"What's wrong?"
Cobra noticed that something was wrong with Robin and asked in a low voice.
"It's okay, just the wound on the body is a little torn."
"Then the ceremony ends here; you go down to heal your wounds first."
After that, Cobra asked Vivi to take Robin away. The crowd below murmured in disappointment, but it only reinforced how reasonable it was for Cobra to have kept the princess hidden in the palace for twenty years.
After the coronation ceremony, the sacrificial ceremony continued. Cobra led everyone to hold a sacrificial activity in front of the collapsed royal tomb.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Aokiji and Gawain stood side by side in the open space, and they tacitly did not speak to each other.
After a long silence, Aokiji finally broke it.
"I was wondering..."
"That woman may be intelligent, but with her limited influence and resources, there's no way she could have orchestrated this elaborate deception to escape the World Government's grasp."
"But if the mastermind behind it all is you, then it all makes sense."
"A man who can make Zephyr-sensei look at him differently."
While speaking, Aokiji's eyes fell on Gawain, but he saw that the latter had a calm face and no discomfort. Obviously, even facing himself, one of the three highest combat forces in the Marines, Gawain still had some confidence in his heart.
Aokiji's expression darkened.
"If your answer doesn't satisfy me, I won't just stand by and watch as she becomes Alabasta's princess."
"Oh?"
Gawain's face remained unchanged.
If Aokiji wanted to take action, he had countless opportunities in the past 20 years to arrest Robin to correct his past mistakes, but he didn't.
This is enough to show that Aokiji has a certain degree of special feelings for Robin.
Gawain responded calmly: "There's plenty of room on my ship. And she's been alone for far too long; she needs a place to belong."
Aokiji was stunned.
He had anticipated many possible answers, but this was not one of them.
Yet, not a single word of it seemed believable to him.
After staring at Gawain, who exudes an air of fearless confidence, Aokiji's tone grows colder.
"As someone who originally had a bounty exceeding 200 million belly, and even captured the former admiral of the Marines in exchange for the position of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. You even fought against Golden Lion not long ago. Would such a pirate have such a boring thing as sympathy?!"
"The only thing you truly value is her ability to read the poneglyph, isn't it?"
"So what?"
Gawain did not hide his purpose.
For these powerful people who have practiced their Observation Haki to the extreme, even if they only rely on intuition, they can judge whether the other party is lying.
Kakaka!
A layer of frost spread from Aokiji's feet, and the biting cold instantly calmed the hot air and continued to spread to the surroundings.
"Then I can only-"
"Kuzan!"
A steady voice fell, and Zephyr raised his hand to press Aokiji's shoulder, immediately suppressing the cold air around him.
"Zephyr-sensei!"
"Nico Robin joining the White Knight Pirate may not be a bad thing."
"You..."
Aokiji looked at Zephyr, who had a smile on his face. He felt helpless for a moment and was too lazy to say anything more.
He broke free from Zephyr's hand and said: "I'll go see her."
"By the way, I want to ask you something."
Gawain frowned slightly and was about to take a step forward when he was held down by Zephyr: "Don't worry."
"Kuzan's feelings for Nico Robin are very complicated. Although he does not realize it, to some extent, he already regards Nico Robin as his own daughter."
"He won't do anything to hurt Robin."
Gawain breathed a sigh of relief, and then he set his sights on Zephyr. His pupils shrank suddenly in the next moment.
Just because of this moment, Zephyr exuded a spirit like the rising sun, and his whole body no longer had the feeling of being old and holding on with only one breath, which he had shown in the battle in the East Blue.
The aura born from this was even more majestic, like a mountain!
The prosthesis on his right arm was completely black, but Gawain knew that it was not because of its material itself but because after this man's extremely strong Armament Haki tempered it, making it present a texture like a Black Blade!
Damn it!
Tempering a whole prosthetic limb into a black blade? How strong was this guy's Armament Haki at his peak?!
"I originally had a few questions for you, but men like us understand each other better with fists."
"To be honest, I wasn't satisfied with my defeat last time."
"Let's fight again!"
"Gladly!"
Gawain showed no hesitation.
He had no idea what epiphany Zephyr had reached after leaving Raven Harbor, but one thing was clear:
Zephyr's combat power was countless times stronger than when they fought before.
But during this period, Gawain's own combat power was also rapidly improving, and he was now just one step away from the diamond level that symbolized the admiral's and emperors' level on the sea.
How much Conqueror's Haki experience can he gain from this battle?
Could this clash of willpower push him to finally grasp the true mastery of Conqueror's Haki entanglement?
Elsewhere, in the palace.
Supported by Vivi, Robin returned to the door of her room, then put her hand on the door handle, and her body froze instantly.
The door handle was cold.
It was so cold that it could almost freeze a person's soul.
"Vivi, you go ahead and attend the festival first."
Robin forced herself to suppress her inner anxiety, turned to look at Vivi, and barely showed a smile: "Father is still waiting for you."
"I'll be fine on my own."
Vivi didn't understand and blinked.
Vivi blinked in confusion, seeing Robin's calm demeanor; she hesitated for a moment before nodding blankly. Still, she didn't forget to remind her:
"Then Robin… Nicole-nesan, remember to notify me if anything happens."
Now that the crisis in Alabasta had passed, Vivi, who once bore the weight of everything alone, had finally been able to set down her burdens and reveal the innocence befitting a girl her age.
After learning about Robin's past, all the hatred Vivi once harbored had turned into sympathy, and by now, she had truly come to see Robin as her sister.
But precisely because of this, Robin was even more unwilling to involve Vivi in what was about to happen next.
The chilling sensation on the doorknob, the aura leaking from inside, far more terrifying than Crocodile's, confirmed one thing for her.
The man who had ended Saul twenty years ago was behind this door.
No matter what the subsequent problems were, no matter what her fate was, at least this country should not be implicated.
"Got it."
Robin barely smiled, and she couldn't help but reach out and touch Vivi's head: "You have to have fun too."
"Yeah."
Vivi nodded repeatedly, turned around a few steps, and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Da! Da! Da…
The crisp footsteps became smaller and smaller until they disappeared completely. Only then did Robin let out a sigh of relief and turned around to push open the door of the ward.
Creak!
Before the door was completely opened, Aokiji's tall figure and that slightly lazy face appeared in front of Robin again.
"It's been a while."
Aokiji waved at Robin calmly, and his eyes fell on Robin, which only made Robin feel a tingling sensation on her scalp.
"Nico Robin."
Robin said with a stiff face: "Nico Robin is dead."
"That kind of fake news can fool others but not me."
Aokiji shook his head: "Don't worry."
"If I want to take your life, I have had countless opportunities in the past twenty years, and if I do it here, some troublesome guy may come to fight me to death."