Chapter18: Mission.
Law was on the deck of the fishing boat he had rented waiting for the arrival of the cargo ship where the weapons they were going to steal are, the location he had chosen for the mission was not far from the jetty, so that in case of problems, they will be able to get out easily because the earth was not far from them, it was just a means of rescue, he didn't expect that something bad was going to happen, if of course everyone followed the plan, he was optimistic, besides, the weather conditions were on their side, a thick mist covered the entire surface of the dark sea, which meant that their boat was not going to be spotted.
Zoro and Killer had infiltrated the freighter to quietly deal with the men who were keeping the guns, then they will stop the boat in question to move the goods to the other boat, in theory it was easy but now that the time was right, Law thought he had taken the situation a little lightly and he hadn't given the infiltration much importance while it was an essential step in the progress of the plan, it was true that the two men they sent were strength professionals, Zoro and Killer were very good at fighting especially with blades, but they remained like even humans and they had weaknesses, and although the Straw Hat had ensured that the source of his information was reliable, Law couldn't help but be apprehensive, there could be unexpected surprises and the plan would be ruined.
What was excruciating for Law was that he couldn't wait in peace while thinking about the plan because he had the honor of being in the company of the dumbest and loudest men in the world, Luffy kept asking when is he going to hit someone which was not planned for the evening and Kid even dumber than the straw hat asked if they were going to blow up the freighter after the theft, Law was fighting an internal struggle to hold back, he was going to end up strangling one of them before the end of the night if he didn't have a good grasp of himself, even though it was hard to swallow, the surgeon of death felt stupid because he had formed an alliance with fools.
When the golden eyes caught sight of a gleam moving through the darkness, Law motioned to Shachi who had the binoculars in his hands to verify and as soon as his subordinate confirmed that it was their target, everyone had taken their post waiting for the cargo to stop, that will happen if Zoro and Killer completed their mission, it was a defining moment, which is why Law couldn't help but be anxious, especially when the freighter continued to move after passing them a considerable distance, the surgeon of death had kept his gaze on the boat and when he noticed that the ship was no longer moving he exhaled strongly from his nose as relief flooded his chest, Franky, one of the Straw Hat men had started driving the boat at full speed and in no time they pulled up to the large ship which was ten times the size of their fishing boat.
After receiving a phone call from Zoro who confirmed that the area had been secured, everyone got ready before a long ladder slipped towards them from the green haired man, the first to climb were the three chiefs followed by their men who brought up the equipment they needed.
"How did it go?" Law asked impatiently as soon as he got to the deck of the boat, his gaze scanning the surroundings.
"We took care of the guards easily, they were weak," Zoro began to explain with a note of arrogance in his voice. "And for the crew, we locked them in a room, they're guarded by Killer."
"Since you had a lot of free time," Law said sarcastically, not liking the green haired man to underestimate the situation. "I hope you have identified the container we are looking for."
"Of course I did, it was even easier because there aren't many containers in this boat," Zoro replied as pride was about to come out of his eyes, he motioned for Law to follow him and after going around the large deck of the boat, they came to the container they were looking for. "Here it is, CRCD 281933 KA."
"Bring the tools and start the job." Law ordered with an authoritative voice that made everyone rush to do their jobs.
"We have prepared the two crates in which we will drop the goods." Shachi informed him after he came running.
Law nodded in response then went to check the crates personally to see if they were properly attached to the ropes, and as the gun theft operation unfolded, Law began to wander the deck of the ship in search of his two missing allies, since they had boarded the freighter, Kid and Luffy had disappeared from sight, which was worrying as both men were problem specialists, leaving them unattended was like lighting the fuse of a stick of dynamite, which is why, instead of waiting for the explosion they would cause, he was going to find them before that happened, after several minutes of searching Law managed to find the Straw Hat who was looking around suspiciously.
"What's the matter?" Law asked curiously as a bad feeling came over him.
"I heard a noise coming from there," Luffy replied, pointing his index finger at some containers. "In addition, I have the feeling that I have been followed for a while."
Law began to scan his surroundings as his brain did a quick scan, there was nothing suspicious and it was a little too calm, but the surgeon of death was very suspicious because he knew the Straw Hat very well, he was a man who had a kind of sixth sense, especially when it came to perception, if he felt he was being followed, that means he was really being followed, he was never wrong.
As a precaution, Law drew his pistol and loaded it, then began to walk towards the spot indicated by the straw hat, and after a long inspection, the two men had found nothing, but when they were about to return to their companions, a figure appears out of nowhere in front of them, a slim man in a black suit who quickly fired two shots, one bullet went into Law's abdomen and the other into Luffy's shoulder.
Law's body didn't want to respond to him as a heart-rending pain ran through him, despite that he remained upright on his legs, choking with all his might, Luffy, who was about to rush at the enemy without thinking, stopped when he saw the cascade of blood flowing from the surgeon of death, realizing that his ally had a bigger wound than him, he quickly wrapped an arm around the shoulder of the injured man who was going to collapse anytime, Law had other concerns besides his injury, he wondered why the man in front of them hadn't fired yet to finish them off, although it was frustrating, Law was buying time as his hand still held the pistol, he wanted to muster enough strength to be able to fire.
"Straw Hat Luffy and Trafalgar Law the Surgeon of Death at my mercy," The man snickered as he approached them slowly, Law hoped that because of his arrogance, the man would have a little more chat. "I will become a legend after I kill you."
"You won't get out of here alive, you don't think anyone heard the gunshots you just fired, backup will be arriving soon." Luffy spat in anger, if Law had enough strength he would start by knocking out his ally who with his taunts was wasting the time they were winning.
