Iy of Water 7, Lucd his team had been w for some time, finally ing up the traces left by Tom. From now on, any information about the A on Pluton would be sidered a top secret known only to select members of CP-X.

  During their time iigating rumors about the A on, Blueno had opened a bar in Water 7 as a cover. Now, the team had gathered there for a well-deserved break.

  inally, Lucci was the only one from CP-9 who had been transferred into CP-X alongside Spandine.

  However, over time, perhaps due to their shared history in the same training camp, Lucci gradually pulled in some of his old rades—Kalifa, Jabra, Kaku, and Blueno.

  As for Kumadori and Fukurou, the two goofballs didn't seem to be part of Lucci's squad. They had likely never been close to Luc the first pce, so they ended up staying behind.

  Still, without Lucd his crew, CP-9 would be missing its top talents. Maybe those two would rise to prominence over there instead?

  At this stage, only Lucci, Jabra, and Blueno had Devil Fruit abilities—the same as before. The team had two Zoan users and one Paramecia user.

  Meanwhile, Kaku and Kalifa remained ordinary humans without any Devil Fruit powers.

  At the moment, the group was drinking together, enjoying the rare downtime.

  Suddenly, Blueno pulled out two Devil Fruits from uhe table, pced them down, and said, "These are the rewards for this mission, two Devil Fruits."

  He looked at Kaku and Kalifa before tinuing, "Since you two are the only ones without abilities, these are for you."

  Before either of them could respond, Jabra immediately protested, "What about us? Are we not getting anything? That's not fair!"

  Without missing a beat, Lucci tossed a small notebook onto the table and said, "This is written personally by His Highness Cudius. It taiailed knowledge about Haki, something that might actually be useful to you."

  Haki.

  Normally, CP-X agents wouldn't have access to such advanced bat teiques at their level, but Lucci had been trained in Haki since childhood. What he cked now was Devil Fruit Awakening, but that would take time.

  Of course, Jabra and the others also had basic Haki abilities, but their mastery was far from impressive. The materials in this notebook were essentially equivalent to what Marine's elite officers learned.

  This method of distributing rewards art of Spandine's strategy.

  Even though Cudius delegated a great deal of authority to his agents, it andine who mahem on a day-to-day basis. And being an experienced schemer, Spandine knew better than to hand out everything at once.

  If he gave his subordioo much too soon, what would be left to motivate them ter?

  Thus, CP-X had multiple ranking tiers.

  Top-tier talents—like Lucci—received the best training from the very beginning. Meanwhile, agents like Jabra and the others were a level below. None of them had eve Cudius in perso.

  Jabra eagerly grabbed the notebook, flipping through its pages. Seeing the detailed expnations inside, his eyes lit up. It felt as if many of his previous doubts had been answered.

  "His Highness's personal notes?" Jabra asked in awe.

  "That's right," Lucci replied matter-of-factly.

  Meanwhile, Kalifa picked up one of the Devil Fruits, iing it curiously. "What abilities do these have?"

  Blueno answered, "One is Paramecia – Bubble-Bubble Fruit, and the other is Zoan – Giraffe Fruit. Take your pick."

  Kalifa immediately frowned. "I don't want to be a giraffe."

  Kaku, his long witg, said calmly, "Then I'll take it."

  Jabra, still holding the notebook, suddenly asked excitedly, "Does this mean we've officially caught His Highness's attention? Are we CP-X's new ait now?"

  Hearing this, Lucci rolled his eyes and scoffed, "You're thinking too much. CP-X's ait? Even I don't have the qualifications to say something like that."

  Jabra blinked in surprise. "You don't? Then who does?"

  Jabra wasn't weak. In fact, he had always been fident in his abilities.

  He often challenged Lucci, though he always lost. Luckily, thanks to his Zoan-type Devil Fruit, his recovery speed was quiough that the defeats never slowed him down.

  While Jabra might not have been strohan Lucci, he at least aowledged Lucci's overwhelming power. In his eyes, Lucci was undoubtedly CP-X's stro agent.

  So if Lucci wasn't the ace of CP-X… then who was?

  In truth, CP-X's internal hierarchy was rgely unknown to most of its agents.

  This was another one of Spandine's measures, keeping different squads partmentalized to prevent leaks.

  However, Lucew more than most.

  He uood that many of the most powerful figures in the world were actually part of CP-X.

  For example, Dressrosa's King, Donquixote Dofmingo, was not just Cudius's cousin, he was also a high-ranking member of CP-X.

  Then there was Crocodile, one of the lo-serving Warlords of the Sea.

  pared to these monsters, Lucci was still far behind. He knew he would o awaken his Devil Fruit abilities before he could even sider himself a true ace of CP-X.

  After a brief moment of refle, Lucci shook his head and said, "You'll find out wheime is right. Just kno-X is far more powerful than you realize. In terms of sheer numbers and strength, we're almost limitless."

  Seeing that Lucci didn't want to say more, Jabra didn't push the issue.

  As a, he uood the importance of fidentiality.

  Still, he smacked his lips in annoyand muttered, "Fine, fine. Just wait. Someday, I'll be one of CP-X's stro agents too. Don't let me leave you in the dust, Lucci."

  Luceered. "Talk to me after you mao beat me."

  Kalifa, unfazed by their rivalry, casually bit into her Bubble-Bubble Fruit.

  Since childhood, they had all been brainwashed—utterly devoted to Cudius. To them, serving him was an honor.

  With the mission in Water 7 plete, Kalifa asked, "So what now? Do we return to HQ? Or take some time off?"

  Though their team wasn't CP-X's top squad, they were among its stro field agents. Minor tasks were beh them.

  And as Cudius had oold Lucci, their missions weren't meant to be grinding work, they were desigo hoheir skills and make them stronger.

  That meant dowween assigs.

  Sometimes, they'd go years without receiving a mission, during which they were free to train as they pleased. Of course, none of them wao fall behind, so they always used that time to grow stronger.

  As a result, their current abilities far surpassed what they had in the inal timeline especially with their improved Haki trol.

  Lucci responded, "No official assigs for now. But I have a small task to handle in Abasta. There will be someohere to assist us. sider it a covert vacation."

  Kalifa tilted her head. "Do we all o go?"

  "No. You three get ready for Abasta—I'll hahis alone."

  Finishing his drink, Lucci stood up. "Shut this pce doon't be using this stronghold again for a while."

  With that, he walked out the door.

  Meanwhile, Kalifa and the others began making preparations for their move.