Chapter 25

[A few Hours Later]

It's currently night out and we are currently situated on a roof of a building not far away from where Carina is supposed to pick up her fruit and say goodbye to the island.

It's your bland, everyday looking apartment building, it wouldn't be paid attention to or noticed by anyone if they didn't know what was going on in the inside of said building.

It's apparently been renovated on the inside in order to accommodate the underground scene.

To those unscrupulous people who are involved in this life this location is known as the place where the walking money bags (wealthy people) go in order to safely get in touch with the denizens of the dark.

And as Carina has told me, these buildings aren't actually rare or specific to this island. She has mentioned that buildings like this or similar to it are all over the seas.

Any island that has a population big enough and resources large enough, typically has one of these or more on them.

The reason why people use these buildings instead of going directly to the source or outsourcing directly is because this place has one founding rule and everyone must follow it, in order to complete a transaction, both parties must sign a contract.

And not just any contract, but a devil's contract.

Apparently, the founder of this place has a devil fruit that allows him/her to create thousands upon thousands of blank sheets of papers that if used to create a contract, can actually bind the souls of both parties involved; and if the rules of said contract are broken, then a horrible price needs to be paid.

If for example the contract specifies that no untoward violence is going to happen between the contractor and the contracted for a specific amount of time – a ubiquitous line for these contracts – and one of the parties does for some reason or another actually use violence on the other contractor, then that person's soul can be tampered with in any way the affected party deems fit.

They can simply let that person's soul move onto the afterlife if they no longer want to deal with them. They can bind that person's soul to themselves in order to create a contract slave, or in the much more frequently used case, as far as I know, they can suck that person's soul dry of whatever constitutes a soul and add it onto themselves.

They will then not only get some of the most important memories of that person but also increase their Haki strength if they have access to it. And if they don't, then it makes it much easier to unlock.

However, she also told me that when any contract is broken, for any reason, only 90% of the soul goes to the aggrieved, the other 10% actually goes back to the owner him/herself to do with as they please.

…

When I heard of all of this contract stuff, I was struck dumb so hard that my jaw was hanging below my waist for a good minute.

The revelation that not only is there a scary ass devil fruit in the hands of someone who runs places like this but that this person actually mass produces and distributes these contracts so openly(relatively) and without fail actually gives me a huge scare.

If what Carina says souls can actually do for people, like increasing Haki, then I'm afraid I just discovered a hidden expert in the world of One Piece that was not mentioned even once in the story.

When I asked further about this unknown figure to Carina, all she replied was that there are only rumors known about this individual.

One of these rumors states that this figure was seen once by someone that said he was a giant of a man with feet as long as a battleship, and a head as big as the sun.

Another one states that this figure is actually a beautiful fairy that Is seen flying across the sky in order to spread equality across the realm.

Another rumor that she mentioned, that seems most probable to me, is that this individual is actually closely tied to the World Government, and for the safety of the user and in order to put a leash around the neck of said person, they restrict him/her to only 1 island that can be found near Mary Geoise on the second half of the Grand Line.

There were many other rumors about this individual like the fact that this person is actually a Celestial Dragon, or a powerful ghost or a sea god, or that this individual is actually the secret ruler of the world… OK moving on.

The only thing that is actually known for a fact, is that this individual is a very important person in this world. Not only for his/her abilities but also for their strength, imagine having 1 million+ people's power for Haki… it's a scary and sobering thought.

…

And back towards the current situation we finally see Carina approaching the building with a stout short man and three large bodyguards trailing behind said man.

She seems unafraid of these men as she is walking as if she is going on a stroll in the park.

And it makes sense why she does, in her contract it's also stated that until the time that they shake hands for a final goodbye, neither of them could actually hurt each other, not even indirectly.

Unfortunately, the contract also states that Carina can't take the devil fruit with her without Lamb Burger being there to witness it, nor can she eat the fruit until the deal is done.

Yet, all that this means is that she only has to play the part of the uninterested thief, and then when they finish the deal, she can take a quick bite out of it.

And finally, as the group walks below us and enters the building through its small doorframe, only then do Porche-chan and I move forwards.

Chapter 26

It's been more than an hour that Porche-chan and I have been waiting for Carina to begin the operation, and finally our time is here.

Carina and her contacts have just entered the establishment and should be out any minute now.

Therefore, we sneak our way down from the roof we were camping at and walk into an alleyway nearby, from there we could view the front of the building and have a nice spot where we can launch our attacks once the deal is complete.

And just a few minutes later we see 5 silhouettes coming out of the building, once they are out of the establishment's door, we see them talk to each other for a minute before Lamb Burger hands over a large bag of belly and another smaller bag containing a round green fruit inside.

