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Chapter Serial – Lovesick Serialization Paused Temporarily 14: Heh, What a Clumsy Hypnosis
On the deck, Tilda and George clutched their heads and cried together. After a moment of comfort, they gave it another try...
Tilda was swinging the pendant in her hand when a soft chuckle suddenly came from nearby.
The two turned their heads and screamed so hard their hair, eyeballs, and tongues nearly flew off.
Because out of nowhere, an enormous ship had appeared!
At its railing stood an unreasonably handsome young man, chewing on a rose, looking down at them with interest…
…
Meanwhile, back in the tournament, Hawk-Eye Mihawk had just been blasted off the stage by a single strike of Robin's staff. This scene flashed across every giant screen, the fluorescent light reflecting off Crocodile's face in his private box.
Smoker, Hina, Onigumo, Gion, Kizaru, and others all stared in disbelief at the broadcast.
'Was Kujo Jolyne… really this strong?!' She actually sent that Hawk Eyes guy flying with just one hit?!
Even the commentator was completely stunned. He had never even considered the possibility that Hawk Eyes could lose, much less to a female contestant named Kujo Jolyne.
'Wait a minute… did Hawk Eyes actually just lose?!'
In the audience and in front of giant screens all over the world, people were shouting, cursing, gasping, and cheering in chaotic waves.
As billions of eyes stared upward, still midair, Hawk Eyes Mihawk suddenly twisted his body, raised his massive Black Blade, flipped it midair, and smacked it hard against the air behind him.
SLAM!
The massive recoil from the strike launched Mihawk back toward the arena.
"Huh?" Liam, watching from the sidelines, narrowed his eyes.
'Using the blade like Geppo to generate lift? Did he already know this trick… or did he copy it from me recently?'
He leaned toward the former, but wasn't totally sure.
"If Oda Sensei's some little fanboy of Toriyama Sensei and snuck in a Dragon Ball homage here, I wouldn't even be surprised..." Liam muttered under his breath, black armor forming behind him in agreement.
'Yes. They both approved this level of absurdity.'
Seeing the mysterious, handsome, and powerful Hawk Eyes return from the sky instead of being eliminated, the audience erupted in joyful cheers. The commentator, now spitting more than ever, accidentally blasted his amplifier Den Den Mushi right in the face with saliva...
"Sigh..."
Outside the stadium, in front of one of the massive screens, a loud sigh caught the attention of the surrounding crowd.
Everyone turned to look.
It was a Red-Haired guy, staring at the screen showing Mihawk's return to the arena, sighing deeply with disappointment.
"Captain, were you hoping he'd lose?" Sniper Yasopp asked curiously.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lucky Roux, happily gnawing on a chicken leg, chuckled. "Naturally, Captain wants to see him lose, and then--"
Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and several other crew members, including First Mate Ben Beckman, all smiled and said in unison:
"--mercilessly mock him!"
"Ahh, you guys know me so well!" Red-Haired Shanks roared with laughter.
Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh!
The Black Blade spun as it fell from the sky and landed with a heavy BANG, stabbing upright into the center of the arena floor.
Mihawk, adjusting the decorative feathered crest on his hat, crouched low, standing atop the massive Black Blade's crossguard like a statue.
"That was… surprising." He crouched effortlessly on the Black Blade, looking down at Robin, who still held her black staff. Even for him, a few beads of cold sweat were running down his face, mostly from the earlier, agonizing chest pain caused by the internal attack.
Exhaling a long breath, Mihawk smirked and said:
"That last move of yours… was that your Devil Fruit ability?"
"Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't." Robin replied calmly, neither confirming nor denying.
Mihawk's hawk-like eyes scrutinized Robin carefully. She's not showing any signs of stamina loss… He leapt down from the Black Blade.
What Mihawk didn't know was that, despite Robin's intense movements during the fight, most of the stamina she used actually came from the Liam-based Flower-War Armor, which she had conjured using her Hana Hana no Mi powers.
Robin's stamina while operating the armor was only consumed by the act of using her Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit). Compared to the sheer exertion required for that intense clash just now, the stamina cost of using her Devil Fruit was practically negligible.
And that's exactly what makes Devil Fruits so convenient, so powerful, so mystical…
If they weren't, would they really be called the Treasures of the Sea?
"So… can you still use it?" Mihawk asked as he pulled his enormous Black Blade from the arena floor.
With his other hand, he touched his chest. That earlier burst of crippling heart pain, a few more of those, and even he wouldn't be able to shrug it off.
Robin gripped her black staff tightly, smiling as she stood ready: "Wanna go again?"
Mihawk smirked.
"Looks like I'd better end this match quickly."
The battle continued!
The battle ended.
Once Hawk-Eyes Mihawk started using his serious strength, Robin quickly fell into a deep disadvantage.
As his Black Blade swung down once again, Robin calmly called out:
"I surrender." She lowered her black staff, and the black Haki coating it faded instantly.
The enormous Black Blade froze just inches from her face.
"You've still got plenty of stamina left--" Mihawk said, slowly sheathing his sword.
Robin said nothing, but it took a lot of willpower not to instinctively glance toward Liam on the sidelines. Any action that might link her powers to Liam had to be completely avoided. Because sometimes, the only thing keeping people from uncovering the truth… is one missing clue.
If someone, especially the Marines, who were almost certainly watching this Swordsman Tournament, were to realize that her superhuman power came from one of Liam's crewmates, like Giorno…
It wouldn't take long before that icy Marine made the leap to the Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi).
These past years on Amazon Lily Island hadn't dulled Robin's caution in the slightest. She never forgot for even a second that she was Nico Robin. And she never forgot the burden she carried. She had no intention of dragging Liam into danger because of her.
"I had enough stamina to know… I couldn't win." Robin smiled faintly at Mihawk and stepped gracefully down from the ring.
Of course, there were other reasons she didn't want the match to continue… She walked slowly toward Liam at the edge of the arena. If the fight had continued, she definitely would've been wounded by Hawk Eyes' Black Blade.
Even if the Hana Hana no Mi only transmitted sensation and not physical damage, she didn't want to experience the pain of Hawk Eyes slicing into "herself."
"I lost," Robin said as she came up to Liam, smiling up at him. "Sorry."
Liam stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"You know, you really should've shouted something like, 'It's your turn, Giorno!', back there in the arena…"
"Why?" Robin blinked, confused. She hadn't read Dragon Ball, and said, "You're not even in the next match."
Liam burst out laughing.
He reached to ruffle her hair, then remembered she was still wearing the Jolyne disguise mask, so instead he playfully tugged at the smooth, pale skin on her long neck.
Meanwhile, the next match was about to begin: New World Swordsman Pathser Wen vs. Charlotte Amande.
As Amande's blade lightly touched her opponent, Pathser Wen…
…it slowly dragged down the center of his face.
His screams tore through the arena as the sword sliced through his forehead, face, neck, chest, abdomen, bit by bit, carving him open.
It was then that everyone suddenly remembered her other name:
The Executioner.
Blood sprayed.
One clean stroke, split in two.
Match 2 winner: Charlotte Amande.
(End Of This Chapter)