Come, Kuzan-let's count your sins!

The Eos cruised slowly through the deep blue sea. The engine's low hum seeped through the bulkheads, as faint as an undercurrent beneath the waves.

Robin sat at the table, unable to sleep.

A bowl of soba sat before her. Lucas had brought it half an hour ago; the broth was clear, sprinkled with finely chopped scallions, and most of the steam had already faded.

Her fingertips lightly touched the cool rim of the bowl. She had not taken a single bite. Her thoughts were tangled into a hopeless mess.

He really does seem to care about me...

Should I... try trusting him just once?

But what if he sells me out in the end?

He said he fought that man to a draw. Was he bragging, or was it true?

Does someone like me really deserve a peaceful life?

From the age of two, her life had been steeped in cold water.

Her aunt Roji's hatred and harsh criticism had been everyday life. Her cousins' exclusion had been the norm, while her uncle Oran had always stood by with cold indifference.

When she grew a little older, children her age in Ohara chased after her and threw stones. After the flames of the Buster Call swallowed the Tree of Knowledge, betrayal on the run became commonplace.

Goldney, who had given her bread, and Torata, who had taken her in for the night, had smiled and said, "I'll protect you," one day, then contacted a Marine base the next.

Again and again, she had gone from hope to crashing into the mud. Her heart had long since grown a thick layer of calluses, numb enough that she no longer dared expect anything from anyone.

These recent days felt too much like a dream.

There was hot food and a clean bed. She did not have to calculate where to run the moment she opened her eyes, nor did she have to guard against the people around her selling her out for a bounty.

The sweeter the dream, the more she feared waking up.

Robin sat there all night, her thoughts in a tangle as she stared at the flickering wick.

The next morning, dawn had barely broken.

The Eos slowly surfaced and docked by the shore of a medium-sized island. There was only one town on the island. From afar, it was unnaturally quiet—not even the sound of a rooster or dog could be heard.

The three of them stepped ashore, then stopped at the entrance to the town at the same time.

The entire town was empty. Doors and windows stood wide open, roadside stalls lay overturned, and goods were scattered everywhere, as though everyone had vanished into thin air at the same instant.

"Ah la la, I finally caught up with you."

A tall figure slowly emerged from behind a building. Faint white mist curled around him, and with every step he took, a thin layer of frost formed beneath his feet.

Robin's blood instantly turned cold. Terror clenched around her heart, and her legs gave out, sending her straight to the ground.

Even knowing that he had let Saul go back then did nothing to lessen the fear carved into her bones.

"What are you afraid of?" Lucas bent down and gently rubbed the top of her head. "The best way to overcome fear is to face it. I'm here."

He straightened and met Kuzan's suspicious gaze.

"How did you find our route?"

"Someone saw you on Transparent Island."

Kuzan answered honestly. His gaze lingered for a few seconds on Robin, who was trembling violently, before returning to Lucas. One brow rose slightly.

"Let me ask this first. She's Nico Robin, isn't she?"

Even with all his experience, he was a little dumbfounded. The last time they met, she had still been a tiny child. How long had it been? She had grown straight into an adult woman.

"If she can be scared this badly by you, who else could she be?"

Electromagnetic Force surged in Lucas's palm. Gray-black elemental metal burst from beneath the ground and rapidly condensed in his hand into a longsword that gleamed with a cold light.

"You really are steeped in sin. Come, come—let's count your sins, Kuzan!"

"Ah la la, you're the one truly steeped in sin, Lucas."

Kuzan exhaled a puff of white mist. Water molecules in the air instantly condensed into an ice blade, and Armament Haki spread along its edge.

"You've provoked Commodore Gion and the lucky lady behind you, and now you even dare hide Nico Robin.

Do you know what crime it is to harbor a top-level fugitive of the World Government?"

"Also, is this really the power of the Ketsu Ketsu no Mi?"

"A crime? You mean destroying six warships?"

"You and I both know what the truth is."

