Anxiously waiting for further word from Iceburg for a private meeting, Lucci thinks over the duality of the elusive mayor's persona knowing that eventually he may have to end his life through the philosophy of dark justice. The stakes are rising and an event in the shipyard escalates some as of yet unspoken tensions with Kaku.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda. However, the story belongs to me.

It had been a few days since the festival of masks and Lucci still hadn't heard back anything from Iceburg regarding a further meeting. In fact, very little in Dock 1 had been seen of Iceburg at all as business returned to usual. It was like he had just disappeared.

He had been finding reasons to accost Kalifa many times to ask about the elusive mayor as she traversed the shipyard with her secretary's clipboard. At first she had patiently confirmed that Iceburg was still hard at work in the cool shade of his office. After a day and a half of being cornered by him, she had become less cordial.

"Has he-" Hattori started to squeak at her but was cut off.

"No." She snapped sternly at him. "I will undoubtedly tell you the second he does."

This had earned her a deeply reproachful look from Lucci (who was still her mission senior in this case) but she turned on her heel and stalked away in a fury without even acknowledging it. Several shipwrights who had quickly cleared a path out of her way looked back towards Lucci curiously, but otherwise said nothing. It was common knowledge by now that the fiery blonde could explode at a moment's notice in public. Even foremen weren't safe from her wrath, apparently.

Hot ebbs of anger thumping in his chest, Lucci returned grumpily to his work. Ignoring the noise and chatter of the yard around him he sifted through his dark thoughts, drawing them back to logic and calculation. If he wasn't able to deal with the problem head on then he would at least be able to work through it in his mind for a while.

He selected a particularly magnificent iron-wrought bracket to secure a beam shelf to the brigantine they were currently constructing. This use of metal reinforcement in large wooden vessels had been developed by Iceburg. This kind of method had previously been unheard of but such was Iceburg's skill and innovation as a shipwright he appeared to tame the properties of metal as if it was wood. The sea train was the ultimate example of that. The technical advancement that Iceburg had pioneered appeared to be decades ahead of its time.

The awe-inspiring mythicism that he was a paragon of benevolence and engineering was what had gained him so much fame across the Grand Line. He was consistently the number one topic of every newspaper in the province, and it helped that he always made generous monetary donations to philanthropic causes. He was often pictured shaking hands with mayors and persons of note on the rich islands surrounding Water 7.

Lucci knew there was much more to it than just that. It was actually this man's careful calculation, superior intelligence and excellent sense for business that made Galley-la so successful in the long term.

Lucci had been briefed by his chief Spandam that Iceburg was dangerous, manipulative and held the key to certain destruction of the World Government and the world. The secretive mayor was certainly intelligent enough to construct a persona that would hide his true nature, given that he had resisted even acknowledging he still possessed ancient weapon plans for so long.

Even after the last few years of mulling Iceburg's identity over in his mind, he was still unable to fully reconcile one side of the story against the other. Was Iceburg a saint or a dangerous rebel? He was well-loved by his employees and citizens alike, not just as an example of goodness but as one of them . His origin story of being a common man that worked hard and united the seven shipwright companies was well known far beyond where the Sea Train Zone ended in Grand Line's Paradise.

Does the potential danger of Iceburg's intelligence and his possession of the ancient weapon plans justify the removal of a man from the world that could yet invent something to save it?

Lucci paused, having reached this juncture in his thoughts. As much as the small voice in his mind asking this question was unwelcome, it manifested the question that had been poking at his mind for some time now.

No. Lucci replied to it resolutely. Because that is exactly the definition and the sacrifice that someone must make for dark justice. If this man poses a threat to humanity, it is my duty to eradicate him despite any mitigating factors. I make the difficult decisions that others can't make.

Ah, the small voice returned. But do you? Or are you just seeing things in black and white? Like you've been ordered to?

