Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 260 The Battle with Lucci

"So what are you planning to do from now on? Are you going back to the World Government?"

"How is that possible? We're already wanted criminals, how can we possibly return to the World Government?"

Kalifa shook her head helplessly, a hint of worry on her face.

Keep in mind that her father is still an agent of the World Government, and now that she has become a wanted criminal, she doesn't know how the World Government will deal with her father.

"That doesn't matter. Alabasta is, after all, one of the World Government's member states, and one of the most important among all the member states. It's not difficult for them to talk to the World Government to lift the arrest warrant for you."

"But Enies Lobby..."

"Wasn't that Spandam's doing? Even if Spandam can pin the blame on you, anyone with eyes can see the problems."

"At least Admiral Aokiji personally handed the golden Den Den Mushi to Spandam, which alone is enough to determine who called the Buster Call to bomb Enies Lobby."

"Many of you come from families of spies and are not entirely without support within the World Government. As long as Alabasta provides you with a channel to connect with the World Government, it won't be difficult to clear your names."

"After all..." Uchiha Touya looked at Kalifa meaningfully, "For the World Government, this isn't really an important matter, is it?"

"Agents are tools of the World Government. As long as they demonstrate sufficient strength and make the World Government realize that they are still valuable, they will not discard them."

In the past, Kalifa might have argued back, but now the agent remained silent, tacitly accepting Uchiha Tou's "slander" of the World Government.

As for breaking away from the betrayal, or even taking revenge on the World Government, none of these agents considered it. Firstly, there was the mental suggestion from Uchiha Hiyu, and secondly, there were countless connections between them and the World Government—they couldn't possibly abandon their own family members who worked for the World Government just for revenge!

"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Feiyu..."

"It's alright, this is also good for me."

Uchiha Touyu waved his hand, his expression calm:

"Alabasta is also considered my country. As long as you are a member state of the World Government, you will inevitably have to deal with the World Government. Once you return to the World Government, it will be equivalent to having more channels to understand the situation of the World Government and communicate with it."

In the past, these World Government agents would have jumped up in anger upon hearing such words of "disloyalty," but now they nodded, looking as if they deeply agreed.

Seeing their performance, Uchiha Touyu calmed down. It seemed that the World Government, which was originally a supreme faith in the hearts of these agents, had now turned into an ordinary company boss who exploited them.

It's almost impossible to get these agents to betray their beliefs, but betraying their company boss... well, that's a matter of whether or not they get paid more.

As descendants of the original 20 kings, the Alabasta royal family is both viewed with suspicion by the World Government and finds it easy to establish contact with them.

Just like Doflamingo, the former Celestial Dragon, although he is constantly under the World Government's watchful eye and could be eliminated by them if any problems arise, he can also exert some influence on the World Government on some non-principle issues.

The same applies to Alabasta today, and the problems with these agents are non-essential.

After all, to be frank, these agents didn't actually make any mistakes except for failing to defeat the Straw Hat Pirates. The one who really messed up the situation was that idiot Spandam. If the World Government had just done a little serious investigation, they would have been able to come to a conclusion.

So the arrest warrants for these agents were quickly lifted, and they contacted the World Government and were recalled to their agent organization.

"Congratulations! I heard you guys got promoted. It seems you're being promoted to members of CP0?"

"It's not that easy. As the shield of the Celestial Dragons, the CP0 organization requires extremely high strength to become a real agent capable of carrying out missions. Otherwise, you can only carry out those trash missions of protecting the Celestial Dragons."

It was Lucci who answered Uchiha Touyu; his expression was serious, with a hint of worry in it.

Although CP0 is a higher-level intelligence organization than CP9, in reality, due to the Celestial Dragons, the average strength of its members may not actually be comparable to that of CP9.

Top-tier fighters are definitely stronger than CP9, but it's hard to say how strong those CP0 bodyguards who protect the Celestial Dragons every day and act arrogantly alongside them are. Anyway, when the Straw Hat Pirates were beating up the Celestial Dragons, those bodyguards didn't seem to do anything.

If Lucci and the others were to be assigned a few Celestial Dragons for protection, they might as well become CP9 agents! At least they would have more freedom and more time to train.

It has to be said that after his loyalty to the World Government wavered and he was able to examine the World Government more calmly, Lucci's view of the Celestial Dragons was directly downgraded from descendants of gods to brainless trash.

"Mr. Feiyu, I have a favor to ask, and I wonder if you would be willing to grant it?"

Seeing the fighting spirit ignited in Lucci's eyes, Uchiha Touyu didn't need him to say anything; he already knew what this intense emotion was:

"Tell me what you think!"

"I want to test my skills and see how far I am from the top level of the ocean!"

"Yeah, as expected... the desert outside is quite spacious, let's go fight there!"

After exchanging a few words, Uchiha Touyu transformed into a ball of blood light and soared into the sky. Without saying a word, Lucci also transformed into a half-human, half-leopard form and followed behind Uchiha Touyu.

A few minutes later, the two arrived in the desert far from the capital of Alabasta. Uchiha Touya landed immediately and turned to look at Lucci, who was charging towards them:

"Do you want to take a break? Using the shaving tool so many times in a row must be putting a lot of pressure on your legs."

Lu Qi's leopard-like face lit up with intense fighting spirit, and he spoke excitedly:

"No need. Rather, it's perfect as a warm-up, allowing me to unleash even greater power!"

"Well, you're pretty impressive."

As Uchiha Tou spoke with a grin, he slowly drew the Third Generation Kitetsu.

However, no matter how bright his smile was, after the Sandai Kitetsu was drawn from his waist, Lucci felt a chill run from his forehead to the back of his neck, and in an instant, the leopard's fur stood on end!

