CHAPTER 353: CHAPTER 54: THE VIGOROUS NATIONAL FOOT

"Hey, hey, Luffy, what are you doing?"

Zoro instinctively felt that something was wrong.

"Could it be..." Nami wanted to escape the cover, but running out would expose her to enemy gunfire.

"Could it be~." Chopper also felt uneasy.

Luffy’s arm retracted as Sanji charged towards the group at high speed.

"Get out of the way!"

This shout from Sanji wasn’t meant for Luffy and Zoro, but directed at Nami.

As Sanji flew towards them, the three people and one deer behind cover showed amazing coordination, each raising a foot.

What Sanji faced wasn’t a ’human cushion,’ but rather a flip-flop sole (Luffy), a sandal sole (Nami), a boot sole (Zoro), and a deer hoof.

With a bang, Sanji crashed into Luffy and the others, his face landing right on Zoro’s sole, making Zoro smirk.

"You idiot..."

Sanji shook his head, the size 42 shoe print on his face particularly conspicuous.

"It suits you."

Zoro nodded with satisfaction.

"Huh?" Sanji was confused.

"The shoe print on your face."

Sanji was furious and was about to take on Zoro when he noticed something was off.

"Why are you all hiding here?"

Nami answered Sanji’s query with action; she took off her coat and threw it out of cover.

Bam, a gunshot rang out, shattering the coat, causing Sanji’s pupils to shrink.

"Ahhh~!"

A scream approached from afar as a long-nosed man wearing a mask flew straight up into the sky—it was Usopp.

Usopp had been thrown up by a giant, who intended to help him quickly reach the roof.

At the moment, Usopp clasped his fists tightly against his chest, wearing a mask, flying straight into the high skies.

With Usopp’s long nose and straightened body, from afar, he looked like a javelin. If there was a target in mid-air, Su Xiao suspected Usopp could pin himself to it.

"Ah!!"

The shouting continued as Su Xiao watched Usopp in mid-air in surprise and quietly raised his gun.

Bam!

"Ah!"

The scream turned to a shriek as Usopp’s leg was shot. Fortunately, the bullet didn’t hit the center, or his entire leg might have been shattered.

Luffy quickly extended his arm, pulling Usopp back to cover, as Chopper stepped forward to bandage Usopp’s wound. The Straw Hat Pirates were all there, but they could only hide behind cover.

Bam, bam!

Su Xiao fired two shots at that cover, stone chips flying, making Nami, who was about to peek, quickly retreat.

"What do we do now? We can’t get through."

"Look, Robin is on the building opposite."

"Robin~!"

Luffy shouted, his face lighting up with joy. Robin wasn’t abandoning them; she was trying to sacrifice herself for them.

Hearing Luffy’s shout, Robin’s eyes were filled with various emotions: fear, joy, urgency, and worry.

"Who’s on the rooftop?"

Spandam looked at the rooftop in confusion, finally hearing gunfire from above.

"Bai Ye."

Lucci answered.

"What?!"

Spandam’s expression turned sour; he was still brooding over the City of Seven Seas incident.

"Get him down here for me."

Lucci didn’t move. He wasn’t on a mission right now, and although Spandam was his superior, he ignored some of Spandam’s more idiotic orders.

Seeing Lucci ignore him, Spandam quietly said, "Hey, Lucci, with so many outsiders, give me some face."

Spandam knew without the CP9 members, he couldn’t hold his current position. He had poured effort into training these CP9 members, with five of the eight being Devil Fruit Users—all Devil Fruits he secured from the World Government.

Although Spandam’s actions were sometimes foolish, his ability to judge situations was decent, knowing what could and couldn’t be done.

"He’s with the Navy now; we have no authority over him."

Hearing Lucci’s reply, Spandam was displeased.

"With the Navy, we’ll settle that later."

Spandam gave himself an out, focusing on the Straw Hat Pirates.

Su Xiao had already suppressed the entire Straw Hat crew, with Usopp, their only long-range ability member, injured.

But if the Straw Hats stayed hiding, he couldn’t do much.

As Su Xiao aimed at the Straw Hats, three sneaky shadows approached the drawbridge.

"Boss, we’re not gonna get sniped, are we?"

"Nonsense, have we ever scared of snipers?"

"Hey, boss, that chick from the last Derivative World almost wiped us out. She’s a sniper."

"She doesn’t count. She’s more like a cannon than a sniper."

"But..."

"No buts, charge through! With Holy Light Protection, why worry about anything."

No need to say, this jolly trio was, of course, the National Foot brothers, charging valiantly towards the drawbridge. With CP9 and the Straw Hats in a standoff, this was the best time to enter the Justice Tower.

Behind a building on the main island, Cowboy Hat Man watched the National Foot trio, planning to dash across behind their cover.

Not just Cowboy Hat Man, Crazy Healer had the same idea. His teammates weren’t with him, and Su Xiao had sniped him a few times before, stoking his anger.

Besides those two, the dozen or so Contractors who had previously traveled with the Straw Hats were also awaiting their chance.

"First, take out that sniper. Once we’re close, he’s dead."

"Yeah, that guy almost blew my head off. We have to settle this score."

These Contractors all set their sights on Su Xiao atop the roof, believing a sniper up close was just trash.

The National Foot trio charged onto the drawbridge, which hadn’t elevated, likely meddled with by the Contractors.

The trio’s footsteps echoed on the wooden bridge, immediately catching Su Xiao’s attention. He was impressed by their bravery.

Bam.

The bullet left the muzzle, stirring up layers of air ripples.

Thump.

Blood spurted as the third brother of the National Foot trio fell, a large hole blown in his chest armor, though the bullet didn’t pass through.

"Third Brother, don’t panic! I’ve got you,"

"Second Brother’s here too."

Golden light radiated from the hands of the two, healing the third brother instantly. They were all defense-type Paladins, with high healing prowess and stamina attributes.

Shot in the chest, the third brother stood unfazed, continuing his run.

Bam, bam, bam.

Su Xiao fired three more shots, switching targets since the previous one was too resilient. This time, it was the National Foot boss who got hit.

"Hold on, Boss!"

The second and third brothers’ hands glowed golden, and the boss was fully healed, vitality restored.

Though fierce, the trio ran with heads covered to avoid headshots from Su Xiao.

Bam, bam, bullets rained incessantly, but if one of them fell, the other two would immediately heal him. They left blood trails on the bridge, enduring the assault.

On the rooftop, Su Xiao was stunned by their tenacity. Ordinary Contractors would fall after two shots, but these three kept going despite taking four or five shots.

Su Xiao pulled the trigger, but heard a click—it was out of bullets, leaving him speechless at such bizarre Contractors.

Noticing Su Xiao stopped shooting, the National Foot trio halted.

They quickly formed a human pyramid, shouting at once,

"We are the National Foot! Remember it!"

Having said that, the trio dashed into the Justice Tower, laughing along the way. The third brother, while laughing, even coughed up some blood.