Towards the end of the working day, the heat and humidity was burning out into an imminent tropical storm. This was a common occurrence in Water 7. Being so high up in the city they could easily see the dark clouds forming towards the horizon. Work was started to shut down the shipyard before it became too difficult. Constructions had to be covered over and equipment had to be made safe before they were able to clock off from their shifts.

As he gathered with the other foremen to deal with the larger projects, Lucci turned his thoughts towards what Iceburg might be doing out of hours. In their encounter in the office, Iceburg had mentioned about a business trip to San Faldo in the following week.

To ensure he wasn't going to leave without them knowing, Lucci had been quick to start monitoring the water train departures to the Grand Line sister islands in the evenings. He had spent the previous couple of nights staking out the station from the rooftops, scanning the crowd for that familiar hint of blue hair. He had even risked letting his zoan peek its head out in hope of once again catching that unique musky scent. Nothing had come of this so far.

If Iceburg was going to leave the city, it would be unlikely he could get on a train without a crowd of onlookers making a fuss. Iceburg was hounded by the newspaper photographers incessantly, and only planned a private carriage in order to get a moment's peace. According to the train logs (which he had forced a reluctant Kaku to check for him earlier), there had been no such bookings.

This reflection turned his thoughts back to the present situation and the real Kaku. The usually calm young man now had a deeply concerned look on his face. Lucci knew that expression well. This was a surefire indicator that a situation was about to emerge.

Shouts rose up into the ever increasing storm as the metal crane the shipwrights were tethering was listing ever so slightly to one side. One of the larger beams had begun to overbalance in a gust of wind, creaking dangerously over their heads.

As lead foreman, Paulie immediately took charge of the situation, his hair blown back in the relentless gusts of water laced wind. He yelled out instructions with a huge voice, the words just catching in the air enough to be heard. Slowly but with experienced discipline, the foreman closed in on the beam and threw ropes across it.

Suddenly there was a crack of lightning as the heavens opened. A colossal boom resonated around the shipyard that deafened them and rendered them momentarily blind. Lucci felt the ropes go taught before he was able to see them, but he was unable to react quickly enough without giving himself away as an undercover agent. His leopard senses had gone into a frenzy as he became drenched in heavy rain, his hair sticking to his face and neck. His tank top was fast becoming see-through in the downpour and droplets streamed down his straining arm muscles. The foremen on his side were losing their grip, but even so, he still couldn't risk using any of the Rokushiki methods to enhance his abilities.

Suddenly in a show of admirable lightning reflexes, Kaku's muscles had flexed dangerously as he tapped into his full CP9 strength, his frame becoming rigid as he entered a state of Tekkai. The rising breeze rippled his red hair across his forehead, the shoulders of his jacket a deep blue where the majority of water had asborbed. The rope Kaku was holding tightened so hard around his fists that his fingers became white. Lucci could see his teeth grit and a vein throb in his temple as he anchored the full weight of the three storey crane from their side before it passed the centre mass into a fall.

Less than a second later, Lucci had adjusted the pulleys and the crisis was averted before any of the others (who were distracted by the incoming weather) fully noticed. With his goggles now over his eyes, Paulie continued to yell commands to his fellow foremen until they had been able to manipulate the ropes. They heaved, and finally the crane was tethered securely in place . Paulie laughed his hearty laugh with the joy of the adrenaline and clapped Tilestone on the back.

The foreman were known for how strong they were, but to reveal inhuman CP9 abilities in public was extremely risky. Lucci felt a rush of anger despite Kaku's quick thinking. It would have come at a great cost to the mission had it been spotted.

Kaku had looked around unhappily afterwards, checking to see if anyone had seen. Catching Lucci's furious glare from across the frame, his wide eyes became narrow. It was a difficult look to interpret. Lucci couldn't quite tell if it was acknowledgement of his superior's disapproval, or slight defiance for saving their colleagues from a potentially fatal disaster.

Luckily the other Galley-la workers were so concerned with celebrating that they hadn't noticed any of what had gone on. Massaging his palms, Kaku turned and hurried away after Paulie and the others.