After defeating the CP9 agent, Ethan also collapsed onto the ground. Robin ran over from the distance.
Before landing on the island, the two of them had already agreed. If a fight broke out, Robin would immediately leave the battlefield and hide far away, only helping at critical moments with sneak attacks using the Flower-Flower Fruit.
After he roughly treated his wounds, Ethan had Robin use the Flower-Flower Fruit together with Observation Haki to clean up the battlefield.
They gathered up any bloodstains, hairs, and shredded pieces of clothing they could find.
Then, in a few corners, they planted some traces of other pirates they had collected earlier, bits of hair, nails, and other bodily traces.
In a world where something as mysterious as Vivre Cards existed, plus the high technology at the World Government's disposal, Ethan was never going to leave his own information lying around before his strength reached a certain level.
He warned Robin over and over to erase every trace of her own presence and to make it look like Ethan had been the only one to land on the island.
With no combat traces left behind, it would be much easier to make the investigation point to a single person landing and then escaping, rather than two.
Robin had barely left any traces of her own in the battle anyway, so they could still hide her existence.
They made a rubbing of the text on the Poneglyph. The next time they saw this stone, it would probably be in the Room of Flowers atop Mariejois.
If not for the fishing operation, the World Government would never have left a known Poneglyph outside.
It was impossible to deceive the World Government completely. The best they could do was leave misleading traces.
Ethan and Robin rowed the small boat away from Ohara, carrying the CP9 agent's corpse with them.
The wounds on the corpse would reveal Ethan's current level of strength and some information about his fighting style, so he could not leave it behind.
Once they were far enough from Ohara, they dumped the body into the sea. The flesh-eating fish in these waters would strip it clean, bones and all.
Then they kept rowing, planning to reach another small island before dawn and change into a new disguise there. From there, they could blend in aboard a merchant ship headed to a different island, perfect for the next step in their misdirection strategy.
Sok Island was a chaotic trading hub in the West Blue.
Far from any Navy branch, it was a place where all sorts of people converged, ordinary goods merchants, weapons dealers, pirates, bounty hunters, black market brokers, slave traders, you could find a bit of everything.
A place like that was the perfect stage for Ethan's misdirection.
First, through three layers of intermediaries, he commissioned a job and gathered five men, each carrying a sword and wearing a cheap, rough disguise. Then he had them board different ships headed in different directions, leaving immediately.
As long as you paid them, the people who picked up jobs did not care about danger. In reality, this sort of task was exactly what they called risk money.
Ethan and Robin themselves rowed a small boat to an island near a West Blue Navy branch and went into hiding again.
He needed to rest and heal. Training with injuries was a bad idea. He also needed to quietly review his own growth and progress. So it was the perfect time to simply vanish for a while.
The battle on Ohara could not be hidden for long, just as Ethan had expected. CP9 operatives were extremely vigilant. When one of their members went out of contact for two days, they immediately sensed that something had gone wrong.
Originally, they should have noticed within a day, but the agent stationed on the island had always been dissatisfied with being left behind on guard duty. He had the habit of reporting only once every other day, which led to the delay.
Once the news that the Ohara survivors had reappeared was confirmed, the CP9 unit immediately headed for Ohara to investigate.
"Captain, someone has tampered with the basement entrance. The internal power switch has been activated, and there are signs of battle.
"There are traces of battle on the island too, but they have been cleaned up. We can only determine that one side was our own man, and the other was a swordsman."
"Captain, we found some blood and tissue fragments in the corner."
"Extract the blood, combine it with the fingernail fragments, and hand it over to the science division. Have them make a Vivre Card.
"Then call in someone with a Sniff-Sniff Fruit ability to track the enemy. Notify the Navy to conduct a perimeter sweep in the surrounding seas.
"Anyone who can take down one of my squad members alone with a sword will not be weak. It should not be hard to find him.
"This time, we are going to end the Ohara business once and for all."
Even though he had lost one of his men, the CP9 captain was still excited.
If he could complete the Five Elders' orders this time, it would be an unexpected windfall.
This fishing plan had been his idea. He had never been sure that the Ohara survivors would bite, but if they did, the credit would be enormous.
Just as Ethan had anticipated, the force the World Government could muster was terrifying.
The Vivre Card was completed in just two days, and the captain personally led the team out to hunt.
Another squad remained on Ohara, waiting for the Sniff-Sniff Fruit user to arrive and coordinating the search operation with the nearby Navy.
In less than a week, the CP9 captain tracked down a pirate in the South Blue. One punch was all it took to knock him out, and from that, the captain knew he had been played.
Strength like this, and you think you are worthy of killing one of my men?
A little digging showed that this was just a small fry pirate captain, with a bounty of not even five million Berries, who had been muddling along in the South Blue all this time.
"Bastard."
Killing intent exploded from him. He slaughtered everyone on the ship, but even wiping out the whole pirate crew did not calm his rage.
Just then, a squad member came over with a Den Den Mushi.
"Captain, the Sniff-Sniff Fruit user says the member's scent vanished on the open sea. To be precise, it was divided into thousands of pieces.
"It seems the enemy sprayed a special scent-masking agent on themselves before landing to cover their real smell. After leaving the island, they also soaked in seawater, so there is no way to track them."
His rage shot straight to the heavens. The fury of the CP9 captain came through the Den Den Mushi loud and clear.
"What about the Navy's search for swordsmen in the surrounding area?"
"Uh… there are no notable swordsmen in the nearby region. However, on Sok Island, five swordsmen with crude disguises scattered and fled in different directions.
"We have already captured them all. After verifying their identities, their strength does not match.
"They were only people hired to carry swords, wear disguises, and travel to different destinations."
"Good. Good. Good."
He ground out the word three times, jaw clenched. One punch shattered the entire pirate ship.
"Everyone, return to Mariejois with me. We will accept punishment."
They compiled a detailed report of the operation and submitted it to the CP Director.
As expected, the Director flew into a rage. Unlike the captain, he did not smash a ship. He smashed the captain.
"Hmph. I will personally report this to the Five Elders.
"Bring the Poneglyph back, and then all of you get lost to the Calm Belt and stand watch there."
"Yes."
Shortly after, another meeting was held at Navy Headquarters.
This time only Sengoku, Tsuru, and the three Admiral candidates were present.
Yes, the three future Admirals had already stepped fully onto the world stage. With their strength, they had stabilized the first half of the Grand Line and suppressed the early chaos of the Great Pirate Era.
Garp, they said, was off somewhere taking care of his grandson and was not at Headquarters.
Tsuru handed out copies of the CP9 operation report.
"Oh, how scary. Even CP9 failed, and now the Navy has to clean up?"
The only one who could say something like that was the Academy-Award winner himself, Kizaru. It proved that some people did not get weirder because they grew old. They were already weird, and then they got old.
(End of Chapter)
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