A sudden voice cut through the tension.
"Miss Nico Robin," Ayr said casually, "your leg… feeling better?"
Robin froze mid-step.
She had only just feigned the limp a moment ago. Her instincts told her to reply with something harmless, but then she realized something was wrong.
He called her by name. Her real name.
She and Crocodile had never once addressed her as Robin during this visit. Only her alias, Miss All Sunday.
Crocodile's eyes shot wide. A chill ran down his spine.
"Senior Ayr… how did you know that?" he asked, warily.
Ayr turned slowly to face them. Calm, steady, unreadable. He looked directly at the two.
"Of course, I knew from the beginning," he said. "The Son of the Devil, Nico Robin… that's what they call you, right?"
Robin's pupils contracted. Her face went pale.
How? She wasn't even a Yonko-level name. Not to someone like Ayr, a pirate spoken of in the same breath as Roger and Whitebeard. She was just a survivor, a scholar…
Why would a legend like Ayr know her?
Crocodile's mind raced. This was bad. Very bad.
He narrowed his gaze, scanning Ayr's stance, posture looking for any possible opening.
But there were none.
Ayr just stood there, relaxed. His body was full of "openings," yet Crocodile couldn't sense any weakness. It was as if the very idea of an opening didn't apply to him.
He was too calm.
Too still.
Too dangerous.
Ayr spoke again, his tone light, but razor-sharp beneath the surface.
"You two came here for the Poneglyph, didn't you?" he said. "And the permanent Log Pose to the Valley of the Gods."
Robin and Crocodile flinched.
"Honestly," Ayr said, "if you had simply asked me, I might've shown it to you."
Robin looked up, stunned. Crocodile's brows furrowed.
"For most people, these are priceless artifacts," Ayr continued. "But to me… they're just relics. History. Not treasures."
For a moment, they dared to believe him.
Was he truly so forgiving? Could it be that they had overestimated the danger?
But then Ayr's voice dropped.
"However…"
His gaze turned sharp.
"You came here with deceit in your hearts. You tried to manipulate me."
His eyes locked on Crocodile. "And that, I can't overlook."
Crocodile's expression darkened. He knew the time for pretense was over.
He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Robin! Find the pointer now!"
Robin turned and bolted for the inner chambers.
Meanwhile, Crocodile stepped forward, raising his right arm. His body crumbled into sand, swirling like a desert storm.
"Desert Spada!"
A massive blade of compressed sand formed from his arm, sharp and fast as a guillotine. It surged toward Ayr with devastating speed, slicing through stone and air!
"Got him!" Crocodile thought, triumph flashing in his eyes.
But Ayr didn't move.
Not a single step.
He simply looked up, locking eyes with Crocodile and in that instant, the world seemed to stop.
BOOM.
A blast of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Ayr's body like a black storm. Black lightning cracked through the tavern walls, splitting the floor and shaking the foundations.
Crocodile's sand blade disintegrated, scattering into harmless grains before it reached Ayr.
Crocodile gasped, staggering backward. His limbs went numb, cold sweat pouring down his face.
The sheer pressure the overwhelming will had paralyzed him.
And Robin
Robin collapsed to her knees, eyes wide, heart pounding, barely conscious. The oppressive Haki crushed her like a mountain, dragging her body to the floor. She couldn't breathe.
Ayr hadn't even lifted a finger.
He just stared.
Crocodile stood frozen. His instincts screamed at him to run but his legs wouldn't move.
Ayr's voice cut through the crackling silence.
"You two should have known better than to lie to a man who's seen the Void Century with his own eyes."