Chapter 225: The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell

Several days later.

A town on the outskirts of Alubarna.

A tall woman whose appearance bore a seventy percent resemblance to Robin hurried through the alleyways.

Her name was Rosa; originally a sand bandit from the vicinity of Alubarna, she had plundered everywhere, committing countless bloody crimes, slaughtering several towns within the Bastan Realm, and earning a notorious reputation far and wide.

Ultimately, she was captured alive by Crocodile and imprisoned in Alubarna's jail.

Last night, she awakened beside a street on the outskirts of Alubarna, her makeup, clothing, and even her hair all arranged with exquisite care.

Rather than a sand bandit, she now resembled a scholar somewhat.

Even if only out of instinct, Rosa realized something was amiss, but facing freedom right before her eyes, she could no longer care about such things.

"Although I don't know which idiot released me, now that I'm out, don't think I'll obediently go back."

"Everything I endured in that prison over these years will be repaid in full!"

Rosa's gaze fell upon the commoners passing beside her, a strange crimson hue rising in her eyes; for some reason, she felt her killing intent far surpassed what it had ever been before.

"I really want to see these swine struggle as they die..."

As she spoke.

Rosa subconsciously gripped the long blade she had just snatched from a guard, about to lose control and strike.

Yet at that moment, an intensely overwhelming killing intent startled her into breaking out in a cold sweat.

Even more, there was an inexplicable sensation of being locked onto, as though the moment she made any move, she would be killed in the next instant!

Yes!

Killed!

"Killing intent?!"

Rosa looked around uneasily, but all that met her eyes were passersby and the Shabao of Lin Li.

"There aren't even any pursuers?!"

The unease in her heart grew ever stronger, and the killing intent behind her, so potent it could not be concealed, made her utterly panicked.

"This level of killing intent... Crocodile?! Did he release me?!"

Inexplicably.

Rosa perceived that seemingly an invisible giant hand was manipulating her every move.

"Something's wrong, retreat first!"

She suddenly accelerated, darting out of the small town in a few steps and vanishing into the desert.

In the center of the small town.

Inside a Shabao.

Xiang Keluo gazed at Rosa's disappearing back, sticking out his tongue to lick his lips:

"So this is the substitute the Captain prepared?! Not bad observational skills."

"Ara ara~"

Van Auger slowly raised his long spear, his eyelids drooping, his voice sounding somewhat lazy:

"Is it another moment to decide fate?!"

"No!"

"It is a day to dominate fate!"

Several days ago, after Gao Wen finalized the plan of the Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell, he transferred Xiang Keluo and Van Auger over.

These two possessed the deepest scheming minds and held little resistance toward slaughter, naturally undertaking more than half of the team's dirty work.

The upcoming team ranking battle was also postponed until after this operation.

Originally, Xiang Keluo had quite a few complaints about this, but this game of cat and mouse instead sparked some interest in him.

"Let's go; according to Gao Wen's requirements, we must herd her to the designated location; this is a greeting gift for the newcomers!"

"Ah."

Van Auger responded with a sound, then immediately leaped down from the Shabao and sped off toward the distant desert.

A long tail tipped with a blade extended from behind Xiang Keluo; air currents churned around his body as he floated in mid-air alongside Van Auger, his posture relaxed and carefree.

Van Auger glanced at him repeatedly, unable to hide the envy in his eyes:

"You can fly?"

"Can you give me a ride?!"

Xiang Keluo smiled slightly, raising his hand to manipulate the air currents around him, lifting Van Auger's body and flying toward the distance.

The Scythe-Scythe Fruit granted him the ability to manipulate air currents within a range of several meters around him; with the aid of these currents, flight was naturally effortless.

As for more applications, he was still exploring them.

But even relying solely on the Scythe-Scythe Fruit's current capabilities, Xiang Keluo's combat power had pulled ahead of the others by a clear margin; placed among the Navy Vice Admirals, his strength would not be considered weak.

This was simply because the Scythe-Scythe Fruit's ability matched his own too perfectly, requiring almost no targeted development to integrate with his original combat system.

If Gao Wen consuming the Red Dragon Fruit back then was like a computer with a dual operating system, requiring him to combine them himself.

Then Xiang Keluo was equivalent to a version iteration, and moreover, an iteration spanning several major versions.

At this moment, Xiang Keluo's combat power was not far from the Gold level.

Time flashed by, gradually entering deep night.

In the vast desert.

Rosa traveled alone, her face growing ever paler due to the looming yet intangible sense of crisis behind her that she could not shake off.

As time passed, the doubts in her heart grew ever more numerous, and that sense of unease intensified.

Suddenly, she halted her steps.

Lowering her head to look at the clothes on her body, the unease in her heart reached its peak.

"And this attire... it seems to have turned me into someone else!"

"Someone else..."

Rosa's pupils constricted, and her figure froze on the spot.

It was because, at the end of her line of sight, three figures were rushing swiftly toward her.

"Finally found you!"

"Nico Robin!"

