Hawk-Eye!

"Damn it! Aokiji, you're attacking a woman—do you even have any shame? If you've got the guts, fight me head-on!"

"Fine. If you've got the guts, tell the one flying in the sky to come down and stop throwing lightning everywhere!" Aokiji spoke with indifference, yet his hands never ceased, manifesting fine ice needles alongside massive ice spears, swords, and blades.

Damn it! This is bad! Lu Zhuo screamed inwardly, watching Aokiji block countless lightning bolts with a semi-circular ice wall overhead, then glancing back at Nico Robin, who wore a look of bitter resignation.

If he had Nami come down so he could face Aokiji one-on-one, he wouldn't stand a chance; he'd be critically wounded in less than ten exchanges.

At that moment, Nico Robin sighed and whispered into Lu Zhuo's ear, "Give me up. If this continues, we're both going to die."

Lu Zhuo's eyes turned bloodshot. Are you kidding me? There was no way he would let the woman he loved be killed right in front of him! If this had been when he first met Robin, he might have actually abandoned her.

But after six months of living side-by-side, how could he simply discard that kind of bond?

Damn it! Why did I have to run into Aokiji of all people at a time like this?

He wasn't Luffy; he didn't have a Marine hero for a grandfather, nor did he have the connection that made Aokiji hold back against Nico Robin time and time again.

Furthermore, the order Sengoku had issued was a kill order! Sengoku had always turned a blind eye to Luffy because of Garp, but Lu Zhuo was different—he wasn't a child of privilege!

Damn it!

If he only had another six months, if he could just become a High-Level Swordsman, he wouldn't fear anyone. Damn it, is this really where it ends?

Lu Zhuo felt a deep sense of unwillingness; he was truly, deeply unwilling!

Everything had been moving in such a positive direction, and his strength had been growing at an incredible pace—why did he have to encounter such a desperate situation now?

Did I fail to calculate this? No, it was just his terrible luck, or perhaps the Marine intelligence was simply too good. Aokiji had been roaming these waters, waiting for him.

Lu Zhuo didn't believe a word of Aokiji's "vacation" nonsense!

His eyes filled with hatred. Lu Zhuo had never held any real grudge against the Marines before, even though he found their hypocrisy—shouting about justice while shielding the despicable Celestial Dragons—to be distasteful.

But it was only distasteful. He had never once attacked the Marines; he even avoided them when he encountered them at sea, even though he could have easily wiped them out.

Yet now, just because of a reason involving potential future trouble, the Marine Admiral Aokiji was going to end their journey here. Hatred burned in Lu Zhuo's heart!

By what right?

By what right do you get to block someone else's freedom?

"Pirate" was just a label, not a true definition. Great pirates like Whitebeard didn't become pirates for the sake of plunder.

They did it for freedom! For their ideals!

Sweat began to bead on Lu Zhuo's forehead. Silently, an ice needle pierced through his sword defense. He wanted to dodge, but thinking of Robin behind him, he gritted his teeth and took the hit!

"Lu Zhuo!"

Nami in the sky might not have known, but how could Robin, who had also cultivated Observation Haki, not notice?!

In that instant, her heart was filled with emotion. True, genuine emotion!

She remembered what her family had told her when she was a child.

One day, you will find true companions...

The man before her—the coldness he showed in battle, the focus during his training, the wicked teasing during their downtime, the way he always tried to take advantage of her...

But this man, when he could have dodged the attack, had taken that ice needle head-on for her sake!

Robin suddenly hugged Lu Zhuo from behind, tears in her eyes.

She whispered in his ear, "Run, just run! Forget about me!"

"No!" Hearing those words, Lu Zhuo was startled. In that moment of distraction, his sword defense faltered, and dozens of ice needles shot through!

A single needle earlier had nearly frozen the blood in his entire body; if he took these dozens, he would surely die!

At that moment, Robin suddenly hugged Lu Zhuo and flipped their positions, trying to block the needles for him.

