"Kalifa, is today a nice day to die?"
Tanaka appeared behind Kalifa at some point, pressing his back against hers. His right hand gripped the Kusanagi sword, bringing the blade around to the front of Kalifa, resting it against her neck.
"You."
Upon hearing this, her pupils contracted sharply, and waves of shock surged through her heart.
This guy! He knows my name?
Yes.
Not just her identity—but her actual name.
Even Rosinante had only confirmed that Who's-Who and the others were CP9, but he didn't know their names.
But the boy?
Not only did he precisely pick her out from the crowd, but he also called her name out loud.
What disturbed her even more was that, despite Tanaka suddenly appearing and holding a blade to her throat, the surrounding Marines seemed completely unaware that he had just exposed her name.
"Put down the sword!"
"What do you think you're doing to her?"
Faced with this unexpected situation, the nearby Marines stepped back while raising their rifles.
Clearly, they had no idea that Kalifa was also CP9. To them, she was just another Marine officer.
Due to the Marine's male-to-female ratio being overwhelmingly skewed, female officers often received more favoritism. Additionally, Kalifa, as a CP9 agent, had fully mastered espionage skills.
Even though she hadn't been on this warship for long, unlike the foul-mouthed and unpopular Who's-Who, she had built an excellent reputation among the crew.
For 90% of the Marines aboard, she was practically a goddess.
A comrade-in-arms, and someone they secretly admired. But let's be honest, they just wanted to get laid.
Now, seeing her being held at knifepoint by Tanaka, of course, their reactions were intense.
"Lower your weapons."
Rosinante's first thought upon witnessing this scene was: another CP9 member.
"But, Rear Admiral Rosinante…"
The surrounding Marines hesitated, worried and reluctant. However, military hierarchy was absolute.
Just moments ago, due to Who's-Who's "incitement," several Marines had nearly been swayed. Now, fearing Rosinante might hold a grudge, they dared not act rashly.
Reluctantly, they lowered their guns.
But they still surrounded Tanaka tightly, ensuring he had no way out.
"Can you give me a reason?" As Rosinante spoke, he shot Tanaka a meaningful glance.
Even though all the Marines combined wouldn't last a single strike against Tanaka, the CP9 matter needed to be concealed for as long as possible.
Moreover, Rosinante himself was still a Marine.
When dealing with CP9, he could stand firmly by Tanaka's side without hesitation. But when it came to his fellow Marines, he preferred a peaceful resolution.
So, the best approach was to falsely accuse another one—just like with Who's-Who, Jabra, and Blueno.
"They're all in on it."
Tanaka immediately understood Rosinante's intent.
He had learned all those ninjutsu, taijutsu, sword techniques, eaten the Op-Op Fruit, and trained in Haki—all for one purpose: to make people calmly listen to him.
If he could resolve this without using his blade, he wouldn't mind using his words instead.
After all, it would only cost him a little saliva.
Besides, since Rosinante was willing to stand by him unconditionally, Tanaka didn't want to put his friend in a difficult position between the Marine and himself.
"What?"
"No way!"
"Impossible!"
"She is clearly a Marine officer! How could she be the same as those imposters, those fake CP9 agents?"
Upon hearing Tanaka's words, the marines were in absolute uproar.
Their reaction was even more intense than when Who's-Who had claimed to be CP9 and threatened them.
"How do you prove it?"
During the previous battle over the Op-Op Fruit, Rosinante had already witnessed Tanaka's abilities multiple times. So, he was certain that since Tanaka dared to make such a statement, he must have a way to ensure Kalifa wouldn't be "wrongfully accused."
"For starters, she's been speaking in defense of these people the entire time. But let's make it simpler. Shoot one of those two guys."
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly shifted his tone.
Bang!
Rosinante immediately caught on to Tanaka's train of thought. Without a moment's hesitation, he drew a pistol from his waist and aimed it at Blueno, who was already severely injured from the explosive tag.
"I am an Op-Op Fruit user. You know this, Kalifa."
"So, I have at least ten thousand ways to make Blueno and Jabra experience every possible form of torture. Be it dismemberment, beheading, cutting them in half, skinning, burning, or boiling—I can still keep them alive and kicking afterward."
Tanaka activated his ROOM, isolating all sound so that only Kalifa could hear his words.
When it came to CP9, especially CP9 members who had come to capture him, he had no reason to show mercy.
Just like in the Naruto world, where no ninja's hands were clean of innocent blood, in the One Piece world, there wasn't a single CP9 agent who hadn't bathed in blood.
Take, for example, what happened after Roger's death—when the World Government scoured the globe for the pregnant Portgas D. Rouge.
During that time, Cipher Pol agents had indirectly or directly caused the deaths of countless pregnant women and newborns.
So, when facing Kalifa—no, when facing CP9, he could be utterly ruthless.
"Will you surrender on your own, or shall I help you do it?" Tanaka's voice wasn't loud, nor was his tone heavy. In fact, there was even a trace of gentleness in it.
But to Kalifa, his words were more terrifying than the whispers of a devil.
"Stop! Don't kill them. I… I'm one of them."
On one side, she could confess and receive a swift end.
On the other, she could deny it, and let Jabra and Blueno endure unimaginable torture.
She chose the former without hesitation.
She was outmatched—she had no excuse.
There was no point in being stubborn and making both her comrades and herself suffer needlessly.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"You're a Marine! How could this be?!"
Hearing Kalifa admit it with her own mouth, many of the marines felt their hearts shatter.
"Alright, talk. Who exactly are you people? Why are you impersonating CP9 and infiltrating the Marine to go after Tanaka?"
Rosinante watched the scene unfold, feeling no surprise at all.
He was all too familiar with Tanaka's abilities.
Even someone as powerful as Doflamingo had been played like a puppet by him.
So, what chance did a mere CP9 have?
Now that Kalifa had confessed, things became much easier.
As long as they made her admit she wasn't CP9, even if the matter escalated to the World Government, Rosinante would remain blameless.
"He stole the Op-Op Fruit from the Donquixote Pirates. Tell me, why wouldn't I come after him?" Kalifa's lips trembled slightly as she spoke with difficulty.
She felt like she had been completely outplayed.
For the first time in her life, she was falsely accused of not being CP9—and was now helping her own accuser prove she wasn't CP9.
And if that wasn't bad enough, she was even helping Tanaka pin all the blame on Doflamingo.