The wailing of ghosts and howling of gods, the blood rain and the stench of wind, the earth shaking and the sun and moon losing their light... countless terrifying omens appeared in Lu Qi's eyes until he bit his tongue and used the pain to drive away the illusions. Only then did he realize that he was still in the sunny, warm desert. The cold sweat all over his body told him how real everything that had just happened was.

"Just how many people has this knife killed?"

"Hmm!? I forgot, it was probably around a hundred thousand! Mainly because after I got the Vampire Fruit, I used a knife much less often, otherwise I might have been able to gather 20 heads!"

Lucci felt his mouth go dry and his forehead throb. Even though he was known for his cold-bloodedness in the intelligence organization, when he heard Uchiha Touyu casually mention the terrifying number of hundreds of thousands, he wanted to say, "You're too extreme."

He was now wondering if challenging this killer to a duel was a bit too hasty. What if the opponent accidentally killed him with a slip of the hand?

He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all distractions. After all, Leopard Head was known as a genius among CP agents, a talent that only appears once every eight hundred years. Even though his mind had wavered for a moment, he had already calmed his thoughts again with each breath.

No matter who the opponent is, just go for it!

With a flash, Lucci charged straight at him, his Naval Six Styles now running like an instinct. Even while in his Iron Body state, he could still use Shave and maintain extremely high agility, and could also continuously use Flying Finger Pistols to probe while in motion.

The condensed air bullets bombarded Uchiha Tou's entire body. The opponent seemed unable to react and did not move at all, which made Lucci's face show joy.

"Very well, that's settled then. Let's take this opportunity... Where are they?!"

The air bullet left a fleeting afterimage, and the standing figure vanished without a trace like a mirage. Alarm bells immediately rang in Lucci's mind.

"The speed is quite good, and the power is also good. You must have put a lot of effort into the Six Styles! The technique is almost honed to the point of being instinctive."

A faint voice sounded behind Lucci. No matter how he spun and jumped, or used Moonwalk and Shave to move between heaven and earth, the voice remained unhurried and sounded behind him, causing cold sweat to pour down Lucci's forehead.

(Is the speed difference too great? No, we can't be so pessimistic. Maybe it's because the opponent has some special Devil Fruit ability...)

"Are you done exercising? Then it's my turn now."

Uchiha Touyu's calm voice rang out again. Feeling the piercingly sharp chill behind him, Lucci roared and increased his speed to the limit, using Shave repeatedly in an attempt to escape the attack.

However, a tearing pain still came from his back. Lucci roared and turned around quickly. He thought he would not see Uchiha Touyu again, but found him standing opposite him with a smile on his face.

Just as he saw Uchiha Tou's smile, the Third Generation Kitetsu had already transformed into two sword lights, crossing across his chest!

It wasn't that the opponent's weapon could split in two; it was just that the speed was so fast that the two slashes seemed to be launched at the same time. Lu Qi felt a chill in his chest, followed by a pain similar to that in his back.

When Lucci finally reacted and reached out to cover his chest, he discovered that the blade had only sliced ​​through the skin of his chest. The wound looked large, but it had only penetrated an inch or two into the flesh.

Looking down at the crisscrossing wounds on his chest, Lucci knew, even without turning around, that there must be similar crisscrossing wounds on his back.

Slowly raising his head, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes, and Lucci said in a low voice:

"I knew there was a gap between us... but I didn't expect it to be this big!"

"I thought I couldn't compare to top-tier fighters in terms of dual-color Haki and Devil Fruit abilities, but I never imagined there would be such a huge gap even in my strongest area—speed!"

"Ha, I never expected the challenge to end like this. I really overestimated myself!"

By this point, only a dejected, bitter smile remained on Lucci's face, as if all his energy and spirit had been drained away.

"It's not just about speed; there are also some illusionary elements involved... Of course, I am indeed much faster than you."

Uchiha Hiyu sheathed his sword and explained frankly:

"But don't assume that all the top powerhouses on the sea have such speed. My own reflexes and speed are my strengths, and the Vampire Fruit I ate is a fantasy-type Devil Fruit that leans towards agility."

"Compared to ordinary top-tier fighters, it's hard to say about other aspects, but in terms of speed and reflexes, I am definitely second to none. Perhaps only a user of the Glint-Glint Fruit like Kizaru can compare to me."

After hearing Uchiha Tou's explanation, Lucci finally showed some relief, but he still couldn't muster any energy and looked very listless.

"If you want to increase your strength in the short term, I do have a very good method."

Glancing at the listless Lucci, Uchiha Touyu stroked his chin, and suddenly an idea came to him.

"What method?"

Lucci raised his head, his eyes revealing an undisguised yearning for power. Seeing this thirst for strength, Uchiha Touyu immediately smiled.

"I have a method for enhancement, which isn't dangerous, but it comes at a considerable cost..."

"I'll accept whatever the cost!"

"Including your freedom?"

"Agents themselves have no freedom! Only those with power have the right to choose!"

"That's true... I was overthinking it."

Uchiha Touyu said self-deprecatingly, "Being transformed into a vampire servant does come at a great price, but think about those guys from the Beast Pirates. Even artificial Devil Fruits are something that people have to queue up to eat. My own abilities are definitely more reliable than artificial Devil Fruits!"

As for the issue of being controlled by himself, it's as if Lucci, being a vampire servant, could resist him.

In fact, this CP agent is a genius with exceptional talent, appearing only once every eight hundred years. Unfortunately, he ate a Cheetah Fruit, and after being sent on an undercover mission by Penstar for so many years, he couldn't openly train, which has ruined half of his talent. It's impossible for him to enter the first tier again.

If we want to catch up now, we either have to constantly engage in life-or-death struggles with powerful enemies to unleash our potential, or we can only rely on some underhanded tactics.

(End of this chapter)