Chapter 391: Farewell… My Friends
"This is bad! The Straw Hat Pirates are in serious trouble!"
Chopper clutched his face in panic,
but his small reindeer hooves couldn't hide his fear. His panic was written all over his face.
Usopp was struggling to stay awake.
Like Buggy, he was a [Gunslinger], with Strength and Spirit as his main stats, while Constitution was his weak point.
Robin's Slumbering Demon Vines had a powerful sleep effect.
Seeing this, Chopper bit down hard on Usopp's thigh to keep him conscious.
Barely holding his eyes open, Usopp muttered in disbelief, "Robin… actually betrayed us…"
"I can't believe it…"
Chopper was in tears, breaking free from the vines and transforming into his reindeer form. He rammed straight into the ice wall.
But not even a tremor followed.
The ice prison created by Aokiji was as solid as bedrock.
"We need to get out of this frost cage first."
Ever-practical Zoro gathered his ghost energy and swung his blades again and again,
unaffected by the idea of Robin's betrayal.
With Aokiji off chasing the supposed traitor,
if they could break out now, the marines outside wouldn't be able to stop them.
"So tough… even demon fire can't burn through it?"
Sanji looked dejected.
Even his raging demon flames had lost their heat due to emotional disturbance.
Robin's actions had clearly used the Straw Hats as a shield—without holding anything back.
"No, wait!"
Sanji's face suddenly changed. He shouted, "The moss-head's right! We have to break this cage—otherwise…"
"Robin will die!"
The Straw Hats were all straightforward people. Even the seemingly clever Nami lost her judgment when it came to her friends.
Sanji, who had the quickest mind,
glanced at their confused faces as his demon fire gathered into a drill, furiously boring into the ice wall.
Within the flames, he shouted urgently, "Robin didn't betray us!"
"She knew the moment Aokiji appeared that his target was her…!"
"She restrained us on purpose, to lure Aokiji away and give us a chance to escape!"
"If Aokiji catches up to her, she'll die!"
As he finished,
the vines binding the crew suddenly withered at high speed.
Hidden within the cracks of the vines were black seeds, which absorbed the energy from the vines and transformed into tiny black insects.
Nami gasped. "Those are Robin's black beetles?!"
[Demon Scholar]—
that was Robin's game class. She could seal various demonic materials into her scholar's tome and summon them at key moments.
A class similar to a Summoner.
These black beetles were the weakest demon subspecies. After maturing through mutual devouring, they could evolve into Demon Beetles.
Crunch.
The black beetles swarmed together, viciously devouring one another.
Not even broken limbs were spared.
Eventually, ten beetles survived, their shells mutating into crimson with black demonic runes.
Flame Demon Beetles.
A fire-type demonic species with extreme armor-piercing capabilities.
"Robin once said it takes tens of thousands of black beetles fighting to create a single Demon Beetle. She never had the heart to make them kill each other…"
The flame beetles pounced on the ice wall,
baring their razor-sharp mandibles.
Nami's heart sank. Her voice trembled as she whispered,
"Robin knew she'd die… and she still used her strongest trump card to protect us?"
These Demon Beetles were Robin's ultimate weapons—yet she'd left them behind inside the ice cage.
Which meant… she had no intention of surviving.
Luffy, silent until now, clenched his fists and shouted, "Robin won't die!"
Crack.
In seconds, the Demon Beetles had chewed a visible fracture into the ice wall.
What once seemed unbreakable was quickly being torn apart.
Seeing this,
Nami remembered a past conversation with Robin. She had asked why Robin chose Demon Beetles, when so many stronger demonic lifeforms could be contracted.
Robin had simply said she liked how they looked.
At the time, Nami thought it was just another one of Robin's quirky preferences and didn't dig deeper.
But now she understood.
The Flame Demon Beetles' abilities completely countered frost—
which was why they were able to shred the frost cage that even Zoro and Sanji couldn't crack.
"Robin… did you foresee this day?"
"She's not a traitor… She's our guardian!"
Boom…
Ghost blade slashes flashed,
demon fire roared,
and a hurricane fist imbued with holy light struck down.
The frost cage shattered with a deafening blast.
"Enemy breach! Prepare for combat!"
The marines tensed up—
but before they could react, a massive frost drill vehicle burst through the mist and sent them flying.
"Robin!"
…
Elsewhere—
Aokiji stood coldly before a cliffside,
its surface wrapped in dense vines and branches. A vertical wall loomed above, hundreds of meters high.
Drip…
Warm blood trickled down the vines.
Robin's arms were crossed and pinned to the cliff by massive ice spears.
She hung like a hunted animal, immobilized.
"This is the end of the road for you."
Aokiji raised his foot and approached the motionless Robin.
The frozen ground crunched under his boots—each step ringing like a death knell.
The Demon Child, who had survived years of betrayal and hiding in darkness,
should have shown fear under the shadow of death.
But Robin didn't.
Her messy hair veiled her face, hiding the gentle smile that Aokiji couldn't see.
"For twenty years, no matter what happened, I survived…"
"Because I had nothing to protect."
"But now, I'm no longer lost in the dark. They… brought back the soul I thought I had lost. That's why—this time, I want to protect them!"
"Goodbye… everyone."
The Straw Hats should be safe by now, right?
The cold pressed in.
The tip of the ice spear grew larger in her vision, like a scythe of death ready to claim her life.
Then—
a faint cry pierced the still air, worming its way into her ear.
"ROBIN!"
The blood loss had chilled her body. Her heartbeat was weak.
But now, her heart spasmed violently.
Luffy?
Robin lifted her head with effort,
and through the falling frost and broken trees,
she saw a familiar silhouette riding atop a frost-drill vehicle.
How…?
Bang!
A bullet screamed through the air—Usopp's Hellfire round, fired from afar.
The shot exploded Aokiji's frost domain in flames,
turning the area around him into a sea of burning gasoline.
Frost clashed with fire.
Steam rose around Aokiji,
who turned, startled, at the sight of the Straw Hats charging toward him.
"You escaped the Dragon-Scale Ice Prison? Your strength surprises me…
But why come back for a traitor?"
BOOM.
Luffy's glowing Holy Flame Fist answered him.
Staring at Robin's battered body, Luffy's face twisted in rage.
Like a wild beast, he roared,
"I don't care if you're an Admiral or the Fleet Admiral!"
"I won't let you hurt Robin—
I won't let you hurt my friends!"
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