It's been ages since I posted a new chapter because I had a kind of blockage, I had written the rest of the fic but I didn't like it, so I had to rewrite and I end up with a longer story than I expected.
I will update more regularly to finish this fic, I have other projects in progress that take my time, but I will focus more on this story.
Chapter 26: New Game.
Law felt relieved when he stopped by to do a final check of preparations, deep inside he envied the Straw Hat because he had a subordinate who could do wonders. Franky had succeeded in creating in a short time an undetectable explosive device that could be controlled remotely, and with the help of the microphones implanted in a few weapons, they will know when the right moment will be to launch the bomb, if the luck will be on their side, they will emerge victorious without loss and they will recover the hostages unscathed.
As it was supposed, the day passed very slowly due to the stress boiling inside Law, and with an hour remaining before midnight struck, the surgeon of death could no longer hold still, slowly pacing Franky's garage, no one had dared to interrupt his trance because of the negative energy he gave off. As the seconds passed, Law was diving deeper and deeper into the darker side of his mind as his urge to kill gradually increased, he would have liked to slice up Crocodile with his own hands instead of using cowardly methods, but unfortunately his injury did not allow him to do so, it was already a miracle that he did not collapse yet.
The surgeon of death's life has become even more complicated and it didn't bode well, Law swore he had bad luck the last few days or he had probably been cursed, nothing worked as it was supposed to and there were always insurmountable obstacles in his way, he was always planning, but it was no use because his enemies always surprised him.
Suddenly his phone started ringing which drew everyone's attention to him, everyone in the garage stopped what they were doing and turned to him. He hesitantly took the device out of his pocket because he knew full well that his sister's kidnapper was calling him.
"I listen." He spat after answering the call.
"Meet in Roger's desert at midnight precisely, you will exchange weapons for your sister." Law heard a cold voice explain quickly.
"You mean my sister and Nami." Law pointed out, feeling confused by the other man's statement.
"Nami decided not to come back, which means you will only get your sister back," The kidnapper said casually, as if talking about the weather. "It's her decision."
"What the heck, we had a deal," Law growled letting the anger inside him explode since the beginning of the kidnapping story, he couldn't understand why the situation changed. "This is bullshit, I don't believe you."
"If you want your sister, come to the meeting otherwise you won't get anyone back." He threatened him openly.
"What will happen to Nami?" Law asked, stepping away from the Straw Hat who wanted to take the phone out of his hand.
"This is not your problem either way she would have betrayed you sooner or later, as she has done with her old allies before," The man on the other end replied, apparently he is knowledgeable about Nami's previous life. "You have to worry about your sister's fate instead of wasting your time with a woman who will bring you to ruin."
Law hadn't even had a chance to say anything more because the communication had ended before he could. He wanted to vent his anger by kicking the wall but even that, he was unable to do so due to his injury. Apparently the situation got worse than it already was, but he couldn't understand why he couldn't get Nami back. Why didn't Crocodile want to let her go?
Doubt settled in his heart and he couldn't help but think of the declaration of the man who spoke to him on the phone. Has Nami really decided not to come back to him?
Did she betray him like she did with Arlong before?
Didn't he mean to her like she meant to him?
It was not the moment to have a sentimental problem, he had to think of a solution which will be difficult because of the heckling that surrounded him, everyone gathered around him, all talking at the same time.
"We cancel everything." Law said, raising his voice to be heard, after this turn of events his plan was no longer appropriate and it would be a disaster to employ it, this is why, not to say that he is going to submit, he decided to do according to Crocodile's demands but it was sort of the same, despite his ego going to take a terrible blow, he was forced to not to make mistakes so as not to endanger Nami.
He ignored the series of questions asked by most of the people present as he tried to work out a way out of the fucking shitty situation he got into due to his negligence. There were only a few minutes left before the meeting time which meant he had no time to think, he could barely explain what was going on to his companions and that was the most difficult task to do as his allies were narrow-minded and they were hot-blooded, it would be painful to convince them not to use violence.
"We'll do as they told us to," He tried to explain before being interrupted by another set of incomprehensible questions as everyone was talking at the same time. "The situation has changed," He growled when he realized that there was no point in waiting for them to shut up for him to continue because they weren't going to. "Apparently Crocodile wants to keep Nami." He added in a higher tone, ignoring the pain that caused his injury.
"You're not serious!" Kid barked with an enraged expression on his face, as Law assumed, the redhead was not going to agree to do things the peaceful way.
"We have to fight," Luffy smirked as if he had just heard a good joke, as usual, he didn't listen to what Law had just said. "It won't be fun without it."