Once this happens Carina quickly closes the distance between them and makes the gesture of shaking hands in order to finish the contract.

Lamb Burger does the same, except that at the same time the 3 large men surround Carina from a distance where she wouldn't be able to notice too soon, but we could.

"Oh, I guess you were right, this was a trap the whole time. Good thing we are here for Carina-chan," Porche comments seeing this.

"Hmmh," I nod in agreement, anyone could see that this was an obvious trap.

Just as they touched palms and began shaking hands, we speedily began to close the distance between our two groups, in order to knock out those guards, the fat man, and take Carina-chan and her fruit out of harm's way.

But just as the deal was done and the group of guards began to act, as were we, something unexpected happened.

A loud *whizzing* sound comes from the other direction, and a large ornate knife lands headfirst in the ground in between Carina and the group.

And not a second later a group of 5 gray-clad and masked individuals appear surrounding Carina and the fat man.

This startles everyone, including me, but not because of the intrusion.

I already guessed that something like this was probably going to happen, but I originally believed it was going to be from the backstabbing contractor, not from some unknown third party – which is confirmed by the startled and scared look the fat man is giving these figures.

And I definitely did not expect the newcomers to reveal themselves this way, Instant teleportation, using the knife as a marker it would appear, and by the looks of these figures and the unique masks they wear, I can make a pretty decent assumption on who they are, the Cipher Pol organization.

A secret agency created by the World Government in order to act in the dark, apprehend and eliminate future threats to the World Government, and in the case of the stronger CP agents, act as the mouths, ears, and hands for the World Nobles.

These new figures are wearing long gray cloaks and strange unique masks, and as far as I can remember, mask wearing agents are considered to be higher on the totem pole then non-mask wearing agents.

I haven't heard of gray wearing agents, only black and white, but if I had to make a guess, it would be around the CP-3 – Cp 4 range and considering all of the abilities these agents are said to master, if I don't act quickly not only will our task fail, but there is a high probability that none of us will make it out alive.

With all these thoughts going in my head, which was less than 1 second in real time, I quickly put my hands up for extra concentration and start to create a mental image of an attack that I've been practicing for a while now.

And then to add more power to my attack I quickly yell, "Slow-Flake Beam!" as I fire it off.

Now this might sound dumb to do when in front of trained agents, but I've found that most people don't react immediately to some rando yelling something, and also probably due to the fact that this is an Anime world, I've discovered that when you vocalize your attack before you do it, it actually increases its power by at least 100%.

This must be why so many people name their attacks and such.

Anyways, what happens after I yell out my attack is that a blinding purple light, far stronger than any I've produced before, comes out of my hands, and this seems to blind the whole world for a second, because when I set off the attack…I completely forgot a crucial detail in my excitement… I forgot to close my eyes for a split second!

Therefore, I was blinded for a second, thankfully it didn't last long and when I'm finally able to see the results of my attack, I'm amazed and proud.

"It's been a long journey but, in the end, it was worth it," I mutter when I see such a beautiful sight.

Around a large 50-meter area everything inside seems to be frozen in time and unmoving.

Within this area there also appears to be a pattern, the pattern of a large intricate snowflake, with almost no area left uncovered due to the amazing amount of complexity in the pattern.

Now the reason I am so proud is because it took me around 5 months in order to be able to produce this attack in such a low amount of time.

I could technically also freeze a large area using a simple enlarged slow-slow beam, but the difference is that this attack is again not only much more potent, which increases it stopping abilities and time limit, but most importantly, the beam is near instant since every single part of this snowflake design is comprised of angled slow disks.

I soon stop paying too much attention to the whole of the attack and focus specifically on the individual targets, and that's when I notice something amiss.

Everyone is frozen, including Carina, but I quickly notice that one of the figures is actually missing from the picture.

And just as I notice this, I immediately duck my head as *woosh* a large knife slashes where my head was a moment ago.

If I hadn't reacted so quickly it seems that I would be without a head right about now.

Chapter 27

In front of me stands a short, masked woman with flowing red hair, and two large ornate knives in her hands posing in front of me like she is the main heroine of a movie or something.

"Nice reflexes kid," she says, and again swings at my neck, I don't have time to think of her taunt or reply as I am bombarded with slashes from her large blades.

She does this a few more times with me having a few milliseconds to dodge wildly.

All that's present in my vision is the edge of those knives and the ringing sound of metal cutting air. (Luckily no Air blades yet, just really good handling of knives)

This goes on for about 10 seconds before she finally stops in order to likely taunt me again, but just as she goes to open her mouth, she closes it and jumps left in order to avoid a large purple disk that I sent her way from my eyes.

Seeing her evade my attack I don't hesitate for a moment and attack like a machine gun.

