Seeing Chiga's actions, Stussy couldn't help but nod in satisfaction, thinking that Chiga was quite sensible, and her evaluation of him unconsciously rose.
With the main task completed, Stussy was ready to leave. Before leaving, she handed Chiga a card, threw a wink, and left a message telling him to find her if he wanted to relax in the entertainment district. Then she left.
After Stussy left, only Chiga and Kalifa were left in the office. Kalifa, as expected of an intelligence agent who had undergone special training since childhood, quickly assumed her secretarial role. She brought Chiga a cup of hot tea and then respectfully stood by, awaiting his instructions.
Chiga was experiencing secretarial service for the first time and found it quite novel. Although this secretary was actually a spy, the experience was far from lacking.
After some thought, Chiga asked Kalifa to organize all the major and minor events currently happening on Sabaody Archipelago. He wanted to get a general understanding of the current situation. He couldn't just laze around here for a year, could he?
Upon receiving the task, Kalifa quietly went to organize the data. Before long, she brought in a stack of documents half her height and placed them on Chiga's desk.
It had to be said that her efficiency was truly top-notch. Chiga thought to himself that if she weren't a World Government agent, he would definitely make her his true secretary.
Shaking off these random thoughts, Chiga lowered his head and scrutinized the documents Kalifa had compiled. Through these documents, he also obtained a lot of useful information.
For example, Areas 1–29 of Sabaody Archipelago were primarily zones for shady dealings—human trafficking and other illegal activities. The Celestial Dragons also liked to go there to purchase slaves.
After reading for a while, Chiga closed the documents in his hand and stood up, saying to Kalifa:
"Prepare yourself, we're going to Area 16."
Kalifa immediately notified a team of Marines to stand by, then retrieved a white suit for Chiga to put on and followed closely behind him as they headed toward Area 16.
As soon as they stepped into Area 16, Chiga keenly noticed he was being watched by malicious gazes. It seemed there was a reason this place was called an illegal zone; even a Marine's identity held limited deterrent power here.
Chiga walked along the street as if on a casual stroll, vaguely hearing some cries and screams, likely from trafficked slaves or pirates engaged in infighting.
He wouldn't interfere with slave trafficking. If this practice could exist openly under the World Government and Marines' noses, there had to be people backing it. Neither the Celestial Dragons nor other high-ranking officials would tolerate anyone disrupting such operations.
What Chiga could do now was to be a good Marine. As for everything else, he would deal with it once he had more power and higher status.
At that moment, inside a house by the street, a group of pirates had been watching Chiga and his group for a while.
In the center of the room sat a thin, short man guzzling a barrel of beer almost as large as himself. A minion pulled back from the window and respectfully said:
"Captain Jerry, those Marines aren't doing anything—just strolling around."
The short man, Captain Jerry of the Blood Rat Pirates, with a bounty of 120 million Berries, put down his beer, wiped his mouth, and said in an extremely high-pitched voice:
"Who's leading them? Ambuster?"
"Don't recognize him. Looks like a new face. There's also a woman following behind. Quite pretty!"
A pretty woman? Hearing this, Jerry's booze-clouded brain suddenly sobered up.
What did a pretty woman mean in this place? A walking bounty! In recent years, the supply of "goods" had been drying up, and quality was lacking. The mention of a pretty woman immediately spurred him to action. He darted to the window, pushed the minion aside, and observed.
Through the window, he spotted Kalifa walking behind Chiga. Kalifa's shapely figure and cold, beautiful face were instantly labeled "top-grade" in his mind. Then his gaze fell on Chiga, and he sneered:
"So young and already a Colonel? Another second-gen coming to gain experience, huh? Too bad for him. Why come here of all places? I'll take the weapons—and the woman too. Be smarter in your next life!"
With that, he motioned for his crew to rush out and block Chiga's group. He pointed arrogantly and said:
"Kid, this ain't a place for little brats. Be smart—hand over the woman behind you and your weapons, and I'll let you live. Otherwise, don't blame me, Blood Rat Jerry, for being nasty!"
"Blood Rat Jerry?"
Chiga frowned. He hadn't expected to encounter someone who would jump out just from patrolling. Kalifa pushed up her glasses and dutifully gave Chiga the intel.
"Blood Rat Jerry. Bounty: 120 million. Devil Fruit: Zoan-type, Rat-Rat Fruit, Great-Toothed Rat form. Known for robbery and torturing women. Recently involved in slave trafficking."
Chiga listened with arms crossed. Jerry was a complete scumbag. In that case, there was no need to let him live to reach Impel Down.
Lowering his arms, Chiga prepared to act. Kalifa noticed and narrowed her eyes slightly.
Was he going to make a move? She was also evaluating Chiga's combat abilities, but the result would disappoint her.
Chiga was indeed about to act, but was stopped by Medis on his shoulder. Medis meowed:
"Master, leave this rat to me."
"Hm? Confident? His bounty isn't exactly low."
"Don't worry, Master. Leave it to me. He had to be a rat, didn't he?"
Chiga thought it over. Medis hadn't done anything since she was born—this was a good chance to test her.
So, while Kalifa looked on with expectation, she didn't see Chiga make a move. Instead, the black cat on his shoulder leapt down and landed in front of Jerry and the pirates.
What was it going to do? Not just Kalifa and the Marines—even the pirates were confused. Sending out a pet cat in this situation?
Jerry, however, froze. He didn't know why, but the moment he saw the cat, every hair on his body stood up. He felt a deep, irrational fear.
He shook his head, confused. It was just a cat. Even if he was a Rat-Rat Fruit user, he shouldn't be scared of it, right?
Medis, now on all fours, let out a loud meow toward the sky. A black flame suddenly enveloped her. The fire grew larger and larger until it reached the size of a small house.
When the black flames dispersed, everyone's pupils constricted. The small pet cat had vanished—replaced by a large, black demonic feline, its body flickering with dark flames.
Medis licked her lips and locked her glowing eyes on Jerry. Chiga heard her voice in his mind:
"Master, I'm starting!"