"You think it's funny that my sister and my subordinate were kidnapped," Law remarked annoyingly, luckily Straw Hat didn't try to argue and remembered the gravity of the situation from the nervous expression on his face. "Besides, Crocodile is going to keep Nami-ya for some reason."
"All the more reason to fight." Luffy cried out with determination, making Law even more desperate than he was before.
"Why does he want to keep Nami?" Shachi asked, chewing his cheeks in concern.
"I also don't know the answer to this question." Law answered candidly as the question returned to his mind.
"We will make him talk during the fight." Luffy once again said something that made Law's eyes roll back.
"Yes I agree." Kid agreed which proved he was on the same intellectual level as Straw hat and at that point Law wondered if he was under the influence of drugs the day he allied himself with such fools.
"I don't think Crocodile is going to show up," Killer commented, speaking to his boss who was starting to get excited for nothing, Law was relieved that there was someone sane in the group of idiots he worked with. "He's probably going to send his men to do the dirty work so as not to take any risks."
"We just have to grab one of his men and make him talk." Kid said happily as if he had just found the idea of the century.
"You think he'd be foolish enough not to think about that," Law hissed, restraining himself from insulting the redhead. "In addition our priority is not Crocodile but the two women." He clarified before heaving a long sigh.
"If I understand correctly, he is not going to keep your sister?" Kid asked slowly, receiving a nod from Law who didn't have the strength to respond verbally. "So I don't see where the problem is since it's only the bitch who will be in danger."
"The bitch you're talking about is one of our gang, we are not going to give her up just because you failed to put her in your bed." Shachi defended Nami by yelling at the dreaded Kid, surprising everyone including Law.
"You wanna die little shit, I'm gonna..." Kid roared as he was held back by Killer.
"Shachi is right, we are not going to leave anyone," Zoro interrupted him speaking for the first time since the start of the discussion. "Let's get back to the gist of the matter." He added, turning to the surgeon of death, ignoring the curses of the redhead still held in place by his subordinate.
"Franky-ya, I want you to uninstall everything we put together earlier," He ordered the blue haired man who wasted no time in doing it. "I'm going to go to the meeting place with my men, so I won't have any problems handling the situation." He explained.
After thinking well, he had deduced that there would be problems if his allies would accompany him, which is why he decided to rule them out, luckily he had not told them where the meeting would be.
Again everyone had started talking at the same time, questions and disputes, that was all he heard, he had made his decision and no one was going to change it because it was the best thing to do, his allies were far too unpredictable and he couldn't afford to make mistakes because of them, they proved time and time again they were out of control and they always messed up Law's plans, which is why, he wouldn't risk Lamy and Nami's life because of them.
"Don't insist, I'm not going to change my mind." Law growled, articulating the words well for them to understand.
"You want to fight on your own, right?" Monkey D Luffy asked, the man who only has the fight in mind.
"Damn," The surgeon of death hissed, feeling he was going to have a nervous breakdown. "I will not fight, I will get my sister back peacefully."
"And Crocodile, I hope you plan to kill him." Kid snarled, apparently he forgot the urge to crack Shachi's face.
"I'll get my sister back peacefully," Law repeated, speaking like a robot. "No violence, no fighting, or anything, I'm just going to trade arms for my sister." He started to walk away from the group because he didn't have the patience to argue with them anymore, he was tired and hurt, he didn't need to add a dose to his pain.
When everything was ready, Law did as planned, he took Shachi with him in the truck while they were followed by Penguin who drove in the car, he was able to leave without his raging allies thanks to Killer and Zoro who had held back their bosses, because despite all his attempts to reason with them and make them understand the situation had not succeeded, each of them insisted on arguing their stupid opinion, Luffy argued about the need to fight the enemies and Kid insisted on wanting to kill Crocodile, unfortunately they wasted Law a lot of time and because of them he was late on an important meeting where his sister was waiting for him to save her.
Law was like a wreck that floats above water despite his dismal condition, he was physically exhausted and mentally desperate, he wanted to shut down his mind and disconnect from the reality which was becoming more and more unbearable for him. He was ashamed of himself because he had somehow agreed to put Nami's case aside because he wanted his little sister back. Either way, he didn't have much of a choice, he was forced to act by his enemy's rules because the lives of two people close to him were at stake.
On the one hand, he trusted Nami and her underworld experience, he knew she could cope on her own unlike Lamy, besides, he was going to do anything to save her, he was going to force her back to him even if she didn't want to and he was going to protect her for the rest of her life.