Jabura let out a fierce roar, his body instantly swelling as he transformed into his wolf-man form; amidst the howling of his claws and fangs, he carried waves of extremely sharp, killing intent.

This guy... is very strong!

Powerful like a monster!

Jabura, rushing from afar, made the hair on Rosa's body stand on end, while the faint yet palpable killing intent behind her made her entire body tremble.

At this moment, she finally understood.

Everything was arranged; from the very beginning, I was meant to die under another identity!

"Wait, ugh—!"

The instinct for survival made Rosa subconsciously try to explain, but she discovered she had lost even the ability to speak, while her throat felt as if it were being seared by flames.

In a flash of realization.

She came to her senses; along this journey, that uncontrollable desire to kill was abnormal from the start.

My body was already extremely weak and had long reached its limit; how could I possibly have such emotions... They poisoned me!

Rosa turned her head back in horror.

At the moment of death.

Her perception sublimated to its limit; countless pieces of information flashed through her mind, allowing her to see things she had never seen before.

Two figures, several kilometers away, were coldly staring at her.

One was lean of build, a hint of unmasked mockery in his eyes.

The other had drooping eyelids and held a strangely shaped flintlock pistol with a muzzle resembling a trumpet; before Rosa's horrified gaze, he pulled the trigger...

Bang!

Fire spewed from the gun muzzle, a bullet whistling forth to pierce straight through Rosa's heart.

The next instant.

Jabura's attack finally struck Rosa's body, sending her flying directly and crashing heavily into a distant sand dune, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke.

"Hm?!"

Jabura looked at his own palm, his brows knitting slightly.

That faint chill in the surroundings, though it existed for only an instant, still could not escape his perception.

"Is someone else also hunting this woman?!"

While Jabura was pondering, the Owl in the distance let out a startled exclamation:

"She's dead; someone pierced her heart with a single shot."

"At this distance, the only person I can think of capable of such a feat is Van Augur of the Gao Wen Pirates."

Kumadori paused briefly, then stepped forward quickly, picked up Robin's wanted poster, and after a brief comparison, nodded:

"The facial features aren't much different; it should be the same person."

"However, why would someone from Knight Gao Wen's group make a move against her?!"

Jabura walked over quickly, and upon seeing that the similarity between Robin's wanted poster and the deceased's photo exceeded seventy percent, he also set his mind at ease.

"Based on the intelligence we've gathered, Nico Robin is highly likely a member of Baroque Works; given the conflict between Knight Gao Wen and Baroque Works, it is only normal for him to act against her."

"Then how shall we report this?!"

Kumadori asked, implying something deeper.

Jabura lowered his gaze to the gradually cooling corpse before him, did not answer immediately, but instead asked in return:

"Hey."

"Owl, Kumadori."

"If we cannot, like Roubo Luqi, cast aside everything to pursue what our hearts desire,"

"yet still wish for relative freedom, what should we do?"

"Cha-ba-ba..."

Owl looked completely bewildered, while Kumadori beside him had his pupils constrict:

"Power!"

"As long as we attain a sufficiently high status within the CP organization, we can obtain corresponding freedom!"

"Correct!"

Jabura nodded, bloodshot veins appearing in his pupils at that moment:

"It was the three of us joining forces to kill Nico Robin right here."

At the same time.

Alabasta Wang Gong.

Gao Wen and Cobra sat opposite each other, discussing the Martial Arts Tournament.

The follow-up plans for the Martial Arts Tournament are now basically confirmed.

Sub-competition zones will be established in the Four Seas; the winners will come to Alabasta for the finals.

Later, once Gao Wen has taken firm root in the New World, Alabasta will be downgraded to the Paradise Zone, and the final competition zone will be moved to the New World.

But now, Cobra's concern is not the Martial Arts Tournament, but rather Gao Wen's plan to help Robin escape in a golden cicada's shell.

"Will it work?!"

"If your men directly strike and kill the decoy, won't that arouse the World Government's suspicion?"

"No!"

Gao Wen shook his head, his tone calm:

"If my men strike and kill the target, it will not arouse the World Government's suspicion!"

After pondering for a moment, Cobra understood Gao Wen's meaning:

"Even if the higher-ups investigate and trace it back to you, since the Baroque Works was almost annihilated by you alone, with countless high-ranking members dying at your hands, it would only make it seem more justified for you to have acted against him."

Gao Wen nodded:

"It is even more likely that the information about my men killing the target will never reach the ears of the World Government's high command."

"Stealing credit within the World Government has never been uncommon."

"Then I am relieved."

Cobra sighed with relief and continued:

"Then Robin—no, she should be called Nefu from now on—will be my eldest daughter, hidden within the palace from this moment forward."

"From now on, she will shed everything of her past and live anew."

"Ah."

Several days later.

The events that occurred within Alabasta spread across the seas along with the World Economic Journal, causing a stir throughout the Grand Line.

"Former Warlord of the Sea Crocodile, for secretly plotting to seize Alabasta, has been arrested by Admiral Kizaru and is soon to be imprisoned in Impel Down."

"The World Government has stripped him of his Warlord privileges."

(End of Chapter)