Rewinding to a few minutes earlier, inside Mr. Iceburg's room. A door abruptly materialized on the wall directly facing the bed, and two masked figures stepped out.
Looking at the empty room, the man in the bear mask said in surprise, "What's going on? Could Iceburg have been moved?"
The other replied, "This room seems a bit strange."
The words had barely left his lips when the two men felt the scene before them shift. The floor suddenly rippled, and numerous sharp spikes shot up from the flat ground straight at them.
"Hmph! Tempest Kick!" The bear-masked man swung his leg, unleashing a slash that severed all the spikes. However, as the spikes vanished, a dense mass of giant boulders rained down from the ceiling.
"Iron Body!" The bear-masked man's body hardened like steel, taking the full force of the falling rocks without even flinching.
"No time to waste with him. Nico Robin, catch!"
A familiar voice rang out, startling Mr. Iceburg as he hid on the bed. Then, a woman's voice chimed in: "Dos Fleur." Just as Mr. Iceburg was preparing to toss another sheet of paper charms, several arms suddenly sprouted from his body, binding him tightly.
"Mr. Iceburg, please don't struggle, or I might not be able to hold back my strength."
"You... how did you know..."
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Xiaohu rushed up to the second floor only to find the corridor littered with unconscious shipwrights, their fates unknown.
"Hey, are you alright?" Xiaohu dropped to his knees to check their injuries. "Tsk, they didn't hold back at all!" After checking several shipwrights, he found they were all hanging on by a thread.
"Quick... go, protect Mr. Iceburg..." One of the shipwrights, still conscious, struggled to speak when he saw Xiaohu approach.
"Hang in there, I'll save you right away. Mr. Iceburg will be fine."
Though he desperately wanted to rush and check on Mr. Iceburg, the people right in front of him needed help too. Xiaohu pulled out some recovery ointment and divine pills, applying them to all the wounded shipwrights.
Soon, the wounds on the shipwrights began to scab over.
"Sorry, this is all I can do for you for now. I'm going to find Mr. Iceburg."
"It's fine, we'll be alright."
"Be careful, the enemy is very strong," the shipwrights called out one after another.
"Fall back and rest, and use whatever strength you have left to help the heavily wounded. Get out of here right now." Xiaohu took out all his remaining healing medicine and handed it to the shipwrights who could still move.
"Treated 52 shipwrights cumulatively, obtained reward: Bodhi seed x10."
Paying no attention to whatever task the System had just issued, Xiaohu burst into Mr. Iceburg's room. At that moment, Mr. Iceburg was lying on the ground, surrounded by five figures in robes.
"Who are you?!"
Hearing the voice, the robed figures turned around, revealing their true faces.
"Kaku... Lucci, Kalifa? Why is it you... What is going on here?"
Mr. Iceburg forced himself up and shouted, "Xiaohu, run! They're the assassins!"
"Shave!"
Seeing the three figures ahead vanish in an instant, Xiaohu hurriedly summoned the Longquan Sword. Yet before he could execute the Qionghua Sword Art, a heavy blow struck the back of his neck. Xiaohu's vision went black, and he nearly passed out.
"Shorukai!" Two more figures materialized before him, launching a merciless attack on Xiaohu. It was Kaku and Kalifa. Their fingers plunged into Xiaohu's body like daggers. Xiaohu had barely managed to make out their faces before he was knocked flat.
"Let him go, he doesn't know anything."
"Before more lives are lost, you'd better stop keeping secrets. Hand over the blueprints for the Ancient Weapon, Pluton," Lucci said.
Looking at the faces that were both familiar and alien, Mr. Iceburg felt a chill run through his heart: "You lurked by my side for five years just for these blueprints."
"Rest assured, we didn't slack off in our work at all," Lucci said. "Going undercover for a mission is just part of the job. I know you're taking a heavy blow right now, but we don't have much time left."
"Does the Ancient Weapon matter that much to you? Even to the point of using any means necessary?"
"We can only bring out the true potential of the weapon if it's in our hands. Yet you refused to cooperate with the World Government. We had no choice but to resort to a few minor tricks."
"Slaughtering the innocent is what you call a minor trick? And once the Ancient Weapon is unleashed, it will only bring more war and chaos! You bastard, do you even know what human decency is?"
"Watch your tone. Do you still think you're my superior?" Lucci kicked Mr. Iceburg to the floor and said, "Kaku, check his pulse. Let his pulse tell us the truth."
Xiaohu finally understood what was going on. From the very beginning, it was Lucci and his group who had harmed Mr. Iceburg, yet they had shifted the blame onto the Straw Hat Boy and his crew... No, that woman named Nico Robin really had betrayed the Straw Hat Pirates.
As he watched Kaku and Lucci interrogate Mr. Iceburg, Xiaohu used his True Qi to heal his injuries. Just as he was about to recover his mobility, the unexpected happened: the wall on the left side of the room and the main door burst open simultaneously, and several figures rushed inside.
"Oi-yoyo-yoyo-yoyo, where's Robin?" bellowed the intruder—none other than the Straw Hat Boy himself. And as the door was smashed open, Zoro, Nami, and a reindeer wearing a hat appeared behind him.
"Hmph, looking to make trouble?" Rob Lucci said with a sneer.
Following close behind Luffy was Paulie, his entire body stained with blood.
Staring at his former comrades, Paulie clearly found it hard to accept: "Kaku, Lucci, Kalifa, and Blueno the pub owner! Why are you dressed like this? The ones who assassinated Iceburg turn out to be you!"
Lucci said, "Sorry, Paulie, we are spies sent by the World Government, codenamed CP9. If I apologize to you, will you accept it? After all, we're good companions who built ships together. If it's too sudden for you to accept... I can step on Iceburg's head to prove it to you."
"Are you kidding me... Lucci, you can talk, and yet you played me for a fool... Rope Action Whip!" Paulie hurled his ropes out in anger and resentment. However, Lucci nimbly dodged and easily drove a single finger into Paulie's chest: "Shorukai!"
"You are no match for us. Every one of us has undergone unimaginable training to master the Six Powers, a skill that lets one warrior defeat a hundred."
"You bastard... Gomu Gomu no... Gatling!" The Straw Hat Boy thrust his hands forward, his arms stretching out to unleash a dazzling flurry of punches.
"Paper Art!" Yet his opponent merely stood in place, swaying his body from side to side to evade every single attack.
"It's completely useless!" Luffy cried out in shock, discovering that his attacks were having no effect at all.
"Shave!" "Shorukai!"
Straw Hat Luffy was struck in the throat and sent flying backward.
"Weren't you comrades working together? You just tried to kill him! Why would you do that?" Luffy scrambled back up and yelled, "And Robin, why are you siding with these people?"
The black-haired woman replied, "Because staying with you makes my wish impossible to fulfill. So let's part ways here."
"What kind of wish could it be? Do you not care even if we're mistaken for assassins?" Nami asked.
"How can you do this? Robin, are you really our enemy?" Even that tanuki could talk.
"Apologies for interrupting your chat, but this place will be engulfed in a sea of flames in two minutes. If you don't want to die, you'd better get out of here... Assuming you can even make it out alive," Lucci said indifferently.