It seems that I have no choice but to take action.
Aokiji had also sensed something from Sengoku’s attitude.
This time, he was being unusually patient.
Things were definitely not simple.
That guy, Vir, he was clearly no pushover.
Since that was the case, Aokiji couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
As for being wary of Vir’s methods?
That was just a line to fool Sengoku—no one actually believed it, right?
Abilities? Special tools?
Why do you think an Admiral is an Admiral?
In the face of absolute strength, all those tricks were just clown acts.
Aokiji really didn’t take Vir seriously.
Or rather, he shouldn’t take him seriously.
Agreeing to this mission was also a chance for him to see if Robin had finally found some real companions.
Real companions, or just another case of mutual exploitation, as always?
That was one of the reasons he was here.
For now, though—
Nap time~
He’ll deal with things once the Seastone cuffs arrive…
…
At this moment, Vir held the fully enhanced version of the Soul-Soothing Incense in his hands.
Satisfied, he nodded.
He had just tested it again.
Honestly, he was getting addicted to testing it.
He had tried it on a massive Sea King just now.
Again, just a wisp.
Again, instant KO.
And it was sleeping even more peacefully than Chopper.
Seeing this, Vir’s confidence soared!
Now, all that was left was to burn the entire stick of Soul-Soothing Incense and collect all the resulting smoke!
Time to get to work!
Vir immediately bought an ultra-durable plastic bottle from the system’s shop.
It was supposedly highly resilient.
He lit the entire stick of incense and threw it inside.
Then, he reinforced the bottle with steel.
Otherwise, it’d melt through.
Resilience didn’t mean it was heatproof.
Once the incense burned completely and the smoke filled the bottle, things would be easy.
All he had to do was reshape the bottle into something else.
Like… a pair of animal ears!
That’s right!
A pair of plastic animal ears!
Then he’d have Robin wear them!
And the plastic had to be thin, so it could be easily punctured at a critical moment.
That way, the smoke would burst out instantly.
Wait.
Burst?
Right, how would it burst like this?
It needed to be heavily compressed first to burst!
With that thought, Vir started expanding the plastic bottle.
The bottle swelled larger and larger as air rushed inside.
He stopped once it reached the size of Kuma’s Ursus Shock!
Then, he started compressing it.
A massive amount of air, mixed with the Soul-Soothing Incense smoke, was being squeezed together.
Five meters, three meters, one meter…
Smaller and smaller.
Soon, the huge sphere shrank into a stylish cat ear that Vir held in his hand.
The incense had long since burned out.
The inside of the cat ear was filled with a hazy mist.
Nice!
Now, he just had to give it to Robin.
Originally, Vir had considered adding a hint of lightning inside, so he could detonate it remotely.
But after thinking it through, he gave up on that idea.
If there were lightning inside, that guy Aokiji would definitely sense it.
No matter what method he used, Aokiji would notice.
An Admiral’s level of perception wasn’t something a small fry like Foxy could compare to.
Since he couldn’t trigger it himself…
Then he’d just have to let Aokiji do it!
That’s right!
Aokiji!
If it were anyone else, Aokiji would definitely notice.
But if it was Aokiji himself, who was just messing around…
It’d be no problem at all!
As for how to make him trigger it?
That was simple.
It was impossible to tamper with Aokiji directly.
So, he just had to tweak the cat ear!
He’d make it break on contact—problem solved.
Once Aokiji went in for a casual ice hug—
Boom! It would burst open.
Perfect.
And achieving this was easy.
All Vir needed to do was slightly heat up the cat ear with his lightning after meeting Aokiji.
Not too hot, just a few dozen degrees.
Just enough that Robin wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.
Then, when Aokiji went in for a classic “Ice Hug Attack” the thin plastic, going from dozens of degrees to subzero, would instantly shatter.
Absolutely feasible.
Now, all that was left was handing it to Robin.
Thinking this, Vir stood up and headed in the direction Robin had left.
…
At that moment, Robin was sitting on the rock where Vir had recently given his lesson.
Chopper was sleeping beside her.
She was reading a book.
But her occasional glances upward revealed that her mind wasn’t really on it.
Ever since earlier, a growing sense of unease had been gnawing at her.
It felt like something bad was about to happen.
That was why she couldn’t focus on reading.
What was going on? What exactly was it? Was everyone about to be in danger?
The Marines?
Was it because of her, the so-called ‘harbinger of disaster’?
Thinking back to the chill she had felt before, an image surfaced in her mind—a tall, thin man wearing sunglasses, riding a bicycle.
Could it be him?
If it was him…
Why?
Why did disaster always follow her wherever she went…?
What should she do?
Robin’s face was filled with worry.
After all this time with the crew, she had come to see everyone on the ship as her true companions.
Each and every one of them was important to her.
She didn’t want to see them injured, let alone killed.
Especially the man who had brought her aboard.
The man who had completely trusted her.
The man who had given her warmth once again.
Vir.
Would Vir have a way out of this…?
As soon as the thought appeared, she laughed at herself for being foolish.
That was an Admiral.
What could Vir possibly do?
She could only hope that Aokiji was here for her alone…
“What are you thinking about? Why the long face?”
A sudden voice behind her startled her.
Hearing that it was Vir, she relaxed.
But she didn’t respond, simply continuing to stare blankly into the distance.
Seeing her like this, Vir was confused.
What was going on?
Could she sense things too?
Could she see Aokiji as well?
That wasn’t possible, was it?
Vir truly couldn’t figure it out.
“What’s bothering you? Tell me, maybe I’ll get a laugh out of it.”
Vir sat down beside Robin, teasing her as he looked at her troubled face.
This time, Robin finally responded.
After hesitating for a moment, she turned to Vir with a serious expression and asked:
“If one day… I was about to die, what would you do?”