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  Coby, watg the se unfold through his sprouted eye and ear, observed with slight admiration and disfort. CP9 had pyed their cards perfectly, using Robin to shoot Iceburg, and all acted like they were Robin's underlings. The asured that when CP9 approached Iceburg again, he would view Robin as a real threat to the blueprints, pushing him closer to surrendering them to the gover out of fear. Too bad for them, Iceburg would rather die than hand them over—not that he had them in the first pce.

  As the CP9 agents and Robin made their exit, Coby retracted the extra eye and ear he had sprouted, feeling a pang of guilt for the role Robin had to py in this. He uood the y of it all, but it didn’t make it any easier to watch.

  "This is necessary, Robin," uttered to himself, his voice low. "Sorry for making you suffer, but with this, you’ll truly be part of the crew."

  With the operation seemingly plete, Coby decided it was time to move. He leaped down from the rooftop, nding silently on the ground below. He o get back to the ship before aiced his absence. Moving through the shadows, he retraced his steps, careful to avoid any patrols or civilians.

  On his way back to the Going Merry, Coby thought about how things were about to escate. With Robin now tied to Iceburg’s attempted assassination, the crew would be thrust into the flict with CP9. He khat Enies Lobby was ing, and with it, the moment when Robin would finally let go of her past fears and fully embrace her p the crew.

  When Coby reached the Going Merry, he found the ship quiet, most of the crew either resting or lost ihoughts. He slipped aboard without making a sound, heading straight for his hammock. As he y down, his mind raced with the events that had transpired. Tomorrow, everything would start to spiral out of trol, and he o be ready.

  The day, the city of Water 7 woke to a chilling rumor: Iceburg had been attacked by an assassin group. Fortunately, he survived, but the news sent shockwaves through the city. The citizens were on high alert, their usual lively demeanor repced with ay and fear. As Coby and Nami walked through the streets, they noticed the ge imosphere. People were frantic, hurrying to secure their homes and shops, and a sense of impending doom hung in the air.

  "What’s going on?" Nami asked, her brow furrowing as she watched a group of townspeople rushing to board up their windows.

  Coby sed the area, listening in on the hurried versations around them. "Sounds like they’re getting ready for something big."

  A nearby shopkeeper, hearing their fusion, turo them with a worried expression. "You’re not from around here, are you? Aqua Laguna is ing! It’s a massive tidal wave that hits the city every year. If you don’t prepare, it’ll sweep everything away!"

  Nami’s eyes widened in shock. "A tidal wave? That’s insane!"

  The shopkeeper nodded grimly, already turning back to his preparations. "You better get back to wherever you’re staying and batten dowches. It’s going to be a rough ohis year."

  Coby and Nami exged a quice. They o get back to the ship and warn the rest of the crew, but just as they turo head back, a tall figure with wild blue hair stepped into their path. The man’s eyes were hidden behind sungsses, but the anger in his voice was unmistakable.

  "Are you the ones who wrecked my house?" Franky asked, his voice low and dangerous as he stared down at them.

  Nami froze, her hand instinctively reag for her Clima-Tact. Coby, however, didn’t waste a sed. Before Franky could react, Coby activated his Super Stealth Feet teique and vanished from sight. He moved with blinding speed, slipping behind Franky and reappearing a few feet away, out of the man’s line of sight.

  "You’re Franky, right?" Coby asked, his voice calm. "You’re the one who stole our money a up Usopp."

  Franky smirked, crag his knuckles as he straightened up to turn. "Yeah, that’s me. You got a problem with that, kid?"

  Before Franky could fully turn around, Coby acted. Pnting his feet firmly on the ground, he unleashed a powerful kick directly into Franky's back, sending the cyb flying forward with tremendous force. Franky crashed into a nearby building, the impact leaving a deep dent in the wall as debris scattered around him.

  "Shit!" Franky grunted, shaking off the blow as he pulled himself out of the wreckage. He turo face Coby, eyes narrowed with surprise and anger. "You’re faster than I expected, but don’t think you just take me down that easily!"

  Franky charged at Coby, his massive fists swinging with brutal power. Coby dodged each punch effortlessly, moving with precise agility that kept him just out of Franky’s reach. As Franky swung again, Coby ducked low and tered with a swift punch to Franky’s back, aiming at a ot in his armor.

  The blow ected with a loud g, and Franky stumbled back, clutg his side. "How the hell did you—?" he began, but Coby didn’t give him time to finish. He followed up with a rapid series of strikes, eae targeting key points in Franky’s body.

  Coby knew Franky’s abilities better than the cyb himself. He knew where the joints were, where the metal was weakest, and he exploited every opening. Franky’s attempts to fight back were met with brutal ters, his strength and durability rendered almost useless against Coby’s precise attacks.

  "Strong Hammer!" Franky roared, throwing a heavy punch aimed at Coby’s head.

  Coby sidestepped the attack, and as Franky’s fist smmed into the ground, crag the stoh it, Coby seized the opportunity. He grabbed Franky by the arm, using his momentum against him, and flipped him over his shoulder, smming the cyb into the ground with enough force to shake the street.

  Franky gasped, the wind knocked out of him as he tried tain his bearings. But Coby wasn’t finished. He stomped down on Franky’s chest, pinning him to the ground. "You’re not getting away with what you did to Usopp," Coby stated ftly.

  Franky struggled beh Coby’s weight, trying to push him off, but Coby’s grip was like iron. "You little shit!" Franky spat, gring up at him. "You think you just walk all over me? I’m Franky, damn it!"

  Coby didn’t respond with words. Instead, he delivered a brutal punch to Franky’s face, followed by another and another, each blow more devastating tha. The street echoed with the sound of metal g uhe relentless assault. Franky’s sungsses shattered, and blood spurted from his nose as Coby’s fists hammered him into the ground.

  Finally, after a particurly hard punch, Franky’s fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Coby stepped back, breathing heavily as he looked down at the battered cyb.

  Nami, who had been watg the entire fight in stunned silence, finally found her voice. "Coby… you didn’t hold back at all."

  Coby g her, then back at Franky, who y unscious at his feet. "He deserved it."

  Before they could say more, a group of people approached from the dire of the main square, drawn by the sounds of the fight. They stopped short when they saw the se before them—Franky, the feared leader of the Franky Family, lyien and bloody on the ground, and Coby standing over him, unscathed.

  "Who the hell is that?" one of the onlookers muttered, eyeing Coby with fear and respect.

  Nami quickly grabbed Coby’s arm, pulling him away from the growing crowd. "We o get out of here before more of them show up."

  Coby nodded, following Nami’s lead as they made their way back to the Going Merry. He wasn’t really angry at Franky. Sure, what Franky did was an asshole move—beating up Usopp and stealing the crew's money—but he had his reasons. Franky acted like a thug, but in his own twisted way, he roteg Water 7, much like Iceburg did in the light while Franky worked in the shadows.

  But Coby wasn’t mad at Franky. He issed off at himself. He knew Robin was suffering, but he was letting it happen for the sake of her character development. That was an even more asshole move. He just wanted her to accept that she wao live, that she art of the crew—not just a hitchhiker.

  As they moved through the streets of Water 7, the crew began hearing the esg tension in the voices of the locals. Angry shouts and curses filled the air, and it wasn’t long before they pieced together what had happened. Iceburg must have regained sciousness and revealed that it was Nico Robin who had tried to assassinate him. Now, the Strairates were publiemy number one iy.

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