CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 56: THE SCAPEGOAT KING, I’LL TAKE IT

Su Xiao sat on the rooftop smoking, with the Straw Hat Pirates lined up on the opposite rooftop. The CP9 members were holding Robin and Franky on a platform of the Justice Tower, with both sides in a standoff.

Franky had now regained his freedom, but with several CP9 agents around him, escaping was impossible.

Given the current development, discovering the Netherworld blueprints on Franky was only a matter of time.

Franky was hesitating; he was already trapped, and escape seemed unlikely.

"Mr. Tom, please forgive me."

Franky took a deep breath, placing his hand on his lower back, and silently opened the lock there.

As he was about to take out the Netherworld blueprints, something felt off in his hand; Franky’s expression froze, filled with incredulity.

"This is impossible, absolutely impossible."

Ignoring the exposure, Franky leaned back, and a book slid out of the lock in his lower back, with a smooth cover featuring a scantily clad woman in full color!

It was a magazine with words Franky couldn’t recognize, but it was definitely not the Netherworld blueprints.

The cover of the magazine in Franky’s hand boldly displayed: ’Play|boy!’

This was something Su Xiao had received from opening the Scarlet Card. He initially wanted to place a bomb inside Franky, but then thought if the Alchemy Bomb were discovered before the final battle, the CP Department would surely suspect he had the Netherworld blueprints, which was not worth the risk.

Being discovered after the battle was irrelevant; that was inevitable. The Straw Hat Pirates would stall CP9, but before the battle, it was not an option, as they would be caught in a pincer attack.

Franky stared at the Play|boy in his hand, flipping through the magazine. Although the women inside had great figures and daring poses, he wasn’t in the mood to look at them.

"This isn’t right. Where are the blueprints? Where are they?"

Franky kept repeating this, the blueprints he had guarded for years had vanished without a trace.

Thinking quickly, Franky recalled the time he was unconscious on the Sea Train; the blueprints must have been lost then. He had been under surveillance and couldn’t check the blueprints, otherwise, he would have found out earlier.

Franky’s face turned ashen, his eyes vacant.

"Hey, what is that you’ve got there?"

Spandam quickly walked forward, his eyes gleaming when he saw the magazine in Franky’s hand, snatching it away.

After flipping through a few pages, Spandam wore a lewd smile, squinting his eyes, and rolled up the magazine, placing it in his chest. He planned to ’critique’ it after the war.

"The Netherworld blueprints... are lost."

Franky muttered, and Luffy nearby furrowed his brows. He noticed when the magazine was taken out, but after seeing its content, he didn’t bother.

"What did you say?"

Luffy grabbed Franky’s shoulder.

"The Netherworld blueprints... are lost."

Franky repeated, filled with dread. Though the Netherworld blueprints falling into the hands of the World Government wasn’t good, it wasn’t the worst scenario.

Should the Netherworld blueprints fall into the wrong hands, the consequences would be disastrous, like a nuclear bomb in the hands of a terrorist organization.

Hearing Franky’s repeated words, Luffy’s pupils contracted.

"Caddy Flam, even now, you still want to deceive us?"

Clearly, Luffy didn’t believe Franky’s claims.

"I’m not lying; the Netherworld blueprints really are lost. I always carried them with me, right here."

Franky pointed at his lower back; Luffy and the others moved forward to check.

"Kaku, is he telling the truth?"

Kaku observed Franky’s facial expressions attentively.

"He’s... about eighty percent likely telling the truth."

At Kaku’s response, the faces of the CP9 members did not look pleasant.

"You were undercover for five years, and in the end, you lost the Netherworld blueprints?"

CP9’s Gabra spoke, cunning and wolf-like in appearance, his ability was the Dog Dog Fruit · Wolf Form.

Gabra’s questioning left Luffy and the others speechless. It was indeed their responsibility, and simultaneously, Luffy and Kalifa thought of someone; the blueprints were probably in that person’s hands.

"So, do you mean I’m not getting the Netherworld blueprints?"

Spandam’s expression grew fierce, his chance for promotion and wealth slipping away before him.

On the top floor of the Justice Tower, Su Xiao observed the scene below, realizing the timing was just right. He had already exposed himself, unless Luffy and Kalifa were fools.

His gaze turned to Luffy; he didn’t know if this guy could become the Pirate King, but he was about to become the scapegoat king.

Su Xiao raised his left arm, and the Boundary Line beneath his wrist launched.

Ding, the Hook Lock nailed into the cement post on the opposite roof. Su Xiao clamped Bubute Ni with one hand while retracting the Boundary Line, swinging toward the opposite side.

Sizzle, the Wire Wheel of the Boundary Line smoked, and flying through mid-air, Su Xiao’s heart raced, the lock hook might unclip due to the weight, and Bubute Ni had gained weight recently.

Finally landing safely on the cement post, Su Xiao jumped onto the roof where the Straw Hat Pirates were, and they all watched him warily.

"No need to worry, I’m not interested in fighting you guys for now, plus I’ll even give you a ’big gift.’

Su Xiao pulled out an old book, tossing it to the Straw Hat Pirates.

With a plop, the book fell on the rooftop, the Straw Hat Pirates did not pick it up.

From the Justice Tower, Franky’s eyes widened; wasn’t that the Netherworld blueprints?

Noticing Franky’s reaction, Luffy looked at the old book from afar.

"It must be the Netherworld blueprints, they were indeed in that guy’s hands; why would he hand the blueprints to the Straw Hat Pirates?"

Luffy observed Su Xiao’s back, still unclear about what Su Xiao intended to do.

Su Xiao picked up the Scarlet Card on the rooftop and looked at Luffy and the others.

"What, don’t want the gift I’m giving you? Even the World Government covets this."

Su Xiao chuckled lightly, leaping into the hole in the roof, where there were more Scarlet Cards below on the lift bridge.

The Netherworld blueprints he gave the Straw Hat Pirates were fake, but not entirely fake.

Su Xiao tore off the sides of the Netherworld blueprints and made a counterfeit version.

Unless they were top-level craftsmen, they’d never know this blueprint was fake. Sixty percent of its contents were real, and he made up the rest. It was impossible to build the Netherworld from this blueprint.

The Straw Hat Pirates looked bewildered, the book seemed important, evident from CP9’s eager gazes.

"Straw Hat, the blueprint must not fall into the World Government’s hands."

Franky shouted, further confirming CP9’s suspicion that it was indeed the Netherworld blueprints.

Luffy picked up the book from the ground, looking at Robin.

"Robin, we’re here to save you."

...

Instead of focusing on Luffy’s rescue of Robin, Su Xiao collected the Scarlet Card on the lift bridge and headed straight for Front Island.

The moment Franky realized the blueprints were gone, the fact that Su Xiao had them became exposed.

The CP9 members weren’t fools; on the Sea Train earlier, except for Su Xiao, everyone was from the CP Department, any suspicion would naturally fall on him first.

Hiding up to now, Su Xiao was satisfied, so he simply passed the blame on to the Straw Hat Pirates.