Chapter 391: Goodbye, Companions

"Damn, the Straw Hat Pirates are in big trouble!"

Chopper covered his face, but two reindeer hooves couldn't conceal anything at all—his panic and fear were laid bare.

Usopp was drowsy; his ability, like Buggy's, was 【Ammunitionist】, with Strength and Spirit as primary attributes and a very weak Constitution.

And the Sleeping Demon Vine Robin had released carried a powerful soporific effect.

Seeing this, Chopper bit down hard on Usopp's thigh to keep him awake.

Usopp, barely keeping his eyelids open, dared not believe it: "Robin actually betrayed us…"

"I can't accept this at all!"

Chopper, face streaming with tears, broke free of the vines, transformed into his reindeer form, and slammed headfirst into the Ice Wall.

Not even the slightest tremor resulted—the Ice Wall Aokiji had created was solid as a rock.

"Right now, escaping this Frost Cage is the key."

Man of action Zoro gathered floating Ghost Qi and kept slashing; he didn't seem at all disturbed by Robin's betrayal.

While Aokiji was off chasing the true culprit,

if they broke the Ice Wall, the Navy stationed outside would be no match for them at all.

"So hard, even Demon Flame can't burn through?"

Sanji's spirits sank,

and even the blazing Demon Blaze was disturbed by his emotions, becoming far less scorching.

Robin's actions just now had treated the Straw Hat crew purely as a shield, without holding back in the slightest.

"No!"

Sanji's expression changed abruptly, and he shouted: "The seaweed-head is right, we have to break this cage as fast as possible, otherwise…"

"Robin will die!"

The Straw Hat crew are all simple-minded; even Nami, who seems shrewd, can't think straight when it comes to her companions.

Sanji's mind was the sharpest. Meeting the crew's strange looks, his Demon Flame had already condensed into a drill, constantly Forging away at the Ice Wall.

From the flame-wrapped figure came an anxious voice: "Robin didn't betray us!"

"The moment Aokiji appeared, Robin knew his target had always been herself…"

"She deliberately bound us to lure Aokiji away and help us escape!"

"If Aokiji catches up to her, Robin will die!"

Before the words had faded,

the vines binding the Straw Hat crew withered away at tremendous speed,

and the black seeds hidden in the gaps between the vines, after absorbing the vines' energy, turned into fingernail-sized black insects.

Nami cried out in shock: "Are those Robin's black beetles?"

【Demon Scholar】,

that was Robin's in-game class—she could seal all manner of demon-type substances into the scholar's tome she carried, releasing them at critical moments.

It was an ability similar to a Contract-user's.

These black beetles were the lowest demon subspecies; through constant growth and development, they could ultimately metamorphose into Demon Beetles.

Creak.

The dense swarm of black beetles crowded together, madly devouring one another.

Not even severed limbs were spared. The ten black beetles that survived had carapaces that had metamorphosed into a vivid red, marked with demon-like black patterns.

Flame Demon Beetles.

A type of demon insect with extremely strong armor-piercing properties, belonging to the flame element.

"Robin once said that a single Demon Beetle needs tens of thousands of black beetles to fight and kill each other—she always couldn't bear to let the black beetles tear each other apart…"

Watching the Flame Demon Beetles pounce on the Ice Wall, their Sharp fangs bristling with barbs swinging, Nami's heart sank and her voice trembled as she whispered: "Robin wanted to protect us, and is deliberately sending herself to her death?"

The Demon Beetles were Robin's strongest asset, yet they were still inside the Ice Wall—which meant Robin had never intended to keep living.

Luffy, who hadn't spoken the whole time, had a resolute gaze; his straw hat was pressed down on his head as he declared loudly: "Robin won't die!"

Crack.

In just a few short seconds, the Demon Beetles had already bored a crack into the Ice Wall.

The supposedly indestructible Ice Wall was, as if countered, rapidly sliced apart.

Seeing this, Nami recalled a casual chat she'd once had with Robin—among the many diverse demon lives one could Contract, the Demon Beetle was a relatively weak one, so why had she chosen it specifically?

Robin had only said she liked the way Demon Beetles looked.

At the time Nami had assumed the Demon Beetles simply happened to match Robin's ditzy aesthetic, so she hadn't asked further.

Only now did she realize,

the Flame Demon Beetles' abilities happened to perfectly counter frost.

That was why they could so easily tear open the Frost Cage that even Zoro and Sanji had been powerless against.

"Robin, had you foreseen this moment long ago?"

"She's not a betrayer—she's a guardian!"

Boom…

Ghost Qi blade-shadows flashed, Demon Flame roared, and a Hurricane Fist blazing with holy light came crashing down.

A huge breach was smashed open in the Frost Cage.

"Watch out, the enemy has broken out of the cage—get ready to fight!"

The Navy soldiers stood ready in formation, but before the ice shards and mist could even disperse, they were sent flying by the massive Ice Frost Drill that burst out.

"Robin!"

……

Elsewhere, Aokiji stood in place with an icy expression. There was no path ahead—only a cliff face wrapped in thick vines and branches, with sheer walls stretching hundreds of meters overhead.

Drip…

Warm fresh blood slid down along the vines,

Robin's arms crossed together, pinned to the cliff wall by Ice Spears.

"Unfortunately, your life ends here."

Aokiji lifted his foot and walked toward Robin, who could not move like a captured prey.

The ground was frozen solid,

and crisp sounds came from the soles of his shoes, like the tolling of a death knell.

The Demon Child, who had spent these years fleeing and being betrayed in the darkness, should have shown fear under the pressure of death.

But Robin did not,

her disheveled hair covering her face, and behind Aokiji's line of sight, a smile of relief appeared.

"For these twenty years, no matter what situation I faced, I was able to survive."

"It was because I had nothing I wanted to protect."

"And now, I am no longer trapped in the darkness. It was everyone who awakened the soul I had once lost, so I also want to protect everyone!"

"Goodbye… everyone!"

The Straw Hat Crew should all be safe by now, right?

The chill came rushing in,

and the ice blade in her pupils gradually grew larger, about to reap her life like the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Just then, a faint cry of struggle squeezed into her ears.

"Robin!"

Her body temperature, already growing cold from blood loss, and her slowly beating heart, twitched violently for a moment.

Luffy?

Robin struggled to raise her head, looking at the forest being repeatedly toppled by the Frost Drill Car, and the familiar figures on its roof.

How could this be? Bang! Usopp, through his scope, fired a long-range Hell Blaze shot.

The bullet roared,

blasting open the Frost Domain around Aokiji, turning it into a blazing zone of special gasoline fire.

Ice and flame collided. Aokiji stood at the center of the flames, steam rising from his entire body. He turned around, looking at the pursuing Straw Hat Crew with puzzlement, and asked: "Being able to escape the Dragon Pattern Ice Prison, your strength exceeds my expectations. But still, are you foolish enough to come rescue a betrayer?"

Bang.

The answer to Aokiji was Luffy's Holy Light Fist Flame. Seeing Robin gravely wounded, Luffy's face was filled with rage, like a maddened beast, and he shouted loudly: "Whether you are a Marine Admiral or the Fleet Admiral, I will absolutely not allow you to hurt Robin, to hurt my crewmates!"

(End of this chapter)