Helpless Nico Robin

"Nico Robin, the World Government has issued a wanted order for your mother. Do you know where she is?"

Ross ignored Sauron, focusing his attention on Robin instead.

Sauron's fate was already sealed, and Ross had no interest in wasting words on a piece of meat on the chopping block.

"Huh!? Why is Mom being wanted? I don't know where she is... No, I'm not telling you where Mom is!"

Robin stared at Ross warily, already labeling him and the others as bad people.

"I wasn't asking. Since you don't know, I'll be kind and tell you—she's on this island right now. So, guess what she's doing?"

Ross smiled at Robin, his expression lacking Zany's demonic getup but making him seem far more devilish than she ever could.

"Mom's back!"

Robin's first thought was the joy of Olvia's return, but she quickly caught on to the problem and glared at Ross in anger:

"Don't you dare use me to lure Mom out!"

"Oh? So you think Olvia came back for you?"

Ross let out a soft laugh and shook his head sharply:

"Wrong. She didn't come back for you. In her heart, you're not as important as what she's doing right now."

"That's impossible! You're lying!"

Robin stared hard at Ross. When she was two years old, Olvia had left her on Ohara to be raised by her uncle's family.

Back then, only Professor Clover had shown her kindness; everyone else, from her uncle's family to the neighbors, despised her.

She never understood why, and it only left her feeling wronged.

Thankfully, Professor Clover taught her history and, as a friend of her mother's, told her many stories about Olvia.

So even though she rarely saw her mother, Robin still held deep admiration for Olvia, believing her mother was simply too busy to look after her.

"Enough!"

Sauron realized what Ross was about to say and roared to stop him, setting Robin down on a slope behind him. He clenched his massive fists, his gaze locked onto Ross.

"Why should I stop? If Olvia herself thinks her daughter matters less than history, why can't an outsider say it?"

Ross looked calmly at Sauron and spoke the words outright.

Even though Ross didn't consider himself a good person, he still looked down on the parents of this pirate world.

In the pirate world, not a single biological father acted like a decent human being, and most mothers—unless they died in childbirth—were hardly human either.

Leaving a two-year-old daughter with her uncle's family, ignoring her for years, and devoting herself solely to studying history—was that something a mother should do?

If she didn't care about her offspring, she shouldn't have had them in the first place.

"That's not true! Mom isn't like that!"

Robin stubbornly stared at Ross, refusing to believe his words.

Professor Clover had told her that her mother was the best woman in the world to her, that her dedication to studying history was only to uncover the fog of the unknown and bring lost secrets back to light.

It was a great mission!

"That's enough!"

Sauron gritted his teeth and swung his massive fist at Ross.

He couldn't stand Ross slandering a mother in front of her underage daughter.

All mothers loved their children—they were all great!

"Boom!!!"

Sauron's punch was easily blocked by Zephyr's fist.

Though the two fists were vastly different in size, Zephyr's smaller one forcefully pushed back Sauron's mountain-sized blow.

"Looks like those historians really aren't good people."

Zephyr stood in front of Ross, frowning as he looked at Robin with pity.

He had spent over a month with Ross, and Ross rarely lied openly like this.

If even a Celestial Dragon like Ross found these parents problematic, they were probably worse than he imagined.

As Zephyr blocked the attack, Zany's figure had already appeared on Sauron's shoulder:

"What a pain. Can't you just die cleanly?"

Zany sighed lightly and instantly transformed into her Succubus Form. Her slender tail, coated in Armament Haki, lashed out fiercely at Sauron's neck.

Boom!!!!

Sauron's giant body was sent flying by that tail whip, crashing into the nearby rocks. Countless stones tumbled down, shaking the ground.

"Sauron!!!"

Robin screamed, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.

But even just the earthquake caused by Sauron being sent flying made it hard for her to stay on her feet. She only managed not to fall thanks to the power of the Flower-Flower Fruit.

"I'll help you... I can help you..."

Robin called out helplessly, stubbornly activating the Flower-Flower Fruit's ability. Countless tiny hands appeared beside Sauron, pulling at his body, trying to lift him up.

Her face was flushed red from the strain. She had given it her all, but still couldn't budge Sauron's enormous frame.

"Don't waste your strength. Make a choice."

Ross's voice suddenly exploded in Robin's ear.

Startled, Robin instinctively stepped back, stumbling and falling to the ground.

"You... you...!"

Robin stared at Ross in terror. Weren't they just on that mountain peak over there? How could he move so fast?

"Little one, don't cry now. Otherwise, you won't have any tears left later."

Ross said with a smile, grabbing Robin's small hand and pulling her to her feet. He even reached out and patted the dust off her clothes in a friendly manner.

"Another choice... Could it be..."

Gion stood beside Ross, her gaze shifting oddly between Ross and Robin.

Could it be?

That shouldn't be the case...

Though they'd only known each other for a few days, Ross only liked big ones—she was pretty confident about that.

"Alright, it's time for you to choose."

Ross crouched down slightly, bringing his eyes level with the panicked Robin, and spoke slowly:

"I'm giving you a chance to choose: Sauron or your mother. If you choose Sauron, I'll let him live, but in exchange, I'll kill your mother. If you choose your mother, I'll let her live, but I'll kill Sauron."

"There. The choice is yours. You have five minutes. If you run out of time, I'll take it as you forfeiting, and I'll kill them both."

"Now, the five-minute countdown begins."

As he spoke, Ross casually pulled out a timer, set it to five minutes, and pressed start.

This world didn't have highly advanced technology, but simple mechanical devices existed, and there were plenty of black-tech inventions too.

Behind Ross, Gion cast a pitying glance at Robin.

So she was right—Ross was a Celestial Dragon with a twisted sense of fun.

Making a little girl choose something like this... wasn't that too cruel?

But Gion only thought it over in her mind; she didn't say anything.

Olvia and Sauron were both on the wanted list, and high-priority targets at that.

It was just that their certain-death fate had been swapped for one dead and one alive.

If one of them could survive, that was actually Ross's kindness to them. After all, only someone with Ross's status as a Celestial Dragon could let someone walk out of Ohara alive in a situation like this.

But it was tough on this little girl, becoming a sacrifice to Ross's twisted amusement.