Chapter 40: I DIDN’T SAY YOU CAN GO
Ochoku clenched the giant sword in his hand, looking ready to chop off John's head at any moment.
However, the treasure had not yet appeared, and the actions of CP0 prompted Silver Axe to make a move early. Many people were interested in Rocks' treasures, and they had remained undiscovered for five years because no one had been able to find them.
If they killed John, they might not be able to get the treasures.
Just as they were frozen in place, the two members of CP0 could no longer sit still. Their plan was to have John and Silver Axe fight each other, but Ochoku's appearance disrupted the balance.
CP0 is known as the "strongest shield of the Celestial Dragons" and is the world's strongest intelligence organization.
The selection process for members of CP0 is quite strict. Being proficient in Rokushiki is just the basic requirement, and the members must blindly defend the Celestial Dragons and follow the orders of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
The number of members of CP0 is unknown, and they typically carry out covert operations, investigating the smuggling of arms, secret assassinations, and making secret deals with non-allied countries or some pirates around the world.
The strength of the members varies, but even the weakest of them can hold their own in the New World and are capable of holding the officer position among a group of powerful pirates.
Originally, they were just pretending to be part of John's subordinates, but Ochoku's appearance disrupted their plans.
They had hoped to face a severely injured Silver Axe or John, and not two pirates with bounties of over one billion each. Ochoku and Silver Axe working together wasn't beneficial to them.
CP0 is better at assassination, and in this dim environment, with Silver Axe and Ochoku's attention focused on John, they might have been able to balance the odds by taking advantage of these remnants of the pirates, but someone else moved much faster than they did.
"Lightning Bolts!"
The night sky was fairly clear, and although there were only a few black clouds in the sky, they did not block the moon, and moonlight still shone brightly on the muddy lake bed below.
But that was before a large number of lightning bolts rained down from the sky, attacking the crowd below indiscriminately, although the thunderbolts seemed to be targeting Ochoku and Silver Axe specifically.
Then a giant dragon emerged from the clouds, flame clouds swirling around a few figures standing in the night sky.
"Worororo! There are quite a few old friends here, don't you think so, ba*tard seniors?"
Kaido emphasized the word "senior" as he spoke. Although he was interested in the treasures, they only ranked second in his priorities. The first was still Arceus' plate.
This is where they differ from the people below; they were looking for all of Rocks' previous treasures, while Kaido is looking for the treasure that was originally on the ship.
At this point, Arceus still hasn't detected the presence of the plate, so Kaido needs to get information from John's mouth rather than searching for the treasure after John's death.
Kaido's sudden appearance changed the situation below again, and his indiscriminate attack does not seem like a friendly greeting.
Calling them ba*tard senior, it is clear that whoever has arrived also stayed on Rocks' ship before. Even after transforming into a Zoan, certain characteristics of their original form will still be retained, and combined with Kaido's voice, his identity is no longer a secret.
"Isn't this the apprentice brat from the ship? You don't have that woman protecting you anymore."
"Worororo, don't joke around. Even if Linlin isn't here, I can still take care of you guys, Kaifu!"
A large number of wind blades swept down, and while Kaido's AOE attack was not that difficult to deal with for Ochoku and the others, it was a devastating blow for their subordinates.
The previous lightning and now the wind blades have caused a significant reduction in the number of pirates, especially for John's pirate crew, who were originally facing a combined attack from Silver Axe and Ochoku, and now with Kaido's attack, there has been a significant reduction in John's pirate crew.
"You really have obtained quite a good ability, Mythical Zoan? Have you allied with John? You really have some guts."
"Don't talk nonsense, it's just that John has something that I want."
"Kaido! Join forces with me to deal with these two, and when the time comes, not only that thing, but we can also split Rocks' treasures evenly!"
Kaido and Ochoku's conversation made John have the idea of trying to rope in Kaido, but all he received was a merciless ridicule.
"Don't joke around, Captain John will share his treasure with others? Worororo, do you want to kill me from laughter? " It was not just Kaido, but even Silver Axe and Ochoku also voiced their ridicule.
"John, look what is your reputation, even an apprentice doesn't believe your words, it's better to hand over the treasures obediently!"
"You think I will believe you two? Everyone's the same, but since you both want the treasures, go and look for it, Ground Revolving Door!"
From the beginning, he had been using his Devil Fruit ability, but this time the range was much larger. He had originally wanted to delay for some time, but Kaido's appearance just now helped him.
The entire bottom of the lake became a massive revolving door, and it began to invert and rotate. In an instant, all the people here were thrown into the air by the revolving ground, and below the revolving door, a special space could be glimpsed.
Under these circumstances, ordinary people were powerless and fell into the pit below. But Ochoku, Silver Axe, and the CP0 actively charged forward and saw what they wanted below.
"Kaido!"
"I know, hold on!" Seeing the changes below, Kaido also charged down on the flame cloud. For him who could fly, the underground environment was not very frightening.
And John, the mastermind of all of this, also fell into the pit with a strange smile on his face.
"Has this guy's devil fruit awakened?"
Under the effect of John's ability, the entire inland lake's bottom turned into a revolving door. This was already within the domain of awakening. Paramecia-type Devil Fruits have the ability to influence the surrounding terrain when they awaken, but at this point they still don't know what fruit John ate.
To their surprise, underneath the inland lake was a massive underground cave filled with peculiar glowing plants that filled the otherwise dim underground with dim light.
And under their feet was not stone or soil, but similar treasures, in other words, the entire inland lake was filled with treasures.
The underground space was very large, so Kaido could still fly in the air. When the others fell down, they were in a confused state, and only the officers remained conscious and right now all their eyes were on John.
"These are the treasures you wanted and also your grave. Everyone, including Captain John, will die here, and then I'm going to start a new life. Goodbye, fools!"
After saying that, John planned to open a Space Door and leave, but at this moment, a strange energy enveloped him and he couldn't help but feel anger rise within him. The thought of running away was pushed to the back of his mind.
Dread Plate-Taunt, successfully activated.