"So it really is the newly appointed Fourth Admiral, Taotie Luoyu…"
"Tch, he looks like some yellow-haired brat!"
Spandam suddenly burst into laughter.
As the overseer of Judicial Island, his combat power may have been pitiful, but his position gave him confidence.
And besides—this was just a newly appointed Admiral.To Spandam, that meant he could act without restraint.
"Spandam! What nonsense are you spouting?! Hina is very angry now!"
Hina stepped forward, face dark and furious.
But before she could get close, Smoker raised a hand to stop her.
"Hinai, the Admiral's here. Let him handle this."
Hina hesitated. She understood what Smoker meant.
Despite the absurdity of a young boy being appointed Admiral—skipping every step—Smoker himself, once hailed as the next potential Admiral, clearly didn't feel at ease either.
But against CP9's highest authority, even the two of them were clearly outmatched.
"I'll take it from here," Luoyu stepped forward, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses as he landed on the deck beside Koby and the others.
"Greetings. I'm Luoyu, the newly appointed Marine Admiral."
"I heard that Fleet Admiral Sengoku hasn't issued a transfer order—yet you intend to snatch away my very first mission?"
"Are you trying to steal my half-million performance bonus?"
Hina, watching Luoyu finally step up, had held a bit of hope to see how he'd deal with the situation…
But she never imagined he'd open his mouth and talk about money again.
A Marine Admiral, of all people, obsessed over a measly 500,000 Beli bonus?
Was this really okay?
"Five hundred thousand…?"Crocodile's cheek twitched. His expression contorted with fury as he roared:
"You little Marine brat—are you mocking me on purpose?!"
"I am Sir Crocodile! One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
"You dare say I'm worth only 500,000 Beli in performance points?! You're asking for death!"
"Once I break free, I'll show you what true despair means!"
Luoyu merely glanced at the raging Crocodile.
A head worth eighty million Beli was, of course, very tempting to him.
But unfortunately, bounty rewards fell outside the system's accepted performance metrics.
He had even considered strong-arming Marine HQ into raising his salary to billions—but again, anything not "legally earned" didn't count in the system's evaluation.
In the end, he could only resign himself to the fate of a corporate drone.
So when Crocodile flew into a rage, Luoyu just gave him a glance before losing interest.Instead, he turned to Spandam again.
"Hey, I asked you a question."
"Are you really trying to steal my 500,000 bonus?"
Spandam and his crew were stunned.
They never expected the Admiral to be so focused on… five hundred thousand Beli.
An Admiral with actual strength—especially one walking the Grand Line or the New World—could easily have money rain down upon him wherever he went.
And he was getting worked up over this?
"Admiral Luoyu, surely you're joking."
"Or is this just an excuse to stop us CP9 agents from taking over the escort mission?"Spandam chuckled, quickly regaining his composure.
"Oh, right. I did read in CP's intel reports… that Fleet Admiral Sengoku once compared you to, if not stronger than, our own Rob Lucci."
"These men under me? They're also said to possess Lucci-level potential."
"They've been itching to find out just how different an Admiral truly is."
"Surely Admiral Luoyu wouldn't mind a little warm-up before taking Crocodile to Impel Down, right?"
"Jabra, go spar with the Admiral!"
"Understood, Commander Spandam!"
The three CP9 elites moved immediately.
Nero, the rookie CP9 agent, didn't join in. Instead, he leapt forward to block Tashigi and Smoker.
"Spandam! You've gone too far!"Hina's eyes flared with rage.
"I'll report this to Fleet Admiral Sengoku immediately!
Smoker's expression darkened.Even he hadn't expected Spandam to push things this far.
Koby, Ain—even the nearby Marines—were all bracing themselves.
Only Crocodile, sitting in the brig moments ago with a face twisted in fury, now watched it all unfold with a cold sneer.
He couldn't wait to see how this greenhorn Admiral dealt with a CP9 ambush.
Swoosh!
Jabra and the other two agents flashed forward like specters, appearing right in front of Luoyu.
They made no effort to ambush. This was a full-frontal test of power.
Ain and the others began to move—ready to intervene.
But before they could…
A terrifying wave of pressure exploded from within Luoyu's body.
BOOOOM!
The very sea and sky seemed to shake.
Waves churned violently, rising into a turbulent tide.
A massive crimson shockwave, like a dome of raw killing intent, erupted from Luoyu and surged toward the oncoming CP9 trio.
"Conqueror's Haki?! But… isn't that only useful against weaklings?!"
Crocodile's pupils shrank as he watched.
But the next moment, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
That crimson wave—the blood-hued aura—had materialized into tangible form, colliding head-on with the CP9 agents.
BOOOOM!!!
A deafening impact echoed like divine thunder.
It was like their attacks slammed into an invisible wall of steel.
Then, like an avalanche, Luoyu's unleashed power crushed their resistance.
The three agents were blasted backwards like cannonballs.
The shockwave tore across the deck, shattering the very planks beneath their feet.
Even Spandam, who had deliberately stood 20 meters back to observe and claim credit afterward, was frozen in shock.
His prized subordinates—who he claimed were Lucci-level—couldn't even withstand a stare from Luoyu.
In a blink, the three were sent hurtling toward him, their outlines expanding rapidly in his pupils.
Spandam panicked.He thought about turning and fleeing.
But how could he outrun the crushing shockwave of Haki-infused psychic force?
"N-No! I'm the chief of Judicial Island!"
"I'm CP9's supreme commander! I hold equal status to your Marine Fleet Admiral!"
"You can't touch me! That's insubordination! Treason!"
"S-Stop! You're a Marine Admiral, for heaven's sake!"
Spandam's shrieks rang out in hysteria across the deck.
Everyone present held their breath.
Spandam may be shameless…But what he screamed… wasn't entirely wrong.