Meeting Cipher Pol

Orange was temporarily assigned back to Marineford under the care of fleet admiral Kong. When Percy asked about it, Kong's secretary replied that Orange's unique ability can help deal with their leader's growing headaches while also assisting the doctors down in the infirmary.

Percy instructed Orange to also keep up with her training because soon, she would be back in the New world and they needed to hunt more pirates in the future. The commodore saluted and turned around headed towards her new assignment.

Percy entered his office to saw a man in a black suit and tie. He was confused because he never saw him before and he never gave anyone permission to enter his office. The unknown man was sitting in one of Percy's couches and had a grin on his face.

"Ah, you must be vice admiral Percy. My name is Gulp, Gulp Trimm. I am a member of cipher pol 2. Percy was surprised, he knew that cipher pol existed, but he only knew of cp-9, not the other divisions.

"Hello Gulp, how did you get into my office?" Percy said as he walked around his table and sat in his chair. He was confused and intrigued at the same time. He heard rumors that nothing good comes from cipher pol agents, he was wondering if this is true or not.

"Well, I asked around... and my family does carry some weight around here."

Percy had no idea who the Trimm family was, but judging by the fact that Gulp was able to toss his family's name around and get results, he could surmise their power.

"What does cp-2 want with me?"

"Well..." Gulp started as some hesitation appeared on his face, "I am here on both personal and government business."

Percy was getting more intrigued, he never engaged in anything but combat so he was not familiar with the dealings of politics in Marineford.

"As you may or not know, cipher pol is a world government agency dedicated to protecting the peace."

Percy nodded his head and Gulp continued,

"what you may not know is that each division of cipher pol is usually controlled by certain families, and cp-2 is no exception. Our group is divided by two rival families, my Trimm family and the Pakattik family. We had this rivalry even before the cipher pol agency was started."

Percy had no idea the inner workings of the world government and it surprised him that there was so much factions in the world government that he was not aware of.

[I guess the manga never reached that point yet, or it wasn't a focus for world building]. Percy thought as Gulp trailed on.

"Our rivalry is getting to the point where both families are starting to require external assistance. We are looking to secure allies as fast as possible and therefore I would like to ask you if you are interest in assisting the Trimm family?"

Percy was silent for a second before asking,

"What do I have to do, and what do I get in return?" he wasn't turning down the offer, in fact if he could secure allies, then he could better assist the revolutionaries when Dragon leaves the marines.

"Every cipher pol group has a specialty. For instance, cp-9 specializes in assassination while cp-6 agents are especially good at stealing. Cp-2 on the other hand, our division deals mostly in information gathering. If need be, we assassinate; but only if the situation dictates."

"Alright" Percy started, "but I'm a fighter, not a spy. I don't know if I can spy for you on different people, by talents are more suited towards combat."

"No, no, no you misunderstand. We can do the spying, what we need is outside help with the assassination parts. Sometimes, even cp-9 can't get involved if you know what I mean" Gulp said as he looked at Percy seriously.

[I get it now, they want me to be their assassin for hire] Percy thought as he digested the information.

"And what do I get in return?"

"For one thing, we can give you information, should the need ever arise. Never underestimate the power of the Trimm family network. Secondly, we can hand over footage of Xebec when he used to fight. Maybe you can glean some information from it?" Gulp said casually as if he was playing the second offer off.

[They did their homework] Percy thought as he considered the offer. He really wanted to see how his style differed from Xebec's.

"Interesting, I need to consider the offer."

"Take your time." Gulp said as he got up from the couch, "but don't take too long, you are not the only one we approached. Whoever responds first get the best rewards after all."

Percy nodded as Gulp handed his transponder number before leaving.

"If you have any questions, call that number and I'm sure we can reach an understanding."

"Hmmm...perhaps" Percy said non-committedly.

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Paradise, Rikki Island, Home of the Trimm family.

"Do you think Percy will assist us?" one person in the meeting room asked 5 figures were gathered discussing their next steps regarding the Pakattik family.

"At least until we give him the footage." Gulp was heard through the den den mushi. "He seemed more interested in that than anything else we offered."

There was a brief silence, "so our best bet is to give Percy other small gifts instead of Xebec, is that what you are recommending?"

"For now at least. At some point, he is going to demand it whether we want to give it to him or not is a different story" answered Gulp.

A deep voice was heard in the conference room and both parties stopped talking, "we have a lever, we can use it for now. How do we keep him an ally is the problem. His power is strong enough for us to regard him and the Pakattiks as a very useful tool in the future."

"I think we need to do some more digging;" responded one of the Trimm family members. "We just don't have enough information at this time. He seems to be motivated by getting stronger, but what if we are wrong. What if Pakattik knows something and we don't."

"I agree" said another, "it makes no sense now forming a solid plan when there are missing pieces to the puzzle. Let's give him some easy missions for now and get his hands dirty with this political bulls*it. He won't be able to escape our grasp at that time. Plus, if the need arises, we can always use him as a scapegoat."

Gulp replied from the den den mushi, "it would be unwise to make an enemy out of Percy. For one, he has support from admirals and the fleet admiral. Secondly, he is strong. With the exception of Shiki, he has an unblemished record."

"True, what do you suggest then?"

"We do as you say, give him easy missions at first; but at the same time either have him marry into the family or we find something else he wants other than Xebec's footage and offer it to him."

"And what of Xebec?"

The deep voice responded before Gulp, "we give it to him after he finishes a major assassination. I know the perfect target. But, I do not trust Percy just yet. We wait for his response, but I think he will agree, Gulp?"

"He will. There's no way he won't."

"Okay then, we wait and then... we start the counterattack on the Pakattiks."

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Meanwhile, on a different island of Paradise, Pakattik family mansion

"Are you sure you saw Gulp leaving vice admiral Percy's office?"

"Y-yes sir I did" a nervous voice was heard coming from the den den mushi.

"I'll get back to you." The person who was covered in shadows hung up the transponder.

"What do you think Margaret?"

Margaret, the head maid of the Pakattik family responded,

"this is not good news sir, Percy ate the dark- dark fruit. He is quite powerful, even for me."

"Hmmm... should I kill him, or send someone to give him a better offer?"

"If you want to kill him, you need to convince a world noble to kill Percy. Only then can they send cp-0, no one else other than admirals, strong pirates, or the sleeping monsters in Mary Geoise will be able to kill him without leaving any tracks back to us."

Margaret continued, "if you try to outbid the Trimm family, someone is bound to find out and then a bidding war may start which both of us don't want."

The man was silent before saying "but if I do it blatantly, I can sow distrust between Percy and the Trimm family which eliminates him from doing any real jobs. After all, how would they know that Percy isn't a double agent?"

The head maid was silent before nodding her head. "That may work, it all depends on the vice admiral's response."

"True, I need to consider all aspects of this." The man paused before asking, "Does he have any relatives or family?"

"Not that I am aware of, we can do some more digging if you'd like. He does have a subordinate, commodore Orange who was with him since the beginning though."

"Oh? Where is she?"

"Unfortunately, she got transferred to be Kong's temporary aid. We don't know how much longer though."

"Find out and report back to me."

"Yes sir" Margaret said as she bowed.

The man watched her leave the room and contemplate his next moves, the rivalry between the two families was getting fierce. Both families started to form alliances with other cipher pol families and call in favors. It was getting to the point where both parties were seeking allies in other agencies such as the navy and other sources.

[I need more help.] Thought the man as he was deep in thought. [Perhaps I should take that offer...]

He picked up the den den mushi and dialed a number

"WORORORORO. So, you made your decision."