Kuzan's Test

Kuzan landed back on the deck. He looked up through the drifting frost mist at the blond figure hovering in midair.

"So it was him..."

Understanding flickered in Kuzan's eyes, confirming his suspicion.

"A pirate with a six-hundred-million-berry bounty! What's he doing here?!"

"He's the one who destroyed the Country of Flowers!"

On the deck, sharp-eyed Marines recognized Dawn too. Startled cries rose around him.

With the man's identity confirmed, Kuzan considered his next move.

Is he the one protecting Nico Robin...?

Fine. Let's see whether he has what it takes to bear the weight of that history—and the strength and resolve to protect her.

The temperature plummeted. Frost formed along the deck's edges in an instant, and the Marines' breath turned to icy mist.

A raging tide of cold poured from Kuzan's palm like an arctic waterfall, coalescing in moments into a lifelike crystalline bird!

"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"

The ice bird beat its wings and soared skyward, Armament Haki coursing across its body as it flew straight at the blond young man.

Pressure! More pressure than Dawn had ever felt!

Before the bird reached him, its soul-freezing cold and the lethal threat of Advanced Armament Haki made every muscle in his body tense.

He drew a deep breath and swung Kikoku with all his strength, from lower left to upper right.

"Gravity Blade: Fate Ruler!"

A horizontal Gravity Field infused with flowing Armament Haki burst from the blade and slashed toward the oncoming bird. The surrounding air compressed into a massive wall that roared outward.

The Gravity Field slammed into the bird in midair. A spherical shock wave erupted from the collision, tearing a huge hole through the wall of air.

The bird's Advanced Armament Haki overwhelmed and erased the Armament Haki within the Gravity Field through sheer