"Even my backup is on the way," The enemy retorted before looking around. "When I sensed there was an attack I hid well and informed Crocodile of the situation, too bad I didn't know the identity of the attackers, but that's not a problem I will report to him …."
A thud was heard before the man collapsed to the ground after being shot between his eyes, thanks to the unnecessary chatter, Law had regained control of his body for a short moment that did not let go, he took the opportunity to shoot at the enemy, but despite that, his mind had sounded a greater alert, they would soon have the visit of other enemies, he didn't know their exact numbers which didn't help, plus they weren't ready to have a fight, he and Luffy were injured, their men will be psychologically weak seeing their bosses like this, their only option was to get away quickly, there was at least one bright spot, the mission had not been a total failure as they had stolen a large number of weapons.
"We have to go right away," Law moaned before resting his hand on the wound. "Call Zoro-ya, tell him everything that just happened." Law could see that the straw hat man's face was pale, apparently his shoulder injury was hurting, Law hoped the bullet had not hit an artery.
Quickly Luffy pulled out his phone and called Zoro, and after he hung up, he helped Law walk over to their subordinates, luckily after they had walked two steps, Kid and Shachi appeared in front of them, the two men had heard the gunshots, that's why, they had come to check, without delay, each of them had put one of Law's arms above their shoulders to offer him support and thanks to them they reached in no time the ladder that led down to their boat.
Their big problem was getting Law down to the other boat, after some thought, they found only one solution, they tied him to the back of Jean Bart who had a strong body that could support the weight of the surgeon of death, and when everyone was on the boat, Franky had taken off without wasting any time, within minutes they had arrived at the port, they had no time to secure the area or verify that an enemy was stalking them due to Law's worsening condition, he had lost a lot of blood and the bullet had hit a vital organ after Penguin's quick examination.
Fortunately, they had managed to get the injured out of the boat smoothly and quickly, they made their way to the Heart headquarters, while Kid and his men dealt with the stolen weapons, Law was in a mess when he was rushed to the operating room, and with lightning speed, Penguin had prepared for the operation while his companions did a series of exams on their boss.
On the other hand, Luffy was still conscious and the bullet in his shoulder hadn't hit an artery, which was a good thing because it was an easy operation, the straw hat had been treated by Uni, one of Law's subordinates who was a doctor, in a short time the bullet was removed and the wound was sewn up.
Law was unlucky with his ally because the bullet had hit his liver and he was hemorrhaging, Penguin was a good surgeon, but not on the same level as his boss who was way above him, despite that, he vowed to save Law as he had done in the past on several occasions, however the surgeon of death's old injuries were less dangerous than his current injury, it was a delicate operation and if Penguin did something wrong it would cost Law's life.
In the waiting room, Luffy was telling the others what had happened and he had lectured Zoro, because all that had happened because of the negligence of the two infiltrators, due to their arrogance, they let their guard down, that's why, they didn't notice that one of their targets escaped them, the mission had gone wrong, Law and Luffy were almost dead, they were lucky there hadn't been any more casualties and most importantly, they hadn't been attacked by Crocodile's reinforcements before they fled.
The wait has been hard for everyone because Law was an important person to each of them, losing him was a disaster and neither of them could take it, unfortunately in the world they lived in this was usual, death hovered over them all the time impatiently waiting for the moment to take their souls, normally they should be immune to the pain of loss of loved ones as each of them had experienced it in the past, but every time it happened to them, they felt their grief was harder than before.
As soon as Penguin got out of the operating room after several hours, everyone rushed towards him, giving him no time to breathe.
"How's the boss?" Shachi asked first, his face had turned a yellow color because of the stress eating him inside.
"Torao is alive, isn't he?" Luffy asked in turn, the whites of his eyes were full of red veins that were about to burst, he needed rest because he was injured too.
"How did the operation go?"
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Don't tell me he's dead!"
"Say something! Fuck!"
"I want to see him!"
"Shut up, shit," Penguin shouted as he was bombarded with questions. "He's in stable condition at the moment," H|e explained after they calmed down. "He is in the intensive care unit waiting for him to wake up."
"So he will live." Shachi sighed hopefully.
"I don't know," Penguin growled, frowning, he was the one who knew the gravity of the situation best. "He is still in danger and unfortunately there is nothing more I can do, all I have to do is pray for him."
"Can I see him?" Luffy asked after a moment of silence.
"You'll have to go and rest for now," Penguin pointed out as he saw the bandage wrapped around Luffy's right shoulder. "Have you forgotten that you are hurt?"
"I've been asking him to do it for hours." Uni sighed in exasperation.
"Everyone's going to sleep now," Penguin said authoritatively. "If you wake the others upstairs, it'll be even worse to deal with you all."
"When can we see the boss?" Shachi asked quietly.
"Tomorrow," Penguin said before glancing at the watch on his wrist, it was five in the morning. "Which means in a few hours since the day will soon rise, now get out!"
"You are not cool." Luffy hissed as his men pulled him to the room assigned to him during his hospitalization.
But Law's subordinates continued to insist on staying until Penguin gave them a murderous look, despite that, neither of them had managed to close their eyes as they were all worried about their boss's condition.
At seven in the morning, word of Law's injury had spread among members of the Heart gang who were unaware, panic and fear were all they were feeling at the time, they all gathered outside the intensive care unit door wanting to visit Law, Penguin had no choice but to bring them in one by one to see their boss through the glass, despite that, he had had trouble getting rid of them because they didn't want to leave.