How could I let that happen?!

Although in the original story Aokiji always held back against Robin, who knew if he would do so now? Lu Zhuo would never entrust Robin's life to Aokiji's mercy.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Zhuo shook his arm, violently throwing Robin upward while he retreated rapidly. At the same time, his right-hand sword traced two quick semicircles. But the needles were already within a foot of him; even with his speed, he couldn't block them all.

Several needles still pierced toward Lu Zhuo's chest. The one he had taken in the back earlier had already left his entire body feeling numb.

In the distance, Aokiji watched this scene with a slightly complicated expression.

Robin... have you finally found true companions? But I...

Aokiji sighed inwardly. His orders were to patrol the entire sea area and, upon discovering the Holy Sword Pirates, to execute them on the spot!

The ice needles stalled for a fraction of a second less than three centimeters from Lu Zhuo's chest, then erupted again, thrusting violently toward his body.

Lu Zhuo's Observation Haki was fully active; everything in the surroundings was within his "sight."

Is this the end?

No!

He felt a certain power within him suddenly erupt, causing Aokiji in the distance to freeze for a moment, a look of shock appearing on his face.

Conqueror's Haki? If that's the case, then he must be eliminated even sooner!

Aokiji's expression turned cold, and the ice needles accelerated, continuing their path toward Lu Zhuo's back.

At this moment, Lu Zhuo's eyes suddenly brightened, and joy surged in his heart as he sensed a figure that had suddenly appeared several hundred meters away!

The next instant, within his perception, that figure slowly drew a sword and swung it in this direction!

What felt slow in his perception was, in reality, fast to the extreme. That sword gleam arrived before the threat, actually managing to intercept the ice needle that had nearly touched Lu Zhuo's skin!

"Lu Zhuo! Are you alright!"

Nami, up in the sky, could no longer care about anything else; she immediately drifted down and ran toward Lu Zhuo.

In Lu Zhuo's arms, Robin had tears streaming from her eyes as she looked into his, murmuring, "Why? Is it really worth it for me?"

Lu Zhuo gave a gentle smile and said, "Of course it's worth it. In my heart, you are already my woman. I will not allow anyone to take you away!"

After saying this, Lu Zhuo felt the world spin. Although he had barely suppressed the ice needle that had struck him earlier, he hadn't been able to fully neutralize it, and now that his stamina was exhausted, it finally erupted within his body.

Before losing consciousness, Lu Zhuo spoke two words weakly to the approaching Nami: "Shock... me!"

Nami, having run over, nearly burst into tears upon seeing Lu Zhuo's condition, yet Robin didn't even bother to wipe the tears from her eyes, shouting urgently at Nami, "Quick, hurry and discharge electricity right here!"

She pointed her finger at a spot on Lu Zhuo's back. Although Nami didn't know exactly what was happening, seeing Robin's expression, she did as instructed without a moment's hesitation.

Her hand transformed into a small thundercloud, instantly releasing many fine bolts of electricity that struck Lu Zhuo's back, right where the ice needle had pierced through. The heat of the lightning, combined with Lu Zhuo's powerful physique and the vigorous blood flow from his heart, barely managed to hold the ice needle at bay.

On the other side, Aokiji looked with a grim expression at the man before him, who wore a black top hat and bore an equally cold demeanor.

"What are you here for?"

"Nothing much, I just don't want you to ruin a promising talent ahead of time."

"A promising talent? Ridiculous. Do you know how terrifying that person has already grown to be?" Aokiji's expression turned slightly angry as he looked at the man in the black top hat and formal attire.

In that man's eyes, beyond the pupils was a yellow ring, beyond that a black ring, and on the outer edge, yellow sclera. Those eyes... were just like the eyes of a hawk!

The Shichibukai, the world's greatest swordsman, a man whose strength might even surpass that of a top-tier Admiral... Dracule Mihawk!

Commonly known as... the man called Hawk-Eye!