"That is Enies Lobby. No criminal who has ever been dragged inside has made it back out." Before the Rocketman arrived at the island, Paulie pulled out a rough map of Enies Lobby. He had sketched it from memory back when he was involved in the architectural project for the island.
Paulie said, "I have a plan. Later, the Franky Family and us will charge in first and blast the main gate open. Straw Hat Pirates, you wait on the train for five minutes. Once we open the main gate of the island, you'll drive the train straight through the main island and storm the courthouse. Behind the courthouse is the Tower of Justice, and the Tower of Justice connects to the Gate of Justice via a grand bridge—that is the only route they can take. There are at least two to three thousand enemies on this island, and we only have fifty or sixty people. You must avoid unnecessary fights and focus entirely on the CP9. Leave the rest to us. Understood?"
"Got it, understood," said Straw Hat Boy solemnly.
Granny Kokoro spoke up, "Straw Hat Boy, take a good look at the Gate of Justice above Enies Lobby. Once you pass through that gate, you'll be facing nothing less than Marine Headquarters and Impel Down. So this is your last chance. Once your crewmate is taken inside, there'll be no saving her."
"Alright, then we'll proceed according to the battle plan."
Just as everyone was making their preparations, a blur flashed before their eyes, and Straw Hat Boy was already gone. Looking closer, he had already used the power of his Gomu Gomu no Mi to charge onto the island.
"Why is he acting on his own?!" Paulie roared. "To not follow the plan at all—how do you people put up with such a self-centered captain?"
The members of the Straw Hat Pirates sighed in unison: "There was zero chance that guy was going to wait five minutes."
"Fine! You guys wait four minutes, then launch a full-scale assault together! Xiaohu, you—wait? Where's Xiaohu?" Paulie was startled. There was no sign of Xiaohu anywhere nearby. He looked up, and who was that flying on a sword in the distance if not Xiaohu?
"Oh my god! How is he flying?!" Chopper and Sogeking gasped in shock.
"No, that's not the point! Why is he ignoring the plan too?"
The remaining members of the Straw Hat Pirates looked at Paulie with sympathetic eyes, suddenly feeling a sense of shared misery.
The moment he laid eyes on Enies Lobby, Xiaohu simply couldn't sit still any longer. Knowing that Kaku, Lucci, and the others were right in the heart of it, he used his Sword Flight technique to fly directly toward the main building.
"Look over there! There's someone on top!"
"It's an intruder! Open fire!"
As Xiaohu flew on his sword, the Marines below opened fire one after another, but their attacks couldn't keep up with the speed of the Sword Flight.
"No good! He's flying too high and too fast—bullets can't hit him!"
Xiaohu flew unimpeded all the way to the front of the main building before stepping down from his flying sword. The moment he landed, the air rippled, and a door materialized out of thin air.
"I didn't expect you to pursue us all the way here alone. Are you in that much of a hurry to throw your life away?"
Xiaohu looked at Blueno. "I'll give you a chance to explain."
A trace of puzzlement flickered across Blueno's expressionless face. "Explain?"
"For instance, that you actually have hidden difficulties and are acting against your will. Because you were taken in by the World Government since childhood, forced to train, act as spies, and do things you dislike, you lost your freedom. You originally wanted to live a peaceful life in Water 7, but the World Government wouldn't allow it and even threatened to destroy Water 7 if you didn't work for them. To protect the peace of Water 7, you had no choice but to follow their orders. If you have any reason remotely like that, just say it, and I'll forgive you."
Hearing this, Blueno's expression grew even more blank. But it didn't take long for him to crack, and he burst into hysterical laughter. "What kind of nonsense are you babbling! We are agents—we live for missions and slaughter. How could we ever settle down and live some boring life in Water 7? Five years—do you have any idea how I got through those five years? If we hadn't been afraid of causing a public uproar, we would have dragged Iceburg off and interrogated him under torture long ago. As for sacrificing oneself to protect others—only an idiot like Nico Robin would ever do something like that."
Xiaohu sighed regretfully. "As expected, you aren't the kind of people Nico Robin is. In that case, I won't hold back anymore. Bring Kaku and Lucci out as well; I'm going to finish you all off and take Franky back."
Blueno wore a mocking sneer. "Li Xiaohu, have you forgotten what happened inside Iceburg's room? Have you forgotten our strength?"
Xiaohu stretched his hands and said, "Let's find out, shall we?"
"Soru!"
"Celestial Wind and Cloud Body Technique!"
Blueno and Xiaohu vanished from the spot simultaneously. When they reappeared, Xiaohu and Blueno traded a ferocious punch; Blueno retreated two steps, while Xiaohu stepped back seven or eight steps.
"Oh? In just a single day, you've actually managed to match the speed of Soru? But it's still useless. My physical strength far exceeds yours—you are no match for me."
Xiaohu shook his tingling hand. "True, when it comes to raw strength, I can't compare to you. But who says the person with the bigger strength always wins?"
"Then let's test it out! Rankyaku!"
"Wind Art: Dust-Raising Whirlwind."
Xiaohu dodged the slash unleashed by Blueno's foot and instantly cast a wind-element spell right beneath Blueno's feet. However, Blueno's reaction time was also extremely fast, and he managed to evade the attack just in time: "Shigan!" By this time, Xiaohu had already gripped the Longquan Sword in his hand, blocking Blueno's Shigan.
