Kuzan landed back on the deck. He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the drifting ice mist and settling on the blond figure suspended in midair.
"So it really is him..."
A flicker of understanding passed through Kuzan's eyes, confirming his earlier suspicion.
"A pirate with a bounty of six hundred million! What's he doing here?!"
"That's the guy who destroyed the Flower Country!"
On the deck, several sharp-eyed Marine Soldiers recognized Dawn as well, and subdued cries of alarm rose up.
Having confirmed his identity, Kuzan's thoughts began to turn.
The one protecting Nico Robin...
Fine. Let me see whether you have the qualifications to bear that history, and whether you have the strength and resolve to protect her.
The surrounding temperature plummeted at a terrifying speed. Frost instantly formed along the edges of the deck, and the breath of the Marines turned into icy mist.
A surging cold wave, like a waterfall from the polar regions, poured from Kuzan's palm and rapidly condensed into a lifelike giant bird of ice crystals!
"Ice Block: Partisan!"
The ice bird flapped its wings. Armament Haki flowed across its entire body as it shot into the sky, pecking straight at the blond youth in the air.
Pressure! Unprecedented pressure crashed down on him!
Before the ice bird even arrived, the soul-freezing chill and the destructive threat of its high-level Armament Haki had already made every muscle in Dawn's body tense instinctively.
He took a deep breath and swung Kikoku with all his strength, from the lower left to the upper right.
"Gravity Blade: Saiming"
A horizontal Gravity Field infused with flowing Armament Haki burst from the blade and slashed directly at the incoming ice crystal bird. The surrounding air was swept into an enormous wind pressure that howled outward, forming solid