I use everything in my disposal, from my hands to my torso, to even my shoulder blades, I use my whole fucking upper body in order to try and hit her, but in the end, she is somehow able to read my attacks with only her reflexes alone and not even one of the hundreds of slow disks I sent her way is able to even graze her.

After a few seconds I stop my attack in order to regain some of my stamina I just used up (attacks of that caliber always use up energy, for every devil fruit) and back away in order to get away from this extremely dangerous woman and get as close to Carina as possible before the timer runs out.

I want to prevent her from being ganged up on once everyone is freed, and even though they will all be disoriented and some might even pass out (talking about guards and the fat guy not the agents,) these Cp agents are tough enough to hold on and tough it out until the three minutes are up.

Carina? Not so much as soon as the timer hits the 1-minute mark she will likely be in the land of dreams.

I'm not sure where Porche-chan is but I do hear loud sounds of combat not far away, I also caught sight by the side of my vision one of the frozen Cp agents being maimed by some sort of projectile, but other than that I have no idea.

She must have encountered another enemy and was forced to separate in order to relieve some of my stress.

Therefore, with Porche-chan busy with who knows what, it falls on my shoulders to get Carina to safety since I'm closest and have a clear sight of her.

I take a few steps forward but unfortunately, I can't take any more. A small, serrated dagger lands in front of me and not a second later I see the red-haired agent standing in front of me once again.

She stands in my way and again taunts, "If you run, you won't see me stab you!"

With that statement she again starts barraging me with slashes from her blades, and unfortunately this time, it seems like she's a little more serious than before, because I quickly start receiving major lacerations all over my body.

I try to dodge the best I can, but it's for naught, my arms and torso are full of bloody wounds by this point.

2 seconds is all it took for her to seriously injure me.

'This can't keep going like this if I want to get out alive of this situation,' I think.

With that thought I start using another of my recently developed abilities, the slow-slow sword/whip.

Just as she was slashing at my left breast, I create the sword and attack her with it.

By this point it seems she's learned not to underestimate me because she quickly dodges the attack and continues as if it's a mild inconvenience; and unfortunately for me, it is.

I can form the blade just fine but at the end of the day, I really know nothing about how to properly use swords or weapons in any capacity.

I only know how to slash, thrust, and parry a blow if it's slow and obvious enough for me to catch it with my eyes and have enough time to react to it.

And this woman's blows are anything but obvious or slow, she's quick, precise, and way too good for me to even imagine going blow for blow with her using bladed weapons.

Therefore, my little plan once again fell through and all that's left for me to do is bear with the pain, which luckily is only that, for now, and take my shot when I have accumulated enough stamina and when she least expects it.

It would have to be something more direct like the Shigan or a meteor shot, just in place of a rock or boulder, it would be her body. (Grab her and freeze her through touch)

Unfortunately, it seems like she doesn't care to take it slow and starts hacking away at me at increasing speeds and force, forcing me to once again use my slowing abilities, even though I feel tapped out of energy.

These counterattacks of mine don't really achieve much.

She simply avoids them with swift, acrobatic movements, and if she's caught unprepared by some of my attacks, she simply teleports once again to her daggers.

Seeing this I have an idea, and when she's in the air and is about to teleport to one of her daggers in order to avoid one of my beams, I quickly aim my eyes towards the dagger that I believe she's going to move to and fire off a somewhat late slow-star beam.

This seems to work for a split second because she stiffens in surprise for half a second…before she once again teleports to a different dagger.

Seeing my attempt fail, I sigh in disappointment and momentarily get disheartened because that was the only thing I could think to do with my current reserves and skills.

This also seems to slightly unnerve her, because she starts teleporting and moving in erratic movements from then on.

It was hard enough to get the timing down before she teleports, but with these erratic movements it basically makes it impossible.

Unfortunately, that's all I can currently do in order to stalemate her, and this situation continues and repeats itself for a minute straight, with no one getting the edge over the other.

I have the range advantage, which I use in order to keep her away from me, and she has the agility and speed advantage, which she uses to try and get close to me.

This pattern repeats itself, again and again with a seeming stalemate, but she and I both know who is actually winning this, she is.

Not only is my stamina rapidly depleting with all of these beams I'm firing off as well as using the slow sword, but with her continuing to shallowly cut me, I'm losing more and more blood.

I look more like a red painted man than anything at this point.

However, this progress seems to be too slow for her liking because she suddenly moves away from me, pauses for a second and sighs loudly, it's like she lost a bet with herself or something, and then disappears from my sight.

However, this also gives me a few seconds of breathing room, and just as she is implementing a new move, I'm also implementing my own.

It's the new move that I once mentioned to Poche-chan in passing. A move that I've been practicing for these following weeks and trying to get it as close to the real thing as possible.

I jokingly call it, Limitless.