"Three Talents Converging!" Xiaohu released three streams of sword Qi toward Blueno.
"Tekkai!" The three streams of sword Qi dissipated upon hitting Blueno's body, failing to inflict any significant damage. Blueno immediately closed the distance using Geppo: "Tekkai: Kori!"
Blueno dropped from the air, smashing fiercely down toward Xiaohu. Xiaohu sidestepped to dodge, and Blueno rolled forward like a windmill to press the attack: "Tekkai: Dourin!"
"Five Spirits Return to Origin!" Xiaohu shielded his body with his spiritual sword, and Blueno's successive attacks landed on the blade, grinding out sparks.
"Geppo! Rankyaku!" Seeing that his attacks had failed to take effect and that he was instead suffering recoil damage, Blueno leaped back into the air and unleashed a slash with his foot.
"Four Directions Suppression!"
The two exchanged blows evenly matched.
"Li Xiaohu, is all you know how to do is dodge? You can't even handle me alone, and you still want to deal with Kaku and Lucci?"
Xiaohu remained silent. During the previous exchange, while it might have looked like Xiaohu was simply dodging, he had actually been secretly setting up a formation. Right now, the exact spot where Blueno stood was the center of that formation.
"Is that so? Taste this then—Wind Art: Strangling Formation, Wind's Fury!" Xiaohu guided the spell with a hand seal, and the formation on the ground lit up and began to spin.
"The same formation as the one in Iceburg's room? It's useless. In front of absolute defense, you can't hurt me." The moment his words fell, winds stirred up on flat ground around Blueno, gathering into six whirlwinds that closed in on him with crushing force.
"Tekkai!" "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Xiaohu flicked his hand seals rapidly, and the whirlwinds spun faster and faster, pulverizing the stone floor tiles into dust: "Merge!"
With a deafening crash, the six whirlwinds crushed together, enclosing Blueno in the center to form a massive hurricane that took quite a while to dissipate. Yet, when it cleared, where was there any sign of Blueno in the arena?
"Door-Door: Rotary Door!"
Xiaohu only heard a voice coming from behind him. His elbow was brushed by Blueno, and immediately his arms began to spin uncontrollably, causing the Longquan Sword to drop to the ground.
"Did you forget that I'm a Devil Fruit user too? Shigan!" Too slow to dodge, Xiaohu had no choice but to tense his muscles and take the blow head-on, after which he was sent flying backward.
Xiaohu climbed up from the pile of shattered bricks and took a deep breath. Ever since his breakthrough, his body had become much sturdier, unlike before when a Shigan could easily pierce right through him.
"Still hurts, though. Wind Art: Warm Mist!" Fortunately, Blueno's ability seemed to have a time limit, and his arms had returned to normal. Xiaohu cast a healing spell on himself.
"Just now, was there a strange attribute of energy flowing inside my arm?"
When Blueno applied his ability to himself, it seemed as though he had injected a certain kind of energy. Xiaohu had a feeling that if he circulated his True Qi in time, he should be able to block it. With a wave of Xiaohu's hand, the Longquan Sword flew back from the edge of Blueno's feet into his hand.
At this moment, Blueno was also looking rather disheveled. Earlier, he had thought he could rely on Tekkai to muscle through the hurricane, only to discover that the strange power tore through the defense of Tekkai within a few strikes. Trapped inside the barrier of the hurricane, he had been forced to use his Devil Fruit powers to open a door in the air and escape.
"Looks like I underestimated you as well—you actually almost managed to hurt me. But that spell formation of yours isn't something you can just cast at will either. This time, I won't give you the chance. Soru!"
Xiaohu was feeling quite fired up now as well. "Let's see what you've got. Celestial Wind and Cloud Body Technique!" Trading punches with Blueno once more, neither of them retreated this time. Blueno had turned serious and was now going all out. The two traded a dozen blows back and forth before Blueno once again resorted to his ability.
"Door-Door: Human Door."
Xiaohu had long been on guard against this move: "Four Directions Suppression!" The materialized spiritual swords bounced the approaching Blueno away.
Blueno was somewhat startled by this. Xiaohu's initial movements had still been quite stiff and clumsy, but after trading dozens of strikes, his techniques were becoming increasingly fluid—he was actually learning Blueno's own combat style right in the middle of battle, and the power he unleashed was growing stronger by the moment. Seeing his advantage slip away, Blueno grew even more anxious. "Damn it! Air Door." Blueno opened a door in mid-air, dove inside, and vanished.
"Planning to ambush me again?" Xiaohu was right in the middle of enjoying the fight when Blueno disappeared once more.
"Door-Door: Rotary Door!" Blueno suddenly emerged from behind Xiaohu, intending to repeat his previous trick.
"Wind Art: Sweeping Gale!" A ferocious gust of wind erupted from Xiaohu's body, and before Blueno could even get close, he was caught up in the gale and blown straight into the sky.
"Wind Art: Steel Wind Terrifying the Heavens!"
"Tekkai!"
What Blueno never expected was that the wind-element spell this time easily ripped through his defense.
"How can this be... This intensity is on par with Rankyaku..."
The fierce gale raged for several minutes before finally subsiding. Blueno plummeted down, battered and covered in wounds, having lost consciousness completely.