Lucas did not elaborate on his ability. He raised a hand and unleashed a Flying Slash infused with projected Armament Haki.

At the same time, a Rumble Ball rolled down his throat. Bloody Bat Wings burst open from his back, and his pupils instantly turned an eerie crimson.

The instant his Beast Form transformation was complete, he used Geppo to catch up to the slash. His metal sword, wrapped in deep red Haki, came down straight at Kuzan's face.

"Fall back."

Baccarat gripped Robin's wrist and dragged her quickly to the edge of the battlefield, her brows tightly furrowed as she watched the fight.

Kuzan swung his ice blade, coated in Armament Haki, in a horizontal arc and split the Flying Slash into scattered gusts with a single blow.

His left hand transformed into an enormous fist of ice, covered in Haki, and smashed head-on into the metal sword.

The sword instantly shattered into countless metal particles. The ice fist did not slow, slamming heavily into Lucas's hastily raised arm.

Lucas's Armament Haki-hardened skin burst into a cloud of blood mist. He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, rolling seven or eight times across the ground before stopping, his robe covered in dust.

White vapor rose from the wound on his arm as it healed at a visible speed. Lucas dusted himself off and rose to his feet. Rather than looking disheveled, his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit.

"Good. You're finally willing to get serious."

"Little brother, what you're doing now is already obstructing my justice."

Frost poured from Kuzan's fingers like a tide, gathering in the air into a massive ice bird with full wings. Haki flowed across its beak as it flapped its wings and dove toward Lucas.

[Ice Age: Partisans]

Blood energy surged over Lucas's entire body. A condensed vortex of blood spun rapidly in his palm, layer upon layer, faster and faster, before finally forming into a spiraling blood spear.

[Vortex Blood Spear]

The blood spear infused with Armament Haki collided with the ice bird in midair. A blood-red tornado exploded from the tip of the spear and swept upward, engulfing the ice bird.

The ice bird cracked apart inch by inch within the Blood Tornado, turning into a shower of ice fragments that glittered beneath the sunlight.

Under Lucas's control, the Blood Tornado split into several savage blood dragons. Their bloody maws gaped wide as they lunged at Kuzan from every direction.

[Blood Dragon Violent Bite]

White frost poured out from Kuzan's body, instantly sweeping across the abandoned town and the empty plains. Even the distant sea froze beneath a thick layer of ice.

Frost crystallized in the air, and as far as the eye could see, everything was silver-white.

[Ice Age]

The snarling blood dragons froze completely several meters away from him, hanging in midair like blood-red ice sculptures.

A second Rumble Ball entered Lucas's mouth. His body suddenly expanded and grew taller, his muscles becoming sleek, powerful lines as every strand of silver hair stood on end.

In Hybrid Form, blood-red arcs of electricity coiled around his body. He turned into a flash of lightning and vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was already above Kuzan. His right leg rose high, wrapped in Haki and lightning, before smashing down viciously.

Observation Haki warned Kuzan. He shifted aside in an instant, and his right arm transformed into ice.

"Boom!"

Lucas's blood-red heel slammed into the ground, instantly blasting open a massive crater a hundred meters wide. Rocks and dust shot into the sky.

[Ice Glove]

A crystalline ice fist, coated in thick Armament Haki, struck from the side at Lucas's waist and abdomen.

Lucas met it with his left fist, wreathed in blood-red lightning.

The instant their fists collided, a deafening roar erupted. The frozen ground cracked like a spiderweb, the fissures stretching for thousands of meters.

Several blood-red lightning arcs as thick as barrels burst from the point of impact and coiled around Kuzan's body.

The arcs scorched his armor of Busoshoku Haki. Tyrannical bioelectric currents forced their way through the gaps, frantically draining his Haki reserves.

"What a headache... Your ability poses far too great a threat to me."

Using the recoil from their clash, Kuzan retreated and crashed toward a house behind him.

A moment before he struck the wall, his entire body transformed into countless ice particles, effortlessly dispersing all impact before reforming more than ten meters away.