One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Just kidding!

Chapter 312: The Surrounded Assassin!

Dark as ink.

Three figures in pure white suits drifted down from the shore like weightless smoke.

The leader was tall and slender, with an intricate and bizarre mask pattern; he was Guernica, an elite member of CP0.

Two people followed behind him.

Stussy, a woman with a graceful figure yet exuding a deadly aura.

The other is a towering man, Maha.

The three landed.

Not a sound was left on the beach.

Even the sand and gravel beneath their feet did not collapse.

"Everyone, activate 'Life Return'."

Guernica's voice squeezed out from the cracks of hell, vibrating the eardrums of the other two directly through bone conduction.

"Our heart rate drops below ten beats per minute, our body temperature synchronizes with the environment, and all our pores close. From this moment on, we are stone, we are dead wood, we are part of this night."

The instruction has been issued.

The aura emanating from the three of them instantly evaporated.

The life magnetic field belonging to the strong vanished into thin air, and they turned into three lifeless corpses.

This is "Life Return," a technique that can fool most people using Observation Haki.

Guernica raised her gloved hand and pointed to the faint fire in the center of the island, her eyes beneath the mask filled with icy killing intent.

"Lord Garin has only one order: find the 'person who shouldn't exist,' confirm their identity, and then eliminate them."

"Don't get into trouble with the redheads or the white-bearded ones. Our target is only that one 'anomaly.' We are ghosts; ghosts don't need to show themselves to kill."

Stussy ran his fingers through his golden curls, a playful glint in his eyes behind the mask.

"Guernica, I don't mean to be discouraging."

"But we're facing two Yonko crews."

"Even if they're drunk, the success rate of this kind of infiltration mission is basically zero."

"Normally, it would indeed be considered suicide."

Guernica responded coldly, her body already disappearing into the jungle as a blur.

"But intelligence indicates that Shanks and Whitebeard threw an unprecedented party today. Even the Four Emperors would lower their guard at a banquet of that scale. This is the only opportunity, and also the only weakness."

"action."

The shadows of the trees in the jungle swayed like countless ghosts baring their fangs and claws.

Three white figures moved between the tree canopy and the shadows.

It was astonishingly fast, yet terrifyingly quiet.

They bypassed all the visible and hidden sentries, and most of the pirates on guard were lounging under trees, hugging empty bottles, snoring loudly.

Maha stopped behind a giant tree, staring at two drunken, dead red-haired members of the gang ahead, his fingers gripping two poison needles, his knuckles exerting a slight pressure.

"Don't meddle."

Guernica pressed down on his shoulder, her voice icy.

"The stench of murder stimulates the instincts of the strong. Let's go around it."

The three of them moved through the outer defenses like ghosts.

The further you go in, the stronger the smell of alcohol becomes, so strong it's almost pungent.

Stussy perched on a thick branch, looking down ahead.

Through the sparse branches and leaves, the core area of ​​the banquet was faintly visible.

The campfire had burned out, leaving only dark red embers flickering in the night wind.

Countless pirates lay sprawled on the ground, like a battlefield strewn with corpses.

"It's too quiet."

Stussy's brow furrowed, his unease growing stronger.

"That's Marco from the Whitebeard Pirates, and Yasopp from the Red-Haired Pirates... Can these monsters really sleep this soundly?"

Her gaze fell on a huge figure lying face up in the distance.

"Diamond" Joz.

His belly rose and fell with his breath, his defenseless posture making it seem as if he were inviting someone to slit his throat.

"This is what pirates are like."

Guernica scoffed dismissively.

"A pack of undisciplined beasts. Alcohol is their greatest weakness; they are at their most vulnerable when the party ends."

They activated their Observation Haki!

The direction pointed directly to the very center of the Red-Haired Pirates.

"The target is right there."

The three of them lowered their bodies, like three black widows preparing to hunt, and silently crept in.

Three hundred meters from the core area.

These 300 meters are a true death zone.

The air was thick and sticky, like an invisible gel; it was the terrifying aura unintentionally released by dozens of top experts in their sleep.

If an ordinary person stepped in, their heart would be shattered by the pressure.

But the three CP0 members are the World Government's top killing machine.

They held their breath, compressing their presence to the extreme, each step barely touching the gaps in the wind, each heartbeat perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of the other's snoring.

Nearly.

closer.

They arrived behind a giant rock.

An excellent shady spot, offering both a panoramic view and perfect concealment.

Guernica peeked out halfway, her gaze quickly sweeping across the entire arena.

Between the two of them was a soft chair that looked out of place.

A figure was curled up on the chair.

He was covered with a large black cloak.

That's Shanks' cape.

"Found it."

Guernica's pupils contracted sharply, and her heart skipped a beat, defying the control of "life return."

Although the face was not clearly visible, the figure's aura was extremely faint, making it stand out from the surrounding monsters.

This is what is called an "abnormality".

The "ghosts" that terrified Garin.

"Get ready to act."

Guernica made a gesture.

The muscles of the three men tensed instantly, their killing intent accumulating within them, locked tightly beneath their skin, waiting to erupt.

However, at this critical moment...

Just when everyone thought they were the hunter.

The camera quietly zooms out.

They climbed over the rocks where CP0 was hiding, over the dense canopy of trees, and all the way to the top of a huge mast a hundred meters in the air.

The night wind howled even more fiercely here, making the hem of clothes flutter loudly.

Chen Ye sat lazily on the highest bar of the Red Fox, his legs dangling in the air, swaying slightly with the ship.

He held a glass of red wine in one hand and tossed a glistening purple grape in the other.

Those eyes gleamed with a faint red light.

The signs that one's Observation Haki has reached its peak.

In his view, the jungle below was not dark, but a clear three-dimensional grid.

Those three white figures, who thought they were perfectly concealed, looked to him like three rats that had wandered into the daytime square.

Every movement, every breath, even the twitching of the corner of Guernica's mouth under the mask, was clearly visible.

"This is...too slow."

Chenye tossed the grapes high into the air, tilted his head back, and caught them precisely. He bit through the skin with his teeth, and the sweet and sour juice burst in his mouth.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze piercing through space, landing on Guernica's confident mask.

"This is the most powerful intelligence agency? They don't even know when they became caged birds."

Chen Ye's smile grew wider and wider.

"Now that all the guests have arrived, wouldn't it be extremely impolite not to begin?"

Chen Ye extended a finger and gently tapped it in the air.

It was like pressing an invisible switch.

"Act One: The Prey Enters the Net"

In the jungle below, Guernica suddenly looked up at the night sky.

But there were only stars and a cold moon there, nothing else.

Is it just an illusion?

He frowned and refocused his attention on the figure in the black cloak.

Higher above his head, an invisible net had already descended, completely enveloping the three holy spirits.

night, deeper.

The real hunt has only just begun.