Once Rubick had calmed himself, he spread his hands. "All right. As the future God, I'll allow you to return to your homeland."
The three Shandians looked incredulous, but Wyper shouted, "We Shandians won't submit to anyone! As long as we're alive, we'll keep fighting!"
The other three said nothing, but they seemed to agree with Wyper. Shandians weren't afraid of death. If returning home meant becoming Rubick's slaves, they would rather die.
Rubick's temper flared. He was about to step forward when Robin said, "Wait, Rubick."
Robin walked over. "Wyper, are you really Shandians?"
"Of course we are!"
Wyper was weak, but his voice remained defiant.
Robin said, "Your ancestors lived in the All Blue too, didn't they? What does it mean to light the fire and ring the Golden Bell?"
"Why are you asking?"
Rubick couldn't resist giving him a kick. "Hey, show my woman some respect."
"Then go ahead and kill me!"
Robin pushed Rubick away. Why did he have to lose his temper at a time like this? He was making things worse.
Rubick stalked off, frustrated. Something felt wrong, but no matter how he turned it over in his mind, he couldn't figure out what. He punched a nearby tree trunk in irritation.
Bang!
The trunk shattered and toppled over.
Rubick stared at his fist in shock. It had turned jet-black. Wasn't that Armament Haki?
Rubick grinned from ear to ear. He couldn't believe he had mastered Armament Haki. His usual training must have brought him to the threshold, and getting injured had somehow awakened it when he hadn't known how to cross it himself.
He had been using the Dark-Dark Fruit's power the whole time, and that was black too. No wonder he hadn't noticed he could already use Armament Haki.
"Hahaha!"
Rubick planted