The Gears of Fate Turn Slowly

"Thank you very much, Dr. Clover!"

Inside the already crumbling Tree of Omniscience, Dr. Clover told Leon the "truth" he had deduced from his research on history.

But to Leon's slight disappointment, everything Dr. Clover had researched was basically things he already knew...

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."

"You all keep at it."

"?"

Dr. Clover and the archaeologists around him, already surrounded by flames, heard Leon's utterly natural words and finally couldn't hold back, popping out question marks.

Can you really not see what's happening right now?

"The Tree of Omniscience is falling!!!"

An archaeologist sensing the danger let out a terrified shout.

A huge, twisted cracking sound rang out. The Tree of Omniscience, which had endured the Navy's massive assault, could no longer hold on. Its thick, sturdy roots tore from the earth...

The colossus was about to topple!

With his back to everyone, Leon suddenly leaped high into the air. In the despairing gazes of the crowd, his hand grabbed the trunk of the Tree of Omniscience.

Leon's tiny body seemed utterly insignificant compared to the tree that had grown for over five thousand years.

The people had already closed their eyes, bracing for death, but the pain never came.

Dr. Clover opened his eyes and saw something he could hardly believe—

The nearly falling Tree of Omniscience had been forcibly straightened and shoved back into the ground.

Dr. Clover seemed to see a monstrous figure glowing with a faint blue light. The monster merely waved its hand, and the raging, unquenchable flames on the Tree of Omniscience directly changed course, all surging into the monster's body.

Dr. Clover rubbed his eyes. Where was the monster now? There was only that strange Navy boy.

Leon waved at the people who had narrowly escaped death for the moment.

"Sorry, this is all I can do."

"Though Ohara can't escape its fate of destruction..."

"As long as knowledge is passed down, Ohara's spirit will live on forever, right?"

"Right!"

A glimmer of hope flashed in Dr. Clover's eyes, and he shot up.

"Hurry, use this chance to save the books!"

Leon watched the archaeologists, who had just escaped death's grasp, immediately rush toward the bookshelves without pause. An indescribable emotion welled up in his heart.

He spoke with firm resolve: "Dr. Clover."

"Someday, everyone in this world will know the truth of history."

Dr. Clover paused mid-step. Dragging his wounded body, he picked up a book and hurled it into the lake below.

"Really?"

Tears spilled from his eyes.

"Then... that's wonderful!"

Goodbye, Dr. Clover.

Leon turned and walked out of the Tree of Omniscience. The Navy, sensing something was wrong, had already redirected their cannons, concentrating their fire on the tree.

Flames reignited.

Books fell into the lake one by one, sending up tiny, rippling splashes.

After who knows how long, the lake fell still.

The Tree of Omniscience collapsed.

On the other side of Ohara Island, a path of ice stretched across the water to an unknown destination.

The sun was about to set, and the towering flames on the island cast flickering shadows of figures.

Kuzan, sitting on a tree stump, waited for Robin, who came running in a desperate escape.

His face was shrouded in shadow, his expression unreadable.

"Absolute justice sometimes turns people into weapons."

"I've decided to let you leave this island."

"I want to see what kind of flower the seed Sauro gave his life to protect will bloom into..."

With tear-filled eyes, Robin sat in the small boat Kuzan had prepared for her.

What awaited her was a fate of unimaginable hardship and wandering. But in the end, Robin was lucky.

She eventually found the trustworthy, dependable companions Sauro had described.

"I saw it, Kuzan."

"You let Harry Potter go!"

"Huh?"

Kuzan, walking away from the shore, ran into Leon approaching from the opposite direction.

Under Leon's teasing gaze, Kuzan guiltily turned his head away.

"She's just a little girl. If she ever does something to endanger this world..."

"I'll be the one to arrest her myself!"

Kuzan declared with conviction.

Leon yawned.

"I'm tired. Let's go."

A smile spread across Kuzan's face as he fell into step beside Leon.

"I've already heard about what happened between you and Sakazuki."

"Don't worry, little Leon. I'll help you deal with him."

The news that the archaeological holy land of Ohara Island had been destroyed by a Buster Call—because its archaeologists had secretly researched ancient weapons, threatening to endanger the entire world—spread to every corner of the globe through newspapers.

As the sole survivor of the Ohara archaeologists, eight-year-old Nico Robin was now wanted by the World Government.

The Devil's Child, Nico Robin. Bounty—seventy-nine million Beli.

"Hey! Leon."

Leon had just returned to Marineford aboard a warship when he ran into Rosinante at the entrance to Garp's courtyard, as if he'd been waiting for a while.

Without waiting for Leon to respond, Rosinante reached out and slung an arm around his shoulder.