing as a howling gale swept through and the temperature plummeted instantly, turning Lucci and the others into ice sculptures.
That was not the end of it; the entire building continued to shudder, seemingly on the verge of collapse.
Breaking free from their restraints, Lucci and the others watched as lightning and fire bore down upon them. They had no choice but to use Moon Walk to escape. Only after putting a considerable distance between themselves and the building did they look back with lingering fear.
"Can paper talismans truly produce a power that rivals nature?" Kaku muttered.
Lucci let out a cold snort. "They can't escape us anyway. Now, let's go capture Franky."
"Wake up!"
Xiaohu opened his eyes to find a reindeer wearing a hat calling out to him with frantic urgency. Startled, Xiaohu realized that he, Mr. Iceburg, and Paulie were all tied together, surrounded by a landscape of ice and fire.
"Hurry, this place is about to collapse." The reindeer chewed through the ropes binding them. Xiaohu checked the breathing of the two men beside him and felt a wave of relief to find they were still alive. "Mr. Iceburg, Paulie, wake up."
As both men remained unconscious, the reindeer urged, "Put them on my back, and let's get out of here first." With that, Xiaohu hoisted Iceburg onto his back while the reindeer carried Paulie, and the two of them bolted out of the building. Almost the moment they cleared the structure, it collapsed entirely.
After carrying Mr. Iceburg to a safe location and settling him down, Xiaohu finally let out a breath. By now, Dock One had been reduced to ashes. Fortunately, the shipwrights had evacuated in time, and there were no fatalities. Xiaohu touched the wound on his abdomen; after applying medicine, the bleeding had stopped, though a dull ache remained.
"Lucci, Kaku..." Betrayed by his companions a second time, a mixture of helplessness and fury welled up inside Xiaohu. Looking out the window, he saw that although the hurricane had not yet made landfall, the entire city was already engulfed in a torrential downpour.
"Xiaohu..." A voice drifted from the hospital bed. Xiaohu turned his head with a start, overjoyed. "Mr. Iceburg, you're awake! I'll go get a doctor."
"Wait, Xiaohu, I'm fine. How is everyone else?" Iceburg stopped him.
"Most of the shipwrights sustained some injuries, but none are life-threatening. Also... the orange-haired girl and the pet belonging to the Straw Hat Pirates are still alive; they're in the next room."
"Are the Straw Hat Pirates still alive? Have them come over, there are some things I need to tell them."
With Nami summoned to the room, Mr. Iceburg slowly recounted his brief conversation with Nico Robin back in the burning building.
"You mean Robin willingly went with the World Government's people just to protect us?" Having learned the truth, Nami lowered her head and buried her face in her hands.
Xiaohu offered words of comfort: "You shouldn't be too sad..."
To everyone's surprise, Nami lowered her hands to reveal a radiant smile. "I knew Robin had her reasons! In that case, we are definitely going to bring Robin back!"
A stunned Mr. Iceburg asked, "The enemy is the World Government—aren't you afraid?"
Nami's smile remained bright. "You shouldn't underestimate us! Once Luffy and the others learn the truth, they'll smash the enemy to pieces no matter who they are! By the way, can you provide us with a ship?"
Iceburg fell silent for a moment before replying, "Aside from the Sea Train, no ship can make it through the tsunami. The Sea Train is about to set off. If you can board that train, you might still have a chance."
"Eh? How much time is left?"
"About half an hour."
"That won't do, I need to go find Luffy and the others right away."
"Xiaohu, have Paulie round up the shipwrights and go help her."
"Understood."
After dispatching the shipwrights, Xiaohu returned to Mr. Iceburg's side. After a long silence, Iceburg spoke up, "Xiaohu, do you know the origins of the Sea Train?"
Through Iceburg's narrative, Xiaohu finally learned the history of the island.
Twenty years ago, Water 7 was merely an isolated island. Its foundations were built upon the ocean floor, and as those foundations steadily sank, the rising tides year after year slowly swallowed the city. The inhabitants had no choice but to keep building upwards upon the existing architecture. Yet everyone knew that one day, the entire city would be submerged by the sea. At that time, the island's shipyards had fallen into civil strife, rendering them incapable of building vessels safe enough to leave. Furthermore, the sudden fury of the surrounding waves and the proliferation of Sea Kings meant that supplies from other islands could no longer be brought in. The people of the city plunged into despair, forced to watch the place where they lived drown day by day, leaving the island with virtually no future.
Yet, a turning point finally arrived. Iceburg's mentor, Tom, spent fourteen years crafting a means of transportation capable of traversing the seas between several islands—this was the Sea Train, the Puffing Tom. From then on, the people of Water 7 reclaimed their hope, and the entire city sprang back to life. Prior to this, Mr. Tom had been sentenced to death for building a ship for the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. It was only because of his monumental invention, the Sea Train, that his sentence was temporarily commuted.
However, some bastard eager to secure a promotion by getting his hands on the Ancient Weapon blueprints in Mr. Tom's possession framed them. They made use of a ship and weapons left at the shoreline by another of Tom's apprentices, Cutty Flam, to attack the Marines and lay the blame on Mr. Tom. To ensure the safety of Iceburg and Cutty Flam, Mr. Tom confessed to the crime and was taken to Enies Lobby, where he was executed. Meanwhile, Cutty Flam, attempting single-handedly to intercept the Sea Train in order to save Mr. Tom, was struck and gravely injured. He later modified his own body, surviving as a cyborg and renaming himself Franky.
"Mr. Tom's wish was to see this city regain its vitality. The Sea Train, the Puffing Tom, brought us more than just a simple mode of transportation; it brought hope. That is why Mr. Tom was smiling when he left. Now, Franky has been captured as well. Though I once resented him—wondering how Mr. Tom could have died if not for his insistence on building weapons—I later realized that even without Franky providing that opening, they would have found another excuse to frame Mr. Tom. Those people's goal was to obtain the Ancient Weapon blueprints, and they would stop at nothing to achieve it. The weapon blueprints our era guards, no matter who gets them, will shatter the current balance of power. Now those blueprints are in Franky's hands, and Nico Robin, who can read the Poneglyphs, has also fallen into their grasp. If they truly revive the Ancient Weapons, the days of peace in Water 7 will come to an end."
"I understand, Mr. Iceburg." Xiaohu stood up and declared, "I'm going to rescue Franky."
"No, Xiaohu, I want you to stay. That place is far too dangerous. Galley-La needs you now. I am appointing you as the new foreman, and I must ask you to assist Paulie from now on."
"And what about you, Mr. Iceburg? What do you intend to do?"
Iceburg was silent for a moment before continuing, "When Mr. Tom was dragged away back then, I lacked the power to save him; now that Franky has been taken too, I cannot simply sit by and do nothing. Over all these years, I established the Galley-La Company and became the mayor of Water 7. The World Government doesn't dare move against me openly, so they resort to espionage and assassination. You probably didn't know—the Water 7 Weekly is backed by me. Now that they've failed to kill me, they've left behind evidence. I will use that as a bargaining chip. If they don't want their actions exposed to the public, they will drop the development of the Ancient Weapons."
"Mr. Iceburg, if you do this, the World Government won't let you go."
"It doesn't matter. As long as I can prevent a war, what does risking my life matter? Seeing the Straw Hat Pirates seems to have reignited the courage and passion I once had. Xiaohu, the Galley-La Company is in your hands. It's just that you are still young and lack sufficient prestige, so let Paulie manage things for you for a few years."
Xiaohu sighed. "Please forgive me for refusing your request."
"Why? Didn't you say before that you wanted to repay my kindness and would do whatever I asked?"
"Indeed. But the moment I pulled you from the blazing fire just now, that debt was repaid."
Right as Mr. Iceburg woke up, the system had delivered the Art of Sword Control directly to him.
Mr. Iceburg's eyes widened in shock. "Then put me back! I didn't ask you to save me!"
Xiaohu shook his head helplessly. "Mr. Iceburg, stop talking nonsense. Your intentions are good, but what if the enemy would rather tear off their mask entirely than give up manufacturing the weapon? Let me make this trip instead. Even if I can't beat them, I'm confident I can sneak Franky out."
"...Fine. I should have known I should have let you go with the Straw Hat Pirates. Still, if you want to reach that place now, there might be one remaining way."
"Quest received: Rescue Mr. Iceburg's fellow apprentice, Franky. Time limit: Seven days. Quest reward: Lin Family Sword Techniques."