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[Gum-Gum—Jet Gatling!!!]
With Luffy's roar, Crocodile was knocked out cold and sent flying.
Right then, the tomb started to collapse.
Rumble—
A huge crash rang out, and bricks and stones began to fall from above.
Was it caving in?
Luffy's expression changed instantly.
First, he took out the Sea-Prism Stone cuffs Vivi gave him and snapped them onto the unconscious Crocodile.
Then he chucked Crocodile straight up toward the hole above.
Next, Luffy rushed over to Mr. 2.
When he saw Bon Clay now shriveled up like an old man, his mouth fell open in shock:
"Bon-chan!!!"
"Are you dead or what?!"
Smack!
Tears streaming, Luffy gave Mr. 2 a loud, desperate slap.
Still no reaction from Bon Clay.
Just as Luffy was about to try again, a voice cut in:
"He's just dried out. Give him some water and he'll be fine."
Robin, injured but calm, handed Luffy a bottle of water.
"Thanks!"
Luffy didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the bottle and poured the water into Mr. 2's mouth.
Sure enough, in classic One Piece fashion, Bon Clay began recovering in no time—logic be damned.
"Little Strawhat!!!"
"Bon-chan!!!"
Luffy and the revived Bon Clay hugged each other, crying their eyes out.
Then, Luffy helped the still-weak Bon Clay out of the crumbling tomb.
Robin stood silently off to the side, watching it all.
She sat beside the Poneglyph, her eyes distant, reflecting on her life of running and hiding.
Maybe… maybe it's time to end all this?
Robin closed her eyes, ready to be buried here with the stone.
But just then, a hand landed on her shoulder.
Who else could it be but Luffy?
"Your name's Robin, right?"
Luffy's voice came from above her:
"Come with me."
Robin didn't even look up.
"Forget about me."
She spoke with her head lowered:
"Living… doesn't mean anything to me anymore."
"Leave me here, Monkey D. Luffy."
"No way!"
Luffy shot back instantly.
"Why should I do what you say?"
His tone was totally casual, like he was saying, "I'm saving you whether you like it or not."
But somehow, that laid-back voice hit Robin right in the heart.
She couldn't help but lift her head and stare him in the eyes:
"Just let me…"
"Just let me die here!"
Tears welled up in Robin's eyes as she bit her lip and spoke the words:
"You don't understand… you have no idea what kind of life I've had."
"This world… so many people have tried to crush my dreams."
"So many have tried to erase me from existence."
"All I ever wanted… was to understand history, that's all!"
At that, all the pain she had bottled up for years finally burst out.
"Cut the crap!!!"
But instead of pity, Luffy roared at her.
"You do want to live, don't you!!!"
That one sentence pierced straight through Robin's defenses.
She looked up again and met Luffy's eyes.
And Luffy looked right back at her and spoke softly:
"If you really wanted to die…"
"Then why do your eyes say you want to live?"
My eyes…?
Robin's pupils shrank.
Do I… really want to live?
All this time… deep down… I wanted to survive?
Luffy's voice was angry now, like he was thinking of someone else.
He remembered when Bai Ye had faced Kagetake—
Back then, Bai Ye was willing to sacrifice himself to protect them.
Robin's eyes now looked just like his did then.
So desperate… but still full of hope.
Luffy spoke again, loud and firm:
"I won't let you throw your life away!!!"
"If you don't have a place to go—then come aboard my ship!!!"
"Robin!!!"
—
"What?!"
All five of them yelled in unison.
Inside the Alabasta royal palace, the rest of the Straw Hat crew stared at Luffy and Robin with wide eyes.
"Oi, Luffy! You're seriously just letting that woman join us like that?!"
Usopp rushed over, whispering urgently.
Robin, meanwhile, sat calmly sipping tea.
"Hahaha, it's fine,"
Luffy laughed out loud, "Robin's not a bad person."
"Luffy," Nami whispered, "I know she helped us, but she was Crocodile's partner, remember?"
She glanced warily at Robin, clearly on edge.
Still, Robin kept sipping her tea like nothing was happening.
Then, Zoro stepped forward and asked Robin—
"What exactly are you after?"
Robin didn't respond.
She was still calm and composed...
Okay, scratch that—Robin wasn't calm anymore.
She pointed to a corner of the room and asked,
"I've been wondering for a while now."
"What's with that glowing cocoon over there?"
Zoro froze for a second when he heard that.
"What are you talking about? Glowing...?"
He turned his head without thinking—and the next moment, the whole Straw Hat crew screamed:
"BAI YE!!!" x6
Let's rewind time just a bit.
Inside the Taoist temple, Bai Ye stood facing his "Master."
The "Master" spoke first:"When did you figure it out?"
Bai Ye shrugged, a little helpless.
"It was pretty simple, really."
"This temple... it looked way too familiar. Way too much like the one in my memories."
Master: "So that was a flaw?"
Bai Ye: "Exactly. I've been in this world for a few months now, and there's no way my memory could match reality that perfectly."
"The longer I stayed here, the more I felt like something was off about this place."
"Of course, that wasn't a huge giveaway on its own."
"The real red flag... was you—my 'Master.'"
"You always used to show off your Taiji True Intent in front of me. I spent over a decade and still couldn't grasp it."
"But all this time, you never brought it up—not even once. And when I mentioned it, you brushed it off."
"So I kept thinking... and there's only one explanation."
"You're not really my master. You're a version of him, shaped from my memories."
"Because I never understood Taiji True Intent... you didn't either."
"And I came to that conclusion—about two weeks ago."
Master: "Then why wait until now to expose me?"
Bai Ye: "Because I wanted to figure out—who you really are."
"And now, I know."
Bai Ye looked up at the figure who had taken on his appearance—same face, only the hair still jet black—and spoke slowly:
"You're my inner demon."(From here on, we'll call him Bai Ye, or "Dark Ye.")
A smirk tugged at Bai Ye's lips.
"Oh? And why do you think that?"
Bai Ye watched his own face flash a devilish grin and twitched a little at the sight, but he kept talking:
"After taking the Blood Demon Pill and holding on for so long, I should've had my meridians shattered, my cultivation wiped out."
"I should've barely clung to life for thirty more days."
"But there's no memory of those